http://www.trulia.com/voices/profile/Real_Estate_Pro-32223-174510/The latest answers submitted by Cathy Sloan to questions asked on Trulia Voicesen-ushttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Agent2Agent/Which_presidential_candidate_is_for_real_estat-55640Answer by Cathy Sloan: I found the side by side comparison of both presidental tax cut proposals. Interesting for family incomes between $66,355 and $111,645 Obama's proposal saves an average of a little more than $200 over McCains plan Family incomes between 111,646.00 and 226,981 realize a larger tax savings with McCains tax plan than Obama's According to this Obama's average tax cut will be $160. With 60% of the tax payers in the lower income groups, it doesn't seem like very much wealth is being spread when you divide it among them. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/06/09/ST2008060900950.html Looks like the middle and upper middle class will see a tax increase. Regardless of the promise not to raise taxes on those under $250KMon, 27 Oct 2008 18:43:41 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Agent2Agent/Which_presidential_candidate_is_for_real_estat-55640Answer by Cathy Sloan: JR "We have always given tax credits to low income earners. My single mother friend who earns about 22,000 a year gets a credit at the end of the year which amounts to more than she paid in income taxes. This isn't something Obama is starting." Exactly. Therefore unless Mr Obamas plan will give and additional credit to the 40% who already pay no taxes due to the current Bush tax credit these individuals will be no better off. To keep his campaign pledge he will have to double up on the credits. I doubt he will as the Bush tax credit will expire. I read some where that when the bush tax credits expire that the lower and middle class taxes will go up and Mr Obamas tax cut will actually result in a net increase in taxes to many wage earners. Won't this be a surprise to the masses? I wish I could remember where I got this information. However the following link does a pretty good jov of showing how lower and middle clss wage earners actually benefited from the Bush Tax plan. http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/1941.htmlMon, 27 Oct 2008 17:09:39 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Agent2Agent/Which_presidential_candidate_is_for_real_estat-55640Answer by Cathy Sloan: Have you guys read the link that Love to fish posted? http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/2073071/revolution-you-can-believe-in.thtml Doesn't this concern anyone? Based upon the tract record of any politicians campaign rhetoric becoming fact,once they are elected, its difficult to believe that $250,000 will be the actual figure used for the tax reform. However, it is an acceptable and popular figure for the masses to accept. It is also an amount that will encumber the least resistance. JR I get the analogy in Antolin's post. It's not about whether the waiter will ever earn $250K . If we fixate on the dollar amount we loose site of what is really happening. . It is about taking one person's earnings and giving it to someone who doesn't work or who does not pay federal income tax. I don't think payroll deductions for Social Secuirty should be considered for a cut in taxes. Its just a way to justify giving a check back to those who do not pay federal taxes. Lets get real, a family's tax cut wil be between $500 & $1000. It's not an amount that will make any great changes in our lives. It is an amount that collectively could keep an individual from getting a job with a small business. As far as big business, they will just charge more for their products or services. If we have to do this, I would be more agreeable for tax cut money going into an account to send the receiving individuals children or grand children to college or trade schools to ensure productivity and prosperity for our future generations.Mon, 27 Oct 2008 11:19:28 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Agent2Agent/Which_presidential_candidate_is_for_real_estat-55640Answer by Cathy Sloan: Obama appears to be the current front runner and more than likely will become president. His policies will affect us all. Recently Obama introduced a proposal to place a 90 day freeze on foreclosures. Any discussion? Huffington Post: "TOLEDO, Ohio - Democrat Barack Obama proposed more immediate steps Monday to heal the nation's ailing economy including a 90-day moratorium on home foreclosures at some banks." This was also introduced by house democrats in Oct. to be considered a requirement for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Below is a link to Obama's web site "know the Facts" page regarding the Freeze on foreclosures when it was proposed by Hillary Clinton in April 08. It includes Obama's and media's response. http://factcheck.barackobama.com/factcheck/2008/04/29/fact_check_on_clinton_ad.php My concern: Obama supports this when the Democratic party supports it. He doesn't seem to challenge the parites positions. It also brings up a rejected Obama contribution to the "rescue plan". Those of you who are working with short sales realize that many banks are giving a 60 to 90 day window for homeowners to list and attempt to short sell their homes. This would require some banks to comply if the homeowner is trying to sort things out. Obama's words say "trying to make payments" should this