Realtor Tips

Should You Live In An HOA Controlled Development?

May 23, 2017 By Deborah Ward

If you are looking for a new home in Florida you will be finding that many are in communities that have homeowners associations (HOAs). You’ve heard many things about them, but aren’t sure if it is something that will be good for you. So let’s look at the pros and cons of owning a home in a HOA.

Standard of community appearance

One major thing an HOA does for all the homeowners in the community is uphold a standard of community appearance. The bylaws and rules of the HOA will outline what those standards may be. Typical rules include the upkeep of your lawn and landscaping, house exterior upkeep and paint colors, improvements to your home, and what kinds of vehicles can be parked outside your home such as boats or RV’s.

In some situations HOAs also provide maintenance and services such as trash removal and lawn care are handled by the association, leaving less work for the homeowner. Typically, common areas are maintained by the association, which can include pools, tennis courts and gyms, community centers and walking trails.

The HOA will also act as manager if there are problems like dogs barking, loud music or other disputes. HOAs also charge monthly fees to cover the services and maintenance.

Pros

Knowing all these things can tell you pros and cons. Pros are that your homes value will stay higher because your neighbors can’t let their properties become overgrown, paint them some wild color and keep 14 dead cars and a boat on their property. It also can mean less work due to the maintenance and enjoying amenities without having to put the work into caring for them. It can also help you stay friends with your neighbors even if you have complaints about them.

Cons

The cons are a bit more difficult to see, but are there. The most obvious one is that monthly fee. It’s not optional. If you fail to pay it the HOA can place a lien on your home and ultimately you may lose your home. Others are a bit harder to suss out, but have to do with your personality. If you are more of a free spirit who likes to do things your own way the rules of an HOA can be rather restrictive. If you are the kind of homeowner who feels that your property is YOURS and no one can tell you what to do with it, an HOA may not be for you either.

Knowing yourself is important, so weigh those pros and cons and see how it fits.

Tips For Buying and Selling A Home At The Same Time!

May 16, 2017 By Deborah Ward

You own a home and for whatever reasons; need for more or less space or job transfer or whatever, you decide you need to sell your current home and buy a new one. You’ve been told that buying and selling simultaneously is impossible, but you also know you need to do it.

The good news is that it is possible to buy and sell at the same time, it just takes some juggling and good decision making. Here are some tips to make it work for you.

Your financial situation

First, have a good knowledge of your financial situation. Have your current home appraised not just for value, but for a realistic selling price. Get a payoff balance on your mortgage. The payoff figure isn’t the same as the balance shown on your mortgage statement. The mortgage company will charge certain fees or amounts of interest. Your escrow balance is normally either refunded to you at settlement or after, so it won’t affect your payoff figure.

Knowing these figures will give you your equity in your current home. It won’t be an exact figure but should give you a better idea of what you will bring to the table in a purchase. It will also give you information to tell your new mortgage company about money down possibly getting you a better rate.

Knowing your finances will also tell you if you could afford a month or two of double mortgage payments if the sale and purchase don’t coincide and what updates you can afford on your current home.

Next, as with any sale, pack, declutter and update

Pack up your things, which by default declutters the space, leaving only what you really need to use for the next 30 to 90 days. Repair any issues and paint the space if it needs it to make it look fresher for potential buyers. Make any necessary updates, especially to baths and kitchens.

Money spent wisely now will pay off at sale.

Now start your new home shopping

Whether you have listed your home or not this can give you an idea of what the current market is for both sellers and buyers. If you are moving to another city or state, take a weekend to go and look. It can help you make decisions about updates needed on your current home and give you an idea of what you will need to buy in the new area.

Lastly, rely on your Realtor

If you are staying local, he or she can help you in both transactions. If you are moving out of state he or she can help you find a buyers agent in your new location. One or both can help you make the best decision for your situation.

Is Price Really That Important When Selling Your House?

May 9, 2017 By Deborah Ward

When you think about selling your house the first thing you think of is price. But is price really all that important in selling? It’s more of a piece to a puzzle that ends in the sale of your home. Price isn’t the “be all end all”, other pieces play key roles too.

Price isn’t everything!

Now that I have your attention, let me say again, price isn’t the “be all end all”. Yes, it’s important in getting buyers to see your listing. Yes, it’s important in getting it right so it sells.

The importance of price isn’t being downplayed. What is also important are other things. Things like condition, amenities and location.

Location, condition, etc.

You know that when you looked for your current home you were looking for a lot of things other than price. You wanted a certain number of bedrooms and baths, a certain square footage. Most likely you didn’t want a home that needed a lot of updating.

In Florida a property with a pool is also a big selling point. So size, condition and home amenities were important in your search.

So why would you ignore those things when selling your house?

Have you seen the commercial for Trulia where they talk about “the house is only half of it?” The commercial is to advertise their map overlays to show things about the neighborhood where the listings are located. These overlays show crime, schools, traffic and so on.

