Joe Dallorso :: Ocala Florida Realtor® :: Real Estate Buyer Agent and Seller Agent

Moving Tips For Sellers

Joe Dallorso — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 00:30:37 +0000

Give your forwarding address to the post office, usually two to four weeks ahead of the move.
Notify your credit card companies, magazine subscriptions, and bank of the change of address.
Develop a list of friends, relatives, and business colleagues who need to be notified of the move.
Arrange to have utilities disconnected at your old home and connected at your new one.
Cancel the newspaper.
Check insurance coverage for moved items. Usually movers only cover what they pack.
Clean out appliances and prepare them for moving, if applicable.
Note the weight of the goods you’ll have moved, since long-distance moves are usually billed according to weight. Watch for movers that use excessive padding to add weight.
Check with your condo or co-op about restrictions on using the elevator or particular exits.
Have a “first open” box with the things you’ll need most—toilet paper, soap, trash bags, scissors, hammer, screwdriver, pencils and paper, cups and plates, water, snacks, and toothpaste.

Plus, if you’re moving out of town:

Get copies of medical and dental records and prescriptions for your family and your pets.
Get copies of children’s school records for transfer.
Ask friends for introductions to anyone they know in your new neighborhood.
Consider special car needs for pets when traveling.
Let a friend or relative know your route.
Carry traveler’s checks or an ATM card for ready cash until you can open a bank account.
Empty your safety deposit box.
Put plants in boxes with holes for air circulation if you’re moving in cold weather.

6 Items to Have on Hand for the New Owners

Owner’s manuals for items left in the house.
Warranties for any items left in the house.
A list of local service providers—the best dry cleaner, yard service, etc.
Garage door opener.
Extra sets of house keys.
Code to burglar alarm and phone number of monitoring service if not discontinued.

Common Closing Costs For Buyers

Joe Dallorso — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 00:25:41 +0000

The lender must disclose a good faith estimate of all settlement costs. A check to cover your closing costs will probably have to be a cashiers check. The title company or other entity conducting the closing will tell you the required amount for:

Down payment
Loan origination fees
Points, or loan discount fees, you pay to receive a lower interest rate
Appraisal fee
Credit report
Private mortgage insurance premium
Insurance escrow for homeowners insurance, if being paid as part of the mortgage
Property tax escrow, if being paid as part of the mortgage. Lenders keep funds for taxes and insurance in escrow accounts as they are paid with the mortgage, then pay the insurance or taxes for you.
Deed recording fees
Title insurance policy premiums
Survey
Inspection fees—building inspection, termites, etc.\
Notary fees
Prorations for your share of costs, such as utility bills and property taxes

5 Things to Understand About Title Insurance

Joe Dallorso — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 00:23:11 +0000

It protects your ownership right to your home both from fraudulent claims against your ownership and from mistakes made in earlier sales, such as mistake in the spelling of a person’s name or an inaccurate description of the property.
It’s a one-time cost usually based on the price of the property.
It’s usually paid for by the sellers.
There are both lender title policies, which protect the lender, and owner title policies, which protect you. The lender will probably require a lender policy.
Discounts on premiums are sometimes available if the home has been bought within only a few years since not as much work is required to check the title. Ask the title company if this discount is available.

10 Things a Lender Needs From You

Joe Dallorso — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 00:21:46 +0000

W-2 forms or business tax return forms if you’re self-employed for the last two or three years for every person signing the loan.
Copies of one or more months of pay stubs from every person signing the loan.
Copies of two to four months of bank or credit union statements for both checking and savings accounts.
Copies of personal tax forms for the last two to three years.
Copies of brokerage account statements for two to four months, as well as a list of any other major assets of value, e.g., a boat, RV, or stocks or bonds not held in a brokerage account.
Copies of your most recent 401(k) or other retirement account statement.
Documentation to verify additional income, such as child support, pension, etc.
Account numbers of all your credit cards and the amounts of any outstanding balances.
Lender, loan number, and amount owed on other installment loans — student loans, car loans, etc.
Addresses where you lived for the last five to seven years, with names of landlords, if appropriate.

Take the Trauma Out of Homebuying

Joe Dallorso — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 00:19:27 +0000

Find a Realtor you like and trust. Once you find someone you like agree to work with them exclusively.
There is no “right” time to buy. Market timing doesn’t work in the stock market and it doesn’t work in real estate. No one predicted the boom years in Ocala real estate and no one predicted the bust. Buy with the intention of living there for 3 to 5 years.
Too many cooks will spoil the soup! Don’t pay too much attention to friends and relatives unless your uncle is named Trump.
No house is ever perfect. Focus in on the big stuff and let the little Trump like ones go.
Don’t try to be a “Trump” like negotiator. Trying to “steal” a house by getting an extra-low price may lose you the home you love.
Make sure you like the important things. You don’t want to replace kitchens or bathrooms, they are just too expensive. Paint, carpet and landscaping are relatively cheap.
Include maintenance and repair costs in your budget. Even a new home needs maintenance or a little personalized improvement.
Buyers remorse is inevitable. Buying a home, especially for the first time, is a big commitment.
A house should be a home first and an investment second. Find a spot you want to stay for a few years.

