Tag: florida real estate

Overseas Demand for Central Florida Real Estate Remains Robust

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Undeterred foreign demand in U.S. real estate has saved realtors from the worries of an under-performing real estate market. The U.S. residential real estate market, though amidst recovery, has been plagued with concerns over slowing rates of property-price hikes and flat sales. Residential properties projected a median value of $198,500 in 2014 – marking a 7.9 percent hike in price. The percentage seems rather small when compared to the previous year-over-year hike of 11.8 percent, a year ago. The sales of existing homes fell seven times in a period spanning eight months and the sales of new homes dropped by 14.5 percent in March 2014.

Market watchers, economists and experts predict improvement

Real estate agents across all U.S. markets agree that sales activity has been low for most of 2014. Experts however believe the market is going to pick up soon enough. According to real estate agents, the on-going creation of new jobs and shopping activity that was overdue to the bad winter weather are two key factors that will promote market pick-up.

Further, the realtors say, increasing inventory would fuel the pick-up. Industry leaders hold that if mortgage rates rise only modestly or continue to dip weekly, as they had for close to three weeks in the April of 2014, the market would witness increased activity.

Economists have added another factor to the pool of events that are expected to cause the U.S. housing market to improve – overseas sales. The strong overseas demand that has been largely undeterred by flat sales rates and low median-price hikes will help the market pick-up.

Orlando real estate industry’s overseas investors pumping the market up

Investment in the U.S. markets has been only growing as investors from different countries across the world continue to be charmed by the prospects of the American market. Asian investors have been particularly interested in investments in the American residential real estate market.

For Central Florida real estate alone, Realtors in Orlando were able to list robust investments from the Asians, Britons, Canadians, Germans, and South American investors apart from other smaller but significant contributions from UAE-based and Swiss buyers. A recent industry, in fact, cited a 350-percent increase in the activity of interested buyers from the UAE and Switzerland.

Further, with improving home equity, experts have projected that the backlog of distressed homes would clear significantly. By the end of 2014, distressed homes would form a single-digit market share. The demand is expected to increase further, during the spring home-buying seasons presenting a great opportunity for sellers to put their homes on the market, according to the top listing agents in Orlando. Motivated by overseas investors, indigenous buyers too can make the best of the spring buying season.

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Confidence in US Economy Rising Among Floridians

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

 According to the findings of a new consumer confidence survey by the University of Florida, Floridians are now slightly more confident about the improving US economy than they were the last year. Released on Tuesday, January 28, the report found consumer confidence in Florida rise to 78, one point higher than the previous sentiment index.

The Florida Consumer Attitude Survey

For this statewide survey, the University surveyed over 400 residents over a two-week period from January 14 to January 28. The monthly survey conducted by the Bureau of Economic and Business Research of the University of Florida measures the mood of Floridians towards buying Florida real estate.

Survey takers have to answer two questions about the current financial scenario and three questions about the future exceptions they have about the financial condition of the state. These questions are repeated by the University of Michigan in its national (telephonic) survey.

Findings

To the first question of how the respondents (and their families) were getting along financially in the recent days and if they felt in a better financial position than their position a year ago, respondents revealed their sentiments were slightly lower – their sentiments fell a point below to 68.

The second question in the survey asked citizens their views about buying major commodities like stoves, televisions, refrigerators and so on for their homes. Their sentiment on whether it is currently a good time to make such purchases fell six points, from 91 to 85.

When asked how they perceived their financial situation to be, a year from now – the same, better or worse, respondents’ sentiments remained unchanged, at 78. They were however, clearly optimistic about the business conditions in the US as a whole, over the next 12 months. Their confidence that they would have good times financially jumped three points from 73 to land at 76 this time around.

Their confidence in the larger US economy for a five-year period was even higher. Jumping nine points, Floridians sentiments that the nation’s health would get better and better over the next five years measured at 83.

