Tag: Orlando Realtors

Orlando Realty Consultants Website Latest Improvements!

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Hello and welcome to our new and improved website https://orlandorealtyconsultants.com/. We’re very excited to re-introduce our Orlando Realty Consultants website with the newest state-of-the-art features available anywhere. These days real estate websites have to keep up with the ever-changing technology because today’s consumer has come to expect a higher quality online experience.

Our company makes it a point to stay on top of the latest technology as it applies to real estate. Keeping a close eye on our analytics data enables us to clearly determine what today’s consumer needs. This allows us to provide a  pleasant experience to users visiting our website. We are proud to offer our clients this all-inclusive real estate web resource.  

Here are some of the latest features that have been incorporated into the new site.

  • Search the Florida MLS from any device. Our IDX Pro software with responsive capability allows users to search the Florida MLS just like a pro from your desktop, laptop, tablet, or phone. You see all the homes that are currently on the market without having to speak to a realtor.
  • Home Valuation Tool. This feature is also provided by our IDX Pro software. Just type in your address and answer a few questions about your home and within a few hours, you’ll receive a detailed and accurate report on your home’s true value.
  • Top Orlando realtors podcast on i-tunes. We’ve recently incorporated a podcast into our site for users that prefer to listen rather than read or watch videos. Listen to top real estate professionals give useful tips and advice for buyers, sellers and investors. Our podcast can be found on our site or just go to i-tunes and type in “top Orlando realtors”.
  • Orlando realtor blog. We’re probably best known for our real estate blog where you can find a wide array of useful information about things like Orlando short sales, market trends, home buying and selling tips, home improvement tips, and real estate news that affects the local market.
  • Our Youtube channel Top Orlando Realtors. Videos have always been a fun and effective way for us to reach the masses. Consumers can subscribe to our Top Orlando Realtors channel to be kept up to date on our latest informational videos and entertaining commercials.

Live Chat Coming Soon!

We are currently working on a live chat feature for the website. This will enable the user to live chat with one of our real estate professionals in an instant. We understand that some people need immediate assistance but not everyone wants to engage in a phone conversation. Our new chat window will solve this problem by allowing the user to receive the help they need fast without ever having to pick up the phone.

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6 Best Ways To Enhance Curb Appeal

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

As an active realtor in Orlando, I always make it a point to inform my seller clients how a home’s curb appeal is a one-time opportunity to give buyers an inviting impression of your home…so listen up! 

The front door should give potential buyers an indication of the way the home looks on the inside.  The good news is that you can enhance your curb appeal without spending a lot of money. Below are some things you can do to change your entrance from bland to grand!


Paint Your Front Door

Make your front door pop by using a bright color or even super dark color, it could be just the touch that you need to give it a modern touch. If you live in a neighborhood with a strict homeowners association, then you should find out about any color restrictions they may have or you could end up painting twice.    

Decorate Your Entrance

The entrance to your home is the main focal point of the front. If you have the space, try decorating a bit. A couple of nice porch chairs and a small table or maybe even a cozy swing could give your entry a whole new look that potential buyers will love. Be careful not to go overboard, you don’t want your entryway to look cluttered.    

Add Lighting

Having curb appeal at night is almost as important as it is during the day. Most interested buyers will drive by the home at night to see if it looks as good in the dark as it did in the daylight. Having some warm lighting at the entrance by using decorative lanterns or solar lights will enhance the appearance of any front entrance.    

Use Large and Stylish Address Numbers


One of the most annoying things for me when I’m trying to find an address is having to slow down and squint to see the house number. A small house number can also take away from the overall look of the house. Be proud of that house number! Celebrate it! Use big stylish numbers to identify your house. You’d be surprised at how much of a difference this simple step can make.    

Minor Landscaping

Most of the time all a house needs in the landscaping department is some clean-up and trimming to give it that “fresh haircut” look. If you really want to make a good first impression then add some flowers with bright colors leading up to the doorway. This will help to set the mood for people right before they walk in.    

Replace The Hardware

If you haven’t changed out your front door hardware in a long time then I would strongly recommend that you get rid of that rusty door handle and replace it with a new one. Having a new door handle and maybe even adding a door knocker and kick plate will give your entryway that brand new feel to it.     

