Category: Orlando Real Estate

Tips On Re-Habbing Homes In Orlando

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Buying Homes In Orlando

When you buy an Orlando investment property that you intend to fix and flip, there are three different ways it can go. You either make a nice profit, you break even or you lose money.

Obviously, no one wants to lose money or break even because breaking even is also a loss when you consider the time and effort you spent on the project that you didn’t get compensated for.

Being an Orlando real estate agent as well as a seasoned investor, I’ve made every mistake you can possibly make by flipping homes in Orlando while learning some very valuable information along the way.  I’ve come up with some guidelines designed to help you decide if rehabbing houses is for you.

Buying The Right Property

It’s crucial that you start by buying the investment property at the right price. If you get this part wrong everything else will go wrong and you will lose money.

1st-time investors are sometimes soo excited about starting a project, that they end up paying too much money for a house or trying to turn a “non-deal” into a deal. I don’t care how much you wish and pray, there’s no arguing with the numbers.

I highly recommend enlisting the help of an experienced Orlando Realtor to help you acquire the right house.

Be Realistic With Yourself

For the do-it-yourselfers… make sure that you have the time, the skills, and the burning desire to get it done ASAP. People get pretty fired up watching these house flipping shows on TV, especially when they make it look soo fast and easy.  The truth is… it’s not that easy, it takes a lot longer than you think, and believing that it’s easy can get you in some serious hot water.

I’ve learned over the years that when you try to cut corners or go too cheap, it always ends up costing more money…ALWAYS!

 Even if you do intend to fix the property on your own, you should still get a few contractor estimates as a backup plan so that you know how much the repair will cost in case you happen to fall short with your own efforts.

 Time Is Money

Many newbie investors fail to calculate how much time a project will take correctly. The old saying “time is money” applies to rehabbing houses more than anything else I can think of. Your goal should be to get that property back on the market ASAP. If not, carrying costs alone will drain your profits dry and you’ll be lucky if you break even.

 Cost Of Repairs Or Materials

If you plan on having a professional contractor do the work, make sure that you meet and get estimates from at least 3 different contractors. Make sure they are licensed and insured [don’t take their word for it, research yourself] and ask them to provide you with references from some of their other clients.

If you’re still hell-bent on doing the work your self then your homework [no pun intended] is to seek out and price the material you will need to complete the project.

Whether you’ve decided on using a GC or doing the work yourself, add 15% to whatever you came up with for unforeseen problems.

Note: There are ALWAYS unforeseen problems!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Orlando Realtor- Seller Series part 5

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Let Your Orlando Realtor Do The Negotiating

In this week’s edition of our six-part seller series, we will be talking about how your Orlando Realtor can help you with the negotiation process when you start receiving offers on your home.

Negotiating offers

It’s part of a realtor’s job to negotiate the price on a listing, which is why it’s important to allow your listing agent to negotiate offers on your behalf instead of you dealing directly with the buyer or buyer’s agent. Your agent should already be well aware of what your bottom line is upon finalizing the listing details. The house should also be priced correctly for the market and look its best for showings.

Sometimes buyers will submit low ball offers and these buyers are usually investors looking for the deal of a lifetime so that they can turn a quick profit. You should never take this personally, it’s just business and you really can’t blame them for trying. 

Your realtor should also make sure potential buyers are pre-approved for a mortgage loan before proceeding with any negotiations.

If you receive an offer that’s close to the listing price, your agent should continue with the negotiations. Chances are that if they really want the home, then a few thousand dollars won’t deter them from coming up to your asking price.

There’s a lot more to the negotiation process than just agreeing on the sales price. Items like repairs, personal property, financing, inspection periods, and the closing date are all things that can either make a deal go through or kill it. Usually, if it’s something minor, a small concession is all that’s needed to make everybody happy.

If you have any questions or comments about this article submit them below or if you need immediate assistance visit https://orlandorealtyconsultants.com/

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Orlando Realtor- Seller Series part 4

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

 

In this week’s edition of the 6-part “Orlando Realtor Seller Series” we over some tips for staging a home properly for maximum profit in the least amount of time without breaking the bank.

 

By properly staging a home before a showing, it can increase your net profit at the closing table. There are some rooms that are more important than others in the home staging process. It’s also important to spend whatever budget you have for staging on items that will give you the highest “return on investment” or [ROI].

 

Homeowners wanting to sell, shouldn’t start spending money on staging a home without first consulting with an Orlando Listing Specialist.

 

Following are some simple tips that you can implement right now.

 

The first thing you should do is clean and de-clutter the home. Move any furniture or personal items that can make the home look smaller into the garage or storage facility. Just this step alone can make a huge difference in the overall appearance of the home and doesn’t cost much to get done.

 

To enhance the curb appeal of a home, the best thing to do is start with touching up the exterior paint if needed. Your paint color can be matched at any paint store so you shouldn’t need to buy much if you’re only touching up. The landscaping is also important for curb appeal. I’m not saying to spend thousands on new landscaping, usually, all it takes is keeping the lawn mowed and then trimming the trees and bushes. You never get a 2nd chance to make a first impression so make it a good one!

landscape

 

Touching up the interior paint where needed is also a good idea before showing the property. In some rooms, you may even want to consider painting the entire room, especially if the paint looks worn or makes the room look dark and depressing. If the home is in need of an overall paint job, you may want to consider hiring a professional painter. New paint on a home always yields one of the highest returns on your investment when it comes to home improvement.

