“World's Most Complete Neighborpedia”
Sponsor a Community — What is Localism? | Register or Sign In
Explore:   What's happening in your neck of the woods?
Home Joe Manausa - Tallahassee Real Estate

Joe Manausa - Tallahassee Real Estate

Blog_tag

The Holy Cow Blog With A Real Estate Survey

10-09-09
Joe Manausa - Tallahassee Real Estate

 

Holy Cow Image - Tallahassee Real Estate Blog's 400th PostHoly Cow! This is the 400th blog post at the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog, and the 633rd on Active Rain! I believe this qualifies us as “somewhat knowledgeable” in the real estate blogging arena, so we’ve decided to take what we have learned thus far and now make our premier web site for Tallahassee housing even better.

This is where we REALLY, REALLY need your help. Your input will help us in the design of our new site, so we are asking that you take a very short survey and tell us what features you use from our Real Estate Blog (http://blog.manausa.com) and from our Tallahassee Real Estate Web Site (http://www.manausa.com).

Thus far, we know through traffic tracking that the following features of our real estate web site are heavily used, so they will be included in the new site:

Two Important Questions For Our Readers

The two key questions that we would like you to provide feedback for are:

  1. What else could we add to the Tallahassee Real Estate Web Site?
  2. What do we have that should be changed, simplified, featured, etc?

Please take a minute and give us a hand, because we are going to make the best real estate web site in Tallahassee even better with your help!

 

Click Here To Take Our Survey

 

subscribe-to-the-exclusive-tallahassee-real-estate-newsletter

4 Comments
Blog_tag

Time Is Running Out For First Time Home Buyers

10-08-09
Joe Manausa - Tallahassee Real Estate

 

Tallahassee Real Estate Bar CodeEight Thousand Dollars ($8,000) is a compelling enough reason for many to take advantage of the final days of the First Time Home Buyer Federal Income Tax Credit. But time is running out, as anybody who wishes to benefit from this program must close on the purchase of a property before December 1, 2009.

For all of you procrastinators out there, you need to know that on average, a typical home sale in Tallahassee takes about 45 days from contract to closing. That means first time home buyers have roughly 1 more week to get a home under contract if they want to take advantage of the free $8,000 refund that our Federal Government will be handing out.

Facts On The First-Time Homebuyer Credit
Who - A “first-time homebuyer” is defined as a buyer who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase. First-time homebuyers purchasing any kind of home—new or resale—may be eligible for the tax credit.
What - A tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction in what the taxpayer owes in income taxes. To qualify for the tax credit, a home purchase must occur on or after Jan 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009 and the taxpayer must meet the annual income requirements. For the purposes of tax credit, the purchase date is the date when closing occurs.
Where - Anywhere you choose to buy a home in the Tallahassee real estate market (or actually in the United States ... but I prefer Tallahassee).
When - To qualify for the tax credit, a home purchase must occur on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009
Why - Because a free $8,000 incentive to buy a home is money in your pocket in the long run. If you are concerned about falling prices (real estate depreciation), this $8,000 serves as an insurance policy against that loss.

First Time Home Buyer Resources

There is free downloads about the First Time Home Buyer Credit in the right sidebar of the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog. From there, you can access the following reports:

Getting Quick Help In The Final 7 Days Of This Great Program

So, with only 7 days to go, is it too late? Of course not, we have been preparing for you all summer and have created a “best buy” list for homes that work very well with this program. To get the latest information, please click the link below:


Help Me Get A Great Home Deal And Secure My Free $8,000 Tax Credit

 

Home Sales Advice Lease Purchase Agreements In Tallahassee 10 Critical Home Selling Steps Creative Financing Options For Home Buyers Buy A Short Sale
4 Comments
Blog_tag

Relative Home Supply Report Reveals Current Trends

10-07-09
Joe Manausa - Tallahassee Real Estate

Download The Tallahassee Housing Supply ReportThe relative home supply in Tallahassee improved again during the month of September. For new readers to the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog, relative home supply is the supply of homes for sale in Tallahassee, measured in months of supply, relative to the current demand for homes. By paying close attention to the supply and demand dynamic in Tallahassee housing, we can anticipate current and future housing market moves.

