Category: Orlando Realtors

How to train your Orlando Buyer’s agent

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

For first-time homebuyers in Orlando, it’s imperative that they’re able to communicate to their real estate agent exactly what they’re looking for.  This will save the potential home buyer as well as the Realtor a lot of time. It may seem like an easy task but you’d be surprised at the lack of communication that goes on between Orlando buyer’s agents and their own clients.

Here are some helpful tips on how to make the most  of your agent buyer relationship

Be clear on what your wants and needs are. The more details that you’re able to provide your agent with like; How many bedrooms and bathrooms, how many sq ft? what neighborhood or subdivision you want to live in? are you interested in Orlando short sale homes? etc., the less time you will waste on looking at houses that don’t meet your criteria. With all the technology available to real estate agents these days,  they are able to eliminate a lot of the leg work by searching for homes for sale online. A good buyer’s agent will do more than just search the MLS, they will also search for homes that aren’t listed on the MLS like FSBOs [for sale by owner]. They do this by extending their search to craigslist, and newspaper classifieds, and even by driving around in the neighborhood where their buyer wants to live.

Be demanding…in a nice way.  Real estate agents want to close deals so that they can get paid. However, agents also want to be the “Hero” when it comes to finding the perfect house for their buyers because they know that if they do their job well, they will probably get more clients from the buyer’s friends and family. It’s OK to be a demanding buyer, I mean you’re about to make a huge investment by buying a house. However,  you should also be nice at the same time. The last thing you want is for your agent to have you on their “Difficult Client” list. This may negatively affect your relationship with your real estate agent and they will be less interested in finding your dream house.

Be responsive. Good real estate agents work very hard for their clients and there’s nothing more frustrating to an agent than when they spend time searching for the perfect house for a buyer then that buyer doesn’t return their call or email and they end up losing that house to someone else. By being responsive to the agent and returning their calls or emails immediately, this will most likely create a reciprocal effect and the agent will be just as responsive to you as you are to them. This will also give you the upper hand if you need to tell your agent to be more responsive to your messages.

Be honest with your agent. If your real estate agent finds you a house that meets all your criteria but for some reason, you still don’t like it, then you need to tell them. Don’t be afraid to hurt the agent’s feelings, it’s not their house. Remember that this is about you [the buyer] first and foremost, therefore it’s the agent’s job to make you happy. If you can’t be honest with your agent, then you probably won’t end up with the house you want and you will end up settling. Would you lie to your doctor about what hurts? Of course not because you want results!

Evaluate your agent. Not all real estate agents were created equally, therefore you should evaluate your agent’s performance after a week or two. Ask yourself these questions

     a. Has your agent shown you houses that meet your criteria?

     b. Has your agent been responsive to your calls or emails as you are with them?

     c. Are you happy with your agent’s performance so far?

If you can answer yes to these three questions, then you may want to hang in there. However, if you feel that your agent is neglecting you or they just aren’t getting the job done as per your expectations, then I would say it’s time to find another real estate agent to represent you.

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Orlando Real Estate is Flipping Hot!

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Orlando real estate is once again providing some of the best market conditions in the U.S. for house flippers to make a fat paycheck. Homes are in serious demand and prices keep rising. For smart investors, this means big money. The practice of buying homes and then rehabbing them to sell for a big profit reduced drastically during the prolonged downturn after the real estate market crash of 2007. Within the last two years or so, we’re seeing the Orlando Real Estate market get increasingly hotter. 

With home prices climbing again and buyers circling for deals like sharks in bloody water, rehabbers are again flooding back into the market to capitalize on the appreciation.

We’re also seeing a tremendous opportunity for people or companies that are able to buy houses in bulk, then turn around and flip them. It’s obvious that Orlando has completely changed to a seller’s market.

The company RealtyTrac analyzed over 700 metro areas in the nation where single-family homes were rehabbed and flipped last year. Then they selected the top 25 areas based on the gross profit as a percentage of the original sale price of the property.

Orlando’s ranking came as a result of over 2,500 single-family homes that were flipped in the past year, that’s over an 85% increase over the homes that were flipped in 2011-2012.

The average purchase price of those properties was around $120,000.00 with an average sale price of around $155,000.00. That means a $35,000.00 average gross profit on those flips which translates into a 32 percent yield according to RealtyTrac.

