Home Renovations & Florida Real Estate
After looking for over six months, I finally was able to purchase my first home!
The Florida real estate right now is super insane! I was constantly on Realtor and Zillow looking for homes in my area of interest and within one or two days of a house being on the market, its status would change to contingent or pending. I felt defeated and that I wouldn’t be able to find a home.
I was looking for the home to have at least three bedrooms with two bathrooms and hopefully move-in ready. I would’ve loved to have a pool and a backyard but only if it were within my budget. One of the homes I loved had an asking price of 525k, with a pool, backyard, a full-blown bbq, and even surround sound system throughout the entire house. It was initially out of my budget but it was all updated and I loved the area so I placed my bid and matched the asking price. After two days, I received a call from my realtor stating that we didn’t get the house and that we lost it to a cash offer. A few weeks later I checked Realtor and noticed the home sold for 575k!! Fifty-thousand dollars over the asking price, totally unheard of prior to this year.
Even with these absurd deals, I kept searching until I found a house that had most of the items on my list. I think what helped me a lot in order to get this house was that I was able to tour it a week before the open house. I put my offer the day after touring it and that gave me a huge advantage over other offers because the owner didn’t want to wait too long. The owner decided to just pick amongst the early offers and I ended up getting the house!
Tips for anyone currently searching for a new home in Florida Real Estate:
- Be patient. It may take months as it did for me but I was able to find a home that fit my needs. You will find your home even if it takes a few tries.
- Try to be one of the first to tour the home. If possible try to get an appointment before the potential open house. This was HUGE for me as you read above.
- Have fun with it! Take pictures of the things you like in the homes you tour and keep them for later as an inspiration for future projects. I didn’t expect to purchase a home that needed major renovations. However, there is a lot of different things that I want to update. So these images are definitely helpful now during my renovations!
- Even when you think it’s the end of the world, it’s not! Don’t stress.
What’s next?
Well, now that I have my home and am done with the Florida real estate it’s time for home renovations! The first thing on my list is flooring, painting, and lighting. I am changing the floor from these terracotta tiles to beautiful porcelain tiles that look like grey wood. I am installing recessed lighting throughout the home and changing out the current light fixtures for more rustic/farmhouse-style items. I will continue to share my home renovation and decor journey and hope you guys enjoy it! If you’re curious I’ve already started sharing a lot on my Instagram through my home reno highlight which you can check out here.
Until my next post, peace out!
Comments (1)
Janet Mayer
September 13, 2023 at 2:32 pm
Being patient is so important. Thanks for sharing this article! We’re in the process of selling our current home to upgrade to a bigger one with all the grandkids coming in, and it’s a tough process! We just had our carpets cleaned, which was the last thing on the list, so now that we are ready to put our home on the market, I want to be as prepared as possible when it comes to buying one. Thank you for sharing!