David Dorman Realtor -Homes for sale Orlando Windermere Dr Philips Clermont Gotha FL
I’m not going to lie to you…I took last
month off from writing the newsletter. Not because I was feeling lazy or
didn’t have the time, but because it
was basically the same market and
same news as the last several
months and there are only so many
ways you can say the same thing!
No matter where I go, I am usually
asked, “How is the Market?” I usually
Truth be told if asked today I’d
probably say “Interesting”. Those
folks that have known me since I
started in 1999, know that I have
seen the ups and downs of real
estate and luckily adapted quickly.
27 and 48.
What do these numbers have in
common?
They are both the number of offers
presented on listings I was working
with buyers on.
Can you feel the winds of change? In real estate we tend to look for signs, signals etc. to notify us of change in the market. Sometimes it is limited inventory, others it’s too much. One of the biggest and most reliable indicators is a change in the financial future. You may hear about the recent change in rates as well as upcoming increases. This is normal and expected, but often times, the
reaction time for sellers is too late.
Purchasing and owning a home represents a major accomplishment in your life. But since home ownership is also an investment, you may be wondering how to raise the value of your home in order to get the most out of that investment. Understanding what adds value to a home will help you get the most out of the property that you own, giving you the best possible return on your real estate investment.
If you want some advice on how to maximize the value of your home, follow the tips we provided to get you started. All of the advice found in our guide will give you some ideas on how to improve your home so that it can achieve its full potential and give you the most rewarding home ownership experience possible.
First impressions count for a lot, and that holds true when considering the value of a property. The exterior of your home and the surrounding yard will be the first thing that potential buyers see when they’re taking a look at your property. Taking steps to improve this first impression that your home will leave can be a great way to increase your home’s value.
Some basic landscaping can go a long way in this regard, whether you’re planting trees to add some character to the yard or planting a garden for a splash of color. Keeping the lawn well-maintained will also send the right message to anybody considering buying the property. A new front door or other exterior improvements to the home itself can also make a big difference.
While landscaping and other exterior improvements are a good place to start, it’s important to make sure the beauty of your property doesn’t only run skin deep. Improve the interior attractiveness of your property by choosing upgrades that are popular among modern buyers. A little bit of market research to see what trends are hot at the time you’re putting your house on the market can go a long way towards getting a better offer for your home.
A few examples that you may wish to follow when thinking of how to raise the value of your home would be to add quartz countertops to your kitchen or to replace brass doorknobs with brushed nickel ones. You may also want to install eye-catching stainless-steel appliances. These upgrades come at a low-cost relative to other home renovations, giving you an easy way to add value to your property.
While taking on a renovation project can involve a lot of work and expenses, there are few better ways to increase the value a property holds. Replacing old furnishings with fresh and new pieces that follow the latest trends or updating the flooring in a room are some ways that you can improve the value of your property with a restoration project.
Before beginning any remodeling, take a moment to find your inspiration so that you can set out with a clear goal in mind. Opening up a real estate or interior design magazine can be a great place to start. Recognizing what’s chic and fashionable will help you tailor your own remodeling projects to appeal to the tastes of modern homebuyers.
Now more than ever, people are looking for ways to make every aspect of their lives greener and more eco-friendly than before. That principle applies to home ownership as well. Better energy efficiency for a property not only leads to a reduced environmental impact, but it also saves the person living in the home money on electricity, heating, and other expenses.
Upgrading to LED lightbulbs from old-fashioned incandescent ones and winterizing any doors or windows are some straightforward ways to improve energy efficiency. You might also wish to install a smart home thermostat to ensure your heating and cooling systems are being used efficiently. If you intend to upgrade home appliances before selling the property, look for energy-efficient options that will be attractive to modern home buyers.
Size isn’t everything, but additional square footage makes a big difference in the overall cost of a property. The most obvious way to do this would be to build an additional room or extension onto the house. Each additional room opens up new possibilities for potential buyers and can be a major factor in what adds value to a home.