Implications

Chris McCarty, the director of the Bureau of Economic and Business Research’s Survey Research Center says 2014 is set to be a different year all-together for consumers. Since the real estate crisis of 2007, consumers have faced loss of homeowner equity, declines in stock market and crunchy budgets, but with the stock and housing markets recovering recently, the Federal Reserve is in a better position to purchase securities and treasuries to support the US economy.

How This Affects Orlando Real Estate

Orlando is one of the biggest housing markets in Florida and because of the improving economy in Florida, Orlando real estate agents are expecting a substantial boost in the Orlando real estate market. Even if the market continues on a positive trend,  I don’t believe that we’ll see a market with overinflated home prices to the extent of what we saw in 2006 or at least I hope not.

 

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Are Florida Real Estate Prices Set to Plummet with the Onset of Global Warming?

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Global warming is not an unfamiliar topic of discussion; every day we move closer to a very grave situation, that of the steadily melting polar icecaps. The water from the melting of these icecaps is slowly resulting in a rise in the sea level, and it’s not just scientists that are keenly studying this phenomenon; Florida real estate agents have also begun to consider the fact that rising sea levels may start to eat into the desirability of real estate in low lying areas.

If reports are to be believed, the onset of the first dramatically noticeable effects of global warming is just a decade away, and anxious real estate owners are looking to sell their land in a bid to avoid losing money due to the predicted drop in Florida real estate prices in areas that are low-lying, with respect to their altitude above sea level. In a situation like this, the only measure that would offset this price drop is preventive action on behalf of governments, to reduce practices that contribute to an increased rate of global warming.

Some buyers are still unaware

According to a statement given by one of the directors at the Florida Atlantic University’s Center for Environmental Studies Florida real estate agents are discretely in contact with the university in order to gain an approximate idea of how much the sea level is expected to rise over a certain time frame. What scientists are puzzled about is the small number of realtors that have actually thought of this possibility.  People are still buying waterfront property at premium prices, unaware of the possible threats they face a decade down the line.

Rising sea levels are the cause of concern

According to the calculations of the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact, the price drop on account of a one-foot rise in sea level are approximately four million USD, with a three-foot high rise in sea level exponentially increasing this value to thirty-one million USD. Real estate agents are speculating on how much longer such waterfront properties are going to remain desirable.

According to the projections generated by the Army Corps of Engineers, South Florida is expected to see a three to seven-inch rise in sea levels by the year 2030 and anywhere between nine and 24 inches by the year 2060. According to the Florida Atlantic University, the change in these real estate prices will be clearly visible when the region experiences a natural calamity, post which rebuilding initiatives will determine which areas are worth rebuilding and which aren’t.

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Negotiating the payoff on a second mortgage

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

As an Orlando short sale realtor, negotiating the payoff on a second mortgage is something I  do on a day-to-day basis. I would say that at least half of the homeowners that visit our office have more than one mortgage. As a matter of fact, I’ve seen homeowners that have up to 3 mortgages on one piece of property.  The good news is, however, that in a short sale situation 2nd and 3rd lien holders don’t have much leverage if the property is being foreclosed on by the first mortgage holder. In this type of situation, the 1st mortgage holder is always first in line as far as who gets paid first if the property goes to public auction. The only exception to this rule is if there’s an IRS lien in which case they would get paid first. After the 1st mortgage gets paid then the other lien holders get paid according to what order the liens or mortgages are attached.

A short sale is when a lender agrees to the sale of a property for less than what’s owed on the property because there isn’t enough equity to cover the full amount of the payoff. At this point, the second mortgage basically becomes an unsecured debt. If the sale of the property won’t even cover the 1st mortgage payoff, there’s no way that any other lien holders will get paid.  When we are able to prove this to secondary lien holders, they are usually very eager to negotiate.  They know that they don’t have a leg to stand on and  if the property goes to foreclosure, or if the homeowner files for bankruptcy they won’t get a dime.