 

Adding some color with fresh flowers on showing days or a new welcome mat can also make the home look more appealing. These tips on enhancing a home’s appearance are low cost and easy to do.

 
By properly staging a home before showing it, not only will you increase your chances of selling it faster, but you’ll probably get more money at the closing table.

 

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Orlando Realtor – Seller Series part 3

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

This is the latest edition in our 6 part “home seller series” designed to help Orlando homeowners sell their homes for top dollar in the least amount of time.  This week’s focus will be on pricing the home correctly from the start.

Research from our own listings clearly shows that homes that are priced correctly from the start, spend about half the time on the market when compared to homes that were priced too high and had to adjust.

One of the most critical steps in selling a home is determining what price it should be listed for. Your Orlando listing agent should prepare a comparable market analysis [CMA] on the property. A CMA is an in-depth report about the subject property and comparable properties that were recently sold in the surrounding area as well as properties that are currently listed and under contract. This report is designed to educate the homeowner and help them to come up with the right listing price for the property.

We’ve found that an Orlando home that is accurately priced and in decent condition will usually have at least one offer on it within the first few days.

 Beware of “Yes Man” Agents

Unfortunately, Some real estate agehttps://www.floridarealtors.org/consumersnts resort to using shady tactics in order to get a listing. One of these tactics is to list the property for an unrealistically high amount in order to make the homeowner believe that they will actually sell the home for “over market value”.

Even though the agent knows that the home doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell at selling for that price, they list it anyway and after a few weeks of no activity, they suggest to the homeowner to lower the price.

Unfortunately, it’s the homeowner who suffers the consequences by losing valuable time on the market with no activity. Even worse, homes that continually get lowered in price on the MLS usually end up being sold for below market value and take several months longer to sell.

Easy Exit Listing Agreement

Homeowners can easily protect themselves by hiring an Orlando realtor that uses an “Easy Exit Listing Agreement”. This listing agreement contains a clause that allows the homeowner to cancel the listing at any time without paying any cancellation fee or penalty.

When interviewing your listing agent, ask about their listing cancellation policy. If they want to charge you a cancellation fee, then chances are they may not be confident enough in their skills to get the job done. An easy exit clause will keep the agent motivated to get that house sold quickly for the highest amount the market will allow.

Need free real estate advice now? Visit our site https://orlandorealtyconsultants.com/ for immediate assistance.

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Orlando Homeowners Embracing The “Green Home”

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

With all the rage about “Going Green” lately, more and more Orlando home buyers are inquiring about green features when considering properties.

There is soo many advantages to making your home a “Green Home” and homeowners are steadily waking up and joining the going green revolution regardless of whether they’re of selling or staying put.

It just makes sense. Going green increases the value of a property by making it more attractive to environmentally conscious buyers as well as lowering your monthly energy bill.

 By making a few simple changes like using energy-saving light bulbs and appliances, using a tankless water heater system, and tinting your windows, homeowners can add legitimate value to their homes.
 Here’s a quick list of things that you can do to make sure that your home is as green as can be for the echo-friendly buyer.

Simple Green Updates That Don’t Cost A lot Of Green 

Update The Lighting. By using LED and CFL low energy bulbs you can save as much as $6.00 per year on a single light bulb! That may not sound like a lot but I bet if you count every light bulb in your house and multiply that number by 6 I bet you’ll feel differently. Also, the amount of energy being used is about 75% less than with traditional bulbs.

Install A Tankless Water Heater. Traditional water heaters store a lot of water and as a result, they have to consistently heat and reheat all the water in the tank whether it gets used or not. Tankless water heaters don’t store water and because of that, they use about 50% less energy than a traditional water heater. Also, with these water heaters, you will never run out of hot water again. The water gets heated instantly by the coils contained within the unit only when you need it.

Update The Appliances. By using “Energy Star” appliances you can save some serious green over the course of a year. Sure they cost more than traditional appliances but soon they will pay for themselves because they use anywhere from 20% to 50% less than traditional appliances. Make sure to let potential buyers know how much you’re saving on the electric bill because of the appliances.

Update The Bathrooms With Low-Flow Fixtures. By using low-flow showerheads and toilets, you can reduce household water consumption by up to 50% without sacrificing water pressure. Again, there is more of an upfront cost by switching to these fixtures but well worth it in the long run.

Install Energy Trackers. You can keep track of how much energy each appliance in your house uses or for around three hundred dollars you can have a device that will monitor the energy usage of your entire home that provides you with real-time feedback on how much energy you are using and how much you’re wasting.

There are a gazillion models to choose from these days and with the new technology, they’re even syncing them with smartphones and Ipads.

Whether you’re selling your home or planning on staying for a while, turning your home into a “Green Home” just makes sense. If you want to sell, then your home will have an added value that most other homes on the market won’t be able to compete with.

On the other hand, if this is your dream home where you plan on spending your golden years, then you can start saving big money as well as help save the planet. It’s a win-win no matter how you look at it.

 

 

 

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