Tag: Jenny Zamora

Testimonial For Jenny Zamora, Orlando RE Broker

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

This is the story of Irene Mazza. When she first came to see us, she had a rental property that was costing her $150 per month and was ready to just let it go to foreclosure. We sat down with Ms. Mazza and explained her options to her. After hearing about all of the options available to her, she decided on a loan modification.

We’re happy to report that not only did we help her get her home loan modified, but she is now instead of losing $150 every month, she’s making  $300 per month on her rental property.

Don’t take our word for it, watch the video and you can hear it right from her.

Testimonial for Jenny Zamora, Orlando RE Broker

Let's Keep In Touch!

New ORC Form Lead

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
TOC*

Loan Transfers, Not Just For Delinquent Mortgages

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Most people are under the assumption that a loan has to be in delinquent status in order to be transferred. The truth is that any loan can be transferred at any time the bank wishes. Remember the fine print that you speed read through at the closing? 

Somewhere in that fine print, it states that your mortgage company reserves the right to sell or transfer your loan at any time they wish after the closing. That means that the lender has the right to sell your loan to another lending institution without your permission.

Usually, mortgage companies will give you a written notice in the mail informing you that your loan has been or will be transferred to the new lender or servicing company.

However, I’ve had many clients tell me that they were made aware of the transfer only through a welcome letter from the new lender. Sometimes loans get transferred multiple times. Just because your loan was transferred once, it doesn’t mean that it won’t get transferred again…and again, etc.

Unless you pay off your loan in full, you will never have control over who controls your mortgage.

Mortgage Transfers Are Especially Challenging for Short Sale Realtors

For real estate agents like myself that specialize in doing Orlando short sales, this can be an extremely frustrating situation. You can have hours, days, weeks, and even months invested in a short sale file then… WHAMMO!!  Out of the blue the loan gets transferred to another lender. It wouldn’t be such a big deal if they would just transfer the complete file over to the next lender so that we could just pick up where we left off. But that’s not the case……that’s never the case!

The new lender requires the agent to submit the entire short sale package again from scratch. The only thing that does transfer over it seems is the pending sale date. So not only are you forced to waste a lot more time submitting the new file, getting a hold of the negotiator, etc. but the sale date doesn’t usually get delayed.

This has happened so many times to me that you wouldn’t bother me any more right? Wrong… this has to be the most frustrating thing that can happen to a short sale realtor especially if you’ve been working the file for several months. However, sometimes it’s a blessing in disguise if you’re lucky enough to get a lender that’s more flexible with their terms or guidelines other times homeowners end up with a lender with a much stricter set of rules.

Let's Keep In Touch!

New ORC Form Lead

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
TOC*

Big-Name Brokerages Don’t Always Mean The Best Realtors

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

When I started my career as an Orlando Realtor back in 2004, I started working for one of the big-box brokerages thinking that it was a good way to get started in Orlando real estate and become a successful realtor. Working for a nationally recognized brokerage franchise can be great for new-bee real estate agents. They are constantly training new agents on how to prepare a listing agreement properly, how to use the MLS, create CMA’s, etc. I think it was a great experience for me as a new agent just learning the ropes.

With that being said, I also experienced the negatives of working for a big-box brokerage. The reason that everyone knows about national brokerage franchises is because of the massive amount of marketing that they do nationwide. These brokerages have a large budget to spend on marketing so they stay pretty busy. The problem is that many times these brokers get so busy that they have trouble keeping up with all the buyers and sellers that are contacting them to buy or sell a house. Unfortunately, sometimes this means that the potential buyer or seller ends up getting either poor service or no service at all.

It was then that I realized that it was time to branch out on my own. At first, it was tough as it is with starting any new business. However, through hard work and perseverance, I made it happen. I was fortunate enough to realize early on that people really appreciate personalized service when it comes to buying or selling a house. I mean think about it,… buying or selling a home is or will be one of the most if not the most important transactions of a person’s lifetime. I learned that if you do your job by providing the above-and-beyond type of service to people then you will be successful as an Orlando real estate agent. The Best Realtors believe that if you make it is not about the money, you make more money…it’s that simple. A happy client will tell their friends and family about what a good job their realtor did for them and spread the word. This translates into more clients which translates into increased income.

I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve gotten calls from people saying that before they found me, they called so-and-so realtor from a large brokerage and didn’t even get a callback!

Finding The Best Realtors

We’re now fortunate enough to be in a position where most of our clients come by way of referrals from past clients. If you want the find the best realtor to sell or buy a home, don’t just pick the biggest named brokerage, look for realtors with proven track records.  Spend some time looking on Google type in terms like “Top Orlando Realtors” or “Orlando real estate agents”. This will give you a great place to start you search. Once you’ve picked out a few from the top results, start interviewing until you’ve found one not only with a great track record but one that you like. I wrote an article a while back called “A Guide To Interviewing An Orlando Realtor”  Which has some great information on finding the best realtor for you.

