Ray Peckham Real Estate

Surfside Homes Summary

Surfside has special regulations

Every area has its own building regulations. You need to know how these restrictions will affect the design of your Surfside home. Issues to consider include zoning, setbacks, rights of way and easements. Most subdivisions have CC&Rs (Covenants, Codes and Restrictions). Studies of Surfside demonstrate that these carefully to make sure they are not too restrictive for your needs or create excessive building costs.

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 Home Inspection

The purpose of a thorough home inspection is to ensure that Surfside home buyers know exactly what a home’s condition is prior to completing the transaction. A good Surfside home inspection should include an evaluation of the foundation, framing, roofing, site drainage, attic, plumbing, heating, electrical system, fireplaces, chimneys, pavement, fences, stairs, decks, patios, doors, windows, walls, ceilings, floors and built-in appliances. All significant or pertinent findings should be reported in writing to the prospective Surfside homebuyer. The home inspection report gives the Surfside homebuyer the information he or she needs to determine whether to buy the property as is or to ask the seller to make repairs.

In most cases, when an Surfside homebuyer makes repair requests, sellers usually agree to some if not all of the conditions.

Surfside Real Estate Title Insurance

Buyers in the Surfside market can be tempted to save money by foregoing a title search but the risks are heavy because title problems are many and varied. Some typical problems that title searches have uncovered include a second mortgage on a home that does not appear to have been paid off. The sellers borrowed money years ago from a parent who insisted that a second mortgage be recorded. The loan was repaid but the title wasn’t cleared. Another typical Surfside problem occurs when an owner had work done on the property but for one reason or another failed to pay the contractor in full. The contractor filed a mechanic’s lien on the property and it has never been removed. These are liens on the property and if you take title to a property without clearing these liens or encumbrances, you may be responsible them.

Buying Surfside Real Estate...Will it Pay?

A frequent question from prospective homebuyers relates to building home equity. Surfside 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. This is one way of building your Surfside home equity but there is more you can do.

Does Your Surfside Have Curb Appeal?

Good curb appeal is definitely an advantage to home sellers when prospective buyers visit your Surfside and can be an advantage in advertising in the newspaper and on the Internet. However, it is important to note that even a home with great curb appeal can look bad in an advertisement if the photographer did a bad job with the camera. A photograph of a Surfside home on a dreary day will look quite different from a photo of the same home when the sun is shining. Sometimes it is better to take a picture of a home from an angle rather than a straight on shot that may turn out to be more about the garage door than about the house itself.