Tag: Orlando Realtors

Lake Nona Medical City Making a Huge Impact on Orlando Real Estate

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

It’s been referred to as the new chapter in the history of Orlando. Lake Nona Medical City is becoming a monumental landmark not just for Orlando but as a premier location for medical care, research as well as education. Meticulously planned out, it represents an obvious strategy to build a focused cluster of the world’s most sophisticated medical treatments, education, and research in Central Florida.

Over the next ten years, some of the country’s top hospitals, research institutions, and universities will call Lake Nona Medical City home while enhancing economic development and as well as build a job creation machine for Orlando. Also, speaking as an Orlando Realtor, I firmly believe that it will continue to positively affect Orlando real estate.

Lake Nona’s Medical City Economic Impact Could Exceed That of Walt Disney World!

Many people say that Orlando’s Lake Nona medical facility will produce a boost in the local economy that will exceed that of alt Disney World when it opened its doors in 1971. How on earth can that be considering Disney World’s Orlando location currently employs over 60,000 people?!

The reason is that Lake Nona’s 600+ acre “Medical City” contains a combination of some of the world’s most brilliant medical minds together with biotechnology-driven health care facilities. Located just 10 minutes from Orlando International Airport, this cluster will be an economic freight train for Central Florida.

The Lake Nona Medical City will bring over thirty thousand jobs to Orlando and will have a projected 7.8 billion dollars on the local economy over the next 10 years. This doesn’t include the small businesses that are and will continue springing up around the facility.

Some of the facilities located in Lake Nona Medical City

*UCF’s new health sciences campus at Lake Nona. This 50+ acre campus will employ over four hundred full-time and part-time employees.

*The Sanford Burnham Medical Research Institute spent over $85 million on its state-of-the-art research center and will become home to three hundred of the country’s top scientists and staff.

*Veterans Affairs Medical Center is expected to serve over 400,000 veterans and is also the national site for the Dept. of Veterans Affairs Medical Simulations Center for Excellence. The total cost for building this facility was in the neighborhood of 665 million dollars and will employ more than 2,000 people.

*The University of Florida will have a 100,000-square-foot biomedical research facility worth over 61 million dollars.

It’s pretty amazing when you think about all of these medical and biomedical facilities located in one Florida community. This is great news for Orlando as well as the state of Florida. One thing is for sure the jobs that Lake Nona Medical City will create as well the small businesses it will help will do wonders for the local economy as well as continue to fuel the Orlando Real Estate market.

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Orlando Realtors Going back to Basics

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

 

 

The Orlando housing inventory is at its lowest level in over a decade and buyers are constantly competing for a limited supply of homes. The lack of sellers in the market is forcing real estate agents to go to extremes that they would normally not go to in order to try and get more listings. Hungry real estate agents are going back to old-school real estate marketing techniques in order to get more listings.

 

Orlando Realtors are once again pounding the pavement for new listings. I know one agent that parks his car on a street located somewhere in his farm area and starts knocking on doors or putting outdoor flyers with his info on it. according to him, he’s lucky to get one listing out of every 20 doors that he knocks on. I personally think he’s insane and don’t like this way of marketing because it’s an intrusion of privacy. Let’s face it…Everyone hates an unannounced visit AKA the “Pop-in”. Besides, if I’m in my yard minding my own business or doing something in the yard, the last thing I want is a stranger coming up to me and asking me if I’m interested in selling my home.

 

Hungry real estate agents are going back to basics in marketing like calling on expired listings and “For sale by owners” with the hope that they are able to convince the homeowner to list the property with them. Other agents are resorting to sending out mass postcard mailers to entire zip codes praying for more listings. These conditions are not only affecting newer agents but experienced agents as well.

 

Another reason that I think is contributing to extremely low inventories right now is that homeowners who have a bit of equity are keeping their homes off the market. They figure that they’ve gone through the worst of it and they believe that prices will continue to rise for the next few years and intend on cashing in when it happens. The problem with this strategy, however, is that no one can predict what will happen with Florida’s real estate market and people that wait too long, will wait themselves out of making a profit from the sale of their house.

 

The reality is that if sellers aren’t truly motivated to sell, then they’re just not going to and I believe that it’s wrong to try and convince somebody to try and do something that they really don’t want to do.

