Tag: short sales

Should Orlando Sellers Get Their Own Appraisals?

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Should I get my home appraised before I get a buyer so that we can make sure it appraises for what we want?”  This is a question I get from Orlando Sellers sometimes and then I ask them… “Would you accept an appraisal that was provided by someone that owns the house that you want to buy?”  Their answer is always…”probably not”.  With all the horror stories about bad appraisals and bad inspections lately being the cause of deals falling apart, I don’t blame sellers for wanting to get their own appraisals or inspections done to make sure they get it right. I’ve been on the receiving end of that scenario quite a few times lately with some of my own clients getting bad appraisals causing deals to fall apart.

Unfortunately, if you’re a seller, getting your own appraisal or inspection done is usually a waste of money. Today’s educated buyer is skeptical of appraisals that are paid for by the seller.  Especially when pre-listing appraisals are ALWAYS above the listing price. You’ll see verbiage like “Appraisal value $350,000 price reduced to $280,000”. When I see things like that it makes me feel like I’m dealing with a used car salesman. The truth is that it’s reduced because the market or buyers don’t agree and claiming that it appraised higher than the true market value will just ruin your credibility.

No appraiser in the world can tell you precisely what a house will sell for when it’s listed. At the end of the day, Appraisals and inspections are opinions just like BPO’s [broker price opinion] when you’re dealing with a short sale.

Here are some things that immediately come to mind when a seller tries to provide their own appraisal.

* Does the seller or listing agent have a personal relationship to the appraiser?

* Is the appraiser credible? What’s his background?

* When EXACTLY was the appraisal done? Is it up to date?

* Who paid for the appraisal?

Orlando Sellers Should Let Realtors Do Their Job

Instead of paying several hundred dollars for an appraisal or an inspection that probably won’t be accepted anyway, why not let the realtor do their job. Orlando real estate agents should be able to give you a very good estimation of how much the house will sell/appraise for.  Realtors have all the tools and knowledge that they need to provide you with good solid figures of how much to list the house for. When doing a comparative market analysis [CMA] they take comparable properties that have been recently sold in the same area. Done properly, the CMA will get you very close to what the house should be listed for as well as what it should appraise for.

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Need to Get Your House Sold Quickly? A Few Tips to Help it Sell in a Flash

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Do you need to get your house sold quickly? Whether you need to get rid of the house due to a short sale, downsizing, or because you found a job in another location, there are a few strategies that you can use to sell your home quickly and at a reasonable price. Selling a house requires a lot of work on behalf of the seller, and it can be stressful if you are crunched for time. Try a few of these tricks to help you get your home sold in time, and still get a reasonable amount for it.

Price the Home Below Market Value

The easiest way to sell your home is to sell it for less than market value. By looking at other homes in your area and asking for 10 percent less than that amount, your house looks a great value in a great part of town. In many cases, you will start a bidding war between buyers who want to snap up the best deal on the market before it goes away. Obviously, you still want to get a reasonable amount for the home, but you’ll be surprised at how much it helps to set your price at a little below market value—it will surely draw plenty of buyers in for you.

Hire a Cleaning Crew

If you’re in a rush to get your home sold, it will be worth the investment to hire a cleaning crew to come in and get the home ready for showings. You’ll be much to busy with preparing other things for the move to clean it yourself, and you’ll be surprised how much better your home will look if you leave the cleaning up to the pros. Let cleaners and movers clear the home so that you’re prepared for when people come to look at it. Getting professionals to do things like clean the carpets, spray for bugs, or fix broken window panes will truly go a long way with potential buyers. If the move is a bit unexpected, your home might be a disaster zone, and this definitely won’t help you find a buyer any faster. Presenting a clean, sanitized, and organized home for those who come to look at it gives you a much greater chance of finding a buyer quickly.

Sell When Others Are Selling

Do your best to sell the house at a time when others in the neighborhood are selling. This takes advantage of extra traffic that will be driving by your house due to the other sales in the area. If your home is priced less than the others, your home will be among the first to be sold. You may not have much of a choice if you’re pressed for time, however, if you can start looking for buyers around the same time as others in the neighborhood, you’re more likely to find interested buyers to come take a look at the house while they’re in the area.

Keep the Appliances With the House

For many buyers, furnishings and other appliances can be a huge selling point. By keeping the new refrigerator in the home or offering to leave behind some of your furniture, you sweeten the deal for a prospective buyer. You also benefit because you won’t have as much to take with you if you have a long move ahead of you. Although this may seem like a small thing, for some buyers it could really help seal the deal. If your appliances are still in good condition, consider leaving them in the home in order to draw interest from prospective buyers.

