Tag: realtors in Orlando

Another Orlando Foreclosure Stopped In A Nick Of Time!

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

This is the story of Veronica from Hunters Creek, FL. I’m not using her real name or address because this short sale is still being processed. However, the fact that we’ve stopped the foreclosure sale a total of five times in the past two years I felt was worth writing about.

It’s the typical short sale stuff you hear from lenders. “We didn’t get the file”, “the financials need to be updated”, “the BPO came in too high”, “we’re still waiting to hear from the investors”, you name…on this file, we’ve heard them all.

This case, however, came with a bit of a twist at the end of the year. In December of 2014, everything was set to go, the bank had everything they needed including a solid offer for the price that they wanted. With a foreclosure sale date of January 20, 2015, there was more than enough time to get this one closed and put it behind us.

Out of nowhere, the bank decides that there isn’t time for them to process the short sale and they proceed to close the file!!? WTF? are the only three letters that make sense here. Any realtors that specialize in Orlando short sales know exactly how frustrating this can be, especially after putting so much work into something.

Although I’m not an attorney, after making hundreds of visits to the courthouse, sometimes I feel like one. My client was so disgruntled with the bank that she was ready to call it quits and just let the property go to foreclosure. I asked my client to allow me to give it one more try and asked her to write to the judge requesting a postponement and explain her side of the story. The judge immediately agreed and granted a hearing the following week. Since my client had to work on the day of the hearing, I just had her sign a power of attorney so that I could speak to the judge on her behalf.

Being that we had already stopped the foreclosure sale on four separate occasions, I was a little worried to be perfectly honest. I guess the lender’s attorney assumed this would be a slam dunk and didn’t even bother to show up! This made things a bit easier for me to explain my case to the judge. It took some explaining but after working on this file for over 2 years, I wasn’t about to go down without a fight.

After hearing the entire story, the judge decided to postpone the sale date once again! He granted us another three months to get the deal closed, March 12, 2015, which also happens to be my birthday! Although we only need a few more weeks to close it, it’s nice to know we have time to spare.

Working as an Orlando short sale realtor since 2004, I have countless stories like these. If you’re looking for someone to help you avoid foreclosure and the short sale of your home, give me a call at 407-902-7750.

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Bidding in a Hot Market

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Buyers looking for that perfect home in Orlando are finding out that they need to prepare for a fight. Because of a hot market causing lower than normal inventory, hungry buyers are engaging in bidding wars every day. Bidding in a hot market can be a fight and lately, it’s been all about who’s quicker to the punch.  

In a seller’s market, homes sell super fast once they’re listed on the MLS. Getting your offer approved amidst all the competition can be a huge challenge. In this situation, many factors are just out of your control. However, there are certain steps that you can take to make your offer more attractive to the seller.    

When house hunting, you should enlist the help of an Orlando buyer’s agent as opposed to trying to go it alone. Weeding through dozens of homes by yourself that you find on the internet to find one that suits you just isn’t very fun at all. Once you’ve found one that you love, then it’s time to place an offer on it. Many buyers will already have a number in mind but if you’re not sure how much to offer, however, your realtor should be able to assist you in finding the magic number. Experienced realtors can prove to be extremely valuable in this situation by providing the buyer information about the area like recent comparables of other properties in the area.    

Tips on getting your offer accepted, Bidding in a hot market:

  • Get your financing in order. Speak to your mortgage broker or lender before you even start looking at homes. Knowing how much mortgage you can afford in addition to having a pre-approval letter will put you way ahead of the game. You should also know that being pre-approved and pre-qualified are two different things.

The difference between Pre-Approved and Pre-Qualified

  • Pre-qualifying for a loan basically means talking with your lender about your financial situation, income, etc. then the lender will give you an approximate amount of how much you SHOULD qualify for.
  • Pre-Approval includes submitting a loan application together with income statements, a list of assets, a list of expenses, etc. With a complete loan package in hand, your mortgage broker will be able to shop out a loan that would meet your specific needs. It also gives the seller peace of mind knowing that your contract is solid and won’t fall through because of financing.
  • Don’t submit a lowball offer! In a hot market, many properties sell above the listing price. Submitting too low of an offer is the best way to get your offer denied and you may not even get a chance to counter, especially if there’s another competitive offer on the table.
  • Give them a bigger deposit than they asked for. Putting down a larger deposit, allows the seller to see how committed you are to making the deal happen.
  • Eliminate as many contingencies as possible. If the seller has to worry about the buyer selling a home or appraisal value falling short, etc. Then the offer becomes less enticing to the seller. By keeping your contingencies to a minimum, the better your offer will look to the seller.
  • Pay cash. For most people, this isn’t even an option. However, if you’re able to submit a cash offer with a quick close then this will surely get your offer to the front of the line.

Even if you do everything on the list above, it still may not get your offer approved. But by doing as many things as you can to make your offer more attractive to the seller, you’ll know that you did everything in your power to get that offer approved. If it was meant to be then you’ll be living in your dream home real soon. If you find yourself in a bidding war with other buyers, it’s good to know that you have an experienced realtor in your corner.

