Cocoa Beach Real Estate Tips / Help for Buyers and Sellers


Cocoa Beach FAIR MARKET VALUE


Setting the right price is an important first step in getting a home sold. Sellers often wonder if they should spend $200 to $400 for a professional appraisal of their Cocoa Beach real estate before placing it on the market.

WAYS TO DETERMINE VALUE IN Cocoa Beach


A professional appraiser's opinion of a property's market value is based on the recent sales of similar Cocoa Beach real estate. Different appraisers could come up with different numbers. Even if all of them agreed on a value, there is no guarantee that you would receive that amount for your property. An alternative to a professional appraisal is to ask a professional Realtor for a written market analysis of your property. This analysis will include information about recent home sales in your neighborhood, as well as how those homes compare to yours.

Cocoa Beach Real Estate Cycles


One problem with attempting to time your purchase to the business cycle is that even experts have problems accurately predicting the future economy. Even when they can, the Cocoa Beach market does not necessarily move in tandem with the stock market or the economy as a whole. Cocoa Beach is a unique situation.

When the economy is doing well, interest rates are generally higher. The result is that fewer people can afford houses, and Cocoa Beach is no exception. When the economy slows down, interest rates fall, the "affordability index" moves up and more people can afford houses. The Cocoa Beach market will take the lead.


Cocoa Beach. How Much Should You Offer?


Or more precisely, what does the seller owe on the property. If a seller owes $400,000 on the Cocoa Beach real estate he or she is not likely to welcome an offer for $350,000. If you want to negotiate price, make sure you don’t waste your time negotiating where there is no room to budge.

Even if the loan is high, if the seller is in default there is a possibility of a short sale as many lenders will reduce the loan balance in order to move the property. Most lenders do not want to foreclose and manage homes and the Cocoa Beach market is no exception.


Buying Cocoa Beach Real Estate...Will it Pay?


With a typical 30-year loan, most of your monthly payment goes toward interest payments with only small amounts going to the principle in the early years. Only half the principle is repaid in the first 23 years of the loan. You can build equity in your Cocoa Beach faster by choosing a 15-year loan instead of a 30-year loan.

As a Cocoa Beach real estate owner you have the right to pay more towards the principle loan amount each month. Let’s say your monthly payment is $700.00 a month and $100.00 a month is being applied to the principle. If you choose to pay $900.00 instead of $700.00, the $200.00 overage will be applied entirely to the principle. Thus, instead of gaining $1,200.00 a year in home equity, you gain $3,600.00. Investing in Cocoa Beach can be a very good idea.


Does Your Cocoa Beach Have Curb Appeal?


Good curb appeal is definitely an advantage to home sellers when prospective buyers visit your Cocoa Beach 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 Cocoa Beach 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.

Green Remodeling Your Cocoa Beach


Energy conservation. The average Cocoa Beach today uses systems for heating, ventilation and air conditioning, and most homes are not built as efficiently as they could be, resulting in high energy consumption. The U.S. Department of Energy believes if current buildings were green-improved, they would use $20 billion less in energy per year. Cocoa Beach green remodeling puts a strong emphasis on making homes as efficient as possible with modifications such as energy-efficient appliances and thermostats that can be programmed at different temperatures for different times of the day.

Robin Taylor Ritchie
Broker Associate
GRI, ABR, e-Pro

Licensed Real Estate Broker in the State of Florida

Titusville, FL 32780
321-698-8731