Ray Peckham Real Estate

Surfside Real Estate Guide

Negotiating the Sale of Your Surfside Home.

Some say that the “Devil is in the Details” and these last two steps are full of details as buyers make offers contingent upon certain conditions being met by the seller and sellers make counter offers in the process of closing your Surfside home. Once there is agreement, however, many details still remain in order to finalize the sale.

Surfside Real Estate Cycles

During a slow economic time, fewer people are buying homes in the Surfside market. Even so, some homeowners find themselves in a situation where they must sell. Families grow beyond the capacity of the home, employees get relocated, and some may even find themselves unable to make their mortgage payment - perhaps because of a layoff in the family.

During sellers' markets, Surfside real estate sells quickly and sellers have a lot of pricing power. As a result, prices rise more rapidly than at other times. During buyers' markets, Surfside real estate may sit on the market for a while before selling, so sellers become more flexible and may even drop their prices.

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?

The only factor being considered here is Home Equity. In individual cases it may be wiser to invest than to pre-pay your Surfside loan. It also may be wiser to pay off high-interest, non-deductible loans before considering your home equity building options. Your financial advisor is the one to consult for these matters. If you would like up-to-the-minute information about home appreciation values in your area, please call or E-mail me today.

Choosing Your Surfside Neighborhood

You’ve probably heard about the three major determinants of Surfside values are: 1) location, 2) location and 3) location. This is not only true about real estate in Surfside; it is true about real estate in general. If you cannot afford what you want where you want it, give up something inside the house rather than settling on a lesser location.

The Benefits of Selling Surfside

If your Surfside holdings consist of both a personal residence and a rental, you can sell your personal residence and exclude up to $250,000 ($500,000 for a married couple) on the gain. Then you move into your rental, live in it as your personal residence for two years and then sell it, again benefiting from the $250,000 or $500,000 exclusion. This is true even though most or all of the increase in value occurred before you converted the property to your personal residence.