Besides increasing the physical size of the home, increasing the finished square footage by remodeling an unfinished basement or attic can be a good method for how to raise the value of your home. You can also visually improve the square footage you already have by making existing rooms feel more open with techniques such as letting more natural lighting in or adding mirrors in strategic places.
Nobody wants to add any unnecessary stress or hardship to their life. That’s why taking steps that make a home require less day-to-day maintenance can be very beneficial towards improving your home’s value. When people see the work-saving features included with the house, it will help them to picture themselves living in the property. They’ll be thinking of the possibilities the new properties provide instead of stressing over future maintenance requirements.
Some ways that you can reduce the maintenance burden for future owners is to replace major components of the house prior to putting it up for sale. Some ideas would be putting a new water heater or furnace in place, assuring potential buyers that they won’t face any costly replacements of their own. You may also want to have a new roof installed to show the property is well-maintained.
Technology continues to revolutionize all aspects of our lives, and that includes the way that we interact with our homes. Staying on the cutting-edge of the latest developments in smart home technology will leave you with a property that fits in with the expectations of modern home buyers. These improvements also come at a lower cost than large-scale renovations.
Smart home systems include thermostats with automated control, front doorbell systems that include cameras, and more. Integrating up-to-date safety technology into your home is another essential. Home security systems, carbon monoxide detectors, and smoke alarms are just some of the most crucial pieces of technology that any home needs.
A new coat of paint can add life to a property in need of some restoration, and can even change the personality and character that the building gives off. Fresh paint on the exterior sends the right message to anybody who arrives to check out the property, while newly-painted interior rooms look fresh and updated to give the entire home a revitalized feel.
When selecting colors for any repainting that you’re doing, bear in mind that neutral tones appeal to the broadest array of people. However, there may be times that a more vibrant color would suit a particular room better. The ultimate choice comes down to personal preference, but do keep in mind the impression you’ll leave on potential buyers instead of only taking your taste into account.
Once you’ve got a fresh paint job, another good step to take to revitalize your home would be to get rid of any drab carpets or rugs that detract from the home’s appearance. Faded colors, old stains, or other imperfections in these components of your house can give the property a dreary feel that might put off some purchasers.
Update your flooring with fresh new carpeting to maximize the attractiveness of your property. Switching over to popular hardwood flooring choices is another good tip for how to raise the value of your home. Whichever option you choose, the addition of a few tasteful accent rugs can put the perfect finishing touch on your property before you put it up on the market.
You should always keep up on regular maintenance needs for your home, but that becomes even more important when you’re thinking of selling the property. If somebody comes to view your property and finds it poorly maintained, that will leave a negative feeling in their mind about the experience. Make sure you’re presenting the best face of your house by ensuring that all of its maintenance needs are met prior to putting it up for sale on the market.
Getting the right real estate agent on your side is another essential step in getting the best possible deal for your property. If you want experience and knowledge of the real estate market to call on, look no further than our experienced team with years of background in the industry. Contact David Dorman today and get the best value possible for your home!
As another year comes to an end, it’s time to reflect on what we learned, gained, lost and everything in between….
If you’re a first time home buyer, all of the different factors you need to consider when buying a piece of property can seem overwhelming. To make your search a little easier, keep this list of red flags in mind when you’re looking for a house to know how to spot potential problems at any home you’re considering.
A solid foundation is essential to the quality of the building it is supporting. That’s why one of the most important red flags when buying a house to look for is a crack in the foundation or any other similar issue. A crack in the foundation can easily be detected during your initial surveying of a home and can save you some costly and time-consuming repairs later on down the line.
In addition to the obvious trouble that a crack in the foundation displays, there are other things to look out for that might clue you in on problems with the building’s structure. Sagging floors and walls or doorframes that are somewhat misshapen are other indicators to look out for. These seemingly small problems may point to a larger issue with the building’s structure that will cost you big time further down the line.
You want nothing but the highest level of craftsmanship used to construct your house. The same standard should apply to any repairs, maintenance, or expansions that were done after the house was built.
When inspecting a home, keep an eye out for any work that was done that wasn’t done up to a high standard. Such work may be indicative of corners cut during the construction or hasty renovations done by ‘flippers’ hoping to cover up problems to turn a fast profit. In any such case, the shoddy work done in the past can create problems for you further in the future.
