Gainesville FL Real Estate Blog

Traditionally, both sellers of Gainesville FL real estate and those looking to purchase a home have avoided doing so during the winter months, especial in December.  Because the last month of the year is a time of many religious, social, and cultural celebrations, most people feel they are too busy to deal with real estate matters and/or are convinced that the market is pretty much dormant until at least early spring.  Not so, say many Realtors!  Not only do many folks have vacation time in December and are thus free to house shop, but the slower months are often the ones where buyers are really serious and prices have been reduced. 

According to Lendingtree there are five strong reasons to buy Gainesville FL real estate during this season:

• Lower prices. Because many people are too busy to house hunt now, the slackening of demand is reflected in softer house prices.
• Less competition. With fewer active house-hunters out there, you are unlikely to end up in a bidding war, and sellers will be willing to negotiate.
• Favorable mortgage terms. Because there is less demand for mortgage money during the holiday season, lenders may be willing to shave a few basis points off the interest rate or to forgo some of their fees in order to get your business.
• Tax deduction. If you close on or before December 31, you are likely to be eligible to deduct the interest component of your first monthly mortgage payment and any money you paid for points from your taxable income for this year.

If you’re a seller, check out Realtor.om for a long list of reasons that support their belief that December is a good time to sell your Gainesville FL real estate.  Some of their arguments include:

• Less competition.  People who look at your home over the holidays are serious buyers who have fewer homes from which to choose.
• Business moves.  January is traditionally a month where employers have to move so they can’t wait until spring.  They have to buy now– you’re there to capture that market.
• Advantage for you.  By selling now, you have the opportunity to be a non-contingent buyer for next year when houses are less and you’ll have more opportunities and properties to choose from.
• Timing.  Many potential buyers want to settle before the end of the year for tax reasons.
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Let’s start with the why? The most common incentive to clear away clutter occurs when you’re selling your Gainesville FL real estate and want to stage it for prospective buyers. Real estate agents will tell you that clutter-filled, disorganized homes appear smaller, and every website offering tips for a fast sale includes–and stresses- the need to show a clutter-free home. Another strong reason for eliminating clutter is to lower the stress in your life by having everything in its place ((how nice it would be not to spend valuable time and energy looking through clutter for misplaced items!) and returning home to a serene and neatly organized setting. (Polls and studies have shown that physical surroundings do indeed affect one’s level of stress. ) Other mess-removing motivators include selling unused items to bring in extra money, donating still-good items to people who need them, and joining the green movement by recycling unwanted possessions.

How to begin such a daunting task?

All “experts” in the field strongly advise tackling the job in small steps. Begin with one room at a time, play soothing music, and allocate 20 to 30 minutes a day to the job. Bring to each room boxes or bins labeled keep, toss, donate, and recycle. Be ruthless!! If you haven’t used an item in the past year, remove it from your Gainesville FL real estate. (Hint: also check expiration dates on foodstuffs when you de-clutter the kitchen.) Assess your storage capacity and discard accordingly.

What should you dispose of?

The most obvious clutter creators seem to be mail, clothing, newspapers and magazines, documents, books, and home décor accessories. Think, too, about furniture, baby items, food, toiletries, appliances, bedding, electronics, and hardware. Have you heard about the “80/20 rule”? It is generally believed that you can safely let go of 80% of the papers you’ve kept.

Where should your unneeded/unwanted treasures go?

For many of them, the answer is, of course, the trash. (You can easily arrange for bulk pickup for large items.) Others may be candidates for recycling. Perhaps you can list some of them under the Free tab on Craig list or search nearly 5000 groups who use discarded materials.

Ask around your community for organizations which would welcome used books and toys–libraries, hospitals, nursery schools, churches. Give old magazines to doctors’ offices. Lions Club groups collect old eyeglasses, and many organizations eagerly accept working but unwanted cell phones. There are innumerable websites which suggest new homes for your discards. Try RecycleNow.com or Earth911.com (supplies locations of local charities by zip code). Many organizations such as Goodwill Industries, Salvation Army, and Disabled Veterans, have handy drop-off boxes or centers or will come to your Gainesville FL real estate location for pickup. (Extra bonus: in addition to the joy of giving to others, you may also receive a tax deduction for your contributions.)
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At least one fear was not realized amid last week’s stock market meltdown according to CNNMoney.com: the concern that mortgage rates would immediately shoot higher in response to Standard & Poor’s downgrade of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored entities that are the 800-pound gorillas of the mortgage market. In fact, the initial response to Fannie and Freddie getting cut to AA+ from AAA was precisely the opposite. Mortgage rates were poised to continue declining.

