Category: Orlando Realtors

It’s regrettable when buyers get stuck with a self-absorbed Orlando real estate agent who has that too busy to listen to attitude and is all too eager to convince you into buying a home that you just don’t like. Buyers and sellers depend on their Orlando realtor to carry them through to the finish line. They expect their agent to be always looking out for their best interests whether it be helping them make a wise real estate investment with their hard-earned cash or marketing their home so that a seller can get top dollar on the sale of their home.

In today’s Orlando real estate market it’s just not enough for a realtor to be well qualified, they should also be a creative problem solver and able to handle any situation that arises with patience and resourcefulness. There are a million things that can go wrong with a real estate transaction on both the buyer’s and seller’s side and if your real estate agent is disorganized and unprofessional it could end up costing you thousands of dollars.  Read on to find out if it’s time to shop for a new Orlando Realtor.

• Unresponsiveness

It’s unreasonable to expect your Orlando realtor to be at your service 24/7, they should however respond to your text messages, emails, and voice mails in a timely manner. Most realtors start out very strong in this regard at the very beginning of the relationship [kind of like dating].  Your agent should be relatively easy to get a hold of to address any of your questions or concerns. Having an open line of communication with your realtor could very well mean the difference between selling your home within 2 months or selling it within 8 months.

Also, watch out for realtors who take a lot of vacations. Everyone is entitled to some time off but the agent should let you know when they’ll be out of town and they plan on staying on top of your listing while they’re away.

• They Don’t Listen

When you first sit down with your Orlando realtor it should feel like a counseling session. After that initial meeting, you should feel confident that your realtor has your best interests at heart and they’re committed to helping you to achieve your goal whether it’s to buy or sell a home. They should ask you detailed questions like “ what’s your timeframe to sell or buy?”,” Tell me about the home you selling/what would you consider your dream house?”, “What’s your preferred method of communication?”, “What kind of neighborhoods are you interested in?”

Buying and selling real estate isn’t a sales job as much as it is a customer service or management position. The last thing you want is a realtor that behaves like he or she is a used car salesman. My advice is to 86 any agent who trots out like the winner of a dog show and tries to bully you into something you’re not comfortable with.

• Part-time agents

Working with a full-time agent is an absolute must if you want to accomplish your real estate goals in a reasonable amount of time. Working with a real estate agent that has another job on the side means that you’re not their top priority. You want an agent that eats, sleeps, and breathes real estate and does nothing else.

•  Inexperienced Agents

Make sure that the Orlando realtor you choose has at least two years of experience in buying or selling houses in Orlando. You can research agents by Googling them and the company they work for. Look for any online reviews posted by past clients. Ask the agent for a resume that includes the number of transactions they’ve closed in the past six months.

Don’t hesitate to ask your agent for references from past clients that you can contact and ask questions about them. Also, it’s always a good idea to type the realtor’s name into Google with the word “complaint” next to it and see what pops up. If the agent has any legitimate complaints about them, you should keep searching.

• Your Agent Seems Unprofessional

Being disorganized, showing up late, showing up unprepared, or canceling appointments is extremely unprofessional and sends a negative message to everyone involved in the transaction which could end up costing you money. Some agents may also try to pass you off to their assistant shortly after signing you as a client. If so, you should move on to another agent. A good real estate agent should clearly lay out what to expect from the buyer and seller at the very beginning of the business relationship and fulfill that promise.

• You Feel Awkward Around You Agent

If you feel uncomfortable around your real estate agent for whatever reason, it’s time to move on. Buying or selling a house will be one of the most important decisions of your life so it’s crucial that you feel comfortable with the agent that’s representing you in the transaction. You should also make sure that your agent is personable with other people otherwise they could end up turning off a potential buyer or seller.

You should feel comfortable around your realtor and be able to ask as many questions as you want without feeling bad about it. Also, stay away from agents that continually try to show you homes that don’t meet your criteria just so they can be done with you.

• Your Agent Doesn’t Do Their Homework

When you meet with your Orlando listing agent for the first time they should have taken the time to prepare a CMA for you [Comparative Market Analysis]. This is a report which gives you a very good idea of how much your home will sell for based on similar properties that have recently sold in your neighborhood within the past three to six months. If your agent tries to suggest a listing price for your home without a CMA, then you say, “Ba Bye!”

On the buyer’s side, agents should be able to assist you in getting a loan by providing contact information for a credit counselor or mortgage broker in order to help you get a loan if needed. And if you’re just not ready to buy a home yet, a good agent will be willing to wait for you and touch base with you every so often just to show you that you still matter to them.

• Your agent shows signs of being shady

Unclear on broker fees, talking about their other client’s personal issues, and overall shady behavior should never be tolerated when it comes to hiring an Orlando real estate agent. These types of agents are always looking for an angle that will benefit them even though it can put their clients at risk. This is the absolute last person on earth you want to write up a sales contract on your behalf. You get the picture, enough said on this one.

