Ray Peckham Real Estate

Surfside Homes for Sale / How to Shop for a Home

Surfside Home Improvement

Don't change the general architecture of the home, and make sure that renovations match. For example, a modern steel door doesn't belong on a ranch house built in the 1970s. Be aware of the features in Surfside.

Do it Yourself?
Be extremely confident you're capable of taking on a project before trying to do it yourself. When it comes time to sell your Surfside home, believe me buyers can and do spot all the signs of amateur work and they discount their offer accordingly.

Surfside FAIR MARKET VALUE

Setting the right price is an important first step in getting a home sold. Sellers often wonder if they should spend $200 to $400 for a professional appraisal of their Surfside real estate before placing it on the market.

WAYS TO DETERMINE VALUE IN Surfside

A professional appraiser's opinion of a property's market value is based on the recent sales of similar Surfside real estate. Different appraisers could come up with different numbers. Even if all of them agreed on a value, there is no guarantee that you would receive that amount for your property. An alternative to a professional appraisal is to ask a professional Realtor for a written market analysis of your property. This analysis will include information about recent home sales in your neighborhood, as well as how those homes compare to yours.

Surfside Real Estate Title Insurance

A Surfside mortgage policy that insures the lender remains in effect until the loan is paid off. An owner’s policy insures the buyer and remains in effect as long as the owner or the owner’s heirs own the property. An owner policy may cost a little more than a lender policy. For example, an owner policy may run somewhere around $3.50 per $1000.00 of home value while a policy for lender protection may run in the neighborhood of $2.50 per $1000.00 of home value.

The Surfside real estate Title Company searches and examines public records to determine if any problems with the title exist. Your real estate agents works very closely with the Title Company to help clear up any past clouds that may affect the transfer of title to the new owner.

Surfside ...How To Determine Price

The asking price of your Surfside real estate is not something to decide willy-nilly. Price it too high and you may not get any offers. Price it too low and you fail to maximize the return on your investment. Here is a good way to go about determining the price for your Surfside home.

Buyers who will consider your Surfside are out there inspecting and comparing a variety of homes that are for sale at the same time your home is on the market. If your home is priced significantly higher than comparable Surfside homes, you may not get very many buyers to even look at your home. Ultimately, it is buyers who determine what your home is worth. Buyers who are represented by an agent are privy to knowledge of what homes are actually selling for. You should be armed with this knowledge as well and you should use this knowledge to guide your pricing decision.

Building Surfside Home Equity

A popular question from prospective Surfside homebuyers relates to building home equity. Buyers like to estimate how much a home may increase in value based upon past appreciation. One of the many advantages of home ownership is that appreciation is based on the home’s market value rather than on the actual dollar amount invested or the down payment so that a $100,000.00 home that appreciates 5% is now worth $105,000.00, especially in Surfside.

With a typical 30-year loan, most of your monthly payment goes toward interest payments with only small amounts going to the principle in the early years. Only half the principle is repaid in the first 23 years of the loan. You can build Surfside home equity faster by choosing a 15-year loan instead of a 30-year loan.

Surfside DEPRECIATION

Depreciation is the loss of value of a building or an asset due to wear, tear, and aging. Depreciation cannot be applied to your personal residence unless you use your Surfside in some way for business. If you do depreciate a part of your home, let's say a home office, there are tax consequences you must consider when you sell your home.