Mortgage rates are set off of the interest rates on U.S. Treasury notes and bonds. Even though Standard & Poor’s pulled its AAA rating of the United States, investors still rushed into U.S. Treasury securities as a safe haven, believing more in the “full faith and credit of the United States” than in the opinion of Standard & Poor’s credit analysts. As investors snapped up Treasury notes and bonds they pushed down interest rates on those securities, which move inversely to prices.

Analysts warn the drop in interest rates may not last. If investment flows were to move back into stocks and out of bonds, interest rates on Treasury securities, and consequently mortgages, would rise. “Over the long-term, if the U.S. has to pay more in interest rates, consumer rates will likely go up,” said Greg McBride, senior financial analyst for Bankrate.com.

For now, lower mortgage rates may offer only limited benefits to American consumers. Banks’ lending standards have been tough recently, and consumers need the wherewithal to qualify for loans. That appears increasingly difficult as the economy continues to sputter.

Now take a look at how the Gainesville FL real estate market performed in July.

The Gainesville FL area single family home sales saw pending sales decrease 7% in July.  Sold listings increased by 14%, and new listings decrease by 22%.  The average sales price decreased by 19% to $164,860, while market times increased by 20 days or 11%.

The Gainesville FL area Condo/Townhome market saw pending sales increase by 26% in July 2011 when compared to July 2010.  Sold listings increased by 15%, and new listings decreased by 25%.  The average sales price decreased by 20% to $79,416 when compared to July 2010, while the average market times increased by 53 days or 29%. 

For the latest Gainesville FL real estate market conditions in your area, please call me at 888-424-8841 or visit MyGatorCondo.com.

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Linda Luetjen assists buyers looking for Gainesville FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Gainesville FL homes for sale.

She understands the purchase of any Gainesville FL home represents not only one of the largest and most significant investment a person can make, but also a decision that affects the entire life of a family. It should be handled with all the care and attention such a significant transaction deserves. You may rest assured that Linda never forgets this. Her reputation depends on your satisfaction.

For more information about buying or selling your Gainesville FL home, please call Linda toll free at 888-424-8841 or via email with our convenient contact form. 

Shall I sell now or wait to see what happens in the real estate market? That is a decision facing numerous homeowners in this period of economic upheaval and uncertainty. For those who are forced to leave their Gainesville FL home because of a job transfer, a need for a smaller home, and/or a desire for a smaller mortgage payment, the question becomes one of whether to rent or sell their current property. Oh, for a crystal ball.     

There are, however, some valid reasons to sell at the present time. Many in the real estate or financial fields believe that the timing for home sales may not be as opportune for a long period in the future as it is now, and they base their “sell now” advice on the following reasons:          

1. Would-be buyers in the fourth quarter of the year are historically serious buyers who are very apt to buy during this season. Thus, the seller may have fewer ‘lookers’ but more motivated purchasers.         

2. Interest rates right now are invitingly low and provide a real incentive for the serious buyer of a Gainesville FL home. These fallen rates can also be an advantage to the seller who wants to buy another home.           

3. If you do want to purchase another home, especially if you want to “trade up”, this is an optimum time to do so. The prices of more expensive houses have also dropped, sometimes considerably, and bargains are to be had in that market. Remember, too, that because there is a smaller pool of buyers for “high end” properties, those sellers may be  more than willing to negotiate and lower their asking price.           

4. Renting out your Gainesville FL home rather than selling it is not a financially secure consideration. As the economy worsens, renters will be looking to pay lower rents, so your rental income may very well be less than your monthly mortgage payments and expenses, a situation you certainly want to avoid.           

5. The on-going foreclosure fiasco and the ensuing moratoriums positively support the idea of selling now. Many homes currently in the process of foreclosure are being removed from the market, and serious buyers are rightfully cautious about purchasing any short sale or foreclosed property. Therefore, your home, the one with a clear title and no irregularities, will be part of a new, “safe” inventory, one that will definitely attract buyers.         

 6. Once the moratoriums are removed, many “experts” expect that there will be a glut of distressed properties on the market, a situation that will most likely drive prices down even lower and greatly swell the inventory with which you will have to compete. Add to that the fact that the end of the first quarter traditionally brings a large increase of  listings, and your Gainesville FL home could be easily overlooked.       

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If you are considering buying or selling a Gainesville FL home, you need to be aware of the possible impact an easement could have on the property’s value or on a buyer’s impression of the property. An easement is a encumbrance on the title of the property and indicates that a third party has been granted the right to use a defined area of the parcel for a general or specific purpose

There are many types of easement, both as a permanent arrangement and a limited-time agreement, and the most common ones are the:

• Right-of-way – which allows a person(s) to travel across the land of a Gainesville FL home.                        
• Public entity–gives utility companies and/or local governments the right to install power lines, sewers, and water mains, etc.

