There are a verity of state and county mortgage down payment assistance program ( DPA / Grants) available in Florida for qualified homebuyers. These programs are more commonly used in conjunction with a FHA or Conventional loans that require a down payments. Keep in mind, these programs are not available to all buyers. Most of the time buyers must be "first time buyers" and have not owned a home in the past three years.  Buyers must also meet income and qualifying standards and each program may have different requirements in place regarding classes, re payment time frame, etc.  Be sure to check with your local state, city or county agency on all the qualifying requirements and any grant repayment terms.   One of the common questions we receive is whether down payment assistance or grant... 02/17/2015

Real Estate Markets are LOCAL! The National real estate data does NOT reveal the housing market in YOUR specific area.  Even our local newspapers, business journals and websites don’t have the micro-data that you will need to set your price. Your price is set by sales in your own neighborhoods & surrounding areas. Which homes have sold in the last 6 months? Are they comparable to YOUR home?  If you want to learn about what’s happening in your area, sign up for a our FREE Market Snapshot report. Yes it’s FREE.  No obligation, no commitments. We want to provide you with real estate market stats on your neighborhood.  These reports will come to you via email each month.  The Market Snapshot report will show you what homes are currently for sale, and show you the price for the homes sold.  ... 01/21/2015

Tips to Staying Safe When Selling Your Home in Gainesville.  When it comes time for you to put your home on the market, you need to be prepared for the fact that you’ll be opening up your home to a new world of strangers.  Most buyers who tour your home are actually interested in purchasing your Gainesville real estate, but there have been incidents where people were “not” buyers and just scammers and criminals. Let’s take every precaution to keep you and your home safe. Look over these quick tips below to make sure you and your home are safe and protected: Hire a licensed, reputable agent.  Check with the Florida Department of Business Professional Regulation to make sure he or she is properly licensed.  In Florida, here is where to check: https://www.myfloridalicense.com/wl11.asp Doub... 01/19/2015

Florida homeowner that currently have a USDA mortgage on their house might be eligible to refinance into a lower interest rate. Everyone knows that historic low interest rates are here. The USDA loan refinancing program gives existing USDA Rural homeowners an excellent opportunity to refinance their loan and receive a lower monthly mortgage payment. The new USDA refinance Pilot programs permits homeowners to refinance their USDA loan regardless of equity or if they are underwater on value.  Example: Let's say Mr. Homeowner originally purchased his home in 2007 for $190,000. At that time Mr. Homeowner did a 100% financing USDA loan with no money down. Mr. Homeowner currently owes around $175,000 on this same house today. The problem is that the home is only worth $120,000 in today's mark... 12/24/2014

Gainesville Florida real estate market report for Condominiums & Town homes SOLD in November 2014. Here you will see the stats on Condos and Townhouse data for November 2014.  Our winter season sets in with cooler weather and HAPPY HOLIDAYS !! This chart reflects the stats for September, October and November 2014.  The chart below shows New Active Listings,  Pending Sales, and Closed Sales. This data is compiled from the Gainesville Multiple Listing Service & Florida Realtors® research and statistical reports.  Each month we compile these posts, we plan to publish these monthly reports after the 21st of each month.  Bookmark this site for Gainesville real estate information! Cash Sales percentage of total sales has become a significant issue. In the display below, you can see the large ... 12/23/2014

USDA Rural Development is a great loan option for home buyers with limited cash and down payment.  We have included a quick snapshot of some commonly asked questions below.  Please read all the USDA program frequently asked questions here. Please contact us at  www.UsdaMortgageSource.com with any question, or just call 904-302-6060   Eligibility income for USDA housing-  In general, Florida households with 1-4 members = max $74,750 gross income per year. Some counties in NE FLA (around Jax) , South FLA and the Panhandle are even higher. Households with over 5 members can make even more, over $101,000 + in certain Florida counties. USDA also allows deductions for child care, elderly, disabilities, etc.  Please click here to learn more about USDA income restrictions for the 502 USDA Guara... 12/23/2014

The holiday season gives me the opportunity to bake.  I love to bake breads and cookies. Peanut Butter Choco Layer Fudge I always worry that my friends, neighbors, and clients get sick of the same the same cookies each year, so this year I found a couple of new tasty treats to add to my “gift selection”. Of course I had to make my killer chocolate chip cookies, and my grandmother’s butter cookies.  That’s my family standards for Christmas!  We just can’t have Christmas without the butter cookies that I do with a cookie press and are what we call the green Christmas tree cookies. Sweet Roasted Pecans The new additions this year were: Sweet Toasted Pecans Peanut Butter Choco Layer Fudge Puppy Chow – A Rice Chex with Peanute Butter, Chocolate and Powered Sugar. I love to find metal tins an... 12/22/2014