include short sales ? What happens when payments have stopped because the homeowner is transferred out of state? Banks don't usually accept partial payments. Should they? Why not require all banks not just those backed by Fannie & Freddie? Since many banks are already doing this. Is this why it has become a good plan? Perhaps its a good plan now because Obama endorses it ? Does Obama think its a good plan because the Democratic congress is considering this for Fannie & Freddie? Another proposal is allowing a 15% withdrawl from our 401K plans up to $10,000 without penalty. I dont' think $10,000 is enough to help a Realtor sustain their business and household expense. What about other small one or two person businesses, is $10K enough for them? I am fortunate to maintain a modest percentage of my Real estate earnings this year. My personal savings has supplied funds to meet several monthly budget deficits. Many of my peers have thus far withdrawn as much as $50,000 from their 401K to keep up with their business and household expenses. Tax and penalties for withdrawing 401K funds early could put some Realtors and small one two person businesses out of business come April 09. Tom's first paragraph in this post sounds right on when he says no president or government can solve our problems. I just wish that our current presidential canidates had a clue as to what the small business owners such as Realtors, Appraisers, Home inspectors, Carpenters, plumbers, Small grocaery store owners etc need to keep the doors open through these trying times.Sat, 18 Oct 2008 05:09:17 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Agent2Agent/Which_presidential_candidate_is_for_real_estat-55640Answer by Cathy Sloan: Tom I agree with you. It is so sad that our fellow Americans can and do spew such intolerance. America is great. I don't understand those that feel as Bushwacked. Why on earth would some so well traveled, so educated and enlightened choose to continue to live in a country which makes them so unhappy. Instead they choose to stand in the shadows and spew discontent. Bushwacked's public profile on Trulia is anonymous. I am a child of mixed heritage. Like so many Americans. My family tree is a coat of many colors. My melting pot includes White, Black, Hispanic and in-between. Protestants, Catholics and Jews Fortunately, I have never experienced intolerance of my heritage in Florida or anywhere I have traveled in the US. My opportunities for a college education and ability to excel in my career have not been limited by my heritage. I believe an Obama Presidency would enact programs for home ownership. If you recall It was a Democrat, the Clinton White House that pushed home ownership for every American and started all the lending policies that went awry. The Republicans are not blameless. Both parties had the best intentions but both parties allowed greed and politics to ruin the good deed. Both Democrat and Republican parties understand that the mortgage industry and housing industry must be addressed and reformed if our economy is to improve. I believe our industry will benefit from either canidate.Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:41:06 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Agent2Agent/Which_presidential_candidate_is_for_real_estat-55640Answer by Cathy Sloan: I think you are wrong. The election wouldn't be so close if that were the case. However, it does disturb me that 95+% of black voters are voting for Obama. I understand pride of race but it could be construed as racist also. Wouldn't you expect that balck voters would be just as divided between liberal and conservative like the rest of the nation.Sun, 12 Oct 2008 11:58:13 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Agent2Agent/Which_presidential_candidate_is_for_real_estat-55640Answer by Cathy Sloan: Both Mc Cain and Obama have hordes of the same old Washington Crowd. I like Obama. I think he is sincere. I am a Dem I don't like Nancy Palosi and the Dems that control Congress. I may vote against Obama because I am concerned about putting one party in complete control and did I mention I don't like the Speaker of the House. Congress has the worst approval rating ever. I am more concerned that if Obama wins he will be a one term President because of the congressional crowd and Washington will run amuck and become too liberal more like Nancy Palosi. Sometimes running the the oposite direction isn't the right answer either. It will take even longer to get our Country on the right track. I like the middle. Unless someone just started paying attention to politics you would have to remember how for years McCain was always fighting against the Washington Crowd. Seems like his name was always coming up as the one leading the brigade against some legislation he didn't agree with. He might not be so bad. He is more like the Democrats of Old. In any case whoever wins if the President and the congress doesn't deliver in 2 - 4 years there will be a whole new group. When this election is over. I think I''ll change my afiliation to Independent.. Still Undecided.Sun, 21 Sep 2008 12:59:11 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Agent2Agent/Which_presidential_candidate_is_for_real_estat-55640Answer by Cathy Sloan: Who really knows. I have been reading extensively about both candidates background. McCain has ties to the Jacksonville Area. In 1967 he and his wife