Once considered a blemish on the Orlando housing market, short sales and REOs are a painful reminder to some people of the housing decline. Orlando Realtors say many real estate investors looking for big discounts are transforming these once unwanted homes into big paydays by using the fix and flip approach while others prefer to collect a monthly rent check.
Real Estate Agents in Orlando report that distressed sales are a strong indicator that many homeowners aren’t out of the woods yet. In fact, our own inventory at Orlando Realty Consultants consists of 35% short sale listings which are up 10% from July of 2015. It would also appear that lenders have recently released another load of REO listings into the Orlando real estate market.
So what does it all mean? It means that distressed saturation continues to be a defining factor in today’s housing market. Even the “traditional” housing market consists of a reported 30% distressed property listings. This tells us that Orlando’s short sales and REO listings are not a passing fad.
That’s why we need investors, both rehabbers and landlords in the food chain of real estate. Imagine what the Orlando real estate market would look like if all of a sudden if all the local real estate investors were to pull out and stop buying homes. It’s a scary thought because the majority of home buyers are retail buyers who want nothing to do with fixing up a property. Neighborhoods across Orlando would steadily decrease in value among a sea of ugly homes as far as the eye can see.
Orlando real estate investors like myself sometimes get a bad rap just because we come away from a deal-making a few bucks, but the truth is that without active real estate investors in Orlando or any other city in the US. The real estate market would be on a steady path of decline…
Orlando’s distressed saturation levels are in the upper 20th percentile of the nation. Of course, some parts of Orlando have a much lower percentage of distressed properties than others.
