MARION COUNTY ABSENTEE LANDOWNERS ASSOC., INC.
POST OFFICE BOX 1590
NEW SMYRNA BEACH, FL 32170-9979
(386) 424-0995 1-800-376-9045
FAX (386) 424-0159
www.AbsenteeLandowners.com
email: mcala@cfl.rr.com
Fall 2007 MARION COUNTY #37U
MEMBERSHIP TIME
We own property in Marion County too! As we enter our 10th year serving absentee landowners in Marion County, we are very proud to invite you to join our association. It is your support that allows this Association to serve the needs of absentee property owners and our members. We would appreciate your participation and are committed to providing you with the best service possible. Please read MEMBERSHIP TIME on page 6 of this newsletter for complete details. Your Landowners Association is your connection to what’s happening regarding your property in Marion County.
PROPERTY TAX RATES DOWN, PROPERTY TAXES UP! WHY?
Dear Fellow Marion County Landowner:
How could property tax rates decrease and property taxes increase?
When we received our Notice of Proposed Property Taxes this year, we were astounded by the increase in the current year’s property taxes. Upon closer examination of the notices, it was obvious that the increase was caused by an unexpected jump in the assessed value of the property. We looked at notices that were sent to other property owners and they, too, had big increases in the assessed value.
In our last newsletter to our members, we reprinted the tax rates that were proposed by the County Commission for the 2007-2008 fiscal year. The overall countywide tax rate decreased by about 22%. A substantial reduction in the tax rate would lead a person to believe that taxes would decrease during a time of falling property values. However, we were all shocked to see our Notice of Proposed Property Tax statements.
The only positive aspect from a tax standpoint is the values can only come down next year if the assessed values are going to based on 2007 sales, provided tax rates do not increase. We hope that the new tax reform legislation that passed this past summer will prevent that from happening.
Why is my 2007 assessed value so much higher than the current market value of my property?
The Marion County Property Appraiser is required by Florida Law to establish the “just” value of each parcel in the county on January 1st of each year. According to the Marion County Property Appraisers Office, the sales utilized to determine the value of property for the 2007 tax year, were sales that occurred between January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2006. Unfortunately for property owners, this resulted in higher assessed values rather than more realistic values that represent a more true picture of the current real estate market. As we all know, values on residential lots have been falling rapidly for the past year. |
2007 TAX BILLS
Your 2007 tax bill will be mailed on or before November 1, 2007. Taxes become due and payable November 1st each year. Unpaid taxes become delinquent April 1st. If you do not receive your tax bill by mid November you may want to contact the Marion County Tax Collector at 1-352-368-8200.
Marion County Tax Collector does offer an “Installment Plan”. This plan is convenient if you are living on a fixed income and your taxes are a burden to pay in one lump sum. Members may contact our office for more information on this plan if your are interested.
IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY IS!
Members of our association have been receiving calls and letters from companies wanting to advertise or sell their property in Marion County. One company charges almost $1,000.00 up-front and wants another $1,000.00 when and if they sell your property. This company also states that they have buyers for your property and they’re claiming lots are selling for much more than what they actually are. Please check with your landowners association before making a decision in regard to selling your property.
NOTICE OF VIOLATION
Some of you may have received in the past or will receive in the future a “Notice of Violation” to have junk, litter, debris, etc. removed from your property. These notices will state that you have until a specific date to bring the violation into compliance with the code. Failure to comply will result in the issuance of a civil citation or a notice to appear before the Marion County Code Enforcement Board, which could result in a lien against real or personal property owned by you. Members may contact our office and we’ll be happy to recommend companies that can assist you.
MEMBER BENEFITS
FREE LIABILITY INSURANCE ON YOUR VACANT LAND!
One of the most valuable membership benefits is the FREE liability insurance on your vacant land in Marion County. Your Landowners Association carries a $1 million liability insurance policy on its members vacant land which covers damages and legal costs associated with claims brought for bodily injury or property damage arising from the ownership of your vacant land. Hidden hazards or “an attractive nuisance” may exist on your property without your knowledge, but you still could be subject to an expensive lawsuit if anyone, particularly a child, was injured. It may not seem very important to have this valuable protection, but even a trespasser hurt on your property could cause you financial disaster. Even if you were to win in a lengthy court battle, the legal expenses to defend yourself could consume most of your assets. The liability insurance policy covering our members’ property would pay the legal costs, as well as the damages, in this type of suit.
Unattended land has many potential dangers. In remote areas of Marion County, it is not uncommon to see illegal dumping on vacant lots belonging to some unsuspecting absentee owner. These “dumps” may contain broken glass, construction debris with exposed rusty nails, discarded auto parts, old appliances such as refrigerators, or toxic materials. If the neighborhood kids happen to be playing in one of these areas and is severely injured, a legal claim may be brought against the property owner for allowing an attractive nuisance to exist on the lot even though the owner was not aware of its existence.
