Blog > 3 Critical Details You Need To Know Before You Buy A Home in Vero Beach, Florida
3 Critical Details You Need To Know Before You Buy A Home in Vero Beach, Florida
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Before buying a home make sure that you know the important details in the purchasing process. We’ve come up with the 3 critical details you need to know before you buy a home in Vero Beach.
For more information call us today at 772-732-3774!
Hi, we’re going to talk about the three critical details that you need to know before you buy a home in Vero Beach. That’s the reason why we have Kristen with us today because she is our Buyer Specialist who deals with this on a daily basis, she knows the market.
- Termites
People want concrete because they’re scared of termites. That’s one reason, and then a lot of other folks will say they think that a concrete block home is going to hold up better in a hurricane. So let’s go ahead and talk about termites. Why people say that they want concrete block homes is because they think that termites are only going to be going after the frame homes and it’s true that termites go after wood. You can see we are standing in a concrete block home here and this is a very well-built home. It’s a local reputable builder and it is built using wood frame and wood studs so it’s a wood roof. True story, concrete does not keep termites out. In fact, we all have a friend who has a concrete block home and she found termites in her master closet and it took a while before they actually discovered it. She noticed some dusting on the floor in the master closet so she called in a local pest company. They had to investigate the problem and she had major wood rot inside and that was from that lovely termite.
Let’s get down to the nitty gritty, so how do termites get into a concrete block home inside and start chewing on this wood? They’re called subterranean termites, the ones that you need to worry about. Subterranean termites will get up through the slab in holes perhaps like where the plumbing comes up through the slab. If there’s gaps, if there’s any cracks that subterranean termites could come up through there and once they hit wood they’re gonna start chewing.
There’s another kind of termite, the Dry Wood termites. Those are swarming termites. Every single house is susceptible to the swarming termites, also known as the dry wood termites, even in new construction. In new construction there have been these other bugs called Powder Post beetles and they’ll be like unwanted hitchhikers on trusses that are delivered. They come in on the truck on the trusses. There is also a concrete termite that eats concrete and pipes it’s called the Superbug, it can eat concrete and pipes and what it does is it emits acid and then it erodes.
To prevent these problems call the local pest company. We have several really good ones, we’d love to recommend to you, so reach out for prevention. Here is the number one prevention, you get a Termite Bond. You can have your home regularly treated, as a home buyer you’re going to want to get a WDO inspection. We’ll always recommend a Wood Destroying Organism, called a WDO, inspection by an inspector who is licensed specialist. They go around and they look for little holes that are in your ceiling. They’re looking for any evidence of termites or any kind of wood destroying organisms that is preventable and treatable, so let’s not freak out, just do your due diligence people.
Also one last thing on this subject is that if you do buy a frame home, which I recommend when you buy a frame home, what you want to do is you want to go around the edge where dirt comes up against the siding and just kind of move that dirt down and kind of create a little a canal around the house so you don’t have any dirt touching the siding or giving the subterranean termites any opportunity to move to the house access. So this is the question, do Termites prefer a concrete block home or a wood home? It doesn’t matter they’re both susceptible. So don’t make that part of your criteria right that opens up your buying possibilities. Now you can look at both frame and concrete block homes.
- Insurance
Question is, are you going to be able to get insurance especially if you’re buying a home that’s not brand new? The big issues that we’re seeing with homes that are 15 plus years old with roofs that are 15 plus years old, in many cases people aren’t able to get insurance or their insurance fees are going up by two to three percent, the policies aren’t getting renewed. The first thing I want to say that you want to do as a buyer is you want to call the insurance company and make sure that you’re going to be able to get insurance on this house before you purchase the home. Even if you’re purchasing it using cash you’re going to want to make sure you’re able to ensure that home, especially now that we’re coming into hurricane season. As a buyer if you are purchasing cash you are not required to have homeowners insurance that’s for your peace of mind but if you’re financed it’s a requirement getting the loans. We do have customers who do own older houses and they are self-insured. They put aside money every month into a bank account just in case something does happen with the house, they can cover it so if you’re able to do that, that is recommended. If you can do that, most people can’t. So this is going to be an issue that you may deal with again if you’re buying a home 15 years old, plus with a roof 15 years old. Even then there’s no guarantee that you’re going to be able to get insurance because insurance is tough right now. So one reason why it’s becoming really hard to get insurance is the insurance companies are saying a lot of the roof claims are fraudulent. Right now what’s happening is the senate has proposed allowing new deductibles of up to two percent on roof damage claims, but those fraudulent claims are a real bad problem. I hate to say, but there are some shady companies out there who go around targeting homeowners and say “hey, I think you might have some hail damage and so let me go up there and check and I can probably get you a new roof for free or just the cost of your deductible”. Those kind of claims have really just jacked up our our insurance rates here in Florida. It’s hurting the insurance companies actually. We have a lot of insurance companies who are pulling out of Florida. They’re not going to work here anymore. There are major insurance companies that are liquidating in Florida and if you want to know who they are, google it, they are easy to find.