These subtle changes and tweaks to your front doorway won’t cost much money and the best part is that you can do it yourself in less than a weekend. If want to know more about how you can enhance your curb appeal before listing your Orlando house on the MLS, call me at 407-902-7750 or visit me at https://orlandorealtyconsultants.com/contact/jenny-realtor/. I’m here to help.

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TOR 004: Can The Bank Take My Assets After Foreclosure?

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Top Orlando Realtors Podcast Episode:004

Hello and Welcome to the show If, you’ve been here before, we are happy to have you back.
Anyone can submit a question or suggest a topic for the show, just go to https://orlandorealtyconsultants.com/blog/ and fill out the contact form.


I’m your host John Conde / Orlando Realtor and I hope everyone is still hanging in there with their New Year’s resolutions. I heard somewhere that most people don’t make it through January without breaking that resolution so if you’re still in the game then you’re doing better than most, so keep it up!


We currently have a client in the Dr. Phillips area that has a pretty unique situation going on.
His name is Dave and he is allowing me to talk about his case on the show as long as I don’t mention his last name. So Thank you for that Dave.


To make a long story short, Dave had a great job, got laid off, fell behind on his payments, and is now facing Orlando foreclosure. Dave wants to know if the bank can come after his other assets after the foreclosure sale of his house.

He doesn’t have much money in the bank, so he’s not worried about that. What he does have, is every toy that a man could want.  He has a ski boat, motorcycles, cars, RV, you name it..he’s got it, and everything is paid for.


Now, the best thing to do is stop Orlando foreclosure before it starts. Dave waited longer than he should have and only decided to take action after the lender had set a foreclosure date.
The sooner you take action, the better chance you have of stopping that foreclosure.


Unfortunately, in this case, foreclosure was imminent. And being that he has well over $100,000 in assets, he has a legitimate concern because these assets or objects, are all he has left and he needs to sell them so that he could have some money to live.


Unfortunately, here in Florida, the lender can absolutely come after your other assets.
This usually happens when the bank takes a huge loss at the auction, especially if it’s a large loan.
And unsecured assets aren’t the only thing that people need to worry about, lenders can also garnish your salary and personal bank accounts.

You see, problems that can occur from a foreclosure sale don’t happen until after the sale has gone through. Here in Florida, lenders can solicit the court for a “deficiency judgment” so they can try and collect the rest of the money that’s owed to them. Once they have a deficiency judgment in their possession, banks can go after any of your personal assets like a car or a boat.

The good news is that Florida lenders don’t usually go after someone’s assets following a foreclosure sale. Especially if they don’t see much to tap into. Collecting judgments takes a lot of time and can cost the bank a lot of money.


Banks tend to pay more attention to jumbo loans because the larger the loan the bigger the loss.
In these cases, the lenders will dig deeper checking your bank accounts…. especially if the accounts are with the same bank as the mortgage.  And Depending on the situation, banks can try to freeze or garnish these accounts.

There is another risk for smaller loan holders that can also occur. Most of the time, banks end up selling off these smaller judgments to investors or collection agencies for pennies on the dollar.
These agencies then dedicate themselves to hounding people any way they can for a settlement on the money that’s owed. And,..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.

The best way to avoid any of these things is for people to deal with their mortgage problems head-on. In Dave’s case, he waited too long to take action and he’s now out of options. If you know that you’re gonna fall behind on your mortgage, take action.


If you want out, do a short sale! If you want to keep your house, try a loan modification or bankruptcy. Burying your head in the sand and ignoring the problem is the absolute worst thing that you can do. You give up all your control to the bank. and It’s like having a financial ticking time bomb on your hands.


So remember, if you’re behind on your loan, take action! That’s it for today, please keep those questions coming so we can talk about it on the show.   See you next time!

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2015 Tips For De-Cluttering Your Orlando Home

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

With the introduction of the new year, resolutions are in full swing. It’s also the best time of the year to do a massive cleaning and de-cluttering of your Orlando home. For our family, the means to donate old toys, outdated furniture, and other objects so that we can utilize the extra space in each room. It’s actually something that I really enjoy doing because it gives me that sense of a new beginning. I don’t know what you’d call the opposite of a hoarder, but that’s me [out with the old, in with the new!].

For some people, however, this can be a painful process. Just the idea of cleaning out those daunting cabinets, closets, and drawers can make them want to run for the hills.

