Jacksonville Real Estate Ramblings: January 2008

This home sold on 3/28/2008 for $198,000

Beautiful brick home in Jacksonville.

9229 Hawks Run

This beautiful home is well maintained and features a formal dining room and formal living room. The spacious kitchen is perfect for the chef in the family and boasts ample counter-space. Tile is in the foyer, kitchen and both bathrooms. The master bathroom offers a separate shower and a relaxing garden tub.

With 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and over 2000 square feet, this home has plenty of room for the growing family.

This home is being offered for only $220,000.

For additional information and photos, please visit your Jacksonville Florida Real Estate Resource. 

Your Jacksonville Florida Real Estate Agent, Pam Graham 904-910-3516

Vanguard Realty, GMAC Real Estate

Come find your Dream Home in Jacksonville, Orange Park and surrounding areas in Northeast Florida.

Now before you start throwing out the kids or in-laws, let me explain.

If you're trying to sell your Jacksonville home and you're preparing for a showing, you might want to consider getting rid of your pets. Not permanently, just during the showing. Pets can be very distracting to the buyer when they are viewing your home.

Let me give you some examples:

1. I had a listing where the homeowners had 2 dogs, both were boxers. One was just a pup, the other one was pretty old. The pup was put into a cage, but the older one didn't do well in cages. Normally, there was someone there to take them out for a walk so the buyer could take a look around, but a few times they weren't there. Boxers are usually pretty good size and I have to admit, I've mistaken them for pit-bulls. In one case an agent tried to show the house, but was terrified of the older boxer, even though he was very, very gentle and wouldn't hurt a fly. **BEWARE** Your dog may be friendly but you may not know how they will react when a stranger comes into your home.

2. One time I was pulling up homes to show a client. I came across one that said in the private remarks :do not open up front bedroom, due to a boa or python (can't remember which, just know it sounded big) out of cage and roaming in the bedroom. Well, let me be the first person to admit all snakes scare me, even the little green ones who won't bite, not to mention a boa or python. My buyers felt the same, so we didn't even put that one on the list.

3. I don't want to leave out our feline friends, but I have to say I've never showed a home with cats in the home and been afraid of them. Just afraid I'd accidently let them out because the showing instructions shouted: DO NOT LET CATS OUT! So, naturally our focus was not to let the cats out.

You must be asking, what should I do? Sometimes it can't be avoided and the pets have to be there. Here's a list of suggestions:

1. For dogs, if possible put them in a cage when no one is home.

2. Ask a neighbor who is normally home, if they can remove them during showings.

3. Try to be there for showings and take them for a walk. (If an agent is showing your home)

4. Ask a friend if they could temporarily take your cat , dog or if they're brave, your snake.

5. Put them in a room that is safe for them during the day when no one is there. It would be ideal if instead of closing the door, if you could use a gate to keep them in, so the buyers can still take a peak in the room.

In closing, if you can't make those accommodations, you still need to show your home.  

To help minimize the inconvenience, make sure the condition of your home looks good and smells good, and is priced competitively, so your days on the market may be shorter. If you're thinking about selling and want to know how to maximize your homes potential, please contact me 904-910-3516 for a FREE Maximum Home Value Audit, designed to maximize the market value of your home.

Your Jacksonville Florida Real Estate Agent, Pam Graham 904-910-3516

Vanguard Realty, GMAC Real Estate

Come find your Dream Homein Jacksonville, Orange Park and surrounding areas in Northeast Florida.

Thinking of selling? Here are some time tested tips to get you started.

Outside:

1. Clean or paint your front door. Simple, but makes a huge impact when a buyer is walking up to enter your home. If it's faded, or shows signs of needing repair, clean it, stain it, or paint it. While you're on a roll, do the same with the back door and garage door.

2. Make sure your front lawn looks neat and tidy to make the first impression favorable. Cut the grass and trim the hedges and shrubs. **EXTRA** If you have a dog, make sure you clean up their land mines, nothing worse than stepping on one of those during a showing.

3. Check your roof for shingles or flashing that needs replacing. Here in Florida. we get algaeand every few years needs to be cleaned off the roof or  it will make your roof look older than it really is.

4. Repainting your entire exterior o your home can be rather costly and time consuming and really unnecessary unless the walls have bad blistering or peeling. You can do wonders just by painting window sashes, trim and shutters.

5. Remove all dead limbs and debris. (HINT: Hire one or two of the neighborhood kids) Give the lawn a fresh raking and the sidewalk and driveway a good sweeping. If you're really want to make a good impression, pressure wash the sidewalk and driveway.

Inside:

6. A grungy bathroom can really turn off a prospective buyer. Make each bathroom look like a guest bath. Polish the toilet, tub and bathroom sink. Clean all tile, grout and caulk, replace cracked tiles, and re-grout if necessary.

7. Remember the commercial where the birds are having a ball with the homeowner, who has a sliding glass door that is so clean, he keeps running into it? You want your windows, mirrors and glass doors to be that clean. WARNING: You might want to let the buyer know if their heading to a glass door and it doesn't look like they're slowing down.

