Jacksonville Fl Real Estate Market Report August 2020
Jacksonville Fl Real Estate Market Report August 2020
Protecting Your Family While Selling Your Home in A Covid World
Protecting Your Family While Selling Your Home in A Covid World
You may have heard, that the inventory levels in Northeast Florida real estate market is very low. We are seeing even more multiple offers situations and houses going under contract quickly. If they’re priced right and not ugly, of course. Levels like we saw in 2005, even lower! So that means we need more houses for the current buyer demand.
I think a big reason we have such a small amount of homes on the market is due to owners being nervous about listing their home, and opening it up to strangers who may or may not have the virus. That’s very understandable and while I’ll be talking about ways to protect you and your family in this blog post, I am not going to guilt you into listing and tell you that it’s perfectly safe. That’s for you to decide and I’m not gonna judge you based on your decision. Either way you decide.
If you do decide listing your home is the way to go, here are some ways we can protect you and your family…
1. Require everyone to wear masks. That’s the buyers and their agent. Sellers, you should be out of the house!
2. Limit it to just the buyers purchasing the home, not their family members. Kids being the exception. Now, I have been reading in Facebook groups of agents limiting even the kids. If we do that, we have to understand that could limit showings if they can’t find a sitter.
3. No overlapping appointments. Which means one set of buyers and agent at a time.
4. The seller turns on all the lights and opens all the closet doors. Don’t forget the blinds as well. The buyer and their agent doesn’t touch any of them.
5. Have hand sanitizer at the front door for them to use.
6. Home inspections are limited to just the buyers and their agent. No family members.
7. Photography. The seller follows the checklist to have the house prepared for the photo session. Just the lone photographer goes in, wearing a mask.
8. Appraisals. Some lenders are allowing drive by appraisals, where they don’t even come inside. For the ones who still go inside, it’s a short visit. Turn lights on and we will request they wear a mask.
Depending on the condition of your home and the price, with the way the market is moving, it’s possible to sell quickly, which will decrease how many people come in your home.
Thinking of selling? Wanna talk stats and market price? Send me a text or give me a call, I can go over all that with you, with no pressure or obligation at 904-910-3516. Or click the link to fill out the home value form below:
Also, check out my free guides for buyers and sellers below.
Free Guides on the Home Buying & Selling process:
Homes For Sale in Jacksonville
Homes For Sale in Orange Park
Homes For Sale in Fleming Island
Homes For Sale in Green Cove Springs
Homes For Sale in Middleburg
Homes For Sale in St Johns County
5 Things To Do Before You Put Your House Up For Sale
5 Things To Do Before You Put Your House Up For Sale
Welcome to my blog! I’m a real estate agent in Northeast Florida and I write seller and buyer tips, plus information about the area, which includes Jacksonville, Orange Park, Fleming Island, Middleburg, Green Cove Springs, St Johns County and the Beaches.
Today’s blog post is about 5 things you should do before you put your house on the market. There’s more than 5, but these are the biggies.
Where To When
What’s your end game? Where are you going when your home closes? Do you need to close on your current house before you can buy your next one? If you need to sell before you can buy, what will you do if you can’t find a home to buy right away? I know I just threw a bunch of questions at you, some that may have made your anxiety level creep up a little. Like the one about where you’re gonna go if you can’t find a home to buy right away. This is when you should figure that out, so when the time comes to sell your current home, you won’t feel pressured or rush. Some ideas is staying with family. Find a short term rental or stay at a hotel. Ask for a longer closing, like 60 days.
Try Some Shoes On
Nooooo, this doesn’t mean to run out to the mall and buy some new shoes. This is about looking at your house through the eyes of a buyer. Remember when you bought your house? What was it about your house that talked to you? Yes, houses talk to you. I’m not crazy. Well, slightly crazy, but admit it, even if it’s only to yourself, you know your house talked to you. Take a drive and come back like you are going to a showing appointment to look at a house. Your house. Look at the curb appeal, is it inviting? Does the exterior look clean and crisp? How’s the roof? Go inside and look at every room the same way. Does it smell? Does the paint look dingy? Do you think it’s time for the shag carpet on the wall to go? Be brutally honest with yourself, it can help you get the most money from your home down the road.
Declutter
I don’t think I really need to go into much detail here, but get rid of the stuff you never use. Get rid of oversized furniture that you don’t sit on. Have a yard sale and get some cash. It feels great to purge stuff that has no sentimental value, useful value and are just more things to move. As you get closer to listing date, put away personal photos and small appliances that you never use or use once in a blue moon. No, I’m not referring to your coffee maker. That’s important and needs to be easily accessible.