Nobody likes to deal with insects or vermin disturbing their peace of mind when they’re trying to rest and relax at home. Pest infestations can do much worse than creep you out, however. Some of these creatures also have the capacity to damage the structure of your home, while others pose a threat to the health of those living around them by acting as vectors for diseases to spread.
That makes it important to be able to recognize the signs of an infestation when you’re viewing a home you’re considering buying. Signs of an active infestation, such as the creatures themselves crawling or buzzing around, are easy enough to recognize. But you should also look out for other indications of a problem, such as old insect carcasses, droppings lying around the home, or scratches and other marks that indicate the past presence of pests.
A first-time home buyer may overlook the appearance of minor stains and marks when assessing a potential property they’re considering. After all, these minor aesthetic gripes may seem like a minor problem compared to other more obviously important aspects of the home. But the truth is that these stains can be indicative of much more serious problems that should make you think twice about purchasing a home that shows them.
Stains and marks on the walls and ceilings may indicate moisture or mold issues. Ask questions to determine if these marks are the result of a plumbing issue, a leaky roof, or backed-up water from ice damming. That can give you a clearer idea of whether the issue that caused the stain has been resolved or if there’s an underlying issue that needs to be taken care of before you consider moving into the property.
Especially when you’re looking at an older home, it’s important to keep an eye out for any issues with the electrical systems in the building. If it’s possible to get an opinion from somebody who is knowledgeable about electrical work, inspecting the fuse box and wiring can be beneficial precautions to take to make sure there aren’t any faulty or potentially dangerous issues.
Many people may not have the technical experience to look for such problems, but there are still steps that any home buyer can take. Look out for flickering lights or malfunctioning light switches as some basic indications of electrical problems. These can be signs that you want to have the home looked at by an experienced electrician before making a final call on if it’s the right purchase for you.
While you’re looking for red flags when buying a house, it isn’t only the building itself that you should be checking out. Look at the yard surrounding the home you’re inspecting and take note of any build-up of water pooling around the structure. This could be a sign that the land isn’t being properly drained. Overflowing gutters or signs of water damage to basement walls are other signs of poor drainage.
Be sure to have this problem addressed if you notice it on a property you’re considering buying. If water is not drained properly, it can seep into the ground around your house and cause water damage to the basement or even more serious harm to the structure of the building itself. Standing water can also serve as a breeding ground for common pests such as mosquitos, and the moisture could encourage the growth of mold or mildew.
Since a home you’re viewing isn’t actually yours quite yet, it’s important to respect the privacy of the current owner. One thing that entails is respecting any boundaries that they lay down in regards to areas of the property you can’t see during a showing. This may not be a red flag in itself, but you should definitely take note of this behavior when it occurs.
Before finalizing a deal for the purchase of the property, make arrangements to see the areas that were missed in the initial viewings you had of the property. While there may have been legitimate reasons for keeping the part of the property off-limits, you’ll naturally want to see that area of the structure before completing any deals to ensure the current owners aren’t trying to hide away flaws in that part of the building.
In order to impress a first-time home buyer, the person showing off the property you’re looking at may apply a coat of fresh paint to the walls. This can be done with good intentions, as it helps to show off the best face of the property and add a little personality to the walls and ceilings. But you should always keep a skeptical eye out when inspecting a property, and that includes questioning why a coat of paint was applied.
Check for signs of mold, mildew, water damage, or other potential problems at the site of any fresh paint. Check to see if the walls or ceiling are sagging beneath the new coat of paint as well. One of the red flags when buying a house to look for at this stage of your inspection is if the fresh paint seems out of place, such as if it is only being applied to one wall.
While many of the red flags discussed here are things that you’ll see when looking at a property, you should also be aware of problems you can detect by scent as well. Take a good deep breath both inside and outside of the home and take note of any strange odors you might detect.