Once secondary mortgage holders realize there situation, it’s usually pretty easy get them to take a massive discount on what’s owed. Many times the 1st mortgage holder will only allow up to a certain amount to be paid the second mortgage holder or they won’t approve the deal. This is also a very powerful tool because when first mortgage holders have these guidelines in place, second mortgage holders have to either accept whatever the amount is or get nothing at all when the property goes to foreclosure. At this point, the burden of having to negotiate with secondary lien holders gets taken of the short sale realtor completely because the 1st mortgage holder will stick to their guidelines no matter what.

Many of my clients ask if we can negotiate their second mortgage balance with the loan being current. Unfortunately, in my experience of 8 years as an Orlando realtor, that has never been the case. The way they look at it is, if you’re still making the full payment why should they even entertain the idea of accepting less than the entire amount. I never, ever advise my clients to stop making their payment and I  never will. However, I do educate homeowners on the way that things work and most of the time they decide to stop making that payment. unfortunately, this is usually the only way to get their attention.

Why should you settle at all? There are several reasons why you should settle with second mortgage holders as opposed to just not addressing it at all. For one thing, these deficiencies can come back to haunt you in the future and cause damage to your credit. Also, many times the original mortgage holder will turn collection efforts over to a collection agency that uses much more aggressive tactics to collect the balance. Also, in short sale situation, you have no choice but to settle with the second or the sale will not go through, it’s as simple as that.

Orlando short sale expert

 

 

 

 

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For solving all your water damage problems, contact a reliable water damage repair company in Florida

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

For solving all sorts of problems caused by water damage and destruction at your house or place of business, you may definitely contact a reliable company who can provide specialized services for water damage repairs

Causes of water damage and its effects

One of the most destructive forces which can invade your home causing huge loss and damage to your property and belongings is water. Water damage due to flooding or excessive leakage can cause severe loss to your house or place of business. The interior and exterior walls of your house or building can get damaged due to excessive moisture due to which cracks and crevices may appear in the walls. The basement of your house may even get flooded due to excessive leakage of water caused due to blocked gutters, overflowing underground dry wells, broken pipes etc. Beside, water damage may even lead to fungus or mold problems in your house which can even result in health problems for you and your family members. Also, due to excessive moisture there may be respiratory troubles to you and your family members. Therefore, in order to control such problems of water damage or destruction caused to your house or place of business,  it is always wise to take the help of  professional water damage repair companies who can provide specialized services and have decades of experience in serving the needs of thousands of home and business owners in the locality.

Water damage repair services

For any water damage problems in and around Florida, you can always get many reputed companies who are competent enough to provide water damage repairs in Florida. With their professional team of experts who have adequate expertise, they are capable to diminish or even completely erasing the damage caused by water. Besides, they have skilled specialists who are always ready to help you to preserve and restore your building in its previous condition. Since they have years of experience and the latest technology and equipment, they are able to tackle even the most demanding water damage problems. Their specialists mainly focus on quickly drying, deodorizing, and disinfecting the areas damaged by water. Not only this, they have the state of the art equipment to track the overall level of saturation and to locate the source of water in order to pump it out totally and completely dry the particular  area. Moreover, they also have adequate techniques to control and lessen the odor and prevent the spread of harmful bacteria of mildew. They are able to immediately stop the bloating or contortion of floor and walls, lessen damage caused by water and create a flow of air for carpets, rugs, padding and other affected furniture by using their drying and humidifying equipment.

Water damage repairs in Florida

In order to solve all your problems caused by water damage, you may surely call any reliable and renowned company providing water damage repairs Florida. They can offer you excellent services by repairing the leaks and installing a dehumidifier which can control excess humidity. Their main job is to concentrate around the foundation of your house or place of business and waterproof the foundation by installing a sump pump. Besides, they will also clean and repair any gutters, leaking pipes or washing machine hoses. For preventing leakage and plaster erosion under the windows, they apply caulking around the window frames and drill or three small holes along bottom edge of storm windows to facilitate drainage. Such a company shall always offer professional services within a very short time in order to revive your property and provide you satisfaction.

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