8. Fix sticking doors and windows, squeaking doors, and wobbly stair banisters.

9. Too much furniture can make a home "feel wrong." So, move out all your excess furniture, especially worn or outdated furniture, to make rooms seem larger and uncluttered, and take down pictures that hide walls.

10.Clean out all of your closets to make them look bigger. Store out of season clothes in the attic, neatly arrange what's left.

There you have it, 10 tips to get your Jacksonville Home ready to sell. These tips were taken from my handout "49 staging tips or selling your home" that I give to my seller clients.

If you're thinking about selling your home in Jacksonville, Orange Park, Clay County, St Johns County or the Beaches, and you want to know how to get your home in tip top selling shape, contact me for my Maximum Home Value Audit, where I will go room by room and give you tips on how you can maximize your space.

I have been working on trying to get authorization (or over a week) to speak to Wells Fargo (and them to be able to speak to me) about a listing I have that is a potential short sale.

The first person I spoke to gave me a list of items they wanted on the form, so I used the authorization that is built into our listing agreement and faxed it over to the authorization dept. **MISTAKE** I called them back the next day and they informed me that it takes 3 business days to process. Not a problem! I called back after my 3 business days were up and they still didn't have it. That lady gave me a list that had additional items on it then the first list. I then used a different form. She told me it's possible to be in the system within 24 hours, so I called back today and the lady who answered busted my bubble and told me 3 business days.... again. However, I'm still going to call back tomorrow.

Now the point to this isn't to complain actually, but to let other agents know, who may not be familiar with the process, to be patient and not to wait to start the process when you finally have a contract. Do it as soon as you list it!

Here are the items that the 2nd lady listed:

Homeowner's name

Property address

Loan Number

Mailing address of homeowner if different than property

Last 4 digits of the homeowner's social security #

Their signature/date (homeowner)

Agent's name, contact info

Homeowner's phone #

When I'm successful in jumping through their hoops, I will post it here, so when anyone in the future has a short sale through Wells Fargo, they will know which hoops they need to jump through ahead of time.

Your Jacksonville Florida Real Estate Agent, Pam Graham 904-910-3516

Vanguard Realty, GMAC Real Estate

Come find your Dream Home in Jacksonville, Orange Park and surrounding areas in Northeast Florida.

Here's what December 2007 looked like: 

Current # of listings available in Dec 2007- 6,888

Average # of sales per month (homes that went under contract not sold)- 500

 Ave days on market (under contract homes, not sold)- 128.73

Remaining # months inventory - 13.78

Selling price % of list price (original list price) (these were homes that sold and closed in December 2007)- 87.30%

Let's go back to last year!  

 Here's what December 2006 looked like:

Current # of listings available in Dec 2006- 5,977

Average # of sales per month (homes that went under contract not sold)- 712

Ave days on market (under contract homes, not sold)- 113.65

Remaining # months inventory - 8.39

Selling price % of list price (original list price) (these were homes that sold and closed in December 2006)- 92.26%  

These figures are based on residential homes (single family, town homes & attached). They exclude condos, commercial property and vacant land. It also does not include Jacksonville beach, Atlantic Beach or Neptune Beach.  

Take a look at November 2007 & 2006 stats for Jacksonville, Florida.

Here's what December 2007 looked like: 

Current # of listings available in Dec 2007- 1,866

Average # of sales per month (homes that went under contract not sold)- 105

Ave days on market (under contract homes, not sold)- 191.63

Remaining # months inventory - 17.77

Selling price % of list price (original list price) (these were homes that sold and closed in December 2007)- 89.83%

Take it back a year! 

 Here's what December 2006 looked like:

Current # of listings available in Dec 2006- 1,780

Average # of sales per month (homes that went under contract not sold)- 156

Ave days on market (under contract homes, not sold)- 53.54

Remaining # months inventory - 11.41

Selling price % of list price (original list price) (these were homes that sold and closed in December 2006)- 97.50%  

These figures are based on residential homes (single family, town homes & attached). They exclude condos, commercial property and vacant land. This update includes Orange Park, Middleburg and Green Cove Springs.

Take a look at November 2007 & 2006 stats for Orange Park, Florida.

Your Jacksonville Florida Real Estate Agent, Pam Graham  904-910-3516

Vanguard Realty, GMAC Real Estate 

Come find your dream home in Jacksonville, Orange Park and surrounding areas in Northeast Florida.

http://www.pamgraham.com/

Here's what November 2007 looked like: 

Current # of listings available in Nov 2007- 2,067

Average # of sales per month (homes that went under contract not sold)- 125

 Ave days on market (under contract homes, not sold)- 97.82

Remaining # months inventory - 16.54

Selling price % of list price (original list price) (these were homes that sold and closed in November 2007)- 89.71%

Let's rewind to last year!  

 Here's what November 2006 looked like:

Current # of listings available in Nov 2006- 1,863

Average # of sales per month (homes that went under contract not sold)- 169

Ave days on market (under contract homes, not sold)- 80.49

Remaining # months inventory - 11.02

Selling price % of list price (original list price) (these were homes that sold and closed in November 2006)- 63.60%  

These figures are based on residential homes (single family, town homes & attached). They exclude condos, commercial property and vacant land. This covers Orange Park, Middleburg and Green Cove Springs.