Category: News and Information

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.

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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.

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Love What You Do and Never Work Again!

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

As we get older and wiser, there are certain moments or conversations from when we were young that have stayed with us our entire lives. Whether it was a talk with your crazy uncle after he had too much wine or the third-grade teacher that you had a crush on.

In my life, I’ve had many such memories, but the one I want to mention today is the one I had my friend’s – Jason Wilkins’s dad [Dr. Wilkins]. Jason and I were Juniors in high school. He had taken us out for dinner at the Char-Hut, they had the absolute best-grilled chicken sandwiches in town… Pembroke Pines, FL where Jason and I grew up.

Jason’s dad was talking to us about life, what we wanted to study in college, and basically trying to pass on some knowledge to 2 “know it all” teenagers about our future.

I don’t remember exactly at what point in the conversation it was when he said something that has remained with me for the past 30 years- “If you like what you do for a living, you’ll never work a day in your life”… WTF?, was my first thought as a dumb teenager, I had no clue what the heck he was talking about. I knew the basics…you have to work to make money to pay bills, buy a house, have a family, etc…as he explained. He then went on to use himself as an example. See, Jason’s dad was a veterinarian for small animals, most household pets. He went on to tell us how much he really enjoyed what he did and he loved waking up every day to see what challenges he would be facing when he arrived at his practice… said he couldn’t wait to see the first patient of the day.

He said going to “work” wasn’t something negative for him, It was the opposite. He was just so passionate about being a vet that it oozed from his pores. Mr. Wilkins was always in a good mood and I think I had just found out why… Being the community Vet for many years, his clients knew that he really did care for their pets as if they were people and he wasn’t there just for the paycheck. My mom and dad also knew that because he was my dog “Butch’s” vet right up until he passed. Mr. Wilkins would always ask people about how their pets are doing as if they were people.

Jason’s dad went on to tell us that if we could find a profession that we were truly passionate about, no matter if it was as an attorney, janitor, or a school teacher, whatever it was, we would make a positive impact on the people we helped. If you are lucky enough to “find your calling” in life, you’ll know it…  you’ll become one of the very best in your field and you’ll be passionate about what you’re doing. While others around you will constantly bitch and moan about their job, you’ll be eager to jump out of bed in the morning and get to work! When this phenomenon actually happens you no longer have to work, just do what you love to do!

During my twenties, I had several jobs like that and got to experience what Mr. Wilkins was talking about. You see, I worked as a professional boat captain for 10 years of my life. During that time I was cruising all over the world on multi-million dollar luxury yachts. I was getting to see the world through the eyes of the mega-rich…and get paid for it!  As much as I loved being on the ocean and navigating my way to all these exotic places, it started to get old. I was ready to live on land somewhere and start a normal life with my then-girlfriend, now wife Jenny Zamora.

Finding another profession that I enjoyed as much as the boat captain thing was paramount to me.

We moved to Orlando in 2003 to join a friend who was already involved with real estate at the time. Once we got a taste of it, I realized that I found “my calling” in life… for the 2nd time!

I can honestly say that I’ve been able to find incredible satisfaction working as an Orlando Realtor and investor

What Mr. Wilkins told me so many years ago has never been more evident in my life for the past 13 years… “enjoy what you do and you’ll never have to work”.  That’s not to say that the world of real estate isn’t challenging, it’s extremely challenging and stressful at times. But when you’re passionate about something, you don’t mind dealing with the bad stuff that comes along with it. As a matter of fact, a few bumps in the road make the reward that much better when help you your client accomplish their ultimate goal.

When you’re dealing with someone’s life.. whether it’s finding them a new home, selling their current home, or both, there’s a lot of stress involved both financially and emotionally. But at the end of the day when I’m ready to go to bed, I know that I did the best I could that day to help my clients accomplish their Orlando Real Estate goals.

I’ve found that when I live eat and sleep real estate, it never seems like work. It just feels like real estate is what I was meant to do with my life and I find myself continuously trying to improve by finding new and innovative ways to help my clients and my real estate brokerage.

I love it when clients become friends…

Meeting

When you work with a realtor over several months, you either form a bond with that realtor and they become your friend or you’ll get on each other’s nerves and soon hate each other and won’t want anything to do with each other. Lucky for me, nearly all of our past clients have become friends and we end up staying in touch even after the transaction is complete.

It’s just sad that when surveyed by the National Association of Realtors, almost 80% of consumers said they would not hire their Orlando realtor for the 2nd time. I find that crazy! We not only have repeat business from former clients, they tell all their friends and family about us and we end up getting 2 or 3 more clients from just 1 happy client… God, I love this business!

 

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Storytelling Sells Homes for Top Dollar!

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Creating an emotional attachment for your home can get it sold faster than you can say, Uncle.

