Daytona Beach Home Buyers Strategy Guide

In the Daytona Beach Home Buyers Strategy Guide - Part 1, we talked about determining why you are considering buying a new home or condo. If you haven’t read the first part of the series, please do so and return here.

Now that you are clear on your overall purpose for buying, we need to determine the criteria you will use in considering homes and condos. There can be a lot of pieces to your criteria, but the major considerations are:

• Price
• Age
• Neighborhood / Location / Sub-Division
• Home Type (Ranch, Two Story, etc.)
• Schools
• Size
• Number of Rooms
• Number of Bedrooms
• Number of Bathrooms
• Pool
• Garage
• Land / Yard
• A/C / Heating System
• Fees

These are the basics and this is what is generally shown by the listing agent. There may be a bit more descriptive information in the listing including porches, out buildings and so on. This is the information that will be available in all the search sites including realtor.com, homes.com and such. The search features on my Daytona Beach Real Estate site are pulled from the same source. It should be noted that the information available is only as good as the agent entering the data. There is a big difference in the details and accuracy from agent to agent.

The considerations above are all related to the physical details of the home or condo and are important, but, they only get you part of the way. Before you start looking at property, you need to go a little farther.

Home Buying Financial Consideration

First, if you will be financing your home, you need to determine the monthly payments that you are willing to make. These payments should include the mortgage payments and monthly escrow payments for property insurance and taxes. Once you determine that monthly payment, you need to be sure that you can qualify for a mortgage at that level from a bank or mortgage company. Note that the mortgage is only one of three parts of the payment, so factor that in. You may qualify for more financing than you need, or you may need to adjust your price ranges based on a lesser qualified amount. I have a Mortgage Calculator on my site that you can use to help determine what that portion of the monthly payment would be. Taxes and insurance require a bit more research, but can be estimated for different. For instance, homes on the mainland in the Daytona Beach area will generally pay less for insurance than homes on beachside because of higher wind and flood premiums near the beach.

Many times people are not aware of the total cost of home ownership before setting out to look for their new home or condo. Real estate agents like me are aware, or should be aware, of costs in the area. Put us to work if you need help. Call me at 386-566-7503 and I will be glad to help you with this important part of the process.

Regardless of whether you are financing or not, you will need to set a price range. After that it’s time to dream.

Time to Dream

Dreaming means describe exactly what you are looking for in a new home or condo. The more detail you have, the easier it will make the process. I remember when we bought our second home in Florida. We weren’t clear on what we were looking for and looked at over 50 homes. Our agent didn’t help us much with the process and we were very tired and frustrated by the ordeal.

What do you want? A penthouse condo on the beach? 10 acres with room for horses, a stable and a five bedroom brick ranch home with a giant kitchen with lots of windows? A little bungalow from where we can walk to the beach? A townhouse with very little maintenance so you can lock and leave without worry?

Then put in the details that are important to you. A few years ago, when homes were on the market for a very short time, it was much more difficult to find exactly what you want. Today, there are over 6600 homes and condos on the market in the Daytona Beach MLS, so there is a much better chance of finding something that meets your major non-negotiable requirements and many of your nice to have features.

What’s Next?

And that’s the next step, look at everything you’ve come up with and classify each factor as must-have, non-negotiable or nice to have. Then you will contact a real estate agent and put them to work. That’s the next article in this series - how to hire and manage a real estate agent.

One final word. As a buyer, you don’t pay for the real estate agent. The seller pays commissions. Using the right agent will make the process much easier. We have information based on experience and local knowledge. I’ve been at this for 11 years in the Daytona Beach real estate market, so I’ve have local information that I’ve paid for in hard work and through selling hundreds of homes. Give me a call at 386-295-2049 and put me to work for you.

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