Carol with their 3 children purchased a home in Orange Park. I believe they owned that home until 1977. Today that home would sell for around $220,000. It sold in 1996 for $115,000. Sounds like he has experienced typical trials and tribulations of home ownership and the family budget for the average middle class family. Surely he remembers those years and can relate and will hopefully draw from that experience to promote the economy and home ownership for the masses. In my research on Obama most of what he has written has been about finding his idenity, the authors who have linfluenced him, his days in Hawaii, his college days and his works in South Chicago. Other reference data is other writers trying to define him, mostly unflattering. We all know from experience our college days are not exactly in touch with reality. Most would agree the Real Estate in Hawaii may not give indication of Obama's understanding of the housing market. I believed his grandparents lived in an apartment or at least it was called an apartment, but they may have owned it. Although, he was raised middle class it appears he identifies more with the folks that are below or lower middle class and his experience in South Chicago seems to be organizing tenants to deal with landlord difficulties and injustices. If he values home ownership then I'm sure he will encourage and promote programs that helps the lower middle class and below middle class realize home ownership. How that will affect the average middle class is any bodies guess.Mon, 1 Sep 2008 10:43:23 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/removed-63461Answer by Cathy Sloan: Rose Closing cost can be generalized as a percent of the sales price and usually the percentages Eric quoted will cover closing cost if you secure a mortgage with 0% discount points and 0% Loan origination. In addition to lender costs, closing cost in Florida will include intangible tax and doc stamps on the Note if Eric's percentages sound a little high. As Eric stated you also incur prepaid items to pay at closing. Eric has done an good job of explaining those. On an $80,000 purchase price prepaid itmes can be a little less than 2% to 2.25%. Shopping homeowners insurance for the lowest rates can achieve some savings. Currently you can negotiate for the Seller to pay Buyer's closing cost and prepaid items. Many also begin their negotiations offering a figure less than list price and asking for these seller concessions. Success in a Seller agreeing to accept your offer will depend upon seller motivation, the market, the list price of the home you have selected and the amount of the homes appraisal. If the home is a short sale or foreclosure property, negotiating both a seller concession for Buyer's closing cost, including prepaid items, and a discount on the list price can become more difficult. Many times the Bank or REO owners of these properties have alaready listed below market. They, many times, have a "bottom line amount" the bank will accept. On occasion, we see occurances, in our MLS, where the homes selling price exceeds the listed price with a notation that the Buyer's closing cost and prepaid items were paid by the Seller. If I can be of assistance, please contact me.Tue, 21 Oct 2008 06:49:26 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Property_QandA/What_is_the_current_estimated_value_-61512Answer by Cathy Sloan: Debbie The home you are inquiring about is located in Watermill. The most recent sales of homes approximately 2000 SF plus or minus have ranged between $170,000 and $194,000. In addition to the sales price of comparable homes in the area there are many other factors to be considered in determining value. The figures quoted are a ball park estimation. the ball park value could be considerably less or more than the actual current value of the subject home.Sat, 11 Oct 2008 19:06:57 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Property_QandA/this_is_a_foreclosure_but_it_hasn_t_gone_up_for_sa-61739Answer by Cathy Sloan: Sally This property was scheduled for public sale/auction on Sept. 29th at 11AM. If it was purchased by an REO company it can be several weeks or months before it will appear in MLS for sale as a foreclosure. If an individual investor won the bid, the home could go on the rental market. Time will tell. It will take several weeks before the sale will be recorded in public records. If you are truly interested, I suggest you conact a local Realtor to monitor the activity on this property and advise you as soon as it is assigned to be listed for sale.Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:37:11 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Crime_and_Safety/What_is_the_crime_rate_in_that_area_just_east_of_N-60988Answer by Cathy Sloan: Misty If you have not had an opportunity to visit Jacksonville, I suggest that you do and explore the areas you are considering. Walk the areas, stop and ask shop owners and their workers how conducive the area is for walking and biking to work. The area east of Nemours you speak of is knarled with a major interstate highway and its on off ramps as well as rail road tracks. Navigating around the many highway ramps, overpasses, tracks, etc. may provide safey issues other than crime. The area south may have more direct roads and sidewalks that are conducive to walking and biking Another good area for you to research would be the beaches areas