Fix It or Forget It
Closet doors off the hinges. Faucet drips. Missing caulk. These are small things, but buyers will notice them and wonder if there’s bigger things that need repair. You could get an home inspection done and repair the things on the list. The buyer can still have their own inspection done, but will make them feel like you’re on the up and up with them. Now, before you go pressure washing your house, it’s best not to pressure wash your roof and windows. That can cause damage to your shingles and cause the window seal to pop. Easy does it best.
Line Up Your Listing Agent
This should actually be first, because an awesome agent can be objective, tell you what you need to hear to help you get top dollar. So, having someone help you from the beginning of your decision to sell, can help make the process less overwhelming when it comes time to list.
Yes, this will be a blatant plug for myself. 
I know many agents talk about how great their marketing plan is, and mine is pretty sweet as well. My other amazing traits as an agent is being the calm during the storm, and being able to tell you what you need to hear, even if it’s not what you want to hear. I also play well with others. So what does that mean? There are times things don’t go as planned in a transaction and I handle it with calmness, taking the emotion out of it. I don’t lash out at the person giving the not so good news. Instead, I am immediately looking for solutions and work with them to get things done. I’m not afraid to tell you what needs to be done to get your house sold for top dollar and the least amount of hassle, without being a jerk. No need for that in the world. If that sounds like something you want in a listing agent, then give me a call or text at 904-910-3516.
Free Guides on the Home Buying & Selling process:
Homes For Sale in Jacksonville
Homes For Sale in Orange Park
Homes For Sale in Fleming Island
Homes For Sale in Green Cove Springs
Homes For Sale in Middleburg
Homes For Sale in St Johns County
How to Prepare for A Mortgage to Buy A Home in Northeast Florida
How to Prepare for A Mortgage to Buy A Home in Northeast Florida
In today’s blog post I’m gonna talk how to get prepared for a mortgage, so you can buy a house, so sit back and enjoy!
Remember when Yoda told Luke that he must learn control, control you must learn control? That’s the same advice I’m gonna tell you too. Control of your credit, control of your your finances, your spending habits, your debits and control everything else in between. I don’t think following Yoda’s advice is a bad idea. 
Let’s get to the nitty gritty. Credit. You need credit. Most lenders will require at least a score of 640 and higher. Yes, some may go lower, but the interest-rate is going to be tied to your credit score. So the higher your score, the better interest rate you can receive. That can save you thousands in interest over the course of your mortgage and also make your payment a little lower. So you may be wondering, how can you check your credit and find out what your score is?
You can use free services like credit karma or credit sesame, but those are not always accurate. You can get your free credit reports from annualcreditreport. com. There you can get them from each credit bureau, as there are three different ones. You can also purchase your credit score from each one as well. You can also look at myFICO.com and pay for a subscription or a one time fee to get all three credit scores. If you choose to go to the Credit Karma route, I have found for me, that the items reported on my report there are accurate, but the score is not. So it could be a quick and cheap way to get a rough idea of where you’re at credit wise.
Having too much debt can keep you from getting qualified for a loan, if your debt to income is out of whack. So paying down or paying off things can only help improve tour score and your financial picture.
Show me the money! Don’t worry you don’t have to show me, I just like saying it. There are costs involved in buying a home, you do you have your down payment plus closing costs and inspection fees too.
I won’t go over what all those fees are, but a rough estimate for closing cost is 3 to 4% of the purchase price of the home and down payment could range from zero down to 20% down and in between. Or you could even put down more than 20%. I do give estimates on another post I wrote about on closing costs. If you’re not rolling in the dough, there are also down payment assistance programs out there. I talk about those in another blog post that’s about down payment assistance programs.
You should know within a payment there’s principal, interest, taxes and homeowners insurance. Principle is the amount that goes towards paying your balance down. Interest is how the bank makes some money. Homeowners insurance helps protect your home in the case of certain events, like a tree falling on your house, hail damaging your roof, things like that. Property taxes have to be paid, so it’s easier to have them included in your payment. Those taxes go to your county your home is in and covers local government costs and schools.
No I’m not gonna say that everyone should buy a house, because sometimes buying a house doesn’t always make sense for everyone and there are costs associated with home ownership. Like repairs. Unlike renting if something breaks you can tell the property manager or landlord and its their responsibility to fix it. When owning a home the repairs belong to you my friend. So it would be a good idea to budget for repairs, save money every month that you designate for your repairs of your home. Now buying new or a home that has the major items replaced, that can help with the repair part, but not always a guarantee things won’t go wrong.