There are a range of problems that can be discovered this way, so look for anything out of the ordinary. From the fetid odor of stagnant water to a nearby landfill, any number of problems can be caught early by a keen nose. Another red flag to look out for is the overabundance of scented candles or air freshener, which the homeowner may be using to mask a foul odor you would otherwise smell.
A good home is only half of what you’re looking for when you’re buying property. You want to make sure the place you’re calling home for years to come is located somewhere that you want to live. There are a variety of factors to research, including the quality of the area’s schools if you have any children or plan on starting a family. A large number of people moving out is another indicator the neighborhood might be a bad fit.
You don’t have to go it alone when finding your next dream home. Get the help and experience that a proven realtor in our area can provide when you get in touch with our office. Start your search with David Dorman today!
If you’re selling your home, one of the things you have to look forward to is the money you’ll receive from the sale. David Dorman in Ocoee, FL is here to help you sell your home and get the most out of the experience.
The process of putting your home up for sale can be daunting. Working with a qualified real estate agent is one way that you can make the process much easier for yourself. But you may still have a lot of questions when it comes to selling your home, especially about the payment.
After the closing process is complete, you’ll receive the money you made from the sale. But are you going to receive all of it? There are several costs involved with the sale of a house, and you’ll have to pay them before you can take home the money from the sale. The good news is that you won’t have to worry about making sure the money goes to the right places. Rather, your closing agent will handle that for you. Here are a few places where some of the money from your sale is going to go.
If you haven’t paid off your mortgage yet, then part of the money you make from your sale is going to have to go towards paying the remainder off. It’s only fair, after all!
Of course, if you’ve already paid off your mortgage then you won’t need to worry about losing money to your mortgage broker. But if you still need to pay it off, before closing you’ll receive a notice that will tell you how much your payment will be. This notice will also include any fees or prepayment penalties that might be owed due to satisfying your mortgage before its full term.
Your real estate agent works hard to make sure that you’re getting the best deal possible. If you’re working with a good real estate agent, they’ll make sure that your home is sold quickly and for the most money you can reasonably expect to get.
Your agent needs to be paid for all that hard work! So part of the fees involved with selling your home, including paying your agent. Most agents are paid a percentage of the sale price, and this percentage can vary. Your agent will let you know what percentage you can expect to be paying them.
The contract of your sale will vary from sale to sale. If your home isn’t in the best shape, then part of the contract might be making any necessary repairs for the buyers. Most of the time when you’re selling a home, a home inspection will be a necessary part. If the inspector finds any major issues, you as the seller will be responsible for fixing them.
Of course, this will be taken out of the money you receive from the sale of your home.
Before you can transfer your property’s title over to the buyer, you’ll need to pay off any liens that might exist against your property. If you don’t have any liens, then you won’t need to worry about this. But if you do, part of your payment will need to go towards paying them off.
Liens can come from a variety of things including civil judgments, child support obligations, or creditor judgments.
Owning a home means having to pay for all your property taxes and utilities. If you have any outstanding fees at the time that you sell your home, then it will be your job to pay them.
The amount that you pay will vary on a case-by-case basis.
At the time of closing, there may be other closing costs that you need to pay off. These closing costs will change depending on where you live and what specific fees you might owe. These might include a title search, which is a public records search that confirms you’re the owner of the property. There’s also a transfer tax that you may need to pay. This will be separate from your property taxes and varies from state to state.
You’ll also need to pay for title insurance, which is insurance protecting the buyer from any title problems. You’ve also got escrow fees to pay. Usually, both the buyer and the seller pay half of these fees.
A big part of selling a house is the closing process. This process can take several weeks. The exact length of time it will take depends on the buyer and how soon they’re able to get their loan approved.
When you do make it to your closing date, you’ll have to sign some documents with your real estate agent as well as a closing agent. The closing agent is a third party whose job is facilitating the sale of your home. When you sit down to sign these documents, there are a few things you’ll need to bring. This includes a valid government-issued photo ID, a cashier’s check for the closing costs you need to pay, all keys for your home, and any access codes that may be required for working things in your home. This includes things like thermostats or garage doors. The documents you’ll need to sign include the following:
This is a legal document that says you are the legal owner of the property you are selling. It will also disclose any legal issues that are related to yourself or your property.