around AIA The links provided by Shonda and David will allow you to highlight areas on a map and see the crime stats within a 1 mile radius. It is very easy to navigate. http://maps2.coj.net/crimestatsdiscl.asp?sJAxGIS=YWed, 8 Oct 2008 08:40:42 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Agent2Agent/What_s_a_good_website_for_leads_-61103Answer by Cathy Sloan: I have found that my own web site generates more valuable leads than any other medium. Over the past 10 years I have spent hundreds to thousands monthly joining one web based lead generating company , web site or another. I have found that instead of paying someone else a monthly fee or a per lead fee, my money is better spent promoting my own web site. You can accomplish promoting your web site through pay per click advertising with google or yahoo and having someone "tweak" your web site for better organic placement in the search engines. When leads come to you from your own web site, you were selected by that individual over all the other Realtors or websites found through their search efforts. Something about you attracted them and moved them to contact you. You will find that leads from your web site will equal a greater percentage becoming clients than any other lead generating program availaible. Promoting home listings on Realtor.com(showcase listings), Homes.com (featured listings) Trulia.com and Zillow.com have also generated a successful lead pool for me.Wed, 8 Oct 2008 05:21:33 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Agent2Agent/Does_anyone_have_experience_with_www_Realtor_com_-59136Answer by Cathy Sloan: Betina I highly recommend Realtor.com. I have never had any one from Move.com contact me about buying leads. I don't buy leads anyway . It's a waste of money. I am not aware that Realtor.com contacted me to sell any other products other than featured listings. I recommend showcase listings. Realtor.com is always the #1 internet search site, leaving all other sites in the dust. The link below is to an independent marketing firm that tracks the top 10 websites in many categories. http://www.marketingcharts.com/interactive/top-10-real-estate-websites-august-2008-5966/ Your MLS listing automatically gets one photo and a generic description with contact infomation for your Broker on Realtor.com. Everybody knows buyer's want to see multiple photos so they skip over the one photo listings. Just ask your buyers, the majority will confirm this fact. As a showcase listing all your photos in MLS are featured, You have a description area where you can use 2500 characters to describe the property. The best feature is that your photo, conatact information and access to all your listings are promently displayed with a direct link to contact you. (This is a big hit with Owners at your listing appts) I have sold several homes because of Realtor.com. My most recent home was sold site unseen from the Realtor.com listing. The buyer never saw the home in person until the day before closing. Featured listings give you a reporting ability that your seller's will love. You can purchase the lowest priced zip code and your listing will still be featured everytime someone types in the city name without the zip. (this is the most economical way) Once again, you have to enter the MLS # of the homes you want featured. I change the featured home every other day. I don't have to buy so many featured zip codes this way and my lisitings get more exposure. However, if you look through the Realtor.com site at showcased listings and featured listings you will see a lot of Realtors do not take the time to enhance their listings the way they should. Be prepared to separately enter the extra photos and data on Realtor.com. to get the most bang for your $$ I have another program that tracks where the viewers of my listings are coming from. Realtor.com always sends more viewers than any other site. Many agents that do showcase listings send listing referrals to you if you are a showcase Realtor. I just closed on listing Referral last Friday that was sent to me from another believer in Showcase lisitngs. The home sold in less than 30 days. Try it. You'll love it if you use it properly. Contact me and I'll walk you through a few of my listings and send you some of the reporting features.Sun, 28 Sep 2008 10:08:10 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Agent2Agent/Realtors_What_s_your_experience_with_lock_boxes_-59368Answer by Cathy Sloan: Cindi I avoid the generic lock boxes on active listings for the reason you stated above. I require showing agents call the office for the appointment and code. I never publish the code in the confidential section. I am a member of two Multiple Listing Services. One allows us to purchase our Supra lock boxes for $100, the other requires that we pay a yearly lease of $100 for the Supra box. I have purchased used lock boxes from our membership by sending out a blanket e-mail first to all my fellow RE/MAX agents in our area then a blanket e-mail to our MLS membership. There is a very good response of agents willing to sell their lock boxes for $50 -$60. I have not questioned the MLS Board that requires us to lease lockboxes about used lockboxes nor have I had the occasion to need additional boxes for that service. The other board has no issue with using used boxes. I place generic lock boxes on my vacant homes that are in pending. I still require that my