Some people claim that whether the bond had been paid or not been does not impact the sales price.

That doesn’t make any sense to me. I would think people would look at the total price of the house - sales price, bond, and taxes.

For example, a $500,000 house with no bond and $5,000 in taxes should sell faster than a $475,000 house next door with a $50,000 bond and $5,000 taxes. The first one appears to cost $25,000 more but is actually $25,000 cheaper.

Or do people look just at the sales price?

One need to look closely on the pay down for bonds. Especially %rate. Our 5 houses the last house the lowest bond % for us. Selling a 5-7 yo house bond amount doesn’t change that much.

My guess is many people just look at the sale price and don't figure out the whole package. It's not much different from those that pick the cheapest airfare and ignore the total cost----like $35-80 extra for a seat, $45 for each bag, $50 for a pilot, $70 for engines, etc.

Lots on the golf courses, preserves, and lake/ponds increase in value much more than interior lots. Something to keep in mind.

That's like saying the price of automobiles, goes up more than the price of bread.

GOOD LUCK ... Your Taxes, Insurance & Bond should considered in the purchase of any house in the United States... Read your Insurance policy, Hurricane deductibles are percentages of Home Value.. Due diligence should include Turnpike noise, along with marsh odors.. Affordability on a Fixed Income is not easy to find.

We don’t see any rooftops from ours. Thanks for the simple comparison. Cheers

There can be a big difference between the asking price you see on real estate ads and what houses actually sell for, and from that sales amount remove 6% for the agent, and taxes, and house insurance, and title insurance, and repairs the buyer may require. My next door neighbors’ house is now “Sale Pending” after six months. They started off asking $465,000 which I thought was way too much for a 1600 sq ft courtyard villa, given that my 1200 sq ft courtyard villa has an estimated price of $313,000. (I bought it two years ago for $310,000.) The last asking price for their home was $375,000, and they may be selling it for less. After all their costs, they may get about $340,000. If they had a mortgage and bought a new house with a mortgage or bridge loan, figure in six months of making dual home payments, taxes, insurance, amenities fees, etc. Ouch!

Four or five years ago, used home prices were going up an amazing amount. But that’s because people could get mortgages at 3.5% interest, so they could afford bigger mortgages, so more homes were selling fast, so sellers raised their prices in a sellers market. However, now interest rates are much higher, and the estimate for this area is a 1% price increase in sales price in the past year. Yes. One percent.

There are many upgrades to your house that you will get back over 100% of what you paid for them. Finishing off your lanai like the house that is heated and cooled, raised floor, double pane windows, insulation that increases your sq footage, pool, extra patio birdcage, and more.
As for buying crap appliances to make a buck when if ever selling: why? You have to live with them, you can take them with you. I upgrade all my appliances paying a few thousand for each of them. I will take the stove, refrigerator, washer and dryer with us and I’ll go down to Lowe’s and get cheap replacements or if I bought a new house and moved in before selling (which I would do) I would remove the cheap stuff in the new house and put them in my existing house before selling

Retiredguy123 “My house was built in 2015, and it has increased in value by an average of 6 percent per year. I have done almost no upgrades. Most people would ask more than it is worth, primarily because people tend to overvalue the upgrades they have paid for. You should only expect to get about 50 to 60 percent of what you paid for upgrades, and definitely not 100 percent like some people think. And, you should get nothing for the real estate commission, which is totally the seller's expense.”

If where you live is a house or an investment, it would make sense (I guess) not to make any improvements. But if you live in a home, I think you should make whatever improvements work for you. And I certainly would get what ever appliances make life easier and convenient for you. Personally, I’ve always lived in a home.

Last time I looked the average increase was around 8% per year.

I have a house on the water that I’m trying to sell cheaper than I bought it for

That good you’re not looking to sell cause market flooded right now and will be for while? Prices will have to come down IMO.

There are alot of variables in play to answer that question precisely.

Keep in mind the following direct and indirect effects:
1) being retirement location, a small but stable percentage of all homes preowned will be up for sale during to the passing of the last living owner. The percentage may be stable, but as the villages grows, the absolute number increases.

2) preowned in a fully developed (older) neighborhood which a buyer can see, and can evaluate current amenities as permanent for the rest of the owner's life has more buyers than newer areas with up and coming amenities and houses. Here the future is more uncertain than the certainty of the older neighborhoods. Therefore the higher premium for older areas, some with extras which are very expensive today, (pools) but estates just want to get rid of the house

3) The size of the under development of the villages acreage ready for unbuilt houses. A new house which may be cheaper is competition. . . and pushed by the villages sales team can influence house prices.

4) external to The Villages, the demand to move in is influenced by the ability to sell and the sale price of the family home being sold in order to move into the villages. . as well as the time of year, which makes a big influence on the number of houses for sale throughout the year.

The point is, there are alot of influences for demand, as well as supply, which can change the rate of increase annually as each year is different. . . .home prices generally increase 4-6 % a year, very close to a multiple of GDP growth. . .

The whims of the buyers also change year to year, based upon the weather, the economy and life situations of buyers and sellers. . . so not sure of the genesis of the question, but don't over analyze the market, make your list of must haves, and nice to haves, and your price point, and just scour the market for your opportunity. You just won't know when it's available until it happens. .

kind of like it won't work, until it does type of event.

and once you buy and move in, the price fluctuations or trends are of no more significance to your lifestyle, the money has been sunk and if you buy well, you won't care about other houses. .

Apparently Villagers just don't understand the real estate market and insist the Villages is different than everyplace else in the USA ... it is not.

Residential property appreciates between 4%-6% per year (as you point out) and that has been consistent for a 100 years. Obviously, there are fluctuations, hills & valleys ... but that's the number.

Trying to guess the peaks & valleys to make a big score, is no different than day trading. Some folks do really well at it ... the majority lose their lunch money.