There are many other hazards that could cause injury or damage besides illegal dumping and falling trees, such as reckless ATV (four wheeler) riders racing through vacant lots with hidden dangers lurking in the high weeds and bushes. You won’t have to worry about financial disaster if you have adequate liability insurance. And the best thing about this protection is its FREE with your membership in this Association.
Properties with bodies of water, structures, and being more than 10 acres in size are not covered. You become eligible when you become a member for the November 2007 November 2008 membership year. Your Landowners Association holds the policy. Should it be necessary to file a claim, simply call us and we’ll contact the insurance company on your behalf.
FREE RECENT LOT AND HOME SALES REPORT!
Our members have a variety of services available through our office and related contacts. One of the most requested services to date is the Recent Lot and Homes Sales information. We provide up-to-date sales information available to our MEMBER Sat no additional charge. There is a $30.00 fee for this report for non-members. This information is necessary for all land owners, particularly absentee owners, to make informed decisions concerning lot value. This is not an appraisal but it will show you what lots and homes sold for in your area recently.
Uninformed lot owners without access to the Recent Lot and Home Sales information unwittingly sometimes sell their land far below the going market price. These lot owners often become victims of opportunists. Once the recent sales information is available to the majority of lot owners, it then becomes difficult to find sellers to sell at ridiculously low prices. Once a bottom line price (the lowest price at which one can buy a lot in a given area) is established, then knowledgeable lot owners will achieve the highest prices in the market. Should real estate activity suddenly increase in an area, land values can change very fast. Before you sell your land, check with your Landowners Association. By getting top dollar for your lot when you sell, helps everyone. When owners sell cheaply it brings the market down. Reliable accurate information is the best tool we have to protect our investment.
In order to receive your FREE Recent Lot and Homes Sales report, simply check the appropriate box on the membership application.
GET YOUR NEWSLETTERS,
AND MORE, ONLINE
We have received very favorable feedback from e-members in response to the interim updates. E-members like receiving information as it happens.
If you would like to take the opportunity to become an e-member, please check the appropriate box on the membership application. Your e-member status will be effective as soon as we receive your membership application.
Many of our members find this more convenient, particularly those members living in foreign countries and those that travel. Another major bonus for choosing to use email is interim updates on “hot button issues”, which will be sent periodically on current events as they are happening. If there is any breaking news, an email will be sent to you immediately reporting the event instead of waiting two or three months for the next newsletter.
This method of sending newsletters and interim updates will greatly improve our ability to keep our members informed on a up-to-the-minute basis. Just think, if a major project is announced or the County Government passes an ordinance that affects your property, those of you that choose to use email will receive an interim update by email as soon as we find out. Other information such as property tax changes or other newsworthy events will also be immediately forwarded to our “e-members”. We believe that all of our members that have email available should take advantage of this valuable opportunity. Many of our foreign members are delayed in receiving regular mail. If those members choose to use email, they would receive their newsletters in seconds rather than months!
This enhancement made available by internet technology is another example of how your Landowners Association is always striving to improve services to its members. If you want to receive your newsletters and interim updates by email, please check the appropriate box on the membership application. Remember, if you don’t select the email option, you won’t receive the interim updates providing you with up-to-the-minute reports on current events. Become an “e-member” today!
MAP PACKAGE
Many members have never seen their property in Marion County. One of the year round services your Landowners Association provides is a map package. This map package contains the following:
Property information sheet
Two 8 X 10 unit maps (with your lot(s) highlighted)
8 X 10 colored aerial photo (with your lot(s) highlighted)
Driving directions to your lot
Road map (with your lot marked)
The road map will show other subdivision locations as well as the incorporated cities, street names in your area, interstate, federal and state highways, golf courses, county roads, railroads, parks, shopping centers, etc. This map package is not only valuable to you, but also to any prospective buyer if you decide to sell your property. Also, you will be able to drive directly to your property with this package. The price for the map package is $35.00 and $45.00 for non-members.
DEED KIT FOR MEMBERS
We are providing a valuable service that is free to our members except for a small shipping and handling charge of $8.00. In order to avoid many of the problems described in an article appearing in a past newsletter entitled DO YOU HAVE POTENTIAL TITLE PROBLEMS?, we now provide a free deed kit containing the basic forms and instructions to add a person’s name to the title or give your property to someone else. The kit is not intended to replace the need for an attorney, but will provide all of the forms necessary to transfer title in a simple transaction whether you do it yourself or use an attorney. Any lawyer will find the kit very useful as well since the kit not only contains the deed forms, but also instructions on filing fees, documentary stamp tax and how and where to record documents. After reading the article referred to above, the value of the deed kit becomes very apparent. The deed kit is available to non-members for $36.00.