office be called for appointments and lock box code. Occasionally, with the owner's permission, I place a generic on pending listings that are occupied. I hope this helps you with lock box economics and effieiciency. It has worked well for me.Sun, 28 Sep 2008 06:38:22 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Property_QandA/i_want_more_information_on_this_home-59367Answer by Cathy Sloan: Daisy The home you are inquiring about has been listed in our MLS for approximately 5 months. The following link will take you to the MLS listing. http://pub.realtyweb.net/cgi-bin/view.cgi?20080928124835829084000000&id=1 This link will no longer be available after 10/28/2008. For more information on this home and others, please contact me. - CATHY SLOAN RE/MAX SPECIALISTSSun, 28 Sep 2008 05:59:18 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Property_QandA/I_would_like_to_know_if_the_is_a_mobile_home_if_n-58688Answer by Cathy Sloan: Zalina The property is a single family wood frme home built in 1989 on 1+acre The property on Dornbush is not currently an active MLS Listing. The Seller's may not be considering a short sale at this time. The Lis Pendens was filed in May 2008. If the homeowners have not worked out a repayment agreement or restructured the loan with their lender, It can be many months before this home becomes a foreclosure. If the seller's have worked out a repayment agreement with their lender, the lis pendens will remain active until the agreement is fulfulled. If you want more infomation, please contact me.Wed, 24 Sep 2008 06:24:03 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/Is_it_safe_to_use_a_real_estate_agent_referral_fro-58518Answer by Cathy Sloan: Kenneth Mortgage Brokers usually give referrals to Realtors who have proven their efficiency. I would expect that the Realtor your Mortgage Broker has referred to you has earned the privilege of receiving the broker's referrals by providing exceptional service. I would suggest you definitely include this Realtor among those you are interviewing. The purchase of a home is a very personal financial quest. Interviewing several Realtors will assure that in additon to exceptional service you find someone whose professionalism, work ethic, efficiency and personality is a good fit for you and your family. It is important that you and your Realtor are on the same page, find ease in communicating and that you share comfort and trust in each other. Cathy Sloan RE/MAX SpecialsitsMon, 22 Sep 2008 21:55:08 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/Short_Sale_Offers_Need_advice_ASAP-57624Answer by Cathy Sloan: Cathy There are a few short sales around that have already been through the process with a buyer and are back on the market. If the listing agent is using the word "approved" what is meant is that the bank responded to another offer with a counter of the lowest price they will accept and the buyer rejected the counter. This is a great advantage. The short sale process of waiting for bank approval will be much shorter for you. If this is the case the bank will accept nothing less than the $229,000. If it is necessary that you have the bank pay buyer closing cost you will need to add that amount plus the extra seller closing cost the bank will incur, due to the increase in price, to your offer, Of course, your offer will contain language requiring the seller to pay $XXX of buyer's closing cost and prepaid items. Have your agent clarify the "approved status" with the listing agent. It is in your best interest to have a Buyer's agent experienced in short sales represent you. You may want to read my blog post "Buying a short sale" http://www.trulia.com/blog/cathy_sloan/2008/09/buying_a_short_sale Good luckSun, 21 Sep 2008 05:44:08 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Agent2Agent/removed-57417Answer by Cathy Sloan: Natalia I feel your pain. This happens all too often. I know of a couple of agents who charge $1000 to show more than 5 homes. The $1000 is refunded at closing if the client buys. They are heavy listing agents and will quickly refer the buyer to one of their buyer's agents who does not require a retainer if the client is resistent.Mon, 15 Sep 2008 07:30:29 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/I_am_a_yr_old_married_woman_who_s_lived_outside_-57373Answer by Cathy Sloan: Michelle With the passage of the mortgage relief bill in July/August 2008, many of the down payment assistance options will be eliminated October 1. 2008. Ameridream, American family Fund, etc will be eliminated. However, you can still negotiate for the seller to pay your closing cost. FHA wil require a 3.5% down payment and conventional mortgages will require 5% or more. There are many state and county bond programs available to provide down payment assistance to those who qualify. There are stil some options in the market place for those who qualify. You will need a good team to navigate you through the process. As many have suggested, contact a Realtor with experience in down payment assistance. They will have lender contacts to guide you and the expertise to negotiate in your best interest. Best of luckMon, 15 Sep 2008 06:38:07 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Financing/Taxes_and_Insurance_in_Mirabay_are_they_really_as-57066Answer by Cathy Sloan: Below is another link to help you research Florida Home owner insurance rates. The rates vary greatly