Tag: orlando listing agent

Cash buyers fueling Orlando Real Estate market recovery

Posted on by John Conde

The Orlando Real Estate market recovery continues on a positive path and some Orlando realtors claim that the tidal wave of cash deals is behind the recovery. “Florida realtor” studies show that fifty-one percent of single-family home sales are all-cash deals. Cash buyers have a huge edge over buyers that need to qualify for a mortgage and they are preferred over traditional buyers by sellers as well as listing agents.

One reason is that cash buyers have their own money and don’t have to wait on any mortgage company for anything. Also,  sellers know that a cash deal means a quick closing, this can mean big savings for the seller who has to make another mortgage payment for every month that their home is on the market. These days a cash offer doesn’t always mean a low ball offer anymore, investors are aware of the competition and a low ball offer could mean losing the deal.

As Orlando realtors,  we are seeing more cash offers for the full listing price of properties than ever before.

Lower-end properties [under 100k ] are being devoured by investors because of the huge demand for rentals right now. Cash investors are able to buy more of the less expensive properties and turn them into monthly cash cows. And although lower-end properties are also being bought and then re-sold for a modest profit, for the most part, we are seeing them end up as rental properties.

Other investors buy properties with the sole intention of flipping them. They want nothing to do with being a landlord and are only interested in getting in and out of a property as quickly as possible.

These buyers usually have to do some rehabbing in order to see some substantial profit and this means that they are usually pretty limited on how many they can do at once. I have investor clients that will buy one or two properties and then have to wait until the houses are renovated and sold before moving on to the next deal.

So what does this all mean for the Orlando Real Estate market?

I believe that all the cash purchases that are happening right now are driving up prices as well as home values in the Orlando real estate market. And the healthier the market is, the less risk there is for lenders to approve more mortgages for traditional buyers. This is all great news for now and hopefully will be for several years to come.

What worries me is that if home prices continue to rise to unjustifiable degrees, banks will then start giving mortgages to people that can’t afford them, then…2007 all over again!

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Online Property Searches in are More Popular than Ever! – Orlando Real Estate

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Several years ago in the not-so-distant past, potential home buyers would start searching for a house the traditional way which was by calling up an Orlando realtor in the area where they want to live. The next step would be for the buyer to give the agent all the criteria that they were looking for in a home and wait for the agent to provide a list of great homes to go see. However if the buyer chose the wrong agent to work with, there are several things that can go wrong such as the agent coming back with a list of properties that the buyer doesn’t like, or maybe the agent won’t call back at all. Either way, this was very frustrating for homebuyers but unfortunately, they had no other choice than to search for properties by using a realtor. The whole key to finding the perfect home all hinged on finding the right agent first.

Buyers are now able to search the MLS just like a real real estate agent

The web has truly changed the way that the Orlando real estate business is done. Potential homebuyers benefit from this just as much if not more than real estate professionals. Homebuyers are now able to search the MLS on their own without even speaking to a realtor first.

Anyone and everyone are now able to search for properties on the MLS at their own convenience from their own home at all hours of the day or night. All the buyer has to do is present a list of homes that they have chosen to their Orlando realtor and go see them. By doing this, the buyer saves time and so does the agent.

Online Property Searches are also a huge advantage for realtors

Realtors also benefit greatly from people being able to search the MLS on their own. It’s a huge time saver if a buyer comes to the agent with a list of homes they want to see instead of the other way around. All the agent has to do at this point is make the appointments to show the properties.

In our office potential buyers are instructed to click on the “Find Florida Properties” tab on our home page. Here they are able to search the entire state of Florida for all the properties that are listed on the MLS at their own convenience.

Recent studies show that 9 out of 10 potential home buyers begin their property search online long before contacting a real estate agent.

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Florida Timeshares Vs. Travel Clubs

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

People are always asking me if it’s a good idea to buy a timeshare. There are soo many different companies out there that will tell you their program is the best and they even go so far as to bribe you with free hotel stays and other expensive gifts. It’s all designed to lure you into a room decorated with breathtaking almost life-size luxury vacation photos created to entice you while you eat the complimentary breakfast or lunch they’ve given you [law of reciprocity], they even provide you with free child care to eliminate anything that may distract you from their highly polished sales pitch that they’re about to hit you with.

Their next move is to set down their modest little binder in front of you and start to show you photos of their own family vacations as they ask you personal questions about your kids, your line of work, and of course… your vacation habits.  You can always tell how experienced the Orlando real estate agent is by how good they deliver their personal story and then effortlessly mix it into the whole timeshare “Set Up” at the end of their enchanting little story. The agent then goes into a carefully rehearsed presentation about all the benefits you could receive by becoming a member and how if you walk out the door without buying you would regret it for the rest of your life.

