Besides being an Accredited Land Consultant with over sixteen years experience as a licensed real estate professional in Marion County, over the years I have traveled around the country to take numerous advanced courses held by the National Association of Realtors' Realtors Land Institute, on topics such as Site Selection, Land Development, Agricultural Land Brokerage, and Land Investment Analysis. I have used this knowledge over and over throughout the years to help buyers of residential acreage, farm acreage, and commercial parcels find their optimal property at the best price possible. I have also been a resident of Ocala since 1972, so I am more familiar with Ocala and surrounding Marion County than most.

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When you are ready to start looking for your property, contact me about setting up a meeting at Foxfire Realty’s main office.  There we can discuss what you are looking for and get the process started.  After researching available properties meeting your criteria and reviewing them with you, I will personally escort you to all properties that fit your requirements and assist you with inspection and resolving any questions about the properties that you may have.  I will review flood plain and zoning information with you to ensure the property will suit your purposes, and I can also provide a comparative market analysis before you make an offer to make sure you are getting your money’s worth. For out-of-area buyers and investors, we can review properties via email and I can even do site inspection of the properties and provide additional photographic details via email as well, conducting the entire transaction without your ever coming to Ocala if you wish. I can take care of all the details for you. My aim is to make your transaction seamless and stress free.

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Once we have begun the property search, an important first step is to get prequalified for a loan (unless buying property with cash).  This not only prevents you from inadvertently searching for property above or below what you can afford, but also assists in negotiating the best price possible, letting the seller know they are dealing with a buyer that is already approved for the sale price that the buyer is offering.  You may already have a working relationship with a lender ready to handle your financing. Otherwise I can provide you with contact information for many local lenders as well.  Financing on vacant land is not as readily available as for properties with residences on them, but many local lenders will finance land since they know this area and can better assess the value of the land and its potential. If you have an existing home with significant equity, using a home equity loan instead of a land loan is an option. There is no down payment on a home equity loan and you can typically get a low interest rate regardless of what you plan to do with the land, because your home secures the loan.

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Once you have selected a piece of property to purchase, it is time to make an offer. If you were making a full price offer for cash and a short closing, then the deal is already done. Any other offer, however, is open to negotiation. You can attempt to negotiate a purchase price lower than the seller’s asking price, and the seller with either accept your counter, reject it outright, or make a counter-offer somewhere between your offer and the original asking price. If the seller makes a counter-offer, you are under no obligation to accept that offer. You can accept the counter-offer, reject the counter-offer and simply walk away, or make another counter-offer somewhere between your first offer and their counter-offer. Most sellers will accept offers with lender-financing involved (especially if there is already pre-approval from a lender) with closing dates within 30-60 days. But being able to offer the seller a cash offer (which means few to no contingencies) and a short closing time frame is more likely to get the seller to take less than their original asking price for the property. An escrow or “good faith” deposit will also be required and held by the title company that will be performing the closing, either accompanying the offer, or within 3 days of an accepted offer. Escrow deposit amounts can be any amount agreed upon by the buyer and seller, and can be as little as $500-$1000 for smaller properties.

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Once an agreement has been reached between you and the seller, a title company of the seller’s choosing begins preparing for the transfer of the property at the closing. Since the seller typically pays most closing costs in Marion County, the seller normally selects the title company.

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The few closing costs a buyer is responsible for in Marion County are:

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Lender’s Title Insurance (if financing the property). While the seller provides you with a title insurance policy to assure that both the buyer and seller are protected from losses that could result from any clouds on the title (defects on the title or conflicting claims of ownership) found in the future, when a buyer is purchasing the property with a mortgage the lender will require the buyer purchase a similar title insurance policy to protect the lender from clouds on the title. Since the title company is already preparing title insurance for the seller, they are able to offer a reduced rate for the lender’s title insurance. The price of the policy will vary by the purchase price of the property – for a $100,000 sale, the title insurance would typically be about $150.

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Document Stamps on the Mortgage (if financing the property). The State of Florida charges a documentary stamp tax on mortgages, levied at the rate of $0.35 per $100 (or portion thereof) on mortgage documents and liens against real estate. For a sale with a $100,000 mortgage, the doc stamps would be $350.

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Intangible Tax on the Mortgage (if financing the property). The intangible tax is a one-time tax on intangible personal property, levied on obligations for payment of money which are secured by a mortgage or other liens upon real property located in the state of Florida. This is levied at the rate of $0.20 per $100 (or portion thereof). For a sale with a $100,000 mortgage, the Intangible Tax would be $200.

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​Title company closing fee. This is where the title company gets paid for their services. They perform the title search, draw up all the closing documents and explain them to all parties, handle the collecting of closing costs and distribution of monies, ensure that the new titles, deeds and other documents are filed with the appropriate entities, and conduct the formal closing, whether in their office or electronically for either party that is not present. For the buyer their fee is typically around $475.

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Appraisal (if financing the property). The lender will require an appraisal to ensure the land is worth its purchase price, and can be sold to cover losses if you default on your mortgage While the appraisal fee is typically paid by the buyer, the lender chooses the appraiser to be sure it won't be biased in the buyer's favor, as appraisers must be a neutral party. Home appraisals typically cost $300-$375, but land appraisals can cost more, depending on the size and type of property because they’re much harder to appraise than a home with more variables.

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Survey (buyer’s option, or if financing the property). Lenders will require a survey to ensure the property lines are in fact where they are assumed to be, that there are no encroachments from the surrounding properties, and that there is actual legal access to the property. However, it is still a very good idea for a buyer to purchase a survey even if they are paying cash, to make sure there is not a problem that will require them to sell the property at a steep loss, if they can ever even sell it at all. A simple survey will usually cost $300+, depending on the property.

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During this process, I will be working with your lender to provide them with needed information to get the property closed in a timely manner. And once you begin receiving surveys and appraisal reports, I can help you with interpreting them.

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On the closing date, the property is transferred into the name of the buyer, and the buyer takes possession.  The buyer and seller sign all the closing paperwork, and at this time the title company transfers the funds to the seller.  If the buyer is not local and will not be attending the closing in person, the title company will have previously sent the closing paperwork to the buyer via overnight mail.  The buyer then signs this paperwork in front of a notary, and sends everything back via the provided overnight mail envelope in time for it to arrive before the closing. Recently Florida has allowed for the entire closing to be done remotely with electronic signatures.  The title company does not execute the seller's documents until the buyer signs their documents as well and they or their lender provides all purchase funds in full.

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With a knowledgeable and experienced agent, this entire process from start to finish will go quickly and seamlessly.  This is a brief overview of the process from property search to closing, but if you would like any additional information feel free to call or email me at any time!