6 Step Guide To De-Cluttering Your Orlando House With No Stress

  1. Don’t Try to Do it All at Once! This will make the task seem overwhelming and impossible. Pick the room that’s the most cluttered in the house and start de-cluttering, one room at a time. I like to start with the biggest items and work my way down to the small stuff. You can put the things you want to keep in a storage facility or your garage and donate everything else. You will see that once you get started it’s kind of hard to stop (It is for me anyway). The more you get rid of, the better you feel.
  2. Decide What Stays and What Goes. When moving the things back into the room after cleaning, it’s a great time for you to ask yourself; does it stay or is it history? Bring the items back into the space one at a time.
  3. Get Organized! When clearing everything output similar items together in a box. This will allow you to take inventory and get rid of unnecessary duplicate items scattered throughout the house.
  4. Stay Organized! When you’re to start putting things away, make sure that you place things in a location that makes sense. For items that you use day-to-day, put them in a location that’s easy to access. For other items that may not get used that often, maybe a high cabinet space or in the closet. Having a specific place for the items you wish to keep will prevent things from ending up all over the house again.
  5. Don’t Procrastinate! Once you’ve figured out what gets thrown away and what gets donated then either throw it away or take it to the donation box immediately. Don’t put it off, the sooner you get that stuff out of your house and clear from your mind the better off you’ll be and you’ll have a better of preventing clutter from returning
  6. Clutter Prevention. It’s a good idea to not purchase items unless you need them. If you’re like my wife, then you love a good bargain and sometimes it’s hard to resist getting a good deal on something,…even if you don’t need it! Take a moment to think about where you will put it in your home, will you really use it? Where will you store it? I the answers don’t make sense, don’t make the purchase.

The key to keeping you’re home de-cluttered is to keep things organized by creating a system that enables you to keep your home free from clutter every day. Once you’ve committed yourself to be clutter-free, you’ll feel better and actually be healthier. If your home is free of clutter, then your mind will be able to focus with less effort for maximum production.

Working as an Orlando listing specialist, I’m always giving my clients tips and advice for staging the home before listing it. The first thing on my list of recommendations is always to clean and de-clutter the home. Doing this step alone will make a huge difference in the way the house shows and together with my other staging recommendations will ultimately attract more buyers and a higher selling price. If you need help or advice on helping you to sell your Orlando house, call me today! I’m happy to help.

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TOR 003: How Does The Bank Decide The Value Of A Short Sale?

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Top Orlando Realtors Podcast Episode:003

Diego Fontana in the BVL area of Kissimmee asks…”How do they decide the value of a Short Sale property“? The valuation of a property, in my opinion, is the single most important factor in the whole short sale process.


Here’s the way it works. We start by submitting an offer to the bank, the bank will then order what’s called a BPO on the house AKA a broker’s price opinion. In some cases, the bank orders a full-on appraisal, but most of the time it’s going to be a BPO
The person that does the BPO is usually a local realtor hired by an agency that’s been hired by the bank.


So the realtor goes out to the property, takes some pictures, and does some research. then based on things like
• recent sales in the area
• repairs that the home needs
• and even upgrades that the house may have

marketing


They take all these things into account to create the BPO report. So this is the realtor’s opinion of what the property’s worth.


Whatever, the BPO comes in at will be the negotiating point between the lender and potential buyer.
The BPO happens…
Now At this point, there are 3 things that can happen that will dictate what follows.
The BPO comes in at a fair valuation, everyone’s happy, and we proceed to close.
or…
The BPO comes in really low, so low in fact.. that the bank insists on another one being done… and although it doesn’t happen too often, it can and does happen on occasion.
or…
The BPO comes in super high and the buyer threatens to walk.


When this happens, the Orlando listing agent has to Do whatever it takes to get the bank to order a second BPO. We do this by making a report of our own… called a CMA or comparative market analysis
This report has even more information than a BPO does.


The sole purpose behind sending them a CMA is to get the bank to order another BPO or if we’re lucky they’ll just use our report.
In the end, after all the dust settles, the lenders are the ones that decide how much they are willing to accept for the property.


So Diego, there you have it. I hope that answers your question.


That’s our show for this week, join us next week for the 3rd episode in our short sale series.

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