What’s the Deal with Binder Deposits? Also known as a “good faith deposit” or “escrow deposit”, this is a deposit made after the purchase and sale contract is agreed upon and signed by both parties. It is NOT the same as the down payment. This deposit shows that the buyer is making an offer in good faith and has some…
If you have owned your home in Florida for a while, you have probably accrued a significant “Save Our Homes” benefit value. The Save Our Homes amendment to the Florida constitution caps the increase of your home’s assessed value at 3% per year. The savings add up over time and can be transferred to your next Florida home when you…
When putting your home up for sale, there is no shortage of things that must, should and could be done. We have spoken at length about the “must” and “should”. In this week’s #ProTipTuesday we will cover the pros and cons of a “could”: doing repairs vs offering a credit. Credits have a double benefit. When selling a home,…
The average home in the Jacksonville Metro Area earned more than the minimum wage last year. The average homeowner earned as much in equity over the last year as a person making minimum wage would earn putting in 40 hours a week, every week, tax-free. If you needed another reason to consider owning rather than renting, here it is. How…
Once we get an offer accepted on your home the buyer has the right to have an inspection done. There are a few things you will need to do to make sure the home can be inspected. If the home is not occupied, make sure the utilities are turned on for the inspection day. Make sure electrical sockets, light…
As you are probably aware, in most price points in Northeast Florida, we are in a “Seller’s Market”. Basically, that means sellers have the advantage in many negotiations right now. The low inventory has created a situation where there are more buyers than sellers. Though we may see a change at some point, a seller’s market is where we find…
If you get our newsletter each month you have seen some of these numbers already, but we wanted to take some time to break down housing data in a little more detail. The following statistics were provided by Northeast Florida Association of Realtors (NEFAR). NEFAR tracks and provides a huge amount of data to Realtors® each month, for this #ProTipTuesday…
Sometimes it pays to vote. With Amendment 1 on the Florida Midterm ballot this year, we thought it was a great opportunity to revisit Homestead Exemption; how it works, and why it is something you might want to take advantage of. You have probably seen far more political ads and posts than you can stand at this point. Don’t…
When working with clients we are often asked about home warranties. They are one of the most frequent add-ons to a purchase and sale contract. This week we will explore the features, benefits and possible challenges of home warranties. The biggest benefit of having a home warranty is the peace of mind that you are covered if something breaks. Depending…
We have written at length about home improvement projects to give your home a bit of a face-lift, but some of those projects are expensive and time consuming. This week we wanted to give you some ideas that you can do on a budget without taking up a bunch of time. Paint the front door We have talked about…