Other easements

• Provide pathways across pieces of property
• Forbid the blocking of a view
• Permit public access to a beach or park
• Allow use of a neighbor’s driveway
• Grant rights to preservation organizations
• Limit types of development on/of the land

While in most cases easements extend only along boundaries and have little effect on the value of your Gainesville FL home, it is important to determine that they do not affect the general use of the property or place any burden on the owner of that land. Owners and would-be buyers should

•  Be aware of what easements apply to the piece of real estate
•  Understand exactly what the easement allows and/or prohibits and
• Possibly obtain an appraisal of the value of the easement.  

Although most easements “run with the land” or pass forward to a new owner, it is sometimes possible to remove them through legal action, such as a quit claim deed or execution of a release agreement by all parties involved. Consult an experience real estate attorney to explore these actions as well as to confirm the presence, scope, and implications of any easements on the property of your Gainesville FL home.

Linda Luetjen assists buyers looking for Gainesville FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Gainesville FL homes for sale.

She understands the purchase of any Gainesville FL home represents not only one of the largest and most significant investment a person can make, but also a decision that affects the entire life of a family. It should be handled with all the care and attention such a significant transaction deserves. You may rest assured that Linda never forgets this. Her reputation depends on your satisfaction.

For more information about buying or selling your Gainesville FL home, please call Linda toll free at 888-424-8841 or via email with our convenient contact form.

Search all Gainesville FL real estate and Gainesville FL homes for sale.

A new category of homeowners has emerged in recent months–those who voluntarily walk away from their mortgaged property. The rising ranks of this group are not comprised of people who can’t afford their mortgage payments and thus go into foreclosure; rather these defaulters are homeowners who choose to let their Gainesville FL real estate holdings go rather than continue to pay on a home which is worth less than what they owe.

Such a phenomenon is new to the United States, where proud homeowners of the past would make every sacrifice necessary to keep their home–and their dignity–and it is a thorny issue in terms of moral responsibility and finances.       

The Mortgage Bankers Association has voiced concern about the message these “walkers” send to their families and the community, and even President Obama has urged homeowners to follow the responsible course and honor their financial obligations. Such words too often fall on deaf ears, however, as anxious owners of Gainesville FL real estate watch lenders unload their mortgages with impunity and private businesses practice “strategic default” by letting a company fail rather than continue putting money into it.     

One prevailing viewpoint is that homeowners must operate under a moral constraint while lenders and businesses are free to maximize their profits–an unfair and unbalanced system in the eyes of the “walkers.”      
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If you are among those who received a tax credit of up to $7500 when you purchased your Gainesville FL home in 2008, you are now required to begin repaying that credit with this year’s tax return. The entire amount is payable in 15 equal annual installments.

The IRS is sending letters of explanation of the repayment procedure to all taxpayers who claimed the credit in 2008. Generally speaking, all first-time 2008 home buyers will need to pay an additional $500 on their taxes from 2010 to 2025, provided the house is not sold before then and remains the owner’s primary residence.

If you sell your Gainesville FL home before 2025, any profits will first go to paying back the tax credit in full. If you sell at a loss, the difference will be forgiven, although, as is typical with most forgiveness agreements, you must record that amount as income and pay taxes on it.

If, within 36 months after buying your home, the property is no longer used as your primary residence due to a divorce in which your spouse retains the house; conversion to rental property, a business, or a vacation home; or foreclosure, the full amount of the unpaid credit must be paid in full with the tax return for the year in which the change occurred. You will need to file IRS form 5405 with your return in this case.

Because individual situations vary, it is important for 2008 Gainesville FL home buyers to consult a qualified tax professional to make sure they are fulfilling all obligations of their purchase and subsequent credit.

In 2003 the Federal Housing Authority, fearful that house flipping was causing skyrocketing home prices, discontinued the approval of property loans that were sold within 90 days. In 2010 that agency instituted a one-year suspension (due to expire on January 31, 2011) of that regulation. However, in an effort to continue stabilizing house values and improve conditions in communities experiencing high foreclosure activity, the FHA announced an extension of the “anti-flipping” waiver through the rest of this year.