If you’re searching for a “never say die” type realtor to help you find your Orlando dream house, contact us at https://orlandorealtyconsultants.com/contact/

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Orlando Listing Agents Vs. Buyer’s Agents

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

You’ll probably never hear a listing agent ask a buyer’s agent, what’s the highest amount their client [the buyer] is willing to pay for a property. So why is it that some buyer’s agents think that it’s OK to ask listing agents how low their client [the seller] is willing to go on the price?

I don’t know of any good listing agents that would spill the beans anyway, why would they? When I became an Orlando Real Estate Agent, one of the first things I learned is that there are 3 things that you never reveal in a real estate negotiation…seller’s motivation, seller’s price, and the terms. It would be kind of like showing your cards to the other players at the table in a high-stakes poker game.

I guess you can’t blame buyers for wanting to feel out what the seller’s bottom line is before making an offer in writing. It’s mostly about saving time and effort. If the seller isn’t interested in accepting a lowball offer, then the buyer could save themselves the hassle of preparing a contract, pre-approval letter, etc. After that, the buyer then has to wait and see if it’s been accepted or not.

Although the seller’s “bottom line” as well as the buyer’s “best and final” is eventually revealed to each other, you can’t just skip the first part of the dance that we call negotiating. Sometimes I wish we could cut to the chase because it would save the realtor some time also.

So when a buyer’s agent asks me what my client’s bottom line is. I say “put your best and final offer in writing and I’ll present it to my client”, and that’s when the real negotiating begins.

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Orlando Real Estate’s Perfect Storm

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

In 2014, the Orlando real estate market recovered significantly. Home sale prices rose and continue to rise and at the same time, mortgage interest rates remain relatively low. These conditions created the perfect storm of opportunities for those looking to buy or sell Orlando real estate.

Different real estate markets across the nation are typically labeled as being either a “buyer’s market” or a “seller’s market”, which is what makes the Orlando real estate market so special right now. It’s both a buyer’s and seller’s market! More and more buyers are being attracted to the market yet the number of Orlando homes for sale remains low compared to the demand. The low-interest rates allow homes to remain affordable while the supply and demand still help sellers to get top dollar for their homes.

New Homes Expected To Drive Down Prices of Older Homes

The bad news is that these market conditions won’t last forever. Moving into 2015 more and more Orlando homeowners are expected to put their homes on the market and home builders are busy developing brand new neighborhoods throughout Orlando and Kissimmee. These new homes will create a lot of competition for homeowners that have older homes thus driving prices downward, especially when builders/developers reveal the incentives they will offer buyers to move into one of their brand new homes. Given a choice of buying brand new or used, I can’t think of anyone that would prefer to buy a used home or anything else for that matter, especially when the homes are in the same price range.


No matter what your situation has been over the past few years, chances are that it’s changed. Lately, when I’m asked to provide a potential seller with a free home valuation report, they become both shocked and happy when I show them how much I can sell their Orlando home for. I also express to them how the real estate market is ever-changing and home values can drop just as easily as they can rise.

My advice to homeowners that are serious about selling is that they should explore their options sooner than later. Homeowners should beware of trying to convince themselves of holding off on selling a home solely because they believe that their home’s value will continue to go up.

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The Time To Sell Your Orlando Home Is Now!

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

If you’ve been wanting to sell your Orlando home but keep putting it off, you may want to stop procrastinating. according to the NAR National Association of Realtors, the housing inventory in the Orlando real estate market is way below average when compared to December of 2013.

When the supply of homes on the market is this low, it puts the seller in a great position for negotiating. Right now, homes that are priced accurately and nicely staged don’t last very long in today’s market. The truth is that if want to make an offer on an Orlando property, you should act fast.

Lately, we’ve been getting multiple full as well as above asking price offers on properties in as little as 24 hours after listing them on the MLS. It’s painfully obvious that right now sellers are in the driver’s seat and have very little competition due to the lack of inventory in the Orlando real estate market. However, with inventory slowly but surely rising, homeowners should act now in order to enjoy the reduced amount of competition that they will have while their home is on the market.

Low mortgage rates are also a big contributing factor to the current real estate market favoring sellers. Interest rates are still low and there are many incentives for those who want to buy now.

Sellers Who Wait Run The Risk Of Losing Thousands

As the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end. This also holds true when talking about real estate. I remember back in 2007 when the real estate market crashed Nation in what seemed to be from one day to the next. Homeowners and especially investors that were holding on to Orlando real estate thinking they would eventually sell for a huge payday were suddenly scrambling to sell. Then when the banks stopped lending, it all came crashing down.

It wasn’t long before home values in nice Orlando neighborhoods were cut in half and in some cases even less. I don’t believe that we’ll see another market crash as we saw in 2007 anytime soon but I do think that this seller’s market we are currently experiencing will eventually cycle back around to being a buyer’s market. 

Orlando homeowners should keep this in mind if they’re on the fence about selling. Sure it’s possible to eke out a few more thousand if you wait a little longer but it’s also possible that you’ll end up selling your home for much less than you expected by waiting too long.

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