Blog

Buying New Construction? Why Use A Realtor?

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Should You Use A Real Estate Agent To Buy New Construction In Central Florida?

When looking for a home to buy, you must first decide if you want to buy an existing home or buy a new one. If you decide on buying new construction, you can then decide if you want to use a realtor to help you on this venture.

Here in Florida, there is no rule that requires someone to involve a real estate agent when buying a home whether it’s new or resale.

However, If you look at the pros and cons of using a realtor when buying, the pros will ALWAYS outweigh the cons. Developers can be tough negotiators and try bullying tactics on you so it’s nice to have someone in your corner to make sure you’re getting the best deal.

Here’s a list of some of the top reasons why using a real estate agent can save you time, money, and a whole lot of aggravation when buying a new construction property.

Representation

There’s a common misconception that when you work directly with the developer’s rep, you can save a lot of money. This is absolutely false. Think about it for a minute… Do you think that the builders representative is looking out for your best interest or their employer’s best interest? it’s common sense… the rep is going to try and work the best deal they can to benefit the builder…not the buyer!

Not having representation in any real estate transaction whether it’s new construction or not is just a bad idea all around.

An experienced realtor knows how to ask the right questions. Having a buyer’s agent to buy an existing home is extremely important but having an agent with experience in new construction is absolutely critical…

Here are a few questions you can ask a real estate agent to make sure they are experienced with new construction homes.

  • How many new construction homes have you sold recently?
  • Do have a list of lenders that specialize in new construction loans?
  • Why should I hire YOU to buy a new construction home?

Negotiation Skills

Having an experienced buyer’s agent on your team can help you avoid getting ripped off when buying new construction. Buying any new construction home can get expensive real fast. Builders will typically advertise their “Plain Jane” model with no upgrades so that they can mention their cheapest price on a home.

The nice thing about buying a brand new home is the capability to make it your own. However, the more you customize and upgrade it, the more expensive it becomes. Another good reason to hire a Realtor when buying a new construction home is their ability to negotiate for you. Most of the time builders have a list of prices for changes to the floor plans, upgrades, lot sizes, etc.

Contingencies and Inspections

There are many reasons why it’s important to have an existing home inspected, but it’s also to have a new home inspected…, Yes, even if it’s a brand spanking new!

If your Realtor has experience with new construction, they will know exactly what inspections to recommend to you. Builders are humans and humans make mistakes so you have to make sure that your brand new home was built properly. The only to do that with a new home is to have a thorough inspection[s] performed by a credible home inspector.

Could you imagine moving into your brand new home and immediately starting having problems? It can turn what should be a pleasurable experience into a complete nightmare!… This is just 1 example of a contingency on a real estate contract that a realtor would suggest to you.

Professional Recommendations on Upgrades

Buyers are generally given an allowance for items like cabinetry, floor coverings, countertops, fixtures, etc. Experienced Realtors will be able to guide you on what upgrades will actually increase the value as well as what today’s buyers typically look for in a home and why. The last thing you want to do as a new home buyer spends a lot of money on upgrades that won’t give you a return on your investment, especially when it comes time to sell the home.

Most buyers expect to live in their house forever, but the fact is that eventually you will either move…or die.
Assist In Finding A Lender & Financing Options

Your Buyers agent should be able to provide you with a shortlist of quality lenders that specialize in new construction loans. This type of financing is much different than obtaining a mortgage for an existing home. To start, not all lenders finance new construction. It is recommended that when buying a new home, you should try and use a local institution if possible.

Probably the biggest difference between traditional financing for an existing home and for a new construction build is the payment schedule. The lender makes periodic payments to the developer as the project progresses, also known as “draws”. Upon completion of the new home, the buyer will then get a new mortgage to pay off the construction loan.

As you can see, there are a lot of good reasons for hiring a realtor when buying new construction. Having strong representation when entering into a new home purchase is crucial to ensure that you get the best deal.

Still, have questions about buying a new construction home in Central FL? Visit us here https://orlandorealtyconsultants.com or call 407-902-7750 for immediate assistance.

Let's Keep In Touch!

New ORC Form Lead

"*" indicates required fields

Orlando Home Sold In 6 Days Because of This Video!

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

The power of video does it again! When it comes to selling real estate in Orlando, video has proven to attract more buyers, more sellers and drive more traffic to our company website than any other platform.

