Tag: Orlando Short sales

Foreclosure Drop Experienced in Orlando

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Foreclosure of residential houses in Orlando has shown a marked decrease. This started from the time when the state began to expedite foreclosures as per the new law that was implemented from July 1 this year. According to reports by RealtyTrac Inc, foreclosure filings have dropped by at least 50% as compared to the past year. The total number of houses in the Metro Orlando area which received their first foreclosure notice fell to 678. This is effectively a fall of 63% compared to the previous year. This trend that is experienced in Orland real estate is repeated across Florida. A statewide report published in July by the Florida Supreme Court states that cases related to foreclosure fell 75% when compared to July 2012.

Reasons for the drop

It is unclear if the drop is the result of a new law formulated to streamline the ability of the lender to repossess immovable structures that are saddled with mortgage payments long overdue. According to one foreclosure attorney, this dramatic fall is the result of banks and mortgage service providers being unable to provide documentation as proof that they are in control of the loan as demanded by the new legislation. As per the attorney, the new law was written in such a way that it was almost indecipherable to the lending industry as well as to the courts.

Mortgage companies are taking the only action they can confidently opt for – either modify the mortgage or sell the concerned house as a short sale. Orlando short sales are said to occur when an immovable property or a house is sold for less the amount of money owed on the structure. The incidence of short sales has been increased throughout Florida in the past few months.

Decrease in foreclosure filings

Foreclosures are markedly decreasing. In Metro Orlando, approximately 2,415 houses gave some variety of foreclosure filing. The August report shows that such filings have decreased by 27% when compared to the previous year’s August report and also a 11% decrease from July this year. The Orlando metropolitan area is made up of 3 regions: Orange, Seminole, and Osceola. According to RealtyTrac Vice President, it is premature to assume that the law is not functioning as it should. Although foreclosure activity is down for the Orlando area, the courts have approved an increase in number of foreclosure sale notices as well as auction notices in the metro region. One way of knowing that foreclosure notices will be filed is that the concerned banks have begun to start the search and preparation work important to start the process of foreclosure.

 

 

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Demystifying the Short Sale Process

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

 

For those buyers facing an imminent threat of foreclosure, a short sale is a viable option indeed. Through a short sale, the seller eliminates the debt burden that comes with his value- depleted property that no longer attracts enough of a sale price to pay off the loan in full. Scores of homeowners saddled with underwater properties have taken the help of short-sale negotiators to get a reasonable price for their homes in recent times. If you are looking for advice and information on Orlando short sales, read on. 

 

Getting the Short Sale Package Approved

 

This is the first step in your Orlando short sales process. Your lender needs to approve your sale of the property at a price that is less than your total debt due to him. To do this, he needs to be sure that you cannot afford to pay off his loan from other sources (e.g.: your savings).  The first step of the short sale is for you to present a short sale package to the lender. This package outlines an overview of your finances and your credit score along with a hardship letter and the home’s documents indicating the purchase price. Once the lender is convinced that a short sale is your best option, he approves the process.

 

Listing the Property

 

Now it is time to present the property in the best possible way so that you can attract the most number of buyers. Working with reputed Orlando realtors who are also experienced short-sale negotiators is a great advantage at this stage. The realtor has an understanding of the market and the skill to present your property as a good buy to prospective homeowners. Locate a realtor who has a deep insight of the current Orlando real estate market so that you can price your home right. The Orlando realtor will also ensure that your home appears in all the right listings so that it is highly visible in the marketplace.

 

Sell the Home and Get Rid of Your Debt


Once your home gets an offer you like, it is time to start processing the short sale. Your lender may require several documents to process the actual sale. Here too, an experienced Orlando short sale realtor can prove to be of immense help. Collect all the documents and present them to your lender for approval of the proposal. Once he gives his approval, the sale can be finalized and closed. In some situations, the lender may reject the proposal.

 

If this does happen to you, don’t give up hope. Ask your lender to give the reasons for rejection in writing. There may be some negotiations that you can do with the buyer/ lender with the help of your Orlando realtor to ensure that the proposal is tweaked to meet his approval.

 

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Quality’s to look for in a top Orlando Short Sale Realtor

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

In order to be a successful short sale Realtor in Orlando these days, you have to possess all the tools that make buying and selling real estate for people as easy and efficient as possible. This means having systems set up for everything from lead generation to client follow-up to closing and post-closing follow up.

However, even if a realtor has all these systems in place, nothing takes the place of the human qualities that someone must possess in order to be a highly successful real estate agent. I’ve compiled a list of the qualities that I think someone must have in order to be successful as a realtor.

