2BR/1BA

800 sq ft

.25 Acres

Lakewood Estates

Totally updated! This house is move in ready and features 2br/1ba with 1 car garage that has been converted to an office/workshop (can easily be turned back into garage). Brand new carpet throughout, new energy efficient roof, new paint inside and out, new hot water heater, new outside heat pump, and a beautifully remodeled kitchen with Corian countertops, tile floors, and solid wood cabinets! Bathroom was updated in 2005 with new tile floors, countertop, cabinets, sink, and fixtures. Safetouch security system added in 2010. For a video tour on YouTube, search: kmHBKZZHdrs.

Totally updated! This house is move in ready and features 2br/1ba with 1 car garage that has been converted to an office/workshop (can easily be turned back into garage). Brand new carpet throughout, new energy efficient roof, new paint inside and out, new hot water heater, new outside heat pump, and a beautifully remodeled kitchen with Corian countertops, tile floors, and solid wood cabinets! Bathroom was updated in 2005 with new tile floors, countertop, cabinets, sink, and fixtures. Safetouch security system added in 2010.

Gorgeous custom home in great NE location! This home features oak hardwood floors, extensive crown molding, and granite throughout! Large great room has gas fireplace, surround sound, and built ins. The gourmet kitchen comes complete with stainless steel, custom cabinets, double ovens, Viking cooktop and Viking built in fridge. Upstairs features huge rec room/media room/game room with kitchen, wine cooler, and attached bedroom and bath! All baths have beautiful glass tile. Backyard is fit for entertaining with patio with gas hook up, beachfront entry, black bottom pool with hot tub, and a fenced yard. MUST SEE this beauty!

Gorgeous custom home in great NE location! This home features oak hardwood floors, extensive crown molding, and granite throughout! Large great room has gas fireplace, surround sound, and built ins. The gourmet kitchen comes complete with stainless steel, custom cabinets, double ovens, Viking cooktop and Viking built in fridge. Upstairs features huge rec room/media room/game room with kitchen, wine cooler, and attached bedroom and bath! All baths have beautiful glass tile. Backyard is fit for entertaining with patio with gas hook up, beachfront entry, black bottom pool with hot tub, and a fenced yard. MUST SEE this beauty!

Gorgeous custom home in great NE location! This home features oak hardwood floors, extensive crown molding, and granite throughout! Large great room has gas fireplace, surround sound, and built ins. The gourmet kitchen comes complete with stainless steel, custom cabinets, double ovens, Viking cooktop and Viking built in fridge. Upstairs features huge rec room/media room/game room with kitchen, wine cooler, and attached bedroom and bath! All baths have beautiful glass tile. Backyard is fit for entertaining with patio with gas hook up, beachfront entry, black bottom pool with hot tub, and a fenced yard. MUST SEE this beauty!

Gorgeous custom home in great NE location! This home features oak hardwood floors, extensive crown molding, and granite throughout! Large great room has gas fireplace, surround sound, and built ins. The gourmet kitchen comes complete with stainless steel, custom cabinets, double ovens, Viking cooktop and Viking built in fridge. Upstairs features huge rec room/media room/game room with kitchen, wine cooler, and attached bedroom and bath! All baths have beautiful glass tile. Backyard is fit for entertaining with patio with gas hook up, beachfront entry, black bottom pool with hot tub, and a fenced yard. MUST SEE this beauty!

Cute condo with lots of space and character! This end unit features 2br/2ba, huge upstairs loft overlooking the living room, spacious kitchen with pass through to LR, and back deck. This unit is clean and move in ready! Community amenities include a beautiful club house with fitness center, gorgeous pool area and beautifully landscaped grounds. View this property on YouTube, search: i6fgk16jPXo.

Find serenity on a 1 acre wooded lot in Havana. This house is located at the end of a cul-de-sac and features a flowing floorplan with 3 spacious bedrooms, vaulted ceiling, living room fireplace, and cheerful kitchen. French doors in the dining room lead to a huge sunroom addition. Also includes a large deck suitable for cookouts or watching the wildlife! View this property on YouTube, search: puacbzPa128.