Videos are more engaging than text… and now more than ever we’re seeing more video results appearing alongside text results every time we do a simple Google search.

This is especially true when it comes to the real estate industry. At ORC, posting videos has always been a big part of our marketing strategy to buy and sell homes. We’ve found it to be very effective and it’s a great way to continue building our audience.

I’ve seen so many new realtors in Orlando trying desperately to market themselves in this dog-eat-dog of an industry that we call real estate. Unfortunately, they just end up doing what every other real estate agent in Orlando is doing…. buying leads from Zillow or their competitors.

Even though the use of video to sell real estate is a proven strategy with tons of social proof, it’s the most underused marketing tool among Realtors in Orlando.

Real Estate Videos Have to Be Entertaining…

Most agents that are active on YT, use one or 2 basic templates, then they just change out the images for each listing… Or… the one where they walk around the house and force you to watch the video screen bounce up and down with every footstep…

I  believe that if someone takes the time to click the play button on your video, they deserve to at least be somewhat entertained.

At ORC we take the time to create a unique video for every one of our listings. Out of the several hundred videos we have published on our channel Orlando Realty Consultants you’ll find a mix of Commercials, how-to videos, funny parodies, animated videos, before and after videos, and of course listing videos that we use in our marketing blast formula to sell houses.

Our most recent listing took only 6 days to get under contract… thanks to this video

The buyer for this house told us that he found our video doing a Google search of the term “Kissimmee Homes for Sale”. Believe it or not, this video made the 1st page of Google in less than 24hrs after I published it on YT. Try doing that with a blog post….

The use of video in our business has proven to be a game-changer. Not only to attract new clients but also to achieve their real estate goals once they become our clients.

If you have hired an Orlando Realtor to sell a house for you, make sure they’re using all the tools in their toolbox…including Video to market your home.

Let's Keep In Touch!

New ORC Form Lead

"*" indicates required fields

What’s Your Orlando Realtor Doing To Market Your Home?

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

When you are selling a home in Orlando, the single most important factor besides accurate pricing is a strong marketing campaign. Not only that, your marketing has to be targeted at the right people or it can be a huge waste of time, effort, and money.

As a Realtor in Orlando, one of the biggest complaints I receive from unhappy sellers is they feel that their real estate agent didn’t do a proper job marketing their home for sale.

Top Orlando realtors use a wide array of marketing techniques and strategies to get the job done …. which is to sell your Orlando home fast for top dollar.

It’s very important to me as a real estate professional that my clients are fully aware of what’s being done to market their home… besides just putting it on the MLS.

Selling Through The MLS

The MLS is the single most powerful marketing tool available to us as Orlando Realtors. This is where your home is made accessible to all the other realtors and even non-agents. These days it’s super easy to navigate the MLS even if you’re not a licensed real estate agent. Any top Orlando real estate brokerage will have a tool to search Florida homes for sale right from their website. If your agent doesn’t have an MLS home search tool on their website, you might want to ask yourself why not??

Social Media

These days there’s no denying the marketing power of social media. Through the use of Facebook, Twitter, and a whole bunch of others, Realtors have a great opportunity to reach hundreds or even thousands of potential buyers [and sellers] to market a property for sale. Of course, having a strong social media presence in the Orlando real estate industry takes time, dedication, and persistence.

Realtors that have a lot of followers, friends, shares, etc. are the best at leveraging their reach to sell real estate.

Direct Mail Postcards

Although direct mail has lost a lot of popularity over the years to digital marketing, it can still be a very useful tool in getting a home sold. When I get a listing in a nice neighborhood, I send out a postcard to all the neighbors that there is a home for sale in their neighborhood with all the important details.

This can be a very effective strategy because sometimes the person receiving the postcard may have a family member or a friend that’s been looking for a home in that area.

Most realtors I know don’t send out postcards because it means money out of their pocket… money they haven’t earned yet.

Properly marketing yourself as a real estate agent is crucial to surviving in such an unforgiving industry.

Agent’s Blog or Website

Top real estate agents in Orlando should have their own website or at least a blog where they can promote their listings, their services as well as promote themselves as an authority in the industry. Having a real estate blog in my opinion is crucial not only to market homes for sale, open houses, videos, etc. It’s also very important for a top agent to maintain a presence in the online world.

