Tag: Orlando Foreclosure

Foreclosures in Orlando on the Rise… Again

Posted on by Jenny Zamora


Residential foreclosures in Orlando increased by sixty percent in the first quarter of 2019 when compared to the year before. What’s crazy is that foreclosures are decreasing in most of the US.

In the first quarter of 2019 banks foreclosed on a whopping 2,049 homes throughout Orange, Osceola, Seminole, and Lake counties. That’s a staggering increase when you compare it to the number of foreclosures in the first quarter of 2018 which was only 1,280.

Foreclosures were on a steep decline since the market crash of 2009 when plunging home prices made it very hard for homeowners to cover their mortgage payments. In the worst part of the housing crisis, over twenty thousand homes went into foreclosure every quarter. However, since 2015 -2016 Orlando foreclosures were seen less and less.

I believe that it was a perfect storm of skyrocketing home prices combined with Orlando’s lower-than-average wages that hurt the Orlando real estate market. Even more so than other major US cities.

Nationwide, foreclosures dropped by 15% year after year and are currently at their lowest level since 2008. In Orlando, home prices have experienced an increase of over 7% per year since 2014 according to the data from the Orlando Realtor Association.

The rising home prices make it easier for people to avoid foreclosure since Orlando homeowners can sell for enough to satisfy their mortgages.

As an Orlando real estate broker, I always try to stay in tune with what’s happening in my area. Although foreclosures in Orlando are on a steady rise, I don’t think we’re anywhere near the next crash.

There are still many homeowners who bought a decade ago and are currently upside down with their mortgage. However, with rising rent prices they’re better off to continue paying the mortgage… even if they owe more than the home is worth.

Interest rates remain low as well, as the average rate in March was just 4.2 % according to the Orlando Realtor Association.

The mortgage industry today is much different than it was in the early 2000s. Lender guidelines are much tougher and the popular “jumbo loans” are much harder to get approved for as well.

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Freddie Mac Short Sale News

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Freddie Mac

Is your mortgage owned by Freddie Mac and you’re struggling to keep your home? Well, if you want to sell in order to avoid having a foreclosure on your record, you may be eligible for Freddie Mac’s recently enhanced short sale.

 

In case you don’t know, a short sale is when a lender agrees to selling the property for less than the full payoff amount. After the closing the lender releases the lien on the property even though they received less the the loan balance. The benefits of doing a short sale is that you will avoid foreclosure and eliminate the mortgage debt.

 

Recently Freddie Mac has simplified and streamlined the process. Here’s how…

1-By allowing their servicers to negotiate the terms of the short sale directly with short sale agent representing the seller.

2- They’ve eased up and expanded on allowable requirements such as what types of hardships will qualify homeowners for a short sale.

3- They provide $3,000.00 to borrowers who qualify for relocation costs.

 

Are You Eligible For A Freddie Mac Short Sale?

Find out if you qualify for a Freddie Mac short sale. Answer the questions below to find out.

1- Is your mortgage owned by Freddie Mac?

2- You can provide proof of an eligible financial hardship which caused you to longer be able to keep up with the mortgage payments.

3-You were denied a loan modification by Freddie Mac.

4- You are over 30 days late on your mortgage. 5- The property is your primary residence. 6-Your monthly debt to income ratio is greater than 55%.

 

Get Free Short Sale Help

Even with all the information in the world about short sales at your fingertips you should still seek out help from a real estate professional. Even with all the improvements that banks like Freddie Mac have made in streamlining the process and making it easier on homeowners, short sales are still complicated and need to be done correctly.

By attempting a short sale on your own or hiring an agent who’s not experienced in the field, you could end up in a bad situation like losing your home to foreclosure.

If you still have questions or concerns about short sales or other alternatives to foreclosure, feel free to give us a call for a free consultation so that together we can find the best option for you. You can also visit us at https://orlandorealtyconsultants.com/short-sales/free-consultation/

 

Jennifer Zamora Orlando Realtor

 

 

 

 

 

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Banks Can Take Your Assets After Foreclosure!

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Stop Foreclosure Before It Starts

Are you behind on your mortgage and worried that the lender might go after your other assets if your home gets foreclosed on?

Unfortunately, it can happen if you live in Florida. This scenario can occur in an instance where if the bank is unable to recoup the full amount of the loan especially if it’s a large loan.

With such a large number of Orlando foreclosures still looming many homeowners are wondering if their lender can garnish their salary or personal bank accounts.