The good part is you don’t have to ask anyone if you can bring a stray animal or two home with you, you can paint whatever colors you want, you can run in the backyard in your favorite Jedi knight robe yielding your lightsaber against the dark side, while waiting for your steaks to grill on the barbie.
So as you can see there’s a lot to consider before you buy a home, but the rewards are awesome. If you have any questions about the topics I went over, call or text me at 904-910-3516.
Thank you for making your way here! I give away free guides that talk about the home buying and selling process. Just look below the video and you will find them listed there.
Free Guides on the Home Buying & Selling process:
Homes For Sale in Jacksonville
Homes For Sale in Orange Park
Homes For Sale in Fleming Island
Homes For Sale in Green Cove Springs
Homes For Sale in Middleburg
Homes For Sale in St Johns County
The Different Loan Programs to Buy A Home in Northeast Florida
The Different Loan Programs to Buy A Home in Northeast Florida
In today’s blog I’m going to talk about the different loan programs available, so sit back and enjoy!
I don’t want to get into a lot of detail talking about the different types of loans, because we frankly, it can be a little boring. So I’m gonna keep it short and sweet.
There’s fix rates and there’s adjustable rates. As both names imply, fixed rates never change for the life of the loan, but Adjustable rates can fluctuate.
FHA vs Conventional
There are conventional loans which are not backed or insured by government agencies, where is FHA loans are insured by the government. FHA has a little less stringent qualifications for the buyer, while conventional is a little more strict. However the requirements for the property are a little more lax than FHA. For example let’s say the house has a pool and it’s very green, FHA may require that it’s cleaned. Conventional not so much. FHA is 3 1/2% down, while conventional can be 3, 5, 10, or 20%. down.
VA
Is for active or retired military folks. A certificate of eligibility is required before obtaining a VA home loan. It’s 100% financing and competitive rates. Similar to FHA, the properties have to at higher standard than conventional.
USDA
A USDA loan is 100% financing loan for rural areas. I know what you’re thinking, USDA are the steak people right? I thought the same when I first heard of this program too, but they do loans as well, but only In rural areas.
There are a couple other banks or credit unions that offer 100% financing as well.
If you’re wondering the best place to start on your road to home ownership, that is usually with your own bank, but if you don’t have a lender you trust, I can recommend a couple good ones. Not all lenders do the programs I mentioned. Just give me a call or text at 904-910-3516.
You’re awesome for sticking with me this far. If you look below the video I have a few guides that go over the home buying and mortgage process. Speaking of video, below is a video I did on the subject, where you can also find my youtube channel. Check out my post about the difference between being pre-qualified and pre-approved.
Free Guides on the Home Buying & Selling process:
Homes For Sale in Jacksonville
Homes For Sale in Orange Park
Homes For Sale in Fleming Island
Homes For Sale in Green Cove Springs
Homes For Sale in Middleburg
Homes For Sale in St Johns County
The Difference Between Being Pre-Qualified & Pre-Approved for a Mortgage
The Difference Between Being Pre-Qualified & Pre-Approved for a Mortgage 
Today’s blog I’m going to talk about the difference between between being pre-qualified and pre-approved for a mortgage.
Going home searching without a preapproval is like going outside without any clothes on, OK that might be a little more extreme, because you’re not gonna get arrested for not having a preapproval letter, but wearing clothes and being pre approved will get ya closer to home ownership.
Let’s talk about pre-qualification. This can be as simple as giving the lender your numbers over the phone or even online. Numbers meaning income, debts or assets. Nothing verified. Usually no credit pulled.
Pre approval is where you gotta prove your numbers via bank statements, pay stubs, credit reports, employment verification and other lender requirements. Some lenders run you through underwriting ahead of time. This is even better than just being pre-approved. It helps to eliminate any last minute surprises and makes the home buying process less stressful.
Why should you get pre-approved before looking at homes?
1. You will know exactly how much you can afford payment wise and total sales price.
2. You will know what type of loan you’re gonna do, which will help us to better structure the contract.
3. If you were to look for a house and fall in love with one just being pre-qualified, you would have to go to your lender and start the process. That would waste precious time, because sellers will not accept just a pre-qualification letter. Another buyer who is pre-approved could end up getting the Home instead.
4. In today’s Covid environment sellers want to make sure the buyers who are coming into their house are serious buyers. Not that a pre-approved buyer can’t be walking around with Covid, but it does eliminate the tire kickers.
5. It adds a little layer of safety for the real estate agent. Meeting strangers can be a little nervy and sometimes dangerous, so A buyer getting pre proved can help alleviate those fears
So there you have it, The difference between being pre-qualified and pre-approved. If you’re wondering the best place to start, that is usually with your own bank, but if you don’t have a lender you trust, I can recommend a couple good ones. Just give me a call or text at 904-910-3516.