between Insurance companies. The following link gives you a good starting point for researching Insurance rates for Hillsborough County. Clicking on the county gives you a list of companies rated lowest rate to highest for the average policy. If you click on the company name you are given contact information. The flood insurance rate wil depend upon the flood zone in which the property is located. You may want to contact the folks at Mirabay and ask what the flood zone is for canal properties in their community and have that handy when you call for rates. http://www.shopandcomparerates.com/HOCompareRates.htm Jim Soda is correct about 1.5% of the purchase price for annual property taxes, excluding CDD and HOA., that will get you in the ballpark. Hope this helps.Sun, 14 Sep 2008 09:04:00 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Foreclosure/If_I_am_deliquent_on_my_HOA_fees_and_my_second_mor-56974Answer by Cathy Sloan: The short sale will require the approval of both lenders to sell your home. In many cases the HOA files a lien in public records against your home for deliquent HOA dues. The title search will reaveal the existence of the lien and the lien will have to be paid as a part of closing cost. In many cases a lender will respond to a short sale that they will take $XXX amout for home home and the buyer pays all closing cost. Contact a local Realtor experienced in listing short sales. They can discuss all options with you and contact the lenders and HOA and start you on the road to getting an approval to short sell your home. Short Sale is not an automatic option. You will be required to submit financial documentation to your mortgage lenders and meet specific guidelines to get approval to short sell your home. I would start the process soon.Sat, 13 Sep 2008 06:59:07 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/In_My_Neighborhood/Need_to_buy_GE_Supra_boxes_for_FL-56904Answer by Cathy Sloan: Jonathan In February I needed 10 new lock boxes and did not want to spend $1,000 for new boxes at the time. I sent an e-mail out to all the agents in our local RE/MAX offices and to our MLS membership offering to buy used GE Supra lock boxes. I had several Realtors contact me offering to sell their excess boxes. Some agents just wanted to sell some for extra cash. I purchased all I needed from two RE/MAX Realtors for $550.00. The lock box codes of the boxes I bought were two sets of sequential numbers. I like having most of my boxes with sequential numbers. I had about a dozen agents contact me wanting to sell. If you are not in a large franchise you may want to contact some of the larger Franchises in your area and ask if someone can send out an e-mail to all the Realtors in their collective Franchise letting them know to contact you. You can also try sending out e-mail through your local MLS to the membership. The boxes are easy to transfer from the original agent to you. Good LuckFri, 12 Sep 2008 17:03:08 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Selling/My_mom_is_getting_ready_to_list_her_home_in_Orange-57012Answer by Cathy Sloan: In answer to your question for a ballpark figure. Assuming your Realtor's professional service fee is 6% or 6.5% you can plan on 8% of the sales price to be your total closing cost including the professional service fee. This should get you within $500 plus or minus depending upon the Realtor fees charged. It seems the other Realtors have summed up the customary Seller's expenses to expect in North Florida. Shonda has also explained the importance of securing an agent with an agressive internet marketing strategy. I cannot stress strongly enough how important extensive internet marketing is to the success of selling your Mother's home. Jacksonville and Orange Park's Residential Real Estate is experiencing a strong Buyer's market. We have more that 25,000 active listings in our local MLS. It's important to have an agent who not only markets aggressively but also monitors the market and the feedback from your showings to keep your homes's pricing ahead of the market rather than following it down. If I can answer any questions of be of assistance. Please contact me. Cathy Sloan RE/MAX Speicalists csloan@remax.netThu, 11 Sep 2008 19:27:56 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/Buying_after_January_property_tax_question_-56818Answer by Cathy Sloan: Properlty taxes are paid in Arrears. The 2008 Property taxes will be due by April 1 2009. If you purchase a home in Jannuary 2009 that was homesteaded at the time you purchased it nothing really happens on your 2009 property taxes , you will be allowed to benefit from the previous owners homestead for 2009. You will file forl your own homestead during 2009 to become effective 210. If the home is not homesteaded it usually means you will have to pay and additional $35.00 to $50.00 a month in property taxes until you can homestead. If you buy new construction and the home was not substantally complete on 01/2009. you will pay property taxes on unemporved properlty for 2009. Property taxes will be based on the purchase price you paid. If you paid more than the previous owner, your property taxes should be more that the previous owners taxes. Once you file homestead your property taxes will be limited to a moderate 3% a year increase If your home is homesteaded by the previous owner, the homestead will pass to you until you file for your own.Tue, 