Joe Dallorso ~ Ocala Real Estate

There are a lot of people out there looking for a steal of a deal on a foreclosed house here in Ocala Florida. The problem is they have a hard time finding them. I'm a die hard do it your self-er but I also know when I just don't have the right tools for the job. Yes, this is where I suggest that you contact your friendly Ocala Realtor, preferably me.

I can search on a lot more things than you can on the MLS. It's actually simple for me to search on the owner which will pull up about 95% of all the bank owned homes in the Ocala area. I do miss a few that listing agents term as corporate owned but for early in someones search you get to see almost everything.

I can then set you up a Listing Cart on the Ocala MLS and load all the foreclosed properties that meet your criterea into it and send you emails when new listings come online. How cool is that?

For even more info on Ocala Foreclosures visit my Ocala Foreclosure Guide.

First let me recap the weather here in Ocala Florida during December. December weather in Ocala was unusually warm. The average temperature in December is 72 and half of the days approached 80 degrees. If you remember November was unusually cold with temperatures struggling to reach the ow 70's.

January is the dead of winter here in Ocala. Temperatures will be in the low 70's most days and we may even experience at light frost or two at night.

How was your Christmas? What does that have to do with my weather report you might ask? Well it was almost 80 degrees at my house in SW Ocala on Christmas day!!

The Foreclosure market here in Ocala Florida is boomimg! Foreclosures are selling at huge discounts off their peak prices back in 2005-06.

I represented the buyers in the Foreclosure sale below.

Built 2007

1818 sq ft living area

3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage

.24 acre lot

Marion Oaks sub division

Sold Price $110,000.00

If you need more info on on Ocala Foreclosures I have everything you need on my free Ocala Foreclosure Guide.

The weather in Ocala Florida during December is warm and dry. The occasional cold front comes through and brings welcome rain and cooler temperatures and then we go back to warm and dry. Temperatures during the days are in the 70's and in the evenings they go down to the 50's.

Looking back to November, it was unusually cold by Ocala standards. Most days struggled to get to 70 and several nights went down to the 30's. Temperatures like these belong in January and not November.

HOMES SOLD IN November 2008

$100,000.00 and less..........................70

$100,001.00 to $200,000.00................89

$200,001.00 to $300,000.00................10

$300,001.00 to $500,000.00.................2

$500,001.00 plus.................................3

TOTAL SALES FOR THE MONTH...........174

ACTIVE LISTINGS..........................7,015

** Only homes listed & sold on the Ocala Marion county MLS. Does not include For Sale by Owner or Builders not listed on the MLS. Numbers subject to change due to late reports from Brokers.

Sales have remained the same for several months now. We average 200 houses a month in Marion County. Inventory just can't seem to drop below that 7,000 mark and we have around 35 months of inventory. As a result prices have been declining.

It is my opinion that the market is at or near bottom right now. Prices will remain fairly flat for the next 3 to 5 years until all the excess inventory we have in the Ocala area is sold off.

We have experienced a major correction in real estate prices. Historically real estate only goes up 5% on average a year. The recent years of 25% gains are over and will not come back. People's incomes cannot support such inflated housing prices.

Buyers are coming back into the market. People realize that this is a buying opportunity. However buyers are seeking bargains. The MLS is on the internet and buyers know their prices a lot better than most sellers.

Houses are selling every day. Buyers will good credit and a down payment can get loans. Financing has never been lower.