If you've been thinking about buying or selling a home lately, you may have found yourself asking the same question a lot of people are asking:
Should I do something now, or should I wait?
It's understandable.
Mortgage rates moved higher again recently. The average 30-year fixed mortgage was 7.28% as of October 1, according to Freddie Mac, compared with 7.03% the week before. Freddie Mac
Buyers are watching rates. Sellers are watching buyers. And everyone seems to be waiting for some kind of signal that tells them what happens next.
The problem is that real estate rarely gives us an "all clear."
The local numbers are actually pretty i...
If you're thinking about moving to the Ormond Beach area, one of your first questions is probably pretty simple:
What can I actually get for my money?
Recently, I spent the day showing buyers several homes priced under $500,000, and I thought it was a great example of just how different your options can be at the same general price point.
We looked at new construction. We looked at older homes that had been beautifully updated. And we looked at different locations and neighborhoods.
That's one of the things I enjoy about helping buyers here. There isn't one answer to "What does $500,000 buy in Ormond Beach?"
Over the three months ending August 2026, the median sale price in Ormond Beach was approximately $380,000.
That means buyers with a budget approaching $500,000...
When people tell me they're thinking about moving to Ormond Beach, there's one place I think they should see before deciding where they want to live.
And surprisingly, it isn't the beach.
It's The Loop.
If you've only visited Ormond Beach on vacation, you probably know A1A, the ocean, Granada Boulevard and some of our restaurants and shops.
But drive just a little farther and Ormond Beach starts looking completely different.

If you're buying a Florida condo, it's easy to focus on the unit.
How's the kitchen?
What's the view?
Is there a pool?
How close is the beach?
Those things matter.
But you're not only buying a condo.
You're buying into an association.
And understanding the health of that association can be every bit as important as deciding whether you like the unit itself.
A low monthly fee isn't automatically a good thing
Buyers understandably pay attention to association fees.
But I wouldn't evaluate an association simply by asking, "How much is the monthly fee?"
I'd want to know what that fee is supporting.
An association has buildings and common areas to maintain. Depending on the property, that might include roofs, elevators, pools, landscaping, exterior maintenan...
We Knew We Wanted Florida. We Just Didn't Know Where.
When Mark and I decided we wanted to live near the beach in Florida, we didn't start out saying, "We're moving to Ormond Beach."
Actually, we weren't even sure which coast of Florida we wanted.
We had a pretty simple wish list.
We wanted to be close to the ocean. Ideally, we wanted to live within about a mile of the beach. And, like pretty much every buyer I've ever worked with, we had a budget.
So we did what I now help other people do.
We started exploring.
And what we discovered is something I tell buyers today: choosing where to live in Florida isn't just about finding a house you like.
It's about figuring out how you actually want to live.
First, We Looked at Florida's West Coast
We explored the west coast because the...