9 Sep 2008 22:32:17 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/Canadian_looking_for_investment_properties_in_Flor-56740Answer by Cathy Sloan: Paul I would like to invite you to consider Jacksonville as well. Jacksonville offers a low unemployment rate, is not affected by the ups and downs of tourism and is on its way to becoming one of the largest sea ports on the east coast. We have two military bases. NAS Jacksonville and NAS Mayport . Great things are on the horizon for Jacksonville. Check out http://www.expandinjax.com/tabid/110/default.aspx?ItemID=30Tue, 9 Sep 2008 21:16:59 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Selling/How_much_is_the_realtor_s_comission_and_what_s_inc-56796Answer by Cathy Sloan: Carmen Realtor's commissions vary from Broker to Broker as does the level of service. 7% commission may not guarantee you any more service or marketing. than a 6% commission. That is why it is wise to request in writing a copy of the Agent's marketing plan and have a clear understanding of all the aspects of the services the agent and brokerage will provide. There are also Brokers that provide a menu of services and you pick the amount of service you want and pay accordingly. In addtion to knowing the amount of marketing your home will receive, you will need to know what level of service you can expect. Typically, in Jacksonville, the selling Broker (the broker who brings the buyer) receives 3% of the selling price as a co-op commission. The listing Broker keeps the balance of the commission. From this balance, in addition to paying the listing Broker & Agent for services, all marketing, marketing materials, advertising, etc. is paid. One broker/agent may spend $100 on marketing your home for 30 days and never another penny. Where another broker/agent will spend $1100 the first month with additional expenses every month until the home sells. The latter may provde a professionl photgrapher, extensive internet coverage on a dozen or more national websites, featured listings, printed materials, virtual tours, video tours, printed advertising, TV advertising, electronic monitioring of your listing, 800 numbers, etc. The commission is paid from the seller's proceeds at closing. You owe nothing until the home is sold. If the home does not sell the seller owes nothing. The listing agent takes all the risks of fronting the advertising and marketing expensesTue, 9 Sep 2008 20:59:12 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/If_I_buy_a_residential_home_lot_for_cash_do_I_hav-56533Answer by Cathy Sloan: As a realtor, I would never purchase any property without getting title work done. You can have an attorney do your closing or you could use a title company. The title company may be less expensive. Otherwise you will may inherit title issues and it will be your expense and much more expensive to get the legal work done to clear the title when you choose to sell. To get clear title you must have a title company do the closing. The Deed is the only document that must be recorded.Mon, 8 Sep 2008 07:02:28 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/Is_it_normal_to_take_days_to_get_a_copy_of_the_sig-56504Answer by Cathy Sloan: My experience has been that the banks are always slow in getting the signed paperwork to the buyer. Keep in mind that verbal is not legally binding in Florida. If another higher offer comes in on the property, the listing agent has a responsibility to present that offer to the bank until you are in receipt of your signed paperwork. My brother-in-law in Wlinter Haven is in your same situation and it has been more than week thus far for him.Sun, 7 Sep 2008 20:30:24 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/What_kind_of_neighborhood_is_Bentwater_in_Jacksonv-56429Answer by Cathy Sloan: Sally Bentwater offers as much diversity as many other communities in the Jacksonville are. If you are new to Jacksonville you will find, as many before you have, that the residents of Jacksonville are a very friendly group. I am providing two links that can answer your questions much better and in more detail than I. The zip code for Bentwater is 32246. Here is a link to one of my favorite sites. It provides demographic information as well, school information, a map of the area, and the ability for you to compare the location with any zip code in the country . http://zipskinny.com Here is a link to the Jacksonville Sheriffs office crime stats page. It allows you to research crime stats by address and gives you a map that allows you to see stats in a 1 mile radus as well as the surrounding areas. http://maps2.coj.net/crimestatsdiscl.asp?sJAxGIS=Y I hope this information helps you to determine if Bentwater is the neighborhood for you. I would welcome the opprortuinty to assist you with your home purchase. Please contact me if I can be of assistance. Cathy Sloan Re/Max Specialists 904 635 4766Sun, 7 Sep 2008 08:44:20 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/How_To_/how_do_I_get_a_showing_for_the_house_in_orange_par-56338Answer by Cathy Sloan: Christine Any area agent can show you the home on Kiowa. Currently there are two listings on Kiowa. One has an accepted offer. I would welcome the opportunnity to earn your business and will gladly schedule an appointment to show you the home. Contact me if I can assist Cathy Sloan Re/Max Specialsits 904-635-4766 csloan@remax.netSat, 6 Sep 2008 15:51:41 PDT