The problems that can crop up from a typical foreclosure sale don’t usually occur until after the sale has taken place and the bank ends up with the short end of the stick.

Here in Florida lenders can go to the court for a “deficiency judgment” in order to try and collect the rest of the money that is owed after the foreclosure. With a deficiency judgment in their possession, banks can go after your personal assets like a car or a boat. However, if the asset isn’t yet paid off, then the lender will have to settle for the second position after the lender for the car or boat, etc.

Florida lenders don’t usually go after a person’s assets following a foreclosure sale especially if they don’t see much to tap into.The truth is that collecting judgments is extremely time-consuming and can be quite costly to the bank.

Banks will pay more attention to homeowners with homes that are worth millions of dollars because the larger the loan the bigger the loss. In these cases, the lenders will check the borrower’s bank accounts especially if the accounts are with the same bank. Depending on the situation, banks can move to freeze or garnish these accounts. Banks will also go after businesses that default on large commercial properties.

Just When You Thought It Was Over

There’s another risk that exists for smaller borrowers that may occur down the line. Many times, banks end up selling off these types of judgments to investors or collection agencies for pennies on the dollar. These agencies hire people that are dedicated to hound people any way they can for a settlement. Since judgments are valid for up to twenty years, it gives them more than enough time to come after the borrower for the balance due.

Avoiding A Deficiency Judgment

The best way to avoid a deficiency judgment is for people to deal with their mortgage problems head-on. take action! If a borrower has the chance to pursue a short sale with their lender then they should do it. Not dealing with the problem is the absolute worst thing that someone can do to themselves. It’s like having a financial ticking time bomb on their hands. Borrowers are soo much better off working with the bank as opposed to avoiding them.

Hire A Short Sale Expert

It’s extremely important that the short sale payoff be recorded as a “full payoff”. To ensure that things are done correctly, enlist the help of a short sale expert. Find a short-sale realtor in your area that has a high closing ratio. Avoid realtors that aren’t experienced in the short sale arena or that have only done a few. Selling a home is one of the most, if not the most important transaction of a person’s life so it’s crucial that they find the best-qualified realtor for the job.

 

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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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Tenants Now Able to Stay for a Full Term, Even in Foreclosure

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Good News For Landlords and Tenants

Up until 2009, the law stated that any lease or rental agreement that was entered into AFTER a notice of foreclosure was served wasn’t protected by the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009. This meant that tenants weren’t guaranteed the right to be able to stay for the full term of the lease. A tenant could be evicted just by the lender or new owner by simply filing some paperwork with the courthouse. However, when the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Act was put into play landlords were able to continue collecting rent checks and tenants were allowed to stay on their property for the full term of the lease even though the house was in the foreclosure process.

The “Dodd-Frank Act” changed that definition in a big way by allowing landlords to rent their homes out to a qualified for fair market rent even though the home was in active foreclosure, just along as the foreclosure or transfer of title didn’t actually happen yet. This meant that a tenant’s lease would be honored for the entire term of the lease as long as it was reasonable in relation to normal lease agreements.  The law also states that if someone buys the property at the foreclosure sale and intends to occupy the property as his or her primary residence, then they have the right to evict the tenant after 90 days from the transfer of the title to the new owner. Lenders or investors must wait out the entire term of the lease before starting the eviction process.

Benefit to Tenants and Landlords in Foreclosure

Before the law was put into place, landlords that were in the process of foreclosure could still rent their house out but by law they had to inform the tenant of what was going on as well as let them know that whenever the foreclosure happened, that they only had 90 days after the foreclosure sale, just as long as the lease was signed and executed prior to the bank serving the notice of foreclosure. Now, it doesn’t matter when the lease was written and executed, the renter is allowed to stay for the entire term of the lease, unless the new buyer plans to occupy the property as their primary. And since the majority of foreclosures are bought by the lenders or investors that intend to resell or rent the property, this encompasses most foreclosures.

As an Orlando real estate agent, I’ve helped both tenants and landlords find feasible solutions to their housing and real estate needs. Sometimes the answer to their problem has always been there and it’s just a matter of educating people on their options according to the law. Once people know what they are and what they aren’t allowed to do, the solution will usually appear. The laws that I wrote about in this article apply nationwide so realtors should be aware of these options that are currently available to their clients.

My name is Jenny Zamora RE Broker and my passion is helping people in distress find effective solutions to their real estate needs.

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