FUTURE LAND USE MAP AVAILABLE
You can now order a large color copy of the Marion County Future Land Use Map as approved by the County Commission. On it, you can locate the subdivision or area where your land is located and determine the land use designation assigned by the County. The various land use classifications are color coded on the map so you can see how your land and the surrounding area are classified. Along with the color map, you will receive a list of all of the land use classifications and allowable uses within each of these classifications. The cost is only $35.00 or $40.00 for non-members.
FOR SALE BY OWNER SIGNS
Are you having trouble selling your lot(s) through a realtor or on the internet? If so, you may want to consider having your Landowners Association install a For Sale By Owner sign on your vacant lot(s). We will put your phone number and/or email address on the sign. Any prospective buyers would call or email you directly. If you have an interested buyer, please feel free to contact our office and we can recommend a title company to assist you in the closing on the sale of your property. Due to the anticipated volume, we can do this for only $50.00 per lot and non-members $65.00 per lot. If you have more than one lot together, we could install the sign between them for the same price. If the lots are not together there would be an additional charge of $50.00 per lot or $65.00 per lot for non-members. We will mail you a photograph of the sign on your lot(s) as proof of installation or email a photograph, whichever you prefer.
ADVERTISE YOUR LOT ON THE INTERNET FOR $10.00
We have received a tremendous response from members listing their lots for sale on the Association’s website. As more and more people utilize the internet as their primary source of information, placing your ad in a high profile website like www.AbsenteeLandowners.com significantly increases your exposure. We have received calls and e-mails from all over the country and even abroad, requesting information on lots. Several real estate brokers utilize this service to advertise land in Marion County. As the real estate market slows down, it is even more important for sellers to have the greatest possible exposure. This website will do this.
As more lots are listed on our site, it is rapidly becoming, if it is not already, the single largest source of lots for sale in Marion County. As a result, prospective buyers as well as brokers, will go to our site first to find a lot because it provides much greater choice, both geographically and in price. Another reason our site is so attractive to sellers is that they can advertise for sale by owner which is not the case with the Multiple Listing Service which is only available to Realtors. This site is not intended to compete with brokers and we welcome brokers listings. When a lot is listed with a broker we show the broker’s name, address and phone number instead of the owner’s. This site is a good source for brokers looking for lots for prospective buyers as well. www.absenteelandowners.com may well be the most effective and least costly way to advertise and sell your property.
The best thing about this service is the price. You can advertise your lot for one year on the World Wide Web for $10.00 per lot. This is a special for members only. For non-members, we will place your ad on our site for one year at the very affordable price of $50.00. You may have received solicitations from one or more of the land sharks preying on unsuspecting absentee landowners offering to sell or advertise your lot in Marion County. One such outfit charges hundreds of dollars to advertise your property on the internet. Don’t be fooled by their wild claims of success. It’s not so. You can place your ad on the internet through your Landowners Association and receive the same internet exposure or even better.
If you want to advertise your lot for sale on the Internet, just fill out the information sheet on the membership application and check the appropriate box. Non-members may advertise without becoming a member for $50.00 per lot by checking the appropriate box and filling out the lot information sheet.
REAL ESTATE MARKET UPDATE
BUYERS MARKET: A period in a real estate economy when the supply of properties for sale exceeds the demand for those properties, giving buyers a negotiating advantage.
Ocala/Marion County is experiencing a “Buyer’s Market”. There are more listings than can be expected to sell in a reasonable amount of time.
Currently there are over 8,000 vacant listings for sale on the multiple listing service. Which include commercial, residential and agricultural parcels. In contrast, there are only 118 lots that are pending closing at this time. There have been a total of 954 lots that closed/sold in the MLS since January 1, 2007. The asking and sales prices have continued to decrease as inventory levels increase.
When inventory levels decrease, prices stop dropping, and there are more transactions taking place, we will know that we are heading toward a revived market. We will be watching this closely over the next several months.
What’s happening in the most popular Subdivisions? (Vacant residential lots)
In Silver Spring Shores: 1,000 lots for sale ranging from $12,000-$80,000. Recent sales range from $9,000-$40,000. New Construction in area.
Orange Blossom Hills: 138 lots for sale ranging from $19,900-$64,000. Recent sales range from $18,000-$35,000. Nice homes going in, popular due to being close to the Villages.
Rolling Hills: 268 lots for sale ranging from $19,900-$95,000. Recent sales range from $24,000 to $35,000.