 

Lenders that are holding on to thousands of REO properties are also reluctant to sell because they’re afraid of hurting prices. And when banks finally do release the properties into the market, they’re snatched up by the dozen by large investment firms. Most of the time, they never even hit the MLS.

 

One thing that I learned a long time ago about the Orlando real estate market is that you have to learn to adjust to the market which also means adjusting your marketing strategies, take what the market gives you. Over the years I’ve seen real estate agents that refuse to change their marketing as the market changes and most of them are now no longer realtors. You have to go with the flow if you’re going to survive by buying and selling real estate.

 

 

Orlando Real Estate Broker

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House Hunting Tips To Make Your Life Easier

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

House hunting is a process that takes a lot of time and quite a bit of effort on your part. In addition to setting a budget that you can work with, you also need to create a list of must-haves, while also keeping in mind things that you can do without. For example, while you may hope to get a house with four bedrooms and two bathrooms, you may realize upon further reflection that you really don’t need that extra bedroom or that you can manage with just one bathroom after all.

Continue reading for some more tips that are meant to help you make the process of hunting down your new home easier than you would’ve imagined.

Work with a Professional Real Estate Agent

When it comes to finding your dream home, whether you’re looking for your very first home or your third home, you should definitely employ an experienced real estate agent in Orlando. Someone who will be able to show you the very best options that are currently on the market in your price range.

While you can certainly look for homes on the many real estate websites that are available, a real estate agent has access to homes that may not be listed right away and he or she can also be there at every step of the way to answer all of your questions about a property before someone else is able to swoop in and purchase it before you have a chance to even see it in person.

Know the Type of Home You’re Willing to Purchase

Are you looking for a condominium, a townhouse, or a single-family home? Or would you rather invest in a multi-family home that you can use for extra rental income each month? No matter what type of home you wish to move into, you should be able to make your decision before hiring a real estate agent to help you. This will save you time because you can focus only on the types of properties that you want to invest in.

Keep in mind that there are benefits and drawbacks involved with each type of property out there, so weigh the pros and cons before coming to a final decision. For example, even though you may think a single-family home is the only way to go, you may realize that you really don’t want to be mowing the lawn every two weeks and you would rather have someone else take care of the landscaping. In that case, a townhouse or a condo would be more appropriate.

Look for Homes Outside of Your Target Area

Although you may have a specific suburb or city that you really want to live in, open your mind to surrounding areas as well, which may be surprisingly charming and affordable. Once again, working with a real estate agent will really help you in finding homes that are perfect for you, even though they may not be in the town you hoped for.

House hunting can certainly be a tedious process. But by making your decisions ahead of time and working with a professional, you can find your dream home more easily and quickly.

This post was written by Jenny Wadlow; she is a freelance writer and often writes articles for ORC, one of the leading real estate brokerages in Orlando. She enjoys sharing her views and opinions on various issues related to house hunting.

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Can I Buy my Home Back after I Short Sale it?

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

One of the most common questions I get from sellers is “Can I buy m house back after the short sale is done”. The truth is that there are cash investors, hedge fund buyers as well as non-profits out there that specialize in doing just that. They will buy the property as a short sale then lease option it back to the original seller after 2 or 3 years. It’s actually a great option for a seller because they don’t have to deal with the hassle or expense of moving all of their stuff to another house.

Even though there have been laws in the past that have prevented these situations from happening, there was an amendment made to the “Making Home Affordable Program” that now allows a Non-Profit Organization to buy a property then lease it or resell it back to the seller. However, in order for everything to be done legally all requirements under the “Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative aka [HAFA] must be met by the seller. As with any important transaction, it’s important that you read the fine print.

Here are some things to consider when entering into a buy-back agreement with a non-profit organization or cash investor.

 

1) You must qualify for a HAFA short sale in order for this to be an option for you. Not only that but even if you do qualify for a HAFA short sale this buy-back program is still subject to the approval by your lender. In other words, even if you meet all the requirements from HAFA, your bank still has to approve the sale of the property to a non-profit organization. There’s absolutely no guarantee that your lender will agree to this arrangement and you just won’t know until you try.

2) If the home is not your primary residence, you won’t qualify for HAFA. In the lender’s eyes..you purchased this home as an investment which defeats the whole purpose of the HAFA program.