One thing that people think is they can go get insurance with the state-backed insurers. The state-backed insurer of last resort and that’s Citizens. Fortunately and unfortunately there are over a million policies now in Citizens. They’re flooded with new policies so what’s going to happen when a hurricane hits, there’s going to be a huge financial hit to the state. It could be devastating. The solution here is definitely talk to a quality insurance company. In fact, Kristen can turn you on to some insurance companies that can help write policies for you. Just be aware that you may need to invest in a new roof, a new hot water heater, new plumbing and electrical.Those are the big things that the insurance companies are looking at. One other thing is the hurricane protection, make sure that there’s shutters, if not be ready to put some shutters up. Plywood, I don’t believe that counts. It’s probably may protector windows but it’s not going to protect your pocket. You don’t get deductions for plywood on the window or duct tape, but you probably could sell it on the black market.
Florida and our Governor has made it a priority to get this insurance situation turned around so, thank you, Governor we appreciate it! We need it and we are looking forward to you bringing some sanity and stability to this market. He is setting dates in May for when that is all going to turn around or when he’s going to be put into effect.
- New Builds
I bet you didn’t know interest rates are rising, but what does that mean for new constructions? This is the third critical detail you need to know before buying a home in Vero Beach and Sebastian, Florida. When you’re dealing with new builds, you’ve got a couple of different options when it comes to what kind of home that you buy. So if you’re buying a home in the development where the builder or the developer owns the land, you can get pre-approved for the loan before you purchase the house. You put down your deposit and they start construction but you’re still going to need to go through final approval which is about a year from now. It could be a year from now and a lot can happen in a year, right? This is called an end loan Usually you’re going to be using the lenders or the builder’s lender on this in a situation and you’re using the builder that has their own financing terms. At the end when it’s time to close on the house the interest rates are going to have changed, especially now. With these increases, there’s a very good possibility that your payments are going to be much higher. In some cases we’re seeing people getting priced out of the home. They’re not able to actually close on the property, they can’t afford the payments and it’s a possibility that you could lose your deposit as well.
Unfortunately, that’s kind of an issue we’re seeing. The other new construction loan is called a Construction Perm Loan and that’s where you buy the land, you own the land, and then you have a home built on that land. Now you can get a Construction Perm Lender where you close on that loan and you get locked in on that rate at the very beginning, so you don’t have to worry about rising interest rates. However, there’s a couple of things that you do need to pay attention to and that is a possibility of an Escalation Clause in the contract which basically says that a builder would be increasing the price of the home if labor costs or materials costs rise during the construction. It’s a very, very good possibility. I’m not against verbiage like that, by any stretch of the imagination. it’s necessary for builders to be able to stay afloat and do business, but you do want to make sure that you pay attention to the contract and you know what you’re signing.
Now here’s the thing, not all lenders are going to be telling you about this. You need a good one to make sure that you do your due diligence and you read that contract, however if you work with a seasoned Construction Perm Lender who knows contracts, usually they’re going to be local, and they’re going to know the builders. They’re also going to know the policies, then you’re going to have a much better chance of not getting burned in the end and not being able to purchase your house.
So if you need some information on who we work with, I know a couple of good ones. We won’t say any names, so if you want to reach out, we’ll make sure to get you in touch with the right people. Building a new home you may not have any insurance issues, but you might have some loan issues or cost issues during that construction period, so that’s something to be very aware of. The solution is just making sure that you get with a good lender who knows their stuff.
Also read: Why Do People From New York Love Vero Beach?
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