I know what you’re thinking and you’re right…I’ve been to a whole bunch of these. The truth is, before we became successful in Orlando Realty Consultants my wife and I would sit through these excruciating timeshare presentations just to get a cheap vacation out of it for our family.

By going to all these presentations we learned a heck of a lot about timeshares as well as travel clubs. We saw one common denominator with timeshares that was a huge negative for us. That was that even if you don’t use your timeshare, you would still have to pay maintenance fees and property taxes. Over the years, I’ve had people approach me wanting to just sign the timeshare over to someone for free just to be free of the taxes and maintenance fees. They didn’t even care about losing the $10,000.00 they paid to buy it in the first place.

Travel Clubs are the way to go

Travel clubs on the other hand seemed to make a whole lot more sense to us. Joining a travel club is like joining a big box store like “Sam’s” or “BJ’s” in the sense that they buy up all these unused days in resorts, condos, etc., and pass the savings on to the consumer. They charge you a yearly fee to be a member, usually around 3 to 5 hundred dollars. Once you’re a member, you can access seriously discounted vacations by calling or through their website. The downside is that you have to buy in at about the same amount you would for a timeshare [five to ten thousand dollars] but that’s it. After that, there’s no property tax or maintenance fees to worry about at all.

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Can you do a Short Sale if you’re not behind on your Mortgage?

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Typically, homeowners that are no longer able to continue paying their mortgage are going through some kind of hardship such as job loss, decrease in pay or hours, health issues, divorce, death, mortgage payment adjustment, and even incarceration. Oftentimes, however, there are reasons that people must sell their homes when there is no hardship. These include job transfer, military deployment, etc. And, in most cases, for all of the reasons mentioned above lenders have been very accommodating to those who want to sell.

However, now more than ever we get contacted by sellers that want to Short Sale their house but they don’t fall into either category mentioned above. They can afford to keep making their payments but they hate the idea of paying on a mortgage with a principal balance that is a lot more than their property is worth. These sellers just want to get out of a bad investment and get on with their lives.

The truth is that it’s hard to say whether the lender will approve a short sale for a homeowner that has no hardship. Some lenders are more flexible in that respect than others.

It’s important to be aware that many short-sale lenders are controlled by the guidelines of the investors that own your loan. So, while a loan may be serviced by Wells Fargo, the loan is actually owned by another entity. It is that other entity that decides on accepting or declining your short sale. Most investors do require that the sellers have missed mortgage payments, and others do not.

Unfortunately, you just don’t know how things will play out until you start the short sale process with the lender. Only after you get the ball rolling with the short sale will you know what the lender will require from you.

If you’re current on your mortgage but would like to short sale your Orlando property because it owes more money than it’s worth, come in and see us. One of our Orlando short sale experts will give you a free “seller’s situation analysis” so that you can find out what your options are and move forward with the knowledge that you need to make the right decision.

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Highlighting your property’s best features

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

If you’re getting ready to sell your home, make sure that your Orlando realtor does a good job of showing off the things about your property that make it special. Make sure that you take advantage of mentioning anything that sets your property apart from the rest. Sometimes when someone has lived in a house for soo long they tend to not see all the high points that their property possesses.

You’re probably thinking… “Isn’t that my realtor’s job?” The answer is yes, your Orlando real estate agent should have the ability to go through your home and highlight all the extra features that your house brings to the table that the others in the neighborhood don’t. However, not all Orlando realtors are created equal and in my opinion, the selling of a house is just way too important of a transaction to just turn over to someone and hope for the best without making sure that they are doing all they can do to get top dollar for your property.

List of things that sellers commonly forget to mention when selling their home

Over-sized lots.

Larger than average closets.

Sitting area in the master bedroom.

Extra storage space.

Bonus rooms.

Separate entrances.

Beautiful views from the front or back yard.

Walking distance from shops, restaurants, and schools.

Don’t False advertise

As important as it is to make sure that your property’s best features are highlighted, it’s equally important to verify that your Orlando listing agent isn’t making any false statements. If your home is being portrayed as something more than what it is, this can only hurt you as well as your agent. Imagine yourself as an agent on the way to show a listing to a client based on the listing information you saw online, when you arrive at the house you realize that the photos that you viewed online have either been photoshopped or are of a different house altogether!  Some other examples that I’ve seen are neighborhood descriptions such as “newly developed” when “deteriorating” would have been a better match, “move-in ready” instead of “Fixer-upper”, etc.

I guess the moral of this story is, make sure that you follow up with your Orlando realtor and insist that you be informed on what’s happening. Ask to see the live MLS listing as well as any other marketing being done to sell your property. After all, selling your house is statistically one of the most important, if not the most important transaction in your lifetime.

Want to know how much your Orlando property will sell for: click here for your free property analysis.

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