Category: Orlando Realtors

Open House Tips for Sellers

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Open houses are starting to become popular again. it seems that every weekend when I’m driving around in Orlando I see open house signs everywhere I go.  It’s become a great way to not only showcase a new listing for Orlando realtors but also to market those problem listings that have trouble selling for one reason or another.

Sometimes, however, there are sellers that want to be involved with the sale of their house like showing a potential buyer around or even worse…being at the open house. As an Orlando Realtor, I tell my clients that it’s never a good idea for the seller of a home to get involved with interacting with potential buyers, especially at the open house.

Here Are Some Open House Tips For Sellers

1- Getting your home ready for the Open House. The most important thing that you can do to get your home ready for the open house is to clean and de-clutter. Go through and clean every surface in the entire house leaving it looking and smelling fresh. Also, if you have some pieces of furniture that you could move into the garage that day that would make the house look bigger or more appealing, then do it. Putting out some cookies or fresh lemonade is fine but you shouldn’t go overboard like hiring a live band or a D.J. These things would be more of a distraction than an attraction.

2- Don’t be at the open house. As the seller, you should be anywhere else but home on the day of your open house. You have to realize that realtors with their qualified buyers will be there looking and having serious discussions about your home, both good and bad. It’s a heck of a lot less awkward for them and the seller if the seller wasn’t there. You want potential buyers to feel comfortable and at ease when they go through the property. Sellers have to trust their realtor to showcase their home in the best way possible.

open house

3- Make sure they can access every room. It’s called an open house for a reason. The goal is for potential buyers to enjoy free access to your entire home and visualize it as being theirs and hopefully fall in love. Don’t block rooms, closets, or yard gates unless it’s absolutely necessary. Don’t make the buyer have to come back another time to see it or you just might lose them.

4-Tell The Neighbors. It’s always a good idea to inform your neighbors about your open house. I can’t tell you how many listings we’ve had where a neighbor knew somebody who’s been wanting to buy in their neighborhood resulting in a sale.

I hope these tips were helpful. If you want to see how much your home is worth visit us at https://orlandorealtyconsultants.com/ 

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What’s In This Year’s Home Buying Season for Home Buyers in Orlando

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

The Orlando real estate industry has been reveling the home-buying season in 2014. April 2014 marked a month of consecutive reductions in the rates of fixed mortgages. Rates of interest on the standard 30-year home loans dropped to their lowest level in the second week of April. The rates, the lowest since February, reduced again in the third week – increasing buyer activity in the industry.

Now, according to a new industry report, this year’s spring buying season commenced with a significant rise in the month-to-month sales of residential real estate property. According to industry experts, the month of March saw 17.28 percent more sales than February. Further, in terms of just the “normal” sales in February and March, the latter month outperformed the former by nearly 24 percent!

Realtors in Orlando will confirm the opinions of the experts – all major listing agents in Orlando reporting their hands full with residential buying and selling since the beginning of the season.

Home Buyers are fueling median residential real-estate prices in Orlando

The median price of properties in Orlando was recorded as $160,000 in March 2014. Just a month ago, the rates stood 1.27 percent lower, at $158,000. The rise in median prices is being fueled by increased demand from prospective buyers – a trend characteristic of the spring buying season.

Realtors unanimously hold the spring buying season a good time to buy residential properties, especially for first-time buyers. According to the experts in Orlando short sales, the median rates of short sales in March 2014, witnessed a 4.59 percent hike from the value same time last year.

With the short-sale inventory expanding, the spring season is also expected to bring new opportunities for buyers who haven’t been able to find suitable deals yet. Compared to the number of foreclosed homes available for purchase in March 2014, a fairly large number of foreclosed homes were made available to buyers in March this year (125 percent more than in March 2013). Homes also spend lesser time on the market now, than they did a year ago. The average listing period in March 2014 was 76 days, compared to the 79 days in 2013.

Making the most of the home-buying season

Conditions in the Orlando real estate market seem to be ideal for residential buyers now. Banks are easing up on home loans, the rates of fixed and variable-rates mortgages are decreasing and the market has plenty of options in different price ranges. Further, with Florida’s diversifying economy and its growing reputation as a premium retirement destination in all of the US, many prospective buyers are showing foresight by investing in properties during the season.

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Orlando Home Buyers Buy Their House Back After Losing It To Foreclosure!

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Every once in a while we hear a story about something that inspires us and that reminds us that good things still happen in the world. In this case, it was about one of our clients, Jose and Mary Guadalupe had gone through some financial hardships due to loss of employment and ultimately ended up losing their South Orlando dream home located in the Meadow Woods sub-division to public foreclosure auction.

