Tag: Orlando homes

Orlando Home Builders Association Changes Name and Moves to a New Location

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

The Metro Orlando Home Builders Association wants to turn a new leaf and several changes are underway as part of its efforts to re-brand itself. The professional trade association that leads the Orlando real estate industry was established in 1953. Since then, it has governed and regulated several aspects of the city’s housing market including Orlando short sales, services of listing agents, and Orlando’s public-education programs to name a few.

The association revealed some of its re-branding initiatives on February 27, when it revealed plans to change the name from Home Builders Association of Metro Orlando to the Greater Orlando Business Association.

Home Builders Association of Metro Orlando moves to new headquarters

On the same day, the association also broke ground on what its new headquarters is going to be. The association is currently headquartered at 544 Mayo Avenue, Maitland but will ditch the 30-year-old venue and move to the new office in 1000 Sanford Avenue as soon as the construction work is done. The new headquarter will sit at the site donated by Charles Clayton III – the previous president of the Home Builders Association and also a long-standing member of the association. In addition to a changed name and a changed location, the association is also set to sport a more environment-friendly and greener office.

Word is, that the building at 1000 Sanford Avenue will file for a green certification with the regulatory bodies, including the Florida Green Building Coalition.

President Nathan Cross talks about right-sizing offices

Nathan Cross, President of the Home Builders Association of Metro Orlando said the association wants to right-size its offices so that the changing needs of staff, as well as the real-estate business, could be better matched. Moving to a new office was part of the right-sizing efforts.

Ensuring construction projects will create new jobs for construction workers. According to listing agents in Orlando, new opportunities for the local material suppliers. With new infrastructure development projects underway in Central Florida, including the SunRail passenger system, the real estate market of Orlando is expected to bring in worthwhile opportunities for architects and engineers.

The Home Builders Association has been an important part of the real-estate scene in Central Florida – participating in and regulating important industry events and initiatives through its councils and committees. How the re-branding is going to affect its reputation and standing in the market remains to be seen. https://orlandorealtyconsultants.com/

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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.

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Top Schools to blame for higher priced Orlando homes

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

We find ourselves in the age of Super Moms and Dads trying to raise the world’s smartest kids. Getting a great education has become an obsession for most Floridian parents. Being a parent myself, I know first-hand how expensive it can be to send your kids to a good school. And I’m not even talking about college or private schools. I’m talking about top-rated public schools. In order to send your child to a top-rated elementary school, you have to live in that particular school zone which also means that you’re more than likely paying higher than normal housing costs. It’s been proven in Orlando real estate, that the price of Orlando homes found in the zones of higher-ranked public schools are much higher than other neighborhoods that are served by schools that are ranked lower.

As an Orlando realtor, one of the first questions that I get from home buyers with children is “How are the schools around here?” If you’re a good parent then a good education for your children should be at the very top of your list when looking for a place to live. I’ve seen people pay up to $50 more per square foot for a house in an excellent zone as opposed to a house in an average school zone.  

Good News for Home-Buyers with no kids

There’s always a silver lining to every situation and this one happens to be dedicated to the home buyer without children. As parents of tomorrow’s presidents and scientists are paying more than top dollar to live close the best schools, home buyers without kids couldn’t care less how highly ranked the elementary school down the street is.

Homebuyers that aren’t concerned about school systems can get a lot more house for their buck while still living in a nice area. Just because the school systems aren’t the best in certain neighborhoods it doesn’t mean that it’s a bad place to live. Everyone just assumes that a better school district will automatically have bigger houses of much higher quality with larger lots, or a more prime location with views and quiet streets.  

There are plenty of great Orlando neighborhoods where you can still get a nice home at a fair price. We’ve found homes just a short distance apart with nearly identical attributes that are selling for drastically different prices. And when you compare the difference in price per square foot at $50 less, that can easily translate into tens of thousands of dollars on the purchase of a house.

 If you’re looking for a home to buy in Orlando, hire an Orlando Realtor to help you with your search.

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