Thank you for making your way here! I give away free guides that talk about the home buying and selling process. Just look below the video and you will find them listed there.
Free Guides on the Home Buying & Selling process:
Homes For Sale in Jacksonville
Homes For Sale in Orange Park
Homes For Sale in Fleming Island
Homes For Sale in Green Cove Springs
Homes For Sale in Middleburg
Homes For Sale in St Johns County
Down Payment Assistance Programs in Northeast Florida
Down Payment Assistance Programs in Northeast Florida
Sometimes that can seem a little overwhelming or you might think you need a ton of money to buy a home. Not so at all. Right now, there are around 5 different programs. I won’t go through all of them in this blog, but, check this link with the a flyer of the various programs:
Some can be in the form of a 2nd mortgage. Some are forgiven and some are not. Forgiven? You’re wondering if you have to give some kind of confession aren’t you? Nope, no worries you’re good, that’s not the kind of forgiveness I’m talking about. 
Forgiven means that after a certain set are terms or rules are met, you no longer owe the down payment assistance portion. So for example, one program is 3 or 4% of the purchase price that will go towards your down payment. After 5 years you won’t owe that 3-4% anymore. If you sell before 5 years, you will have to pay it back. Some can be a fully amortized 2nd mortgage or never forgiven and will have to be paid off when you sell your house. Some of the funds can be used towards your closing costs as well. Or you can ask for the seller to contribute towards your closing costs.
There are other restrictions like what type of loan you can use, income and housing price, which vary based on which program you use.
Normally, I would point you in the direction of your bank, but chances are they don’t work with down payment assistance programs or if they do, they only utilize one. So I am going to recommend you give Lisa Daniels a call. She is the down payment assistance expert and knows multiple programs that can work for your situation. Her contact info is:
Lisa Daniels Academy Mortgage: 904-219-1417 Don’t forget to tell her Pam Graham sent you!
Thank you for making your way here! I give away free guides that talk about the home buying and selling process. Just look below and you will find them listed there.
Free Guides on the Home Buying & Selling process:
Homes For Sale in Jacksonville
Homes For Sale in Orange Park
Homes For Sale in Fleming Island
Homes For Sale in Green Cove Springs
Homes For Sale in Middleburg
Homes For Sale in St Johns County
3 Bedroom Home in Jacksonville Fl-Listed by Pam Graham
4663 AMHERST ST, JACKSONVILLE, FL
$ Click for current price
3 BEDROOMS | 2 Baths (2 full ) BATHROOMS | 1317 SqFt
Are you looking for a home that all you need to do is just to move in? Great location? Close to downtown? I got the perfect one for you! Private backyard with a ginormous shed and fire pit! Lots of space inside, and an open floor plan. Stainless steel appliances. Bonus space .Ring doorbell stays, along with cameras.
Presented By:
Pam Graham
All Real Estate Options, Inc
904-910-3516
Licensed In: FL
License #: SL3041418
Licensed in the state of Florida
Jacksonville Fl Real Estate Market Report January 2020
Jacksonville Fl Real Estate Market Report January 2020
Welcome to 2020, where the vision is clear!!!! 
Prices are increasing, inventory remains low, days on the market creep up a bit. Still favoring a seller’s market here in Jacksonville.
You might be wondering if these numbers apply to your home, but each neighborhood is different, so if you’re thinking of selling and want to know more click:
If you’re a buyer and want to see what homes are available in Jacksonville, click the following link: Want to Search for Homes in Jacksonville Florida?
Median Sales Price: Looking at sold homes it means that half the homes that sold were more than 200,000 and the other half were less than 200,000.
Month’s Inventory: Based on the number of actives and homes that have sold it would take 3.29 months to sell the active homes, if no other homes came on the market. How to determine what type of market we are experiencing:
Buyers’ Market: More than 7 months of Inventory
Balanced Market: From 5-7 months of Inventory
Sellers’ Market: Less than 5 months of inventory
Average Days on the Market: This is the average based on the time the house came on the market until is went under contract.
Original List Price to Sales Price: This is the percentage of what the home sold for compared to what it was originally listed for. Not what it was listed for at the time it went under contract.
What’s my Jacksonville Florida Home Worth?
Homes for sale in Northeast Florida:
Jacksonville Fl Real Estate Market Report December 2018
Jacksonville Fl Real Estate Market Report December 2018
If you’re a buyer and want to see what homes are available in Jacksonville, click the following link: Want to Search for Homes in Jacksonville Florida?
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