After it went through the foreclosure process another family bought it and just 2 years later, they hired our Company to complete a short sale on the property. And so we did then we actually ended up buying it ourselves as a re-hab property. We completely rehabbed the home installing new cabinetry, flooring, fixtures, etc. The day I went to put a “For Sale” in the yard was the day I met the Guadalupe family for the first time.

These Orlando Home Buyers Never Gave Up Hope

They went on to tell me their story about how they lost their dream house to foreclosure and about the deep depression the family went through because of that experience. Since going through that experience, Mr. Guadalupe was now employed as a local truck driver for over 2 years and their financial situation had really turned around for the better. As a matter of fact, the family had recently been house hunting in that same neighborhood for the past several months never finding one that interested them.

Mrs. Guadalupe claimed that she would drive by her old house several times per week just hoping that one day it would be for sale. Then one day came when they spotted me installing our sign in the front yard. After listening to their story, I was happy to show them around the newly renovated home. It didn’t take long for Mrs. Guadalupe to start getting teary-eyed as she walked into the kitchen where she had prepared thousands of home-cooked meals for her family. ” My kids were raised in this house,” she said. It was right then and there that we decided to do everything in our power to help the Guadalupe family get back the house that they had lost just a few years prior.

stop foreclosure

Typically, it’s much harder to get a mortgage on a property after you’ve gone through a foreclosure or short sale and it used to be that you would have to wait 7 years before you could even apply for a mortgage but with the new lender guidelines in place it could go down to only 3 years for some people. Although buying back the same home that you lost to foreclosure is extremely rare, the Guadalupe family is among a recently emerging group of purchasers, that were able to get back into the housing market under new, more forgiving lender guidelines.

With these new rules in place, thousands of Central Floridians who have gone through foreclosure have the potential to make buying a home a reality again. Over 100,000 homeowners in Orlando have lost their homes to foreclosure or short sale since the real estate crash of 2007.

 

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New Short Sale Property in Casselberry | 2037 SCHULLER WAY

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Casselberry Short Sale

Short Sale Property in Casselberry | 2037 SCHULLER WAY

This is a 1,252 sq ft. beautiful townhouse that needs new carpets and just a bit of paint on the walls. The property was built in 2006 and is two floors.

Other details:

2 bedrooms

2  1/2 bathrooms

Master bedroom on 2nd Fl/ walk-in closet

Community Pool

Playground

Volleyball court

Gym

Call me at 407-902-7750 or visit us at https://orlandorealtyconsultants.com/ to make your appointment, It is Priced To Sell!!!

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Home Buyers in Orlando Gear Up as Rates of Fixed Mortgages Fall Further

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

The spring buying season of 2014 started off on a good note and it seems to only be getting better. Rates of fixed mortgages were on a downward spiral since the first week of April. The week beginning April 14 marked the second time when the rate of fixed mortgages fell to its lowest levels since February.

As noted by Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage buyer, the average rate of interest on standard 30-year home loans dropped to 4.27 percent in the week beginning April 14. The week before (April 7-13), fixed mortgage rates stood at 4.34 percent. The 4.34 percent – rate was again, 0.7 percent below the rate of fixed mortgages in the week beginning March 31. At the beginning of the year, these rates stood fairly high at 4.5 percent.

This week’s decline marked the second consecutive week when fixed-mortgage rates were the lowest since February and Orlando Realtors say prospective buyers are getting more enthusiastic about the spring buying season.

Will the Drop-in Fixed Mortgages Sustain Itself in the Coming Weeks?

Most probably yes. According to 56 percent of the market analysts interviewed by the website Bankrate.com, the rates are going to hold steady in the coming weeks. They say the rates of interest will continue to be low and remain stable over the next couple of weeks. They did not predict a rise in mortgage rates.

Realtors note that concerns of a weak market – one that wouldn’t be able to support a dynamic increase in prices of residential real estate  – to be one of the primary reasons rates began spiraling downwards in January 2014.

A good time to buy homes?

According to the Orlando real estate agents it is. According to the most recent report from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, March was marked by an increase in new residential construction. The report, released April 16, revealed that housing starts in March increased by 2.8 percent, compared to February. The month also saw a  reduction in permits for residential buildings, as compared to the number of permits issued in February (2.4 percent decline). The number of permits was, however, 11.2 percent higher than the number in March 2013.

Increasing inventory and reducing rates of mortgages typically result in increased buyer activity. The Orlando real estate industry has seen its fair share of residential starts and realtors say more prospective buyers are inquiring about the rentals and purchases in upcoming properties.

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