Youtube Videos

Our RE brokerage, Orlando Realty Consultants has been very successful at selling homes through video. Since we started creating listing videos about 6 years ago, we found it to be a great tool to reach potential buyers. Youtube is the second most used search engine in the world next to Google [which also owns Youtube] and through tracking our analytics, we’ve seen our Youtube channel Top Orlando Realtors outperform our website at times.

In conclusion, when selling your Orlando property, make sure that your realtor is using more than just the MLS to market your home for sale. Orlando Realtors have an entire arsenal at their fingertips. As a seller, you have the right to ask your agent to see all the different ways your home is being marketed.

Institutional videos have also proven to be extremely effective like this one:

Let's Keep In Touch!

New ORC Form Lead

"*" indicates required fields

Short Sales In Orlando Still Rank Near The Top In U.S.

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Although short sales in Orlando have dwindled in recent years, Central Florida still ranks as one of the top regions in the US having the most short sale listings.

Ironically, “short sales” can take a very long time to complete. These are homes in which the bank is willing to entertain a lower amount than what’s owed on the mortgage, in order to recoup most of their money.

More than 1 in every ten homes that were sold in the Orlando area in the last quarter of 2016 area was a short sale listing. The only other areas that had a higher short sale rate in the state of Florida were Fort Myers and Lakeland.

When short sales first became popular after the market crash of 2007, banks were willing to accept a much bigger loss than is the case today. This meant that investors and rehabbers like me were enjoying much larger profits than is the case with short sales today.

These days banks want as close to full market value as they can get. Many times these listings only make sense if you plan on moving into the house and making repairs yourself.

As an Orlando real estate investor, I make several offers on short sale listings every week most of which get denied for being too low. When buying a property as an investment home to resale you have to consider all the costs involved like repairs, closing costs, marketing, staging, etc. After doing the math, I can tell you that most short sale listings right now in Orlando are way… way overpriced for investors to make any money on them.

Certified distressed Property Expert

Banks are realizing that if they just let the home go to foreclosure, they can sell it for closer to market value instead of accepting a low-ball offer from an investor. Orlando short sales are ending up being auctioned off online auction these days more than ever. This strategy also allows these lenders to expose their property to anyone in the world with a computer.

Orlando’s continued distinction for short sales is a clear indication of how depressed this area’s housing market was just a few short years ago. At that time, there were more Orlando short sales and foreclosures than there were traditional sales. It has taken several years to push these distressed Orlando properties out of the pipeline.

Now that market conditions have been steadily improving, more homeowners are able to sell their homes at a profit. And for homeowners that are a bit underwater are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel that will allow them to hang in there instead of having to come up with the difference at the closing.

For homeowners that are deeply underwater that are still at risk of losing their home to foreclosure, a short sale is still their preferred alternative because it does a lot less damage to the homeowner’s credit. They can also walk away with less debt and even come away with a few thousand bucks in their pocket for relocation costs.

I can tell you from experience as an Orlando Realtor and investor that short sales are no longer the deals they once were. Banks are being harder negotiators than ever and if they don’t get their number, they have no problem foreclosing.

Buyers who want to use the home as their primary residence and are willing to pay close to market value can still get a slight discount buying an Orlando short sale. However, for most retail buyers when they hear the word “short sale”, they usually pass because they know that short sale lenders can take a long time to respond and there’s never a guarantee that they will accept your offer.

Let's Keep In Touch!

New ORC Form Lead

"*" indicates required fields

New Listing In Saint Cloud, 2650 5th St

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

This is a beautiful 4 bedroom 2 bathroom home that’s been completely renovated inside and out. Move-in ready, this home is located in the Charming Town of St Cloud, just 2 minutes from Lakeshore Blvd and the Saint Cloud Marina.

Renovations on this home were carefully planned with high-end finishes and fixtures throughout the home. The kitchen and bathrooms have gorgeous granite countertops and custom solid wood cabinetry, and the new stainless steel appliances bring it all together.

This house has a huge, fenced-in Backyard with an oversized pool [25,000 gallons] deck. Don’t wait to see it, call me now at 407-902-7750!

Check out the video above or go directly to the listing below.

Let's Keep In Touch!

New ORC Form Lead

"*" indicates required fields