Ray Peckham Real Estate

Surfside Real Estate Tips

Finding a Buyer for Your Surfside Home

Once your Surfside home is ready to show, your agent will list the property in the MLS or Multiple listing Service. Most homes are sold as a direct result of their listing in the MLS, which today also means the home will get extensive Internet exposure. Other ways that your agent will use to find buyers include advertising in newspapers and magazines, holding open house and signage.

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.

Guidelines for Buying Surfside

The Internet is great but nothing really substitutes for your personal inspection of homes that are for sale in the Surfside. When you have visited plenty of homes online and in person when the right property comes along you will know it.

It is perfectly normal for buyers to have a general idea of what they want in a home without a great deal of specificity. Research, both online and in person will help you define your Surfside needs but you can and should know your financial needs before you even start looking. I recommend that buyers go through the process of prequalifying with a lender or at least with a real estate agent in order to narrow the search among homes that are a possibility. Many agents refuse to show homes to prospective buyers who have not been pre-qualified.

Bitten by the Surfside Home Improvement Bug?

Maybe, like millions of Americans, you can’t help it! You live in your Surfside home for several years and before you know it, you find yourself thinking about how the kitchen would look with new cabinets and a granite countertop. Should you start with the kitchen or would it be better to add a home office to give the family a little more room? There seems to be endless options for the creative Surfside homeowner bitten by the Home Improvement Bug. Once you get started thinking along these lines, it usually doesn’t take long before the ultimate question pops up. Is it better to improve your current home or simply sell and buy a bigger, newer or more desirable Area home? Here are some issues to help you make that all-important decision.

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.

What Makes Surfside Sell?

If your only reason for selling your Surfside is for the purpose of taking your profits there are a couple ways to approach this. Assuming you have lived in the Surfside for two years so you can avoid federal tax consequences, if you sell when prices are high and rent until prices come down before buying a replacement home, you will have maximized your profit. Remember, if you sell when prices are low, you will still make a profit and be able to buy a replacement home while prices are still low.