Category: News and Information

Average Home Price in Orlando Rises to $165K

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

The average price of houses in Orlando rose in May, making it the fourth successive month to touch $165,000. According to Orlando realtors, this has been a peak period since 2008.

According to reports published by Orlando Regional Realtors Association, prices inched up about 1.5 percent in April and about 13.7 percent in May compared to the rates of last year. The report of the association mainly reflects the sales which occurred in Seminole and Orange counties.

The previous time prices of homes were this high, was in December 2008. At that time the prices were $167,500 – a sharp dip from a high of $264,436 achieved in July 2007.

The statistics

Members of the Orlando Regional Realtors Association closed approximately 2,651 sales in the month of May. Sales were down approximately 1 percent in the period starting from April, standing at approximately 11 percent. The available inventory rose from about 3.9 months during April to about 4.1 months during May. This is quite below the six-month level but is adjudged normally.

Probable causes

Zola Szerences, the Association Chairman, said that sales decline can be partly attributed to investor decline. The investors went away from Orlando real estate market as the prices increased. While foreclosures add sorely required inventory injections, they are responsible for slowing the sales. Like Orlando’s short sales, transactions due to foreclosures take more time to process compared to standard transactions.

After many years of shrinking proportions, foreclosures rose about 15 percent in May this year compared to the same period of 2013. Normal sale of homes lowered a little but still comprised approximately two-thirds of total sales. Orlando short sales went down by 62 percent in the period between May 2013 and May 2014. The highest decrease was recorded in the sales of Orlando’s condo market, which fell by 24 percent from last year.

Immediate future

According to Moe Musleem of Re/MAX Legacy, the reason for such an occurrence is that a number of foreclosures are now appearing in the market as the loans are being acquired by a number of loan servicers. He added that the construction of residences has quenched a little of the demand, but not their prices. Musleem is hopeful that a greater number of foreclosures will appear in the market. Since a lot of construction projects are coming up in Seminole and Orange, a large number of properties will sit out in the market.

 

 

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Sale of 203 Condo Units In Orlando

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

A Madison Capital Management affiliate has been advised by Cushman & Wakefield in the context of the sale of 203 condominium units within 272 Heritage Estates, a Class A community in Orlando. The firm has also garnered about $15.7 million in debt and has organized equity financing by a joint venture from Centersquare Investment Management. Center square is BNY Mellon’s investment boutique for real estate deals. This was done on behalf of the buyer. Five-year financing was provided by Key Bank.

Fractured nature is not a concern

According to Dave Karson, the Executive Managing Director of Cushman & Wakefield, this kind of excellently located community attracts capital from those who seek comparatively lower returns than they were accustomed to for the past several years. The condominium’s fractured nature does not have an effect in such circumstances. He added that the improvement of the equity and debt markets has made such kind of capitalization possible.

Karson’s team members included Chris Moyer, Suraj Ravi, Sridha Vankayala, and Steve Kohn in the Debt & Structured Finance group of Cushman &Wakefield.

Heritage Estates was constructed in 2003 and is sandwiched between Orlando International Airport and the University of Central Florida. It is situated in the University of Central Florida/East Orange submarket. The property has been invested by Madison as either direct owner or lender since 2005. The company has established a stellar record of first acquiring units and then converting those to rentals.

In real estate, relationships are the key

The business of real estate depends on relationships. It is about service as well as trust. Clients do not trust entities that they do not know. For any real estate buyer, it is not simply about searching and then getting home. It is actually the first step in a methodical process from starting the contract to closing the contract. A large number of steps take place after a home is found, and the function of a good Orlando real estate agent becomes apparent at that stage. The task of meeting appraisers, ensuring that the inspector arrives as scheduled, does an adequate job, and sends his or her reports on time.

A realtor juggles communications between the title company, contractors, and sellers and keeps things on schedule as previously planned. Agents have to anticipate and have the requisite knowledge and skill to adjust to situations that even a frequent buyer of homes may have not endured through.

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Downtown Orlando to Get New Apartment Complex

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Work is scheduled to start during the third week of June on a nine-story apartment building complex in uptown Orlando. The area close to Lake Eola has been subjected to minimal development after the crash in Orlando real estate about seven years ago.

Development by Jefferson Apartment Group

Two acres of land were purchased at South Osceola Avenue and East Church Street by Jefferson Apartment Group during the first week of June this year. The seller was an investor based in Ohio. According to the Jefferson Apartment Group spokesperson, work on the complex is expected to begin immediately with the placeholder name 420 Church. The complex is expected to have 299 units.

The southern flank of Lake Eola saw a number of apartment and condominium buildings come up before the real estate market took a turn for the worse in 2007. Since then, the area has seen three complexes being constructed.

The 420 Church construction plan includes about 9,000 square feet, destined for retail at the ground level. About one-third of the total area is to be transformed into an art gallery on a lease basis. It will also include10 studios at the ground level which can be used by the artists.

According to Mike Mulhalli, Regional Partner, Jefferson Apartment Group, the company strives to create an arts district near Eola. The property, in addition to the proposed art gallery, will consist of three secured parking levels with the fifth-floor housing a pool deck.

Built for renters

According to Mulhali, notwithstanding the fact that the urban core of Orlando is predominantly rentals, the uptown area of the city continues to attract renters who have the ability to pay in the region of $1,200 per month for kinds of apartments that have more than adequate amenities. The concept envisioned by Jefferson Apartment Group changed after it started planning for the project about five years ago.

Mulhali said that the Orlando Realtor is also developing a different site located to the south of the city. He confirmed that the company has a contract nearer to South Street. He was reluctant to give out more details. According to Susan Morris of Colliers International, a real estate firm, Jefferson is one of many apartment complexes in the final planning phases for uptown Orlando.

Another uptown project in the process of taking shape is The Sevens. It is scheduled to be set up on a property located at North Orange Avenue.

 

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How Realtors Get Paid- Video

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

If a real estate agent works with a buyer or a seller for weeks or even months without a resulting transaction, then they just aren’t paid for their time.

Realtors earn a commission based on the sales price of the home and they only receive that commission only after the transaction goes to closing.

Commissions are negotiable between listing agents and their clients. Some brokerages offer commission discounts for sellers, but a typical commission is between 5 and 6 percent of the sales price.

Most of the time, the commission is evenly split between the buyers’ agent and the listing agent, but sometimes the split is negotiated unevenly.

For example, a seller could agree to pay a 5.5 percent commission divided so that the listing agent receives 3 percent and the buyers’ agent receives 2.5 percent. So it all depends on what they agreed on.

Who Ends Up Paying the Commission?

Technically, the total commission is always paid by the seller at the closing table, where the fee is subtracted from the proceeds of the home sale.

The commission is split at the settlement table between the listing agent’s brokerage and the buyers’ agent brokerage; then the agents themselves are paid by their brokers.

Now if it’s a short sale property, then it works a bit differently and I’ll be talking in detail about that in my next video. “How Do Realtors Get Paid on a short sale”

For more information call us at 407-902-7750 or visit us at https://orlandorealtyconsultants.com/