3) When using a cash buyer expect to pay full market value for your home when it’s time to close. Cash investors expect to get a decent return on their money when entering into any lease option agreement. The deal just wouldn’t make sense to them if they weren’t guaranteed a nice profit when it’s all said and done. A typical cash investor will want at least 3-5% of the purchase price as a non-refundable deposit [sometimes more] to ensure that the buyer will do everything in their power to close on the deal. And if they’re not able to close, the investor gets to keep the deposit as well as the property.  Also, you can expect to pay a higher than the average interest rate, I’ve seen investors charge as much as 13% interest on a lease option contract.  Cash investors will usually want full market value for the property at the time of the contract signing. This can be a double-edged sword because if the property appreciates over the time of the lease contract, then it benefits the buyer. However, if the property depreciates over the time of the contract, then it benefits the investor because the purchase price was locked in at the signing of the agreement.

 

A short sale may still be your best option

Even if you’re not approved for a buy-back program, a short sale may still be your best option. Surrendering a home that owes much more than it’s worth is a smart business decision. By doing a short sale, a homeowner can walk away free and clear from debt. Many times homeowners can even come away from the closing with thousands of dollars through certain programs. Throughout the years we’ve helped thousands of homeowners avoid foreclosure by completing a  short sale on their homes. Our team of dedicated real estate professionals is dedicated to finding real solutions for Orlando homeowners that are facing foreclosure.

 

 

Orlando short sale expert

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How to train your Orlando Buyer’s agent

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

For first-time homebuyers in Orlando, it’s imperative that they’re able to communicate to their real estate agent exactly what they’re looking for.  This will save the potential home buyer as well as the Realtor a lot of time. It may seem like an easy task but you’d be surprised at the lack of communication that goes on between Orlando buyer’s agents and their own clients.

Here are some helpful tips on how to make the most  of your agent buyer relationship

Be clear on what your wants and needs are. The more details that you’re able to provide your agent with like; How many bedrooms and bathrooms, how many sq ft? what neighborhood or subdivision you want to live in? are you interested in Orlando short sale homes? etc., the less time you will waste on looking at houses that don’t meet your criteria. With all the technology available to real estate agents these days,  they are able to eliminate a lot of the leg work by searching for homes for sale online. A good buyer’s agent will do more than just search the MLS, they will also search for homes that aren’t listed on the MLS like FSBOs [for sale by owner]. They do this by extending their search to craigslist, and newspaper classifieds, and even by driving around in the neighborhood where their buyer wants to live.

Be demanding…in a nice way.  Real estate agents want to close deals so that they can get paid. However, agents also want to be the “Hero” when it comes to finding the perfect house for their buyers because they know that if they do their job well, they will probably get more clients from the buyer’s friends and family. It’s OK to be a demanding buyer, I mean you’re about to make a huge investment by buying a house. However,  you should also be nice at the same time. The last thing you want is for your agent to have you on their “Difficult Client” list. This may negatively affect your relationship with your real estate agent and they will be less interested in finding your dream house.

Be responsive. Good real estate agents work very hard for their clients and there’s nothing more frustrating to an agent than when they spend time searching for the perfect house for a buyer then that buyer doesn’t return their call or email and they end up losing that house to someone else. By being responsive to the agent and returning their calls or emails immediately, this will most likely create a reciprocal effect and the agent will be just as responsive to you as you are to them. This will also give you the upper hand if you need to tell your agent to be more responsive to your messages.

Be honest with your agent. If your real estate agent finds you a house that meets all your criteria but for some reason, you still don’t like it, then you need to tell them. Don’t be afraid to hurt the agent’s feelings, it’s not their house. Remember that this is about you [the buyer] first and foremost, therefore it’s the agent’s job to make you happy. If you can’t be honest with your agent, then you probably won’t end up with the house you want and you will end up settling. Would you lie to your doctor about what hurts? Of course not because you want results!

Evaluate your agent. Not all real estate agents were created equally, therefore you should evaluate your agent’s performance after a week or two. Ask yourself these questions

     a. Has your agent shown you houses that meet your criteria?

     b. Has your agent been responsive to your calls or emails as you are with them?

     c. Are you happy with your agent’s performance so far?

If you can answer yes to these three questions, then you may want to hang in there. However, if you feel that your agent is neglecting you or they just aren’t getting the job done as per your expectations, then I would say it’s time to find another real estate agent to represent you.

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