Good Day Everyone!
Here are just a few events going on around Marion County for the month of November!
November 1st – First Friday Art Walk
November 2nd – Ocala Downtown Market
November 9th – Veteran Memorial Celebration
November 23rd – Light Up Ocala
November 30th (other dates as well) – Dickens Christmas-Holiday Exhibition
For event locations, times and more information please visit. ~ https://www.ocalamarion.com/events/
Beautiful lot in quiet community of Winding Waters. Located near fishing, hunting, atv trails and more!
Please Call/Text (352) 577-9171 for more info!
Good Day All,
I hope everyone is having a great week! If you’re a buyer looking for a home or possibly thinking of purchasing a home soon, than this is a post for you! Today’s real estate market is in favor of the sellers. Inventory is low and buyers have to be aggressive. Use these few tips to make sure house shopping is a success for you!
Pre-Approval – The first step for you is to get pre-approved. Reach out to a local real estate expert and they will help you get in contact with a local lender that is experienced and also knows the importance of being aggressive in todays market.
Love Letter – This may sound like a crazy idea, but I’ve seen it work! Write a letter to the sellers explaining why you love their home and your goals for the property (raising a family, remodeling, etc.)
Be flexible – Understand right now that you’re not going to get everything you want. Be flexible, give and take and listen to what your real estate professional is telling you.
Not so popular listings – Consider a listing that has been on the market a while or may not be as attractive as a new listing. Often if you can find a property that has been on the market a while, it will help keep you out of bidding wars and you may end up getting a better deal in the long run.
I hope you find these tips helpful! As always, please contact Rountree Realty for all of your Marion and Putnam County real estate needs! (352) 577-9171 or Info@Search352Homes.com
2015 is turning into an excellent year for sellers because of rising home prices, increased demand from home buyers and 
less overall seller competition for most U.S. and Ocala Marion County Homeowners
1. Stronger demand from buyers… Demand from buyers has remained high and less competition(homes for sale), is making 2015 a fantastic year for many Marion County home owners. There is currently a larger pool of buyers, including first time buyers, boomerang buyers)previous owners who lost their home to foreclosure or short sale), and traditional owner-occupant buyers.
2. Home prices on the rise…Across the nation home and condo sellers in the first half of the year sold for an average of 13% above original asking price. Homes in the median price range have increased 6.4% since 2014 based on the June – Monthly Market Reports from Florida Association of Realtors for the Ocala/Marion County area. “So far in 2015, [sellers] are realizing the biggest gains in home price appreciation since 2007,” Blomquist says. “In June, sellers sold for above estimated market value on average for the first time in nearly two years.” Median sales prices of existing-homes pushed above the previous 2006 peak to a record high in June, the National Association of REALTORS® reported this week. The median existing-home price for all housing types was $236,400 in June – surpassing the peak median sales price set in July 2006 at $230,400.
3. Less Seller competition… New listings have decreased year over year by -2.6% and pending homes sales have increased 7%. Ocala/Marion County inventory has also decreased -8% and currently there is only a 6 month supply of inventory. This means if no other homes were placed on the market in the coming months it would take 6 months for ALL homes to be sold. Also the decrease in the number of distressed properties has fallen -11.8% and these sales accounts for less than 10% of all closed sales.
It is important to remember that location is the biggest factors in considering all of the numbers and statistics. It is important to find a trusted real estate professional that is knowledgable about your local market to discuss in further detail. Want to know the value of your home…Contact me today for a “free, no obligation” market analysis of your home and property.
Source: Realtormag.realtor.org – DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015″2015 Great Year to Sell,” RealtyTrac (July 22, 2015)
Florida currently has 3 home buyer programs available;
In the Ocala/Marion real estate market, conditions continue to be even as fewer houses become available compared to his time last year. June 2015 found an decrease in the number of new listings, active listings and pending sales were up for single-family homes, according to information from Ocala Marion County Association or Realtors®.
The 877 new listings in June 2015 represented a -2.6 percent decrease over previous year. Active listings decreased 8 percent to 3,083 over the same period. Pending sales had a high jump in June, with the 656 pending listings in for the month, indicating a 7 percent increase over June 2014. Actual sales of single-family homes also increased over the same period.
The Ocala Marion County Association or Realtors® reports that in June, a total of 606 single homes were sold in the Ocala/Marion County area. This represents a 12.8% percent increase over sales in previous year. Prices in the Ocala/Marion County real estate market continue to climb during that year-long period. The median price of a single-family home in the Ocala/Marion County area increased 6.4 percent between June/2014 and June/2015, to $116,000.