This document transfers the legal ownership of the property from you over to the buyer.
This is an itemized list of all of the financials involved in the sale of your home. It will tell you how much money you’ve made from the sale as well as the closing costs that are owed and the amount owed to pay off the rest of the mortgage if you have not already paid it.
The seller’s closing disclosure will also tell you how much money you’ll be receiving after all of these costs are taken off.
If you are leaving anything inside the house once you’ve sold it, the bill of sale will list it. This includes items like appliances as well as furniture.
This document will detail the amount of your final mortgage payment. This will also list any prepayment penalties.
At the time of closing the sale of your home, you will need to sign a statement of closing costs. This simply acknowledges that you’re aware of the costs of selling your home and that you agree to them.
When you get your money from selling your home depends on whether you live in a wet funding state or a dry funding state. Most states are wet funding states, and this includes Florida. However, if you live in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Alaska, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, or New Mexico, you live in a dry funding state.
If you live in a wet funding state like Florida, then the money for the sale of your home will be available as soon as the buyer has sold all of the loan documents. States like this are called wet funding states because the money is available as soon as the documents are signed, while the ink is still wet on the page.
This means that if you live in one of these states, you can get paid for the sale of your home on closing day. By this point, the lender will already have sent the funds to your closing agent after verifying all of the buyer’s documentation.
Living in a wet funding state means you get paid as soon as the sale is closed. But if you live in a dry funding state, you might need to wait a little bit longer to get your money. This is what the “dry” in the term dry funding states refers to. The ink will be dry on the page by the time your money from the sale is available.
The amount of time you need to wait for your funds to be available will vary. You might need to wait up to four days before you’re able to get the money, which can cause some issues if you don’t think about the time between your funds becoming available and the sale date of your new home. However, if you live in one of these states, there are some resources available to you in cases like these.
Whether you’re buying or selling your home, working with a qualified, experienced, and passionate real estate agent is key. Our team is ready to help you get the most out of your home buying or selling experience. Get in touch with David Dorman in Ocoee, FL today to get started.
Selling your house can be nerve-wracking and confusing. Since your home has very likely been your biggest financial investment, it’s important to set about things the right way. While the calculations involved with this process can vary quite a bit depending on the situation, there are some things you can keep in mind to help you roughly know what to expect.
Once you’ve factored in all the money you had to spend actually selling your house, you’ll be left with the net proceeds. So in general, the net proceeds will be the sale price minus your sale prep costs, closing costs, or the amount of your mortgage payoff.
There can be a lot of hidden costs when it comes to getting your house sold, so keeping track of where your money is going during this process is key to getting the right bang for your buck.
As we look into how much money you’ll keep while selling your house, any outstanding mortgage balance is going to play a role in what you get to pocket from the sale. The closing costs and your current equity also play their part in the money you can expect to make.
Your mortgage payoff is how much money you owe for your house. When it comes to calculating your sales expenses, if you’ve taken any lines of credit or equity loans against your property, you should include those costs in your calculations.
If the value of your home has increased significantly, or if you’ve owned your house for a long time, the mortgage payoff should be much lower than your sale price. This is a good thing, since it means more money for you.
On the other hand, when you have less equity that means you’ll have a higher payoff amount when compared to your sale price. That’s why knowing what to expect from your mortgage payoff is very important when it comes to figuring out the money you’ll be able to make at sale.
In addition to the above factors, there are other elements that buyers should keep in mind as they’re figuring out how much money they’ll make from their sale.
Staging is another term for this “tidying up” process. Home prep is important to a lot of buyers, so most sellers do some form of staging when they put their house up for sale. The goal while selling your home is usually to make the house not only look clean and appealing but to organize things in a way that allows potential buyers to imagine their own stuff and their own lives in the house.
For some sellers, staging could mean tackling a project they think will improve their home’s worth, while for others the process of staging is as simple as cleaning, decluttering, and depersonalizing. These investments should ultimately help you make the sale, so it’s usually worth it to make some improvements as long as you’re keeping your budget in mind.
