I hope you'll find my news items interesting and helpful to your real estate needs. Let me share my knowledge of the Perdido Key area with you! Check in for updates and news.
Looking forward to talking with you!
Dawn Marino
CUTE, CUTE CUTE! Check out this nicely done cottage in Navy Point. Awesome location. Close to the boat ramp and waterfront walking paths. Navy Point is one of Pensacola'a historical West side subdivisions. Offering a convenient location close to NAS Pensacola, Perdido Key and downtown Pensacola.
Buying a home that needs some TLC can look like a fun endeavor on popular reality TV shows and online, but fixer-uppers might come with more issues than families can handle on their own. If you don't really have a DIY spirit or a background in fixing up homes, a fixer-upper can quickly turn into a money pit. Budgets and locations are always a factor, but if you have a choice, it is worth it to do a little introspection on your personal lifestyle when picking a home. Here are four reasons a new home might be a better option for potential home buyers on the market.
1. Energy Efficiency Benefits
While historic homes might have unique qualities, these can come with a ton of deficiencies, including a higher power bill. Newer homes strive to have energy-efficient windows, doors, and appliances. This can save you money on your power bill and might also bring tax cuts depending on when you buy and where you live. Having a home that is built with energy efficiency in mind can be a great start to a long-term cohesive home environment.
2. Move-in Ready Homes
If you have been looking for your dream home for awhile, you might be ready to move in the second you get the key. This might not be possible with a fixer-upper, especially if more issues are uncovered when working through smaller renovations. Adding the stress of moving into a home that will immediately need extensive renovations might be more than your family can manage. A new home will be turn-key ready for families to move in, without any setbacks or surprises lurking.
3. Up-to-Date Safety
Safety should be a top concern when it comes to a home - old or new. The great thing about a newer home is the assurance that this will up-to-date on housing codes and requirements stated in your area. Electrical problems can lead to fires in older homes, so outlets that are new and appliances that are built for newer outlets will make your living environment more compatible and safe. You'll have peace of mind in a new home that can keep your family safe and free from emergency problems an older home might have.
4. Options for Green Homes
Green homes are built with specific materials and specifications that make these less impactful on the environment from day one. Green homes use solar power, are insulated better, and are made of less impactful or even recycled materials. Green homes tend to use less energy, water, and can have a better resale value. These green factors aren't something that can be added to older home without extensive renovations and upgrades.
Being honest with yourself and needs will help direct your home search. If you aren't quite sure if you are ready for all of the work that an older home or fixer-upper can come with, the benefits of a new home can be appealing. Choosing a newer home that is move-in ready can make for a smoother transition and will offer fresh start that you and your family needs.
Nice 2 bedroom house on the west side. It is a perfect starter home, or as an investment property for your real estate portfolio. Large lot with yard building. Good structure and very open floor plan. All tile and good interior condition! 
Real estate rental property investors enjoy many benefits from income tax advantages to resistance to damage from inflation and interest rate gyrations. If you're talking to an accountant, they tend to be deep in the numbers, and they want to know how you're doing for return on the money you have invested in your rental property. Return on Equity (ROE) is one way they like to measure investment performance.
A simple example of ROE is an interest rate of 5% on a Certificate of Deposit of $100,000, resulting in $5,000 that year in interest. Your equity is clear, the $100,000 you deposited. So, dividing $5,000 by $100.000, you get your 5% ROE. You received 5% on your equity in the investment. For rental property, it's more complicated, but the basic structure is the same.
Suppose you purchase a rental home for $150,000 with 20% for a down payment. You have a mortgage for $120,000 because your down payment was $30,000. This is the year you buy the home, so it's the ROE for the first year. Suppose your rents minus your expenses, pretty much your positive cash flow, come to $3,200 for the year. Dividing that $3,200 by your $30,000 in equity, you see that your ROE is 10.67%. That's a nice number, and you're satisfied.
Now you're a few years down the road. You've paid down your mortgage, and you've been able to increase your rents a bit, and this increases your positive cash flow or return. You've paid down your mortgage to $106,000, and your home has appreciated in value to $158,000. This gives you a new equity number of $158,000 - $106,000 = $52,000. With your rent increases, your cash flow or profit after expenses is now $4,100 for the year. Our new ROE is now $4,100/$52,000 = $7.89%. This is how ROE in subsequent years is calculated. It is simple, and there may be some extra pieces for some investors that their accountants will include.
At the beginning of this article, tax advantages were mentioned. That interest on your CD would have been taxed in the year earned. When it comes to the cash flow from the rental home, you can deduct depreciation, which is a major factor in how much money hits your bank account that you get to keep.
You can depreciate the structure value (not the land value) over 27.5 years. Using the example above, if the structure was worth $110,000 when purchased, you could depreciate approximately $110,000 / 27.5 = $4,000 per year as a depreciation deduction. You've just wiped out that positive cash flow profit for taxes. Later, when you sell the home, there will be some recapture of that depreciation depending on how long you owned it, but you get the tax advantage idea.