Average home prices declined -3.7 percent during that period to $145,862. The closed sales by sales price during the year
increased in all price categories except for “less than $50k and over $1,ooo,ooo. Homes spend an average of 73 days on the market in Ocala/Marion County, which is decrease from June/2014 of 38.1 percent year-over-year. Generally higher prices, limited availability, and quicker sales of those homes that come up for sale make the Marion County real estate market a favorable environment for sellers, and because of the great value in our area buyers can find quality homes far cheaper than average rent prices for the area.
Rountree Realty provides expert real estate services to residential buyers and sellers in Marion County including Ocala, Fort McCoy, Anthony, Sparr, Citra, Salt Springs, Orange Springs and and surrounding communities. Contact us today for more information on local real estate and for professional assistance navigating this sometimes complex home market.
This report describes member activity for the association and is not confined to any specific geographic area. Statistics for each month compiled from MLS feeds on the 15th day of following month. Data released July 22, 2015, produced by the Florida REALTORS®
When you begin to consider remodeling or home improvements, homeowners should consider the return on investment(ROI) or recouping of their costs. Many updates are preformed simply because the homeowner desires that upgraded kitchen or bathroom. It is important to remember that many, if not most, updates are not great ROI, because they are more for personal reasons rather than a cost vs. value.
“It can be a daunting task to even decide on what home improvement projects to undertake, let alone to physically tackle and complete them,” says National Association of Realtors (NAR) President Chris Polychron. “Realtors know what buyers are looking for during their search, and curb appeal is and always will be important. That explains why Realtors once again rated exterior projects as some of the most attractive and valuable for homeowners.”
Seeing these reports now for many years in a row I have noticed one update that always stands above the rest in terms of cost vs value; the steel entry door. According to Realtors, a new steel entry door returns about 101.8% of its costs upon resale compared to 96.6% last year. For my sellers and marketing the property to future home buyers we always start at the curb first and front entry way next. These areas are two of the most important areas to focus. Why, because first impressions do matter and the entrance to every home being marketed for sale should be warm and inviting. If you cannot afford to replace the front door, then we suggest a good painting and replacing all door hardware for that fresh and clean look.
The good news is the steel entry door is consistently the least expensive project in the report.
Rounding out the top 10 projects in terms of cost recouped:
© 2015 Florida Realtors® http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?p=2&id=317926
Existing-home sales continued to rise in October and are now up year-over-year for the first time in 2014, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun says during a Nov. 20 press conference in Washington. This is good news for our local Ocala/ Marion County market because the inventory is moving closer to a balanced market. The largest issue facing the future is a lack of inventory in many price ranges. If you are a seller and thinking your home might not be worth what you owe, you could be be mistaken. There are still great deals to be found for buyers too. Want to chat more about real estate or discuss your homes value, please contact me today.
If so, you could get another opportunity to save your home with the recent changes in loan modification rules by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced the elimination of an eligibility cap that forbid loan modifications to homeowners with delinquencies of 720 days or more. This change was made to the “streamlined modification” program which was created in 2013 and touted as an automatic route to lower mortgage payments because no paperwork or application is required. According to the FHFA it is estimated that nearly half of borrowers nationwide would be eligible now under these new guidelines and all lenders must comply with the cap elimination by April 1, 2015 and all are encouraged to make the change immediately. All borrowers who were previously denied a modification must be reevaluated.
We’ve had multiple clients receive approvals under this program,” said Paul Baltrun, director of corporate development for the Law Office of Paul A. Krasker in West Palm Beach. “It’s very little paperwork, mostly just phone conversations with the lender, and the turn time is quicker.” If the borrower agrees and makes three on-time payments, the modification becomes permanent. Baltrun said it’s hard to gauge how many people the change will affect. Although the worst of the foreclosure crisis is over, he said a significant number of homeowners are still looking for modifications because they have lost jobs, or have used up their savings trying to stay in their home.”I think it will help a small number of people in specific circumstances,” said Baltrun, who believes removing the cap is a good change. “Why would someone who is 721 days late be declined when someone who is 719 days late is approved?
Also, borrowers are encouraged to apply for other loan modification plans, such as Home Affordable Modification Program, which could offer a better deal. About 3% of Florida homeowners with mortgages were 90 days late or more on payments during the second quarter of 2014 and nearly 10% were either 90 days delinquent, or in foreclosure. That puts Florida only second behind New Jersey with the highest foreclosure and delinquency rate in the nation, but a far improvement from the near 18% back in 2011. IN Florida streamlining this process is crucial because the foreclosure process is moving quicker and quicker through the process which mean less time for negotiating with the bank before foreclosure judgement is issued.
Source: floridarealtors.org and Copyright © 2014 The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Fla.), Kimberly Miller. Distributed by MCT Information Services.