Here’s another great annual Holiday Event in Gainesville!  The 18th Annual Poinsettia Sale & Fundraiser at the University of Florida located at the Fifield Hall greenhouses on Hull Road. Photo Courtesy of UF Environmental Horticulture UF/IFAS WHEN:  TODAY - Thursday – December 11, 2014  8:00 am to 5:30 pm AND Tomorrow Friday December 12, 2014 8:00am to 3:00pm The Environmental Horticulture Club’s 18th Annual Poinsettia Fundraiser Over 30 varieties will be offered for sale including traditional reds and novelties such as Shimmer Surprise, Orange Spice, Winter Rose and Ice Punch. 6 ½” pots are the most popular and include colorful decorative pot covers. Larger showpieces in 8” and 10” pots will also be available along with centerpiece bowls. While you are there, you should visit the Natio... 12/09/2014

The Gainesville-Alachua County Association of Realtors (GACAR) is having their 3rd Annual TOY DRIVE.  We are all planning to help the kids at theChildren’s Home Society (CHS) have a happy holiday. The GACAR YPN has organized a way for you to SPONSOR A CHILD THIS HOLIDAY SEASON. This is our third annual Toy drive and we have set our most optimistic goal of 150 toys. We’ve had a tree decorated at the Board office full of paper ornaments.  Each ornament has a child’s name, age, and wish list for a toy to receive for the holidays.  I picked a couple of ornaments a few weeks ago, and did some toy shopping for those kids! I was at the GACAR office on Thursday for a committee meeting and there were toys all spread out in the lobby! I hope we reach our goal to help the kids this year! All the o... 12/06/2014

Gainesville Florida Real Estate Market Report for Single Family Homes Sold in October 2014.  Here you will find the three-month statistics for Gainesville Florida single family homes real estate market for August, September and October 2014. The chart below shows the number of NEW LISTINGS that came on the market for the month of October.  NEW PENDING SALES, and the CLOSED SALES for the month of October 2014.  You will see that NEW LISTINGS are UP for this month. Pending transactions also jumped up for a historically slow month. Closed Sales were also up from last month. The Gainesville-Alachua County Association of Realtors® provides their statistics to the Florida Realtors® each month and they compile statewide data that allows them to compile these reports. Closed sales are up almost... 11/25/2014

Gainesville Florida real estate market report for Condominiums & Townhomes SOLD in October 2014. Here you will see the stats on Condos and Townhouse data for October 2014.  Our fall season now eases into cooler weather yet our market stats are still cooking! This chart reflects the stats for August, September and October 2014.  The chart below shows New Active Listings,  Pending Sales, and Closed Sales. This data is compiled from the Gainesville Multiple Listing Service & Florida Realtors® research and statistical reports.  Each month we compile these posts, we plan to publish these monthly reports after the 21st of each month.  Bookmark this site for Gainesville real estate information! Cash Sales percentage of total sales has become a significant issue. In the display below, you can s... 11/25/2014

Every home at some point requires maintenance. Some of that maintenance doesn’t have to cost you a lot of money if you keep some basic tools around the house. Here are some helpful tools you can keep on hand. ScrewdriversMake sure you have both flathead and Phillips-head screwdrivers of various sizes. A complete set is even better, letting you do everything from tightening loose fixtures to putting together furniture. For light projects, you could opt for a single, multi-bit screwdriver that stores detachable heads in the handle and doubles as a nut driver. HammerA good hammer is an absolute staple for everything from hanging photos to repairing fence pickets. The most common size weighs 16 ounces. Consider investing in a good hammer with a claw head and an anti-vibration rubber grip.​U... 11/16/2014

The Friends of the Library Fall Book Sale started Saturday Oct 24th and runs through Wednesday October 29th.  This marks the 60th Anniversary of the Sale! Photo Courtesy of Gainesville Sun This is another great fall event in Beautiful Gainesville!  If you’ve never been to this book sale, make sure you go check it out.   Lots of treasures to find and all will benefit our Alachua County Library District.  Largest Book Sale of its kind in Florida – More than 500,000 books, records, games, CDs, DVDs, audio, video, paintings, posters, prints, puzzles and magazines have been donated for the sale! Many categories, including: classical and modern fiction textbooks large-print books cookbooks children’s books quilting books and magazines hobby books Star Trek videos Comic books and manga — In th... 10/26/2014