Determination

Determination means that you are firm in what your purpose is and you won’t let anything get in your way until you accomplish the task at hand. A good short sale realtor needs to be a very determined person because let’s face it, doing a short sale from beginning to end is not an easy task. Things don’t always go as planned when you’re buying and selling real estate if someone is easily discouraged, then “real estate agent” shouldn’t be their profession.

Tenacity and persistence

Tenacity means never giving up. It’s the combination of tenacity and persistence that enables someone to do something and keep doing it until the end, even if it’s really hard. Tenacity is the quality displayed by someone who just won’t quit — who keeps trying until they reach their goal. In the world of Orlando real estate, tenacity and persistence are great qualities to have, especially if you are trying to do something challenging that can take a while to complete such as a short sale.

Whether it’s dealing with banks, negotiators, homeowner associations, title companies, etc. short sale realtors deal with tough and discouraging situations every day. Without tenacity and persistence, a realtor wouldn’t last very long, especially in the short sale arena.

 Patience

Patience is the level of endurance someone can handle mentally trying situations before becoming negative such as; persevering in the face of delay or provocation without acting on annoyance or anger. It also means someone that can remain steadfast despite being exposed to trying situations.

What this means as it applies to an Orlando short sale realtor is that they are able to put up with all the nonsense involved with doing short sales as a whole and still remain nice as well as professional. This may sound funny to some of you but it’s very true and patience should probably be at the top of the list. Working as an Orlando short sale expert since 2005, I’ve learned to be extremely patient. Imagine calling several banks a day to follow up with a short sale file and the negotiators tell you that you are missing paperwork that you know you’ve already sent in…Everyday!

The absolute worst thing you can do in this situation is to argue with the negotiator. The correct thing to do is remain nice and re-send the information. Then the next day wash, rinse and repeat until you have confirmation that they received it. Don’t get me wrong, there are times when arguing with the bank is exactly what you should do but this isn’t one of them.

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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.

 

 

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Top 5 Mistakes in Choosing a Short Sale Realtor

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Choosing the right realtor to sell your home is something that you should take very seriously. The sale or purchase of a home is one of if not the most important transactions that a person will ever be involved in within their lifetime. So what if you’re in need of a short sale? Then you really need to be careful because short sale listings are a completely different animal than traditional listings. There is a lot more work involved with completing a short sale and that’s just the beginning. Realtors that specialize in doing short sales have to be highly skilled negotiators and have to possess a “never give up” attitude in order to be successful.

Following is a list of 5 things that homeowners should look out for when hiring a realtor to do their short sale.

1- Realtors that only work part-time- It’s hard enough to work a short sale as it is. Imagine if your short sale realtor had another job during the day when the lenders are working. Part-time realtors have no business working with short sales because it can take twice as long to get it done and when you’re doing a short sale, time is of the essence. Lenders can still continue with foreclosure proceedings even during the short sale process.

2- Realtors that outsource all the work- There are some realtors out there that don’t care for all the extra work that a short sale requires of them so they outsource their short sale files to a third party. I personally would never do this because I think it’s unethical and misleading to the homeowner. If a realtor is advertising themselves as a short sale specialist or expert then I feel that realtor should do all the work, not someone else. Don’t get me wrong, it’s important to have an assistant or processor in your office to help move things along, but this is very different than outsourcing the entire process to a third party. Also, third-party negotiators will add extra fees to a short sale which can cause the deal to fall apart entirely. Make sure to ask the agent if they are going to work on your file or will it be outsourced to another company.

3- Insist on weekly progress updates- Homeowners that are in pre-foreclosure are stressed out enough about their situation as it is. Imagine how much more stressed a homeowner will be if they have no clue about what’s going on with their house. It’s important that you make things clear with the realtor up front by getting them to commit to weekly updates with your file even if nothing’s happened on any particular week. If the realtor can’t commit to keeping you “the homeowner” in the loop every step of the way, then you shouldn’t hire them.

4- Check their track record- Research the agent to see what they’ve accomplished in their real estate carer lately. A good short sale agent should be working with several files at any given time. Also, find out how many short sales they’ve completed in the past six months or year. An agent that’s good at doing short sales should have at the very least, three happy clients that would be willing to tell you all about their experience with that agent.  If you’re their only short sale client then seller beware!

5- Interview Several agents before choosing one- There are a lot of great short-sale agents out there which means you can afford to interview a few before making your choice. Pick at least two or three that satisfy the checklist above and see which one you feel would do the best job for you according to your needs. Remember, this person is going to be handling the sale of your home from beginning to end. Make sure that you feel comfortable with them. Just because a real estate agent is great at doing short sales, it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the best agent for you.

Orlando short sale expert

 

 

 

 

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