Marion Oaks: 1332 lots for sale ranging from $13,000-$125,000. Recent sales on residential lots range from $9,000-$48,000. New construction in area, many spec homes for sale.
Rainbow Lakes Estates: 641 lots for sale. (¼-1-acre lots). Prices on ¼ acre lots range from $7,000 and on up. Recent sales range from $7,000-$16, 000. 1-acre lots for sale range from $14,900 to $90,000. Recent sales range from$13,000-$26,000. Lots near the water bring higher prices.
Peggy Pittas has provided the information for this article and is a Realtor in Marion County. She is very knowledgeable and reputable in the real estate business. Peggy will provide information in other areas in future newsletters. If you would like her contact information please contact our office.
MEMBER COMMENTS
We are always interested in our members’ concerns and opinions on the services we provide. The following are a few excerpts from some of our members’ recent correspondence:
Dear Mr. Donnelly,
My wife and I own a vacant lot in Belleview Heights Estates, and were curious about its current worth. As suggested in the Winter issue of the MCALA newsletter I contacted Peggy Pittas. This is just to let you know I was very favorably impressed with her service. She replied promptly, gave a solid price range, expanded it with her view of the current market and disclosed all fees we must take into account if we decide to sell the land. While I am tempted to say that that alone is worth the price of the newsletter, it is not completely true. I find all the information in the newsletter very helpful in painting a picture of what is happening to land in the region for absentee landowners like myself. Wish that other regions of the continent were as good at providing a service like the MCALA newsletter.
Dear Mr. Donnelly,
We have sold our Marion Oaks property. We would also like to express our appreciation for all the years of service and concern for those of us who are out-of-towners. We would not have known what was going on if it had not been for the information and action you took on our behalf. We as absentee landowners can not express enough how lucky we were to have you watch over us. Those who are still members will certainly realize it as well.
Mr. Donnelly,
Thank you very much for the updates you provide re: the property in Marion County. It is invaluable for us absentee owners. Keep up the excellent service.
Thank you for your recent email and information regarding property taxes in Marion County. The information you provided is very important and I will include the data in my active file.
Dear Mr. Donnelly,
Thank you for the continual updates. We appreciate all the association is doing to keep distant property owners up to date. Membership is well worth it!
J. And L. Flood, Salem, OR
Dear Mr. Donnelly,
I am not renewing my membership in MCALA as my wife and I sold our property in Rainbow Lakes Estates. I want to thank you for all the information and services you provided through the membership. We got a considerably higher price because of the above. I believe every absentee landowner should join MCALA – it is truly invaluable information and a value any way one can consider. If I still owned any property anywhere in Marion County, I would not hesitate to renew my membership. Again, thank you.
C. Newman, Colorado Springs, CO
MEMBER FEEDBACK
In order for your landowners association to provide you with information that is relevant to the needs of our members, it is important that we receive feedback from you. Please write, e-mail or call our office with issues that concern you regarding your land in Marion County. We will be happy to research the issue and report the results in future newsletters. If an issue is a concern to one member, it is probably an issue that concerns many others.
MEMBERSHIP TIME
A one year membership is only $45.00. You can join for two years for $80.00 which gives you a $10.00 discount. Marion County Absentee Landowners Association, Inc. was formed as a single legal entity capable of defining objectives and implementing change. We are supported solely by our members. We represent only the interests of the ABSENTEE lot owner.
Unfortunately, this is the last newsletter we can afford to send to those who do not join our association this year. Our budget simply will not allow it. Our effectiveness depends on your support. The upcoming membership year runs from November 2007 to November 2008. Please make your check payable to Marion County Absentee Landowners Association, Inc. or MCALA in U.S. Funds. We will send your periodic newsletters informing you of matters affecting you as a lot owner. For no extra charge, you can choose to be an “e-member” and receive your newsletters via email and have the added benefit of receiving interim updates of current events as they are happening. You will also receive FREE liability insurance to protect you from claims arising from your ownership of vacant land, along with all the other valuable member services. We offer the advantage of charging anything on your Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover if you desire. If you choose this method, please be sure to sign your application and include your charge card expiration date. The membership fee and any other services we offer can also be charged to your credit card by telephone, if you choose to do so, by calling toll free 1-800-376-9045. You can also visit our website at www.absenteelandowners.com and go to “About Marion County Absentee Landowners Association, Inc. and How to Become a Member” to join.
Property owners need a central source of competent information and representation in order to resolve common problems. The alternative is to face the complexities of government alone.
With your support, we will continue to act as your "watchdog", constantly monitoring developments that may affect your property, your investment and your rights.
Sincerely,
Patrick A. Donnelly, President