There are several other calculations for evaluating a rental home's investment performance, but ROE allows you to compare it to non-real estate-related investments. It's easy to see why so many millionaires hit that income level through real estate investing.
Staging a home for sale takes time. As a home seller, you might be wondering whether staging a house for sale is really worth the time and money you put into it. Will it capture buyers' interest and increase your selling price? See it from the buyers' side of things with the top four reasons staging your home attracts buyers.
There's a fine line with real estate buyers, where they like to see the home in use they're turned off by a house that's cluttered with personal knick-knacks.
Staging a home is like setting a scene: You can remove the personal effects and replace them with tasteful items that give the buyer an idea for how the house might be used. That's why you'll stage each room for a single purpose, for example replacing a home office in the kitchen with a breakfast table nook.
With older homes, staging helps define the home's personality. Buyers are more likely to remember homes with character and visual appeal, so if your home is staged right, a buyer might be unable to stop thinking about it after the showing.
A house with no furniture can lose its shape, especially with the trend of open-plan living. Furniture helps define a room's purpose and contour, separating the open plan dining area from the living area. This can give the home a flow, so buyers move naturally through the space.
The real estate process begins on the internet, where buyers browse new real estate listings. When you stage your home and take professional photos, your listing will pop off the web page. More buyers will want to come to open homes and showings.
When people see crowds at an open house, they automatically develop a higher opinion of the property. After all, if so many people are here, the house must be a good bargain. As you can see, this leads to increased interest and maybe even an offer you can't refuse.
When you think about it from a buyer's point of view, then it becomes obvious. Real estate staging offers too many benefits to ignore. If you don't want to stage the home yourself, your real estate agent can recommend a home staging professional who will do the work for you. And you can sit back and reap the benefits, knowing you did everything you could to command a high sales price.
COMING SOON!
This amazing, custom built, 4/4.5 bay front home is located in the gated community - The Preserve at Crown Pointe. This beautiful home is directly on Perdido Bay and offers screened, inground and solar heated pool with spa and 81 feet of waterfront with a pier.
Nice lot ready for your new home! This one includes the survey and house plans! Mouse permit has been paid. If you are ready to build your beach home, this is the lot!
Excellent investment condo on Perdido Key! This condo has one bedroom, one bath, with hall bunks and sleeps 6. It is a direct Gulf front unit that comes fully furnished, is turn key and has a well established rental history. Complex offers outdoor pool and quick access to the beach via the private boardwalk and conveniently located at the East end of Perdido Key near shops and restaurants.
Absolut perfection! Very well kept, updated 3/2 home for sale in Chandelle - one of Pensacola's premier SW subdivisions. Loads of updates and the best back yard!
When it comes to doing your next home search online, what websites come to mind? Often they're sites like Zillow.com, Realtor.com, and maybe Trulia.com. That's logical, as these sites spend considerable amounts of money on advertising. There is something to be said for some of the bells & whistles on those sites. However, there is a better approach to locating every possible home that meets your search criteria. Here is the best way to make sure that you don't miss that perfect home for you.
1. Receive pre-approval for a mortgage, as this will qualify you for a price range. Once you know what you can buy, don't let listed prices limit your possible choices. When you're doing your searches, if you have a limit of $285,000, make $295,000 or $300,000 the top end of your search. The main reason is that the majority of homes sell at some price below the list price. Don't miss seeing some of them just because the list price is above what you want to spend.
2. Find a local real estate website in your market area with an IDX search page. IDX stands for Internet Data Exchange, and it's an agreement among all brokerage members of the local MLS to allow their listings to appear on other member websites. Check out a few local sites, and look for the disclaimer at the bottom of the search page about IDX. Feel free to choose the site that is the most friendly to use or the one that offers other bells & whistles.
3. Look for one more thing on the site you like best. Hopefully, there will be a form to complete and the ability to save a search. This will allow you to tell the site what you want for home features, area, and price range. Once set, the MLS system will send you automated email alerts for new listings that match your search criteria. Many will also alert you to price reductions and depending on the site, you may see a place to request your search, and the agent will build it. Keep in mind that busy agents don’t always have the time to check for new listings daily, so by using the IDX system you will know about new listings before many of the area agents.
4. Remember, in most cases, Zillow does not have feeds that come from the MLS systems and on Zillow, many owners do not remove their listing after the home has sold, so you will see houses advertised that are not for sale. Therefore, you will get more up-to-date information from a local real estate website.
Following these steps and using a local agent’s website will deliver just about every home available to your computer or smartphone screen. The IDX site will be up to date because the MLS rules require their members to keep it current and most boards require the members to remove delisted or sold listings within 24 to 48 hours in order to avoid a fine. You will also want to start with a local site to get your alert search set up, so you are aware of new listings as soon as they hit the MLS and watching the price reductions can also alert you to your perfect home when it drops into your price range.