Valuable Home Supply Report

The report is valuable for all consumers, whether you want to buy a home in Tallahassee or sell a home in Tallahassee, it is good to know what competition exists for each area and each price range.

The housing report is broken down into the four quadrants of the Tallahassee real estate market:

  1. Northeast Tallahassee homes
  2. Northwest Tallahassee homes
  3. Southeast Tallahassee homes
  4. Southwest Tallahassee homes

Relative Home Supply Dropped In September

The relative supply of homes for sale in Tallahassee dropped by about 10 days worth of inventory during the month of September. The real estate chart below shows how each price range changed during the month. Figures in red represent a reduction in the inventory of homes, while figures in black show growth in the inventory.

Tallahassee Home Supply Changes October 2009

While inventory reduction is always good news, we still have a long way to go. The Northeast quadrant of Tallahassee was the only area that showed improvement, but it showed enough to carry the entire market totals. The number of homes for sale in Tallahassee is still way too high. A balanced market is 6 months of supply, and we do not see this level in any area or any price range in the Tallahassee housing market. But we are starting to see some bright spots in certain price ranges …

[click this link to view area and price range reports…]

Home Sales Advice Lease Purchase Agreements In Tallahassee 10 Critical Home Selling Steps Creative Financing Options For Home Buyers Buy A Short Sale
4 Comments
Blog_tag

Tallahassee Home Sales Report By Zip Code

10-06-09
Joe Manausa - Tallahassee Real Estate

I was having a conversation with a customer yesterday about Tallahassee subdivisions and Tallahassee zip codes, or more specifically what was happening in various areas of the Tallahassee housing market. Even though she is coming to Tallahassee from another market out west, she was able to have a pretty solid grasp of where she wanted to live.

By using the Tallahassee real estate blog, she was able to differentiate the different housing styles and amenities of Golden Eagle Plantation versus Southwood, and she had narrowed down her desired area to two specific zip codes. She even had specific questions about the characteristics of over 10 different Tallahassee neighborhoods. I can tell you, the amount of information a home buyer can learn before even getting to Tallahassee has changed so much in the past 10 years.

Tallahassee Home Sales By Zip Code

Our conversation got me thinking that it might be a good time to update our “Tallahassee Home Sales By Zip Code” information. I haven’t reported this kind of information in quite some time, so today we’ll look at both unit sales trends by zip code as well as average home prices by zip code in the Tallahassee real estate market.

Tallahassee Home Sales Graph By Zip Code

There are no real surprises in the real estate graph above. Each Tallahassee zip code has seen the number of home sales drop over the past three years. The most active zip code continues to be 32303, followed by 32312. But when we look at pricing, we find a completely different story.

[click for more Tallahassee Zip Code Graphs…]

Home Sales Advice Lease Purchase Agreements In Tallahassee 10 Critical Home Selling Steps Creative Financing Options For Home Buyers Buy A Short Sale

0 Comments
Blog_tag

FHA Loans Gaining Popularity In New Mortgage Market

10-05-09
Joe Manausa - Tallahassee Real Estate

Do you ever wonder how much lending practices really affected the Tallahassee housing market? We read so many stories about “predatory lending” and abused government loan programs, that I got a little curious and decided to check out the history of mortgage loans in Tallahassee.

I decided to limit my sales information to “arms length home sales” only, for two basic reasons. First, it would reduce the amount of sales that I would have to screen, and second, it would represent a truer picture of the normal real estate lending practices in Tallahassee.

Different Home Loan Types In Tallahassee

Over the past twenty years, there have been five main sources of funds for home buyers in Tallahassee. Home buyers have completed their purchases with conventional financing, FHA financing, Cash, VA Loan financing, and individual financing. I was a bit surprised to see that FHA has only financed 16% of the closed home purchases since 1991.

Home Loan Picture By Financing Type

FHA Loans Becoming More Popular In Tallahassee

The popularity and usage of FHA loans is growing in Tallahassee. When we look at a graph of Combined Loan To Values in closed arms-length home sales in Tallahassee, the reason begins to become mighty clear.

[click to see graphs of FHA and Conventional Mortgage loans…]

Home Sales Advice Lease Purchase Agreements In Tallahassee 10 Critical Home Selling Steps Creative Financing Options For Home Buyers Buy A Short Sale
4 Comments