Out of the blue, we received a call from potential clients, Doug and Barbara, about them wanting us to list their home for them in Downtown Orlando. They were referred to us by Doug’s parents Rick and Helen.

Three years ago we helped Rick and Helen sell their home in Whisper Lakes and they were very happy with the results we delivered both as Orlando Realtors and consultants.

You see, Rick and Helen both understood the process as well as the unique approach we use to sell Orlando homes to produce the biggest profits for our sellers. Unlike some listing clients, they did everything we asked from them to a T and the result was that we broke the record for the neighborhood producing the highest price sale per sq ft in Whisper Lakes. Even to this day, and that was three years ago…

Rick and Helen had already given us the lowdown on their son and daughter-in-law’s situation so we could be prepared. They also mentioned how Doug and Barbara tried selling their home several times before with no success. So, my first move was to look up their home in Downtown Orlando, the old expired listing.

Although it was a pretty nice house, there were some fundamental mistakes that I noticed immediately. I also noticed that the real estate agent they used was a friend of mine and we had worked on several deals together over the years. And although he was a friend and a decent agent, he doesn’t have the same approach or the mentality that we have to sell Orlando Real Estate.

Beware of the “List it and Leave it” Realtor…

Unfortunately, he’s one of the thousands of Orlando real estate agents that just list it and leave it. And although he’s a friend, I’m not in the business of sharing my secrets of selling homes for maximum profit with my competition. See, we use a psychological approach to sell homes in Orlando.

When we interview a potential seller, we really put them through the wringer. It’s important to do this so we can find out what our client’s motivation is. Once we have this information, we come up with a strategy and plan so that we can achieve the desired results. Why cause not everyone’s motivation is the same. That’s why every single one of our listing clients gets a completely customized plan of action to achieve their desired result.

Even though the success rate isn’t 100%, by doing this we get results that far exceed our client’s expectations. So when Doug and Barbara came in for their initial consultation, their motivation became crystal clear to me. They had already moved to a different home and didn’t want to continue making two mortgage payments nor did they want to become landlords by renting out the home they vacated.

At this point, they just wanted to sell their Orlando home for top dollar as quickly as possible. You are probably thinking…..Who doesn’t want to sell for top dollar as fast as possible?… Well, not everyone needs to sell immediately.

Some homeowners don’t need to sell immediately. And in that case, they have the luxury of being able to “test the market”. Others are facing foreclosure and need a short sale. Over the years we’ve successfully worked with almost every situation imaginable, we just have to know what the client’s motivation is so we can come up with a game plan.

Back to Doug and Barbara’s story… We came up with a pretty aggressive game plan for them that included some pretty costly repairs and upgrading, like putting in Stone countertops as well as a fresh coat of paint and new carpeting in some rooms. Since we regularly rehab homes in Orlando, we were able to get them reasonable pricing on all the repairs by using our own contractors. This undertaking was not cheap, but 100% necessary for Doug and Barbara to get the results they needed.

After some intense planning and coordinating of schedules between sellers and contractors, the work was done in less than 2 weeks. Once the house was showroom ready it was time to call in our professional photographer (you must have awesome and amazing photos to sell a house for maximum profit). In this particular house, our photographer went out twice at different times of the day just to get the right lighting.

Doug and Barbara were stressed out!

They had questions about the process like…  “Why are we spending money on a house we want to sell?” I asked them to please trust me. And because they were referred to us by Doug’s parents, they did exactly that. I’m very careful to never guarantee anyone specific results, but I do guarantee that by following our recommendations and game-plan, they will be in the best position possible to get the results they need.

Don’t tell anyone but, our “secret” is to try our best to create an emotional attachment between a buyer and the house. In order to do this properly, there are certain steps that you must follow, sometimes it’s something major, sometimes it’s just a little tweaking, all geared towards finding the right emotions of the home.

It’s true, buying a home should be an economical and logical decision and you should try and keep your emotions out of it. However, when I’m working with buyers, despite me warning them about keeping their emotions in check when we’re actively looking at homes, most of them just can’t help getting emotional once they see “the one”. There’s no denying that buying a new home involves EMOTIONS.

This is the top reason we do everything we do… Professional photos, staging, videos, buzz campaign, cookies in the oven at the open house, it’s all choreographed to create an emotional attachment to the home.

This is what most Orlando realtors just don’t understand. They have no understanding of human psychology, therefore they don’t understand emotional trigger points or “hot buttons”. They have no clue about the “rule of 3’s” in telling a story. This means they don’t have a detailed approach to achieve the goal of maximum profits for their clients.

Sellers who want to half-ass what we recommend to do in our initial meeting can’t expect to achieve the highest dollar amount for their home which is something we tell them going in.