Do you want to see just how much your house is worth?   Visit us here at https://orlandorealtyconsultants.com/ to use our Home valuation Tool

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Top 5 Mistakes in Choosing a Short Sale Realtor

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Choosing the right realtor to sell your home is something that you should take very seriously. The sale or purchase of a home is one of if not the most important transactions that a person will ever be involved in within their lifetime. So what if you’re in need of a short sale? Then you really need to be careful because short sale listings are a completely different animal than traditional listings. There is a lot more work involved with completing a short sale and that’s just the beginning. Realtors that specialize in doing short sales have to be highly skilled negotiators and have to possess a “never give up” attitude in order to be successful.

Following is a list of 5 things that homeowners should look out for when hiring a realtor to do their short sale.

1- Realtors that only work part-time- It’s hard enough to work a short sale as it is. Imagine if your short sale realtor had another job during the day when the lenders are working. Part-time realtors have no business working with short sales because it can take twice as long to get it done and when you’re doing a short sale, time is of the essence. Lenders can still continue with foreclosure proceedings even during the short sale process.

2- Realtors that outsource all the work- There are some realtors out there that don’t care for all the extra work that a short sale requires of them so they outsource their short sale files to a third party. I personally would never do this because I think it’s unethical and misleading to the homeowner. If a realtor is advertising themselves as a short sale specialist or expert then I feel that realtor should do all the work, not someone else. Don’t get me wrong, it’s important to have an assistant or processor in your office to help move things along, but this is very different than outsourcing the entire process to a third party. Also, third-party negotiators will add extra fees to a short sale which can cause the deal to fall apart entirely. Make sure to ask the agent if they are going to work on your file or will it be outsourced to another company.

3- Insist on weekly progress updates- Homeowners that are in pre-foreclosure are stressed out enough about their situation as it is. Imagine how much more stressed a homeowner will be if they have no clue about what’s going on with their house. It’s important that you make things clear with the realtor up front by getting them to commit to weekly updates with your file even if nothing’s happened on any particular week. If the realtor can’t commit to keeping you “the homeowner” in the loop every step of the way, then you shouldn’t hire them.

4- Check their track record- Research the agent to see what they’ve accomplished in their real estate carer lately. A good short sale agent should be working with several files at any given time. Also, find out how many short sales they’ve completed in the past six months or year. An agent that’s good at doing short sales should have at the very least, three happy clients that would be willing to tell you all about their experience with that agent.  If you’re their only short sale client then seller beware!

5- Interview Several agents before choosing one- There are a lot of great short-sale agents out there which means you can afford to interview a few before making your choice. Pick at least two or three that satisfy the checklist above and see which one you feel would do the best job for you according to your needs. Remember, this person is going to be handling the sale of your home from beginning to end. Make sure that you feel comfortable with them. Just because a real estate agent is great at doing short sales, it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the best agent for you.

Orlando short sale expert

 

 

 

 

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Orlando Pocket listings are back

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

You know the Orlando real estate market is strong when you start hearing the words “Pocket Listing” being spoken again. The term “pocket listing” refers to when a real estate broker has a listing agreement with a seller, but it isn’t advertised in the Multiple Listing Service or anywhere else. With pocket listings sometimes sellers may request for there to be a very limited amount of marketing for an agreed-upon amount of time.

Pocket listings are very popular with the “rich and famous” or just “rich”. Typically, high-end sellers don’t want hundreds of people walking through their houses. But with supply and demand being what it is in today’s Orlando real estate market, pocket listings aren’t just for well-to-do clients anymore. Because buyers are outnumbering the amount Orlando homes that are for sale by far, pocket listings are becoming a lot more common among more moderately-priced homes as well.

One of the problems in using the MLS in a hot market is over-exposure.  I’ve had some of my clients complain of realtors knocking on their door wanting to show the house without even bothering to make an appointment, this can be extremely annoying to homeowners that live on the property. Some agents prefer pocket listings just to avoid the hassles of the MLS. It can be a nightmare getting a million phone calls a day for the same property. Other realtors push for pocket listings with the sole intention of securing both sides of the commission. Of course, these terms must be discussed and agreed upon by the seller beforehand.  