Tips For First Time Ocala Homebuyers

Joe Dallorso — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 19:16:57 +0000

Be unrealistic – there is no such thing as the perfect home. It’s a question of trade offs.
Decide specifically what features you want in a home and which are most important to you. Make a list starting with what you need then going to what you want.
Review your credit report and be sure you have enough money to cover your down payment and your closing costs.
Talk to a lender and get prequalified for a mortgage before you start looking. There’s nothing more depressing than looking at $300K houses only to discover you only qualify for $175K !!
5. Think long-term. You should plan on staying in this home at least 3 years. You need time to build equity.
Don’t max yourself out on that mortgage. Leave money in your budget for other things. Live in this house 3 to 5 years and then trade up to something better.
A home inspection is a must have and, if possible, get a home warranty from the seller to cover defects the first year.
Hire a REALTOR® as a buyers representative. Unlike a listing agent, a buyers agent is working only for you. It doesn’t cost the buyer anything and you’re crazy not to have one.

A Better Way To Search For Homes In Ocala

Joe Dallorso — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 00:13:47 +0000

A new way to search the Ocala MLS. A must read for anyone interested in buying Ocala real estate.

The “Listing Cart” is a relatively new featured provided by the Ocala Marion County MLS. You define your search criteria such as number of bedrooms, bathrooms, square feet of living area, size of lot etc. Actually, you can get very very specific or keep the search very broad. A word of warning though, too broad a search will yield hundreds and hundreds of homes.

After defining your search you will be emailed a link to the Ocala MLS where your listing cart is hosted. You can then look at details of the home and up to 12 images. You can delete houses you don’t like and even make notes about the ones you do like.

Whenever a new home is listed you will get an automatic email notification about a new addition to your listing cart. If you don’t like your search and want to change it then all it takes is a quick email.

You can either email me about what you would like in a home or use the Dream Home Finder service of my web site. I need your email address and first & last name (without your last name I will have to make one up because it’s one of the must fill in fields needed to set up the cart).

Ocala Short Sales & Foreclosures

Joe Dallorso — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 19:11:03 +0000

We are beginning to see more Short Sales and bank owned properties coming on the market here in Ocala.

First let’s understand the difference between a Short Sale and a Bank Foreclosure.

A Short Sale is actually a pre-foreclosure where the seller, who can not longer make his mortgage payments and owes more on the property than it’s worth, contacts the bank and the bank agrees to accept a lower payoff on the mortgage than the seller owes. Banks do this under the idea that they are going to lose money anyway and it might be cheaper to accept a lower pay off than go through the legal process of foreclosing and then have to sell the house.

A foreclosure is when the bank has already taken title to the property after the legal process of a foreclosure.

Although you might think this is a great way to buy a house for cheap, there are a lot of potential pit falls.

Short Sales aren’t always the best deal. There are often homes just as well priced without the hassle or risk.
When you make an offer, the bank may sit on it for a month or more while looking for better offers or just due to bureaucracy. You can’t be in a hurry to move because you just closed on a house you just sold and need a place to live.
Even after accepting the offer, the bank can change it’s mind and start foreclosure and you can lose money spent on an inspection or survey.
Short Sales and bank sales are sold “As Is”. You will have the right to do an inspection but the bank won’t make any repairs.
Foreclosures may have sat vacant without any maintenance for a long period of time and are sold “As Is”.
In a normal sale, here in Ocala, it is traditional for the seller to pay for title insurance. Banks often try to shift this cost to the buyer.
Banks are hard to deal with because they don’t play by the same rules as a private seller. This is accomplished by adding clauses to the sales contract.

Before getting involved in one of these bank sales you should find a Realtor and look for an equally good deal from a private seller. If you want to pursue this method of buying a home any way, be prepared for a lot of hard work and frustration.

Deed Restricted Communities

Joe Dallorso — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 19:07:29 +0000

Deed restrictions vary widely from one Ocala subdivision to another. They are basically a good idea. They keep people from removing the engine from their car and leaving it in the driveway for a month or two.

They can be a pain too. I can’t put a shed in my back yard unless it is made the same way as my house and matches the homes design. That basically means I’d have to build a cement block structure similar to my house that would cost a fortune instead of buying or building a cheaper wooden shed. Of course it also keeps people from buying those plastic sheds from Lowe’s. You can see it’s a two edge sword.

Deed restrictions can also prevent you from parking a boat in your yard, they can make you mow your grass regularly and even water your lawn. There are lots of things or very few.

A lot of deed restrictions are important. Like homes should be of similar size and construction. No mobile homes next to million dollar mansions.

Deed restrictions are how 55+ communities were created.

Some deed restrictions are well enforced and some not at all. It’s best to assume that even if they are not enforced today, they could be in the future.

Before signing a purchase and sales contract you should be given a copy of the deed restrictions to read. Some can be quite a few pages but it’s important to see if you can live with them. Once you move in it’s too late to change your mind.

Is Ocala a Hurricane Free Zone?

Joe Dallorso — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 19:05:10 +0000

Ocala has never been hit by a hurricane. It does get the remnants in the form of tropical storms which can damage roofs, blow down trees and of course damage mobile and manufactured homes. However we have never had the type of devastation that you may have seen on television in south Florida. Ocala property insurance rates are much lower than in south Florida for this reason. It isn’t impossible to get a hurricane but the odds are in our favor. Hurricanes either hit south Florida, travel up the Atlantic coast or go into the Gulf and hit the panhandle of Florida or travel west.