I’m very upfront with my seller clients and if they don’t agree with my recommended listing price on their home as-is and they’re not willing to do the needed repairs to get the highest dollar amount, then I wish them all the best and move on.

Note to Sellers: Sellers should beware of listing agents who agree with whatever listing price the seller wants. They’ll just wait for you to get frustrated and drop the price. This can cost the seller thousands in profit!

Back to Doug and Barbara. After all the repairs and upgrades were complete, listing day and the open house were upon us. Our patented “33 step media blitz” campaign always delivers great results for our open houses. In the 12-4 pm window, we had for walk-ins, about 20-25 buyers, buyers agents and of course, tire kickers [that came for free cookies] walk through the home with some very positive comments flying through the air.

It was a great turnout that produced 4 solid offers by the very next day. And I’m happy to say that we got $4,000 over the asking price because it turned into a bidding war [the only kind of war I condone] The sellers even ended up buying about a third of the furniture from our staging company!

I asked the buyers at the closing, what they liked about the house. They said it just blew every other listing they saw out of the water, and they could totally see themselves raising their young family there.

Mission…. Accomplished! We achieved our client’s desired outcome by implementing the power of human emotion.

Few realtors in Orlando understand the power of storytelling and how it can be used to sell houses. We learned a long time ago that conveying your message, principles, and thoughts through telling a story is more powerful and engaging than anything else you could do. That’s why we consider ourselves storytellers that happen to be in the real estate business. If you would like more info on selling for top dollar visit us at https://orlandorealtyconsultants.com/

I hope you enjoyed the story!

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So,… You Wanna Be A House Flipper?

Posted on by Jenny Zamora


 I was speaking to a relative the other day…[who shall remain nameless]…she said that she and her hubby really want to start flipping houses with minor repairs like paint and carpet and make a “quick flip” she said.  I tried my best to hide the fact that I was choking on my own saliva so as not to squash her dreams.

These days everybody wants to be a “flipper”… just like on TV. They watch shows like Property Brothers just to name one and they believe it’s easy and fun…Oh, and of course, you can get rich quick…..NOT TRUE… It’s a tough business and if you’re not careful you could end up losing your ass! [lots of money] If you make the wrong deal you could be looking at months of work that may or may not make you money.

The problem is that too many people believe they can just make tens of thousands by making a few minor repairs like paint and carpet on a fixer. This way of thinking has caused a lot of wanna-be flippers to lose small fortunes.

It sounds like a fantastic idea… Buy an ugly house super cheap, slap on a new coat of paint and new carpet, list it with an agent that looks like a supermodel. Then sell for a whopping profit that you could live off of for a year!

Sounds easy enough. The silent killer is not doing proper research before you buy.

A new client we started working with asked me how much to offer on a property that he liked… a lot. She told me that she didn’t want to offer more than a penny over 85% of the tax assessed value.

I first explained to her that the tax assessed value is not the same as the current value on a home. The tax assessed value of a home is basically a rough estimate based on the square footage and it may have been several years since the last assessment was performed. And it doesn’t reflect any upgrades or improvements that may have been done to the home. It’s basically just used to form a tax basis.

As a matter of fact, tax assessments are even worse than the ever-popular “Zestimate”…and that’s pretty bad… Even the CEO of Zillow fully admitted that throughout the US these estimates were off from anywhere from 8% to 30% depending on what part of the country you’re in.

 So, what’s the best way to find out the true value of an Orlando investment home?

As an experienced Realtor/Investor myself, I can tell you that the first step is to determine the ARV [After Repaired Value] on a home. This will be the amount you can easily sell it for once it’s been remodeled. How do I, do this you ask?

Much like a secret spy, I have access to secret website portals that are coded and encrypted and considered classified and not accessible to the general public. Even more important, I can easily determine the strengths and weaknesses of a house that a civilian would surely overlook. Armed with this intricate knowledge together with the fact that I literally walk through hundreds of homes each year, means that I provide you with an expert assessment of my own home’s value.

Once I’ve come up with the home’s ARV, it’s then time to figure out how much you’ll spend on making the repairs to get it to the ARV and factor it all in. I always assume that the house will sell for the lowest amount out of the comparables in the area just as a safety measure.

Once I have all these numbers in place, I’ll be able to see if the deal makes sense or not to proceed. Whether I’m looking to buy an investment home or finding one for one of our many investor clients, my process is always the same.

Unless you’re a realtor yourself you’ll need to contact an Orlando Realtor.

Most newbie investors end up getting into trouble by trying to turn a non-deal into a deal because they’re so eager to get started flipping… a recipe for disaster. You should start with the ARV then work backward as I explained earlier.

So, just like a  spy on a secret mission, the more intelligence you gather on your target, the better chance you will have at success when you’re ready to pull the trigger…

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