A broker must explain exactly what a pocket listing is to the seller as well as fully inform the seller of the cons as well as the pros of pocket listings the broker could face legal allegations that they failed to enter the property in the MLS and caused the seller to have a limited ability to attract the highest and best price for their house. It could as lead to accusations of housing discrimination. In some cases, real estate agents try to convince sellers to use pocket listings so that they can secure both sides of the commission by representing both the buyer and the seller in the transaction.  If an agent puts their own financial gain ahead of the seller’s it’s illegal and they run the risk of being prosecuted for it.

As an Orlando Realtor, I personally would never recommend pocket listings to sellers. It’s just common sense, if you limit the amount of exposure of something you’re trying to sell for top dollar, then you have a much less chance of getting the best price. Would you try and sell your car by not advertising it or only telling certain people? Of course not! I get the whole celebrity thing with pocket listings but thankfully I don’t have any celebrity clients and I’m free to market my listings to the fullest extent of my capabilities.

If need to sell an Orlando property fast and for top dollar, visit us at https://orlandorealtyconsultants.com or call 407-902-7750

Jenny Zamora, RE Broker

Orlando Real Estate Broker

 

 

 

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A Seller’s Guide to Interviewing an Orlando Realtor

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

So, you’ve finally made the decision to sell your home and you’re ready to hire a realtor. Now what? Well, that’s easy, right? Just hire the first realtor you come across in your area… Wrong!

Hiring the right Orlando realtor is crucial when listing your house for sale and it could save you a ton of headaches and thousands of dollars. There are currently over 8,000 active real estate agents in Orlando and choosing the right agent to list your home can be confusing especially when all the ones that you’ve spoken with have convincingly promised you the world… or at least that they will sell your home super fast for top dollar. Interviewing an Orlando realtor the right way will ensure that you get an outstanding real estate professional.

So which one should you believe? The answer’s easy… none of them. Anyone can tell you anything so it’s up to you to find the truth. When interviewing a real estate agent, you have to ask the right questions. Here is a list of questions that you should ask a real estate agent in the interview. These answers to these questions will help you to determine which realtor to choose.

1- Do you work as a realtor full-time or do you also have another job?

This is an easy one. If the agent tells you that they only work in real estate part-time, then you say “have a nice day…Next!” and move on to the next candidate. If they only work as a realtor part-time it means that not only are they not able to make enough money selling houses, but that selling your house won’t be a top priority.

2-How many listings do you currently have and how many are under contract?

This will tell you how hard of a worker the agent is and what’s the average time it takes to get a house under contract. If the agent only has a few listings or if they have listings that are several months old with no contract, then this is a sign of a somewhat lazy agent. You want an agent that is a go-getter and someone who is determined to get the job done ASAP.

3- How many houses have they sold in the past 6 months? How many in the past year? How many were they not able to sell and why?

Getting a clear picture of the realtor’s recent track record will give you a very good indication of what you can expect if they list your house.

4- Do you have some references from past clients that I can call and ask about you?

This is one of the best ways to find out how this agent will treat you moving forward. If they have no references to present to you then something’s wrong. This most likely means that they haven’t had very many happy clients.

5- Do you have a staff or an assistant or are you a one-man show?

A great real estate agent will always have a support staff or an assistant at the very least. There are a million details that a real estate agent has to deal with on a day-to-day basis and if they have to handle every tedious detail on their own,  then they aren’t good at managing their time. Or they have too much time o their hands. Neither of these scenarios is a good one.

6- What kind of systems do you use for organizing and following up with your leads, clients, potential buyers, etc.

To be a successful agent in this day and age, you have to have systems in place so that things are organized and run streamlined and smoothly. Following up with clients, potential buyers, title companies, etc is a huge part of being a great realtor.

Realtor in Orlando, FL

7- How will you market my house other than putting it o the MLS?

The majority of Orlando realtors list the house on the MLS and…that’s about it. There are soo many effective ways to market a house such as video marketing, social media marketing, blogging, target marketing, etc. all these techniques can be used to effectively sell houses. An outstanding realtor will constantly test new ways to market their listings and their houses will typically sell the fastest.

If you ask these questions when interviewing a realtor, then you will know what they’re about by the answers that they give you. Also, don’t interview just one agent, you should interview at least 3 agents and puck the one that you feel the most comfortable with.

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