During the staging process, you may notice something that needs to be repaired. Many sellers will repair anything they think could be an issue when it comes to their home’s desirability.
Another time you may have to worry about repair costs is if the buyer requests certain repairs before closing. Some sellers may opt to provide credit at closing, so the new buyers can use that credit to have the issue fixed themselves.
What usually makes the most sense is to get any major fixes out of the way before listing. Upgrades can definitely help your house be more appealing, and the goal of these upgrades is to try to drive in more interest and higher offers than you would have gotten before.
Getting the repairs done beforehand also gives you more control over exactly how much you’re willing to pay for repairs, instead of having to compromise with a buyer on what they think the repairs are going to cost.
If you need to use the services of professional movers or a truck rental, those are costs you’ll have to consider when it comes to your net proceeds. Even if you roll up your sleeves and move out all on your own, the price of packing materials and housing costs if you have to stay somewhere temporarily will take their slice of the money pie.
Moving locally is less costly when it comes to gas and professional moving fees. Make sure you research ahead of time to see the price per hour and per mover for the company of your choice.
One of the biggest expenses you’ll have to face will probably be closing costs. This will usually take a percentage of the sale price. How much of a percentage it takes can vary widely depending on various factors. A realtor should be able to help give you an estimate of what your transaction fees and closing costs will be.
The term “closing costs” is usually used to refer to a range of charges. This will include various taxes or fees taken from a home’s sale, as well as commissions, mortgage points, attorney fees, and the cost of listing and buying agents.
Once you think you have a good grasp on the charges you can expect it will be much easier to estimate your sales proceeds. First, you should consider the value of your home. The home’s location and market conditions will factor into this, as well the overall quality and upkeep of the house.
Determining a fair market value for your house can be done in a few different ways. One easy way to do this is to hop online and take a look at what similar houses in similar areas are selling for. For the most accurate results, try to focus on houses that have sold within the last six months. The more recently they’ve sold, the more relevant this information will be for you.
The problem with this method is it’s not completely accurate, and your estimates could end up a little out of whack, which is one reason you may want to consider a realtor’s help.
In addition to a realtor, your lender can also help you determine your potential earnings by providing a loan payoff quote. Your loan payoff may be different from the remaining loan balance you’re used to seeing on your monthly statement. That’s because a loan payoff may also include any owed interest or closing fees that will be expected of you when you sell. Keep in mind that these quotes are usually only good for 30 days or less.
When you talk to your lender, you can ask them about any prepayment penalties for the loan. Not every loan will have this penalty. For houses that do have this penalty, it’s usually designed with just the first few years in mind. This means if you’ve owned your house for a while you probably won’t have to worry about it.
The goal of a prepayment penalty is to allow a lender to recover the interest charges they’ll lose out on when you close out the loan during the sale. While this penalty doesn’t apply to everyone, it is worth asking your lender about it just in case. The penalty may be calculated by either a percentage of the interest you still owe or a flat rate.
The truth is, crunching the numbers on your own can be stressful and time-consuming, and it’s pretty important to get it right. When you try to do it on your own, you can run the risk of miscalculating and throwing your budget off track. An agent has the training and experience to give you the most accurate numbers possible, and to help you keep your planning and budget in check.
Realtors know their way around selling a house for the right price, and your success means success for them too. It’s in their best interest to get you the best price and help you understand the selling process.
The right realtor will be able to tell you if you’re asking too little or too much for your house. They can also offer advice about navigating the whole complicated process, to ensure you get the best results possible.
Knowing the right people makes a world of difference in almost any situation. A respectable realtor with a good reputation will have an invaluable inner network. Realtors are constantly working together and discussing various properties with each other. If you need help with part of the selling process, chances are your realtor will know someone they trust who can lend you a hand.
David Dorman is a well-known and respected realtor who has worked tirelessly to help the people of his community as they make some of the most important financial decisions of their lives. If you want a professional hand when it comes to buying and selling your home, reach out to David Dorman in Ocoee, FL, today to learn more.
As we move into September, I have news to share. The market appears to be shifting in some…