Cute condo with lots of space and character! This end unit features 2br/2ba, huge upstairs loft overlooking the living room, spacious kitchen with pass through to LR, and back deck. This unit is clean and move in ready! Community amenities include a beautiful club house with fitness center, gorgeous pool area and beautifully landscaped grounds.

Find serenity on a 1 acre wooded lot in Havana. This house is located at the end of a cul-de-sac and features a flowing floor plan w/ 3 spacious bedrooms, vaulted ceiling, living room fireplace, and cheerful kitchen. French doors in the dining room lead to a huge sunroom addition. Also includes a large deck suitable for cookouts or watching the wildlife!

         Also the Tallahassee market has had 7 months of decreasing amount of inventory. Meaning in my opinion more homes are selling faster and staying on the market for a shorter time period.  Another positive sign is the average price of new listings.  75% of the new listings in the NE of Tallahassee are priced between 200K and 300K.  This is a positive sign Realtors and the overall market.  Also in the NW, closer to campuses, over 65% of the new listings are listed at 150K-200K.  The goal is to have a 6 month inventory and we are currently sitting about 10 months.  This has been decreasing and just a year ago we were at 11.7 months.  The light is clear just unsure about how near.

Don't Let Foreclosure Buyers be Tempted by Price Alone

Daily Real Estate News

 Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Buyers may be swayed by the big bargain prices that foreclosures often offer. But before they jump in, some housing experts say they need to be warned that it may not be as big of bargain as they believe. 

“Brokers who specialize in the foreclosure market say there are good deals to be had, but they advise buyers to look beyond an alluring list price and do the research to avoid getting into trouble,” an article in the Buffalo News notes.  

For example, often times, foreclosed homes are sold “as-is,” but if the homes have been left vacant for awhile it may have lots of maintenance and damage issues that might not make it such a great bargain after all. Housing experts recommend getting a home inspector to look at the property before submitting an offer—regardless of it being sold in “as-is” condition—so that buyers can know what they’re getting into and the potential price tag for any needed repairs. Vacant and improperly maintained homes may have problems like frozen pipes and water damage. 

Real estate professionals also advise buyers of foreclosures to take into account any liens or judgments on the property, which they may inherit if they purchase the home. Ensure the property title is clean by working with a foreclosure attorney, Pat Flowers of RealtyUSA suggests. 

Also, buyers need to be aware that closing costs may be more expensive when buying a foreclosed property since banks will not absorb some of the costs, Todd Vanderlip of Realty Edge told the Buffalo News.

Source: “Focusing on Foreclosures; Buyers Are Warned to do their Homework Before Closing a Deal,” Buffalo News (Nov. 27, 2011)

As of 2011, Tallahassee's population is 175,544 people. Since 2000, it has had a population growth of

6.57 percent.

The median home cost in Tallahassee is $166,300. Home appreciation the last year has been -5.55 percent.

Compared to the rest of the country, Tallahassee's cost of living is 2.30% Lower than the U.S. average.

Tallahassee public schools spend $4,176 per student. The average school expenditure in the U.S. is $5,678. There are about 16.6 students per teacher in Tallahassee.

The unemployment rate in Tallahassee is 7.60 percent(U.S. avg. is 9.10%). Recent job growth is Positive. Tallahassee jobs have Increased by 0.81 percent.

Per salaryexpert.com

The cost of living graph below shows the amount needed to buy a basket of goods and services in Tallahassee, Florida and 4 other locations in the United States. Assuming a $50,000 lifestyle in (Tallahassee, Florida), the cost of a similar lifestyle in each of the 4 comparison locations is shown in the graph. Cost-of-living data is derived from ERI's cost of living surveys and web digitization of public domain records. To generate detailed cost of living reports suitable for creating cost comparisons for relocating employees customized to spending patterns, please consult ERI's Relocation Assessor. The Relocation Assessor includes cost-of-living data for 10,000 areas worldwide and allows for customization based on salary, housing, family size, consumption, services and travel. The Relocation Assessor can be downloaded using the form to the right.