If you’re looking to buy or sell a home in Orlando feel free to call us at 407-902-7750 for a free consultation. We invite you to reach out to some of our past clients and ask about how well we performed and if we delivered on our promises. Call or visit https://orlandorealtyconsultants.com/ today!

With the overwhelming popularity of smartphones and other mobile devices these days people are starting to use their mobile devices to do online searches much more than their old desktop computers. Home shoppers looking to buy a home in Orlando especially prefer to use mobile devices for the sheer convenience of it.

As a matter of fact, data from our own real estate clients at ORC indicate that the use of smartphones and mobile devices has more than tripled over the past year while desktops have shown less and less usage.

It’s All About Convenience

When people are searching for their own piece of real estate in Orlando, they’re more than likely on the go, driving through their dream neighborhoods. Think about it…you can actually search for homes online and physically simultaneously without ever missing a beat.

This also means that you can potentially take advantage of being the first buyer on the scene as soon as a new listing hits the market. In a hot seller’s market, this can be a huge advantage!

Although potential buyers may not be getting rid of their desktops altogether, our findings show that weekend home shoppers use their mobile devices, smartphones, in particular, a total of 70% of the time with only 30% using their home computers for finding Orlando homes on the MLS.

Orlando Realty Consultants Mobile Website

In order to provide our clients with top-level customer service, we’re constantly upgrading, updating, and improving our mobile-friendly website https://orlandorealtyconsultants.com/.  Equipped with the latest in IDX mobile search technology, our site provides up-to-date, real-time information on the newest listings in Orlando as they hit the market as opposed to using Trulia or Zillow where listings can take several hours and even days to update.

Online Home Search Tools Never Sleep

One of the major advantages of using online search tools is that websites don’t sleep. If you’ve ever experienced the excitement of searching for a new house to live in, you can probably relate to losing a bit of sleep over the excitement of finding a new home. Now instead of tossing and turning or watching TV until you get sleepy, you can use that time to be proactive and continue the search.

Are Orlando Real Estate Agents Becoming Obsolete?

Real estate professionals in Orlando as well as throughout the country can rest easy knowing that they still play a vital role in finding homes for home shoppers. As a matter of fact, I believe giving consumers the power and freedom to do some searching on their own should be looked at as an advantage, especially for buyers agents.

A home shopper can get a very good feel for an area and what kind of homes they would like to see by spending some time searching on their own. The buyer can then forward their findings to their Orlando realtor so they can schedule some showings. An online search should be looked at as a win, win situation for both agent and client.

Working as an Orlando real estate agent, I’ve sold countless investment properties to newbie investors. Being an Orlando real estate investor myself, I don’t mind passing on my knowledge to inexperienced investors looking for their next or first investment. After all, my client’s success is my success.

Recently, however, I had some new investors buy one of my Orlando properties out in Whisper Lakes. It was a fixer-upper, nothing out of this world though. Some fresh paint, new cabinets, fixtures, and carpeting, and this baby would be ready to hit the market!

I gave Joel and Remy some contacts of contractors that I’ve used and continue that have always done a great job for me. They took my advice and hired one of the GCs that I recommended instead of trying to do the work themselves.

The job came out great and the contractor stayed within their budget, and the home was ready to hit the market.

Joel and Remy were fired up to sell their first flip and ready to move on to the next one. There was a problem though after several showings the house didn’t get any offers on it. This went on for two weeks and still no activity, even though the house was priced just under market value.

I knew at this point we had to take things to the next level in order to get a solid offer on this home. I suggested to Joel and Remy that it was time to do some staging and plan a big open house.

I could see the look on their faces when I told them it would cost around $1,500 to get the home fully staged and looking like a million bucks. They weren’t buying into the whole staging thing and thought they should just lower the price by another $3,000. Well, I’m no professor but I do know that it’s much better to lose $1,500 than it is to lose $3,000.

By staging a home, you’re allowing someone to visualize the home at its maximum potential. They can actually see that there is plenty of room for that table of theirs and that living room set they love soo much. The same goes for decorations perfectly placed around the home with some nice paintings on the walls. With staging, you can give that home a “wow” factor that it just wouldn’t have if it were empty.

I finally managed to convince them to get the house staged and I even offered to pay half out of my commission if it didn’t work out.

The home staging crew rolled in with enough furniture and decorations to cover the two open living areas, the 3 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms. Well, the home sold less than a week after we staged it. As a matter of fact, a lady who had seen it weeks prior when it was first listed came back to see it again and said “I’ll take it”.

She wasn’t lying, she submitted a solid offer the same day through her Orlando realtor and ultimately ended up closing just 3 weeks later.

4 deals later and Joel and Remy continue to buy Orlando properties from us and are still going strong. The difference now is that they stage every property whether they think it needs it or not.