FHA Commissioner David Stevens cited the continued need for investors of Gainesville real estate to use FHA-insured financing to purchase HUD-owned or bank-owned properties or properties resold through private sales as the reason for the extension, thus allowing quick sales to stabilize Gainesville real prices and revitalize negatively-impacted neighborhoods and communities. Stevens went on to point out that “since the waiver first went into effect in 2010, the FHA has insured more than 21,000 mortgages worth over $3.6 billion on properties resold within 90 days of acquisition.” He also stated, “Because of past restrictions, FHA borrowers have often been shut out from buying affordable properties. This action enables our borrowers, especially first-time buyers, to take advantage of this opportunity and buy a home that has recently by rehabilitated. It will also help to move more foreclosed properties off the market and reduce the number of vacant homes in neighborhoods throughout the country.” Stevens also acknowledged that, because of the tightened credit market, FHA-insured is often the only means of financing available to potential homebuyers.

To protect the buyer/investor of Gainesville real estate, the waiver includes strict conditions and guidelines to assure that predatory practices are not allowed and is limited to those sales in which the following terms are met:

• All transactions must be arms-length, with no identity of interest between the buyer and seller or other parties participating in the sales transaction.
• In cases in which the sales price of the property is 20 percent or more above the seller’s acquisition cost, the waiver will only apply if the lender meets specific conditions.
• The waiver is limited to forward mortgages, and does not apply to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) for purchase program.

So it has happened. You’ve spent recent months preparing your house for sale, negotiating a fair price, and anxiously awaiting the closing date. And now the appraisal on your Gainesville FL  real estate has come in below the offered price. What to do? First, remain calm. This is not an unusual problem in today’s market. Understanding the reason(s) for the disappointing appraisal and exploring your options in saving the transaction may well be helpful at this point.

REASONS FOR A LOW APPRAISAL:

• Overpricing by you, the seller
• Declining market values
• An abundance of foreclosures or short sales in your neighborhood
• Inflated price resulting from multiple offers
• Incorrect evaluation by the underwriter
• Cash back to the buyer from the seller
• Error on the part of the appraiser              

STEPS YOU CAN TAKE:

• Lower the price on your Gainesville FL real estate. Research the latest comps for your area, think realistically about your asking price, and decide if you are willing to begin the whole process again.
• Ask the buyer to make up the difference in cash.
• Offer to carry a second mortgage for the buyer if the above option is not possible.
• Check the appraisal for errors in information about your Gainesville FL real estate.  Is the square footage correct? What about the number of bedrooms or bathrooms? Have any recent improvements you’ve made to the property been included? If not, appeal the appraisal.
• Supply to the underwriter a list of recent comparable sales that justify the selling price and ask for a review of the appraisal.
• Order a new appraisal. Although you or your buyer will have to pay for it out of pocket, it could certainly be money well spent if it results in a higher appraisal. If your loan is an FHA loan, ask your lender for a list of approved appraisers. If it is a conventional loan, it is subject to the rules of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC).
• Cancel the transaction. The last resort after trying to resolve the situation. Most purchase contracts contain a loan contingency dealing with low appraisals.

Yes, there are still qualified buyers out there, but the supply of Gainesville FL homes for sale is far greater than the demand for them, and today’s buyers can afford to be very selective. Your house may have excellent curb appeal and be beautifully staged, but if you really want to sell in this market, you must be realistic, flexible, and creative when it comes to pricing, availability, flexibility, and motivating the buyer to purchase your property.

PRICING: A few years ago, you probably could have sold your home for what you think it is worth today–or even more–but that is most likely no longer the case. Of course, the thought of taking a loss is a bitter pill for you to swallow, but if that’s what the recent sales in your neighborhood indicate, you may have no choice. It is important that you and your Realtor, after reviewing comparables, be objective and set a realistic price that will draw buyers. Keep in mind that the buyer is looking for the best possible deal and will avoid even looking at an overpriced house.

AVAILABILTY/FLEXIBILITY:

• Exposure and showings. Since so many potential buyers go first to the internet to scout out homes, make sure that your Realtor has your listing on his website. Also make certain that your Gainesville FL home is always available (and ready to tour) for showings. A Realtor’s lockbox is a good way to ensure unrestricted entry for agents.

• Closing dates: Again, you need to be as accommodating as possible. Many buyers want a closing date as quickly as possible, and it is helpful if you are prepared to at least consider such a request.

• Negotiating terms of the contract: If you have a solid offer from a qualified buyer, resist the temptation to quibble over relatively unimportant matters. If refusing to leave the drapes or an appliance is going to kill the deal, you may well regret your inflexibility later.

• Timeliness: In the current market conditions, you no longer have the freedom to take a few days to think about an offer made on your Gainesville FL home. Buyers will expect a response (preferably one with few, if any, counters) within 24 hours. Waiting longer than that too often results in a withdrawal of the offer.

INCENTIVES: Today’s sellers are turning more and more to finding ways to create interest in their property and motivate hesitant buyers. Since builders of new homes offer such         incentives, it is becoming commonplace for other sellers to do the same. Examples of incentives include:

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