 

Federal Reserve Recommends Expanding GSEs to Turn Housing Market AroundPosted by Carole VanSickle on Thursday, January 5th 2012     While most analysts are recommending minimizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or even winding them down, the Federal Reserve says that the best way to rescue the United States housing market is to use the government-controlled GSEs in a larger capacity in the coming year to provide “cheaper mortgages to a broader pool of homeowners”[1]. The recommendation comes as a surprise to many, given that even the current administration’s official policy on the two debt-riddled agencies is that their role in housing finance should be reduced. However, in a paper sent to lawmakers yesterday, Fed analysts propose to expand GSE roles in government financing programs in order to bring down the inventory of unsold homes in the country and put more people back in a homeownership position. Part of this plan would include allowing Fannie and Freddie to refinance loans that they have not guaranteed.

The proposal for expansion comes fast on the heels of the paxroll tax cut extension, which was approved for two months right before Christmas and will be financed for decades using the fees from GSE-guaranteed loans. Some might argue that this proposal is nothing more than a grab for more loans on which to assess fees, but in the letter to lawmakers the analysts insist that the move would simply get more people back in vacant properties, thereby removing a stumbling block to the housing recovery and a greater economic recovery. The move would potentially allow as many as 2.5 million more existing homeowners to refinance their loans through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), but it would also create an even greater debt situation for the GSEs and, as a result, for the American taxpayers funding Fannie and Freddie.

On another note, the paper also addressed the possibility of renting out foreclosed properties directly rather than reselling them to investors and letting those individuals handle rentals. The Fed believes that if Fannie Mae would rent out just two-fifths of its present REO properties, GSE losses could be reduced substantially[2]. Critics of rental proposals argue that the government should not be involved in landlord positions and that attempting to rent out GSE REO properties directly would likely cost more in the long run in terms of new organizational costs than the GSEs would lose if they simply sold the properties in bundles to investors.

Do you think that Fannie and Freddie should have a larger role in the U.S. housing market? Is this a power grab on the part of the Fed or the GSEs?

George L.Brophy CRS, GRI, CDPE, ePro

The Rivers Team

Keller Williams Town and Country Realty

1520 Killearn Center Blvd.

Email: George@RingTheRivers.com

cell:850-559-2448

Office 850-297-2255

voicemail:850-523-1580

Visit my website @ http://www.GeorgeBrophy.com

Want a Career with KW? http://www.acareerworthhaving.com

Mortgage rates continue to push lower, dropping to 3.98% from 4.23% in October of 2010, offering historic affordability to today’s home buyers. While mortgage lending conditions continue to be a challenge, more and more people are seeing the advantage of buying a home sooner rather than later. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said, “Home sales have been plodding along at a sub-par level while interest rates are hovering at record lows and there is a pent-up demand from buyers who normally would have entered the market in recent years. We hope this indicates more buyers are taking advantage of the excellent affordability conditions.”

Cute townhouse is great location! Features a large living/dining room combo with corner fireplace, accent windows, and two story ceiling, master on main with attached bath and access to the screened in porch, two bedrooms upstairs share a jack-n-jill bath, and privacy fenced backyard! Close to shopping and easy drive to downtown.

 Great investment! Close to FSU! Units have 2 bedrooms and 1 bath, eat in kitchen, and fenced backyard.

Attention investors! This townhome is in convenient location, close to Walmart and a stones throw from Lincoln High. It features 2 bedrooms upstairs, master has a private balcony, spacious living room and 1/2 bath downstairs.

You will love all the space that comes with this house! Located in a Grade A school district on a nice sized lot at the end of a cul-de-sac, this house features a formal living room/den with fireplace, a family room with fireplace and vaulted ceiling, eat in kitchen, formal dining room with bay window, split floor plan with huge master and adjoining bath, and screened in back porch!