Gainesville Florida Real Estate Market Report for Single Family Homes Sold in September 2014.  Here you will find the three-month statistics for Gainesville Florida single family homes real estate market for July, August and September 2014. The chart below shows the number of NEW LISTINGS that came on the market for the month of September, the currently NEW PENDING SALES, and the CLOSED SALES for the month of September 2014.  Fall is here in Gainesville, and it is very typical for our market stats to slow around this time. You will see that NEW LISTINGS are down just a bit for this month, and this may be another indicator of lower inventory.  Pending transactions and Closed Sales were down from August and this is normal for the fall season. The Gainesville-Alachua County Association of ... 10/24/2014

Gainesville Florida real estate market report for Condominiums & Townhomes SOLD in September 2014. Fall is here in Gainesville.  Here you will see the stats on Condos and Townhomes data for September 2014 This chart reflects the stats for July, August and September2014.  The chart below shows New Active Listings,  Pending Sales, and Closed Sales. This data is compiled from the Gainesville Multiple Listing Service & Florida Realtors® research and statistical reports.  Each month we compile these posts, we plan to publish these monthly reports after the 21st of each month.  Bookmark this site for Gainesville real estate information! Cash Sales percentage of total sales has become a significant issue. In the display below, you can see the large percentage of cash sales in our local Condo &... 10/24/2014

We've been working hard to create pages on our site for Gainesville Neighborhoods.  This is a work in progress and we are adding neighborhoods each week to our site.   Our goal is to make it easy to just "google search" for a neighborhood and our page will show up in the search. Each Gainesville neighborhood page will give you a summary description and location of the neighborhood in Gainesville.  It should also let you know the designated schools and information about any Home Owners Association. Take a look at our home page and in the top tabs, you will see "Communities".  There is a drop down menu there with selections for different areas like NW Gainesville, SW Gainesville, Jonesville, and we even give you a choice of "West of I-75" too. Each Gainesville neighborhood page is directl... 10/19/2014

Gainesville Florida Real Estate Market Report for Single Family Homes Sold in August 2014.  Here you will find the three-month statistics for Gainesville Florida single family homes real estate market for June, July and August 2014. The chart below shows the number of NEW LISTINGS that came on the market for the month of June, the currently NEW PENDING SALES, and the CLOSED SALES for the month of August 2014.  It’s been HOT in Gainesville….and that includes the weather AND our real estate market! You will see that NEW LISTINGS are down just a bit for this month, and this may be another indicator of lower inventory.  Pending transactions and Closed Sales were down from July and this is normal for the beginning of the school year, as many family buyers want to be in their new homes before... 09/27/2014

Gainesville Florida real estate market report for Condominiums & Townhomes SOLD in August 2014. It’s been a long HOT summer, so let’s talk about condos SOLD in August 2014. The student have rolled in for the Fall Semester at University of Florida and Santa Fe College. This chart reflects the stats for June, July and August 2014.   The chart below shows New Active Listings,  Pending Sales, and Closed Sales. This data is compiled from the Gainesville Multiple Listing Service & Florida Realtors® research and statistical reports.  Each month we compile these posts, we plan to publish these monthly reports after the 21st of each month.  Bookmark this site for Gainesville real estate information! Cash Sales percentage of total sales has become a significant issue. In the display below, you ca... 09/27/2014

Lucky's Market is coming to Gainesville, FL and construction is well under way at their new location of 1409 NW 23rd Ave.. They are scheduled to open in 2014 but an official date has not been set yet.  Lucky's Market website can be viewed here http://www.luckysmarket.com/location/gainesville-fl/. Lucky's is proud to offer organic produce as well as sourcing as much produce from local farms as possible.  They also have an extensive selection of organic meat and even make sausage and nitrate-free bacon in-house along with smoked chicken and ribs.  Lucky's also advertises a large selection of non-GMO and gluten-free products, a bulk foods and nutrition section, fresh seafood department, fresh deli items and wine and spirits.  They also offer classes on fermented foods, healthy eating and w... 08/31/2014

Gainesville Florida Real Estate Market Report for Single Family Homes Sold in JULY 2014.  Here you will find the three-month statistics for Gainesville Florida single family homes real estate market for May, June and July 2014. The chart below shows the number of NEW LISTINGS that came on the market for the month of June, the currently NEW PENDING SALES, and the CLOSED SALES for the month of July 2014.  It’s been HOT in Gainesville….and that includes the weather AND our real estate market! You will see that NEW LISTINGS are down just a bit for this month, and this may be another indicator of lower inventory.  Pending transactions remain stable for this time of year, and closed sales are steady and strong for July too. The Gainesville-Alachua County Association of Realtors® provides thei... 08/30/2014