Orlando Real Estate Broker

Let's Keep In Touch!

New ORC Form Lead

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
TOC*

Orlando Homes Face Tougher Mortgages

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Prospective home purchasers have observed a significant price shift in house prices in the metropolitan Orlando area. This is coupled with a rise in mortgage rates and tougher mortgage rules for customers who carried substantial debt all through 2013.

Painful increase

According to Orlando realtors, Orlando homes put up for sale in the market have seen a sudden 20 percent increase in their listed price. According to Orlando Regional Realtors Association, buyers who bought a home for the first time at the fag-end of 2013 within 85 percent of the median price, and with a 10 percent down payment, were liable for an approximate monthly mortgage payment of $626, excluding insurance and taxes. This can be compared with the 2012 first-time buyers who paid just $453. As per calculations by Orlando real estate agents, the increase in mortgage payments will saddle homeowners with an extra $2,000 a year when it comes to housing expenses.

This is evident in the words of Teresa Myers, a Cocoa resident who has been searching for an Orlando house to reduce her husband’s commute time. She has informed the realtors in Orlando about her $200,000 budget and is still looking for an ideal home.

Adding to the woes of the buyer is the fluctuation in Orlando mortgage rates. The mortgage rate in Orlando has fluctuated all through 2013 for the fixed-rate 30-year mortgage, climbing from 3.46 percent in December 2012 to 4.57 percent in December 2013. According to economists, the mortgage rates in Orlando and also in the rest of the country will rise to five percent by the turn of 2015.

New mortgages harder to get

According to the US Census Bureau, homeownership in the Orlando metro area has reduced from 71 percent in 2008 to 63 percent in third quarter of 2013. Thus, a number of residents are finding it more convenient to rent a home than to own one. This makes more sense for would-be home buyers due to the new restrictions on mortgage qualifications, which were made effective from January, 2014.

New rules were introduced by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which disqualify buyers from getting a standard mortgage if their credit card, auto payments and other debts totals 43 percent or more of buyer’s monthly gross income. The debt to income ratios of prospective homebuyers could reach as high as 50 percent in previous years.

Let's Keep In Touch!

New ORC Form Lead

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
TOC*

Florida Real Estate and Housing Markets Revel as Late Mortgage-Payment Rates Drop

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

According to a recent report released by the credit bureau TransUnion, Americans are taking care of the timely payments of their mortgages so much so that the rate of late home mortgage payments has reached a record five-year low. The report, released Wednesday, February 12, reveals that compared to the 5.8 percent delinquency rate in the fourth quarter of 2012, rates improved to become only 3.85 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Key takeaways from the report

 

Apart from being lower than the rate same time last year, the late mortgage-payment rates were also lower than the same year’s third-quarter rates, when 4.09 percent of homeowners were at least 2 months late in their mortgage payments.

TransUnion reveals that the last time mortgage-payment delinquency rates were lower than the current rates, was five years ago – in the second quarter of 2008. And even though the current rates are still twice as much as the rates in 2007, before the housing bubble burst, TransUnion holds that foreclosures will continue to thin down and delinquency rates reduce even further.

The growing job market, lower interest rates, and tight supply are reasons behind the improvement

 

The improving job market, state and federal government incentives to revamp home loans and make them more affordable as well as rising home values are at the core of this improvement.

Real estate agents in Orlando say that rise in property values has been a staple for most U.S. states over the past couple of months and struggling homeowners have also found comfort at the hands of increased job opportunities. The interest rates on home loans have reduced, lending a hand to the housing rebound which was primarily fueled by the tight availability of homes for sale.

Further, the U.S. unemployment rates have dropped and though slow, the growth of jobs has been steady. With several federal and state incentives like that by Florida, job prospects are only getting better.  Upcoming housing markets like those in Florida have greatly benefited from these incentives. Top Orlando realtors, for example, reveal the Orlando real estate industry found several buyers because of Florida’s incentive to entrepreneurs to set up offices and jobs in the state.

The low rates of late mortgage payments have another key driver – the discount on unhealthy home loans that were primarily issued before 2008. Most of these risky mortgages, that went unpaid for a long time were either sealed off and foreclosed by banks or sold to other wealthy buyers. Post the economic downturn of 2008, banks became more strict in lending. Only strong loans that banks were confident about have been passed since then – accounting for a major reason why late payments dropped sharply.

Let's Keep In Touch!

New ORC Form Lead

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
TOC*