Neighborhood amenities and location are super important. Some great research went into the basis of that commercial and Trulia along with Harris Polling found some numbers that might just open your eyes.

Neighborhood, square footage, etc.

According to the survey, 84 percent of Americans said that neighborhood is as important to their home search as the home itself and they would be willing to overlook or give up certain things to live in their ideal neighborhood. Things like a furnished basement (55 percent), square footage (33 percent), a garage (21 percent), or a yard (19 percent). Things like the safety of your neighborhood and its proximity to jobs, shopping and so on were very important.

For parents schools were even more important to them than the rest. While location isn’t something you can control, it is something you can play up if your home is located well. So stop making price your top priority.

Make the best things about your home the priority and you will get the price you want.

What Are The Most Important Factors (To You) When Buying A Home?

May 2, 2017 By Deborah Ward

There are a lot of things to think about when buying a home, but before you even start looking the most important question is what are the most important factors to you when you are looking for a home to buy? It will help make your home search more specific to you and your wants and needs.

So how do you start?

Look at your current living space and start a list. Write down what you like about it and what you don’t. Is the space too small? Find out the square footage of living space and then you know you your starting point for bigger. Are there enough bedrooms? If not, how many more or less do you need?

If your current home or apartment has a great functioning kitchen, write down what you use the most. If not, go to a home center and look at kitchen options to see what would work for you and what won’t. Just because it’s the “in” thing doesn’t mean it will be something you like or would use.

Think about what is surrounding your current home

Is there a big lot or no lot at all? What about how close you are to the water? Is waterfront property important or do you mind a short walk, bike ride or car ride? Is there shopping close by? What about fitness centers? Schools?

All of these things are key factors for someone, but are they for you? Your answers to these will determine neighborhoods to visit and find a home or neighborhoods to avoid.

HOA’s

Also keep things in mind like home owner’s associations! If they are important to you to keep the integrity and value of your home, look for homes in one. If they are too much of a restriction for your lifestyle, or too much more of a fee to add to your budget, look for homes that don’t have a home owner’s association.

Know what you want so you can set expectations and narrow your home search.

Why Are Zillow Zestimates So Far Off Sometimes?

April 25, 2017 By Deborah Ward

You’ve seen the commercials, you know, the ones where people find their dream home and just know they can afford that house in the neighborhood they can’t afford to buy in because the Zillow Zestimate said so. It’s a nice commercial, but it’s not telling you the truth.

Automated valuation models

Zillow, and others, use something called automated valuation models or AVMs to figure out the value of a property. They use it to help buyers make a buying decision, given that 90% of buyers start their search for a new home on the internet.

The technology works something like this. They amass tons of information that are publicly available sources and put them through a sophisticated algorithm to predict value. It seems like it should work like a charm, but Zillow’s Zestimates are rather inconsistent.

Several factors that will affect pricing

A Realtor will tell you that the market can change from week to week and neighborhood to neighborhood. No algorithm, however sophisticated, can do things like quantify the value of a kitchen that was recently updated or a poorly maintained home.

That means that there are several factors that will affect pricing that aren’t part of the AVM. What it really can only do is look at closed sales in a particular zip code and get the average.

That is certainly not going to give you the right figure of either a sales or a buying price. If that neighborhood is out of reach it’s a pretty good bet that the AVM estimate that says you can buy in is most likely off. If you want to know for sure, call a Realtor.

We are always here to help! Give us a call today 727-216-9247

How To Price Your Home To Sell (Instead of Sit!)

April 11, 2017 By Deborah Ward

When you listed your home for sale you wanted it to sell, not sit. So you trusted your Realtor to price your home to sell. Here is what your Realtor did to make sure of it.

The first thing that your Realtor does is meet with you

He or she will talk with you, even before touring your home, to find out what your motivation to sell could be. Why is this important? Well, because it could make a difference in how high or low within the range of market value to price your home. For instance if you need to sell quickly because you have to move due to a job relocation, pricing it lower will help it sell quickly. Or let’s say you want to sell to up or downsize. You know you’ll need the most you can get out of your home. Pricing it on the high side of the market rate will help with that. Motivation is very important in pricing to sell.

Next thing that your Realtor will do is check comps

Comps, or comparison listings, will show a Realtor what prices similar properties in the same area sold for and give him or her an idea of how to price your property. It doesn’t mean what your neighbor 2 doors down sold their home for, but what a home sold for that has similar features to yours. Your neighbor may have a bigger or smaller lot, better or worse upgrades or more or less living square footage than your home has. Comps are very important for pricing your home.

Now your Realtor will take your home into consideration

They will assess the condition of your home. They will take into consideration the upgrades, square footage, lot size and cleanliness of your home. They will also look at the location of your home. What is nearby? Proximity of shopping, entertainment and other amenities make a difference. How are the schools? Excellent school systems are a feature that many families, or families to be, are looking for. On the other hand being close to airports, railroad tracks, highways or in higher crime areas will lower the value.

When you want to sell, not sit, make sure your Realtor prices your home right!