Offer Closing Cost Assistance

Coming up with the money for closing costs and a down payment is the biggest hurdle for a potential home buyer. Offering assistance with the down payment and closing costs could help you sell your home with ease. Typically, a seller is allowed to offer a rebate of up to 6 percent to help with closing costs and other fees. This could save a home buyer as much as $6,000 for each $100,000 being spent on the home. This can help if you find a buyer who isn’t in as much of a rush as you are. If you’re trying to get the home sold as soon as possible, helping with closing costs could help you find the perfect buyer.

When you need to sell your home quickly, you need to be willing to entice buyers and negotiate whenever possible. By offering closing cost assistance, pricing the house below market value and timing the sale just right, you could have an offer on your home within 24 hours of showing the property. While selling a home is stressful (especially when you’re constrained by time), if you put in a little extra effort, you’ll have the home sold in no time—allowing you to focus on moving to your next destination.

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Cash Incentives for Short Sales Continue

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

 Cash Incentives for Short Sales

It appears that new short sale guidelines that have been put into place continue to make it easier for distressed homeowners to get relocation assistance after completing the short sale on their distressed property. Mortgage companies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have launched a new short sale program allowing the homeowner to complete a short sale and receive cash incentives without missing any mortgage payments….It’s about time!

I don’t know why this hasn’t always been the case. I believe that as long as the homeowner can prove a valid hardship, then why force them to miss payments if they’re willing to work with the bank sooner than later. For one thing, the lender loses less money. Why would you want the homeowner to miss at least one or two payments before allowing them to start the process if they’re willing to start the process while continuing to make the payments? I think that if this were the case then there would be a lot less distressed homeowners doing a strategic default.

[HAFA] The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program provides distressed homeowners with cash relocation incentive of $3,000.00. The problem is that the guidelines have several restrictions that many times kept distressed sellers from getting the assistance they so desperately needed.

B of A, The nation’s largest loan servicer offers the HAFA program in addition to several other in-house programs. Its most popular program is the “Cooperative Short Sale Program” which has an “Enhanced Relocation Assistance” that ranges anywhere from $2,500 to $30,000. Just this past year we were able to qualify 3 of our Orlando short sale clients for the $30,000.00 cashback at closing. Bank of America has recently launched the enhanced program on a national level. This program applies to pre-approved short sales, these are short sales that are started without there being an offer to purchase. The amount of the incentive is based on the value of the home.

 

WILL YOUR LENDER COOPERATE?

There are some who will tell you that banks would rather take a house to foreclosure or modify the loan than approve a short sale. This just isn’t true, it costs a lender a lot of time and money to take a house through the foreclosure process and at the end of the day, it’s just a numbers game.

The truth is that short sales net lenders twelve to twenty-five percent more than they would make from foreclosure because of the time and money that it takes to not only regain control over the property, but to make any repairs, market and finally resell the house. And as far as loan modifications are concerned, over half of them default within the first year then ultimately turn into short sale or foreclosure.

Lenders have finally figured this all out and that’s why they are constantly streamlining there process and continue to create enticing offers to help out distressed homeowners. By completing a short sale, a distressed homeowner can avoid going through a foreclosure and limit the damage done to their credit.

 

 

 

Realtor in Orlando, FL

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Mistakes to Avoid when Flipping a House

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

 With Orlando Real Estate in high demand again, experienced investors are taking advantage of these almost perfect conditions for rehabbing houses. Even new investors are turning out in record numbers to try and cash in on flipping a house. Rookie investors will always make mistakes on their first re-hab property just like I did when I first started back in 2004.

Here’s a list of the most common mistakes made by rookies when flipping a house and how to avoid them.

Trying to make a NON-DEAL into a DEAL

Some investors allow themselves to be caught up by emotion. They want to buy an investment home soo badly that they rush and end up buying a house that’s over-priced because they let their emotions take over. When trying to flip a house for profit, let cold hard facts take the lead, not emotion.

As a rule of thumb which has served me well over the years is to never, ever buy a house for anything more than 70% of the home’s repaired value. Paying more than this amount can lead to smaller profits or even a loss.

Underestimating your budget for repairs

home repairs

This is usually the most common mistake made by new investors. Another rule of thumb that I use when rehabbing a house is to take the amount of how much you think it will cost to repair the house and add $5,000.00 to it. Someone that has never renovated a house before will always underprice the cost of repairs needed to get the house ready for the Orlando Real estate market. You should always enlist the help of a general contractor to give you an accurate amount of what you will spend on the renovation. You need to factor this amount into your offer before making your bid.  

Trying to do the work yourself

New investors tend to fall in love with the idea of themselves doing all the work. They picture themselves remodeling the bathroom, painting the whole house, re-doing the landscaping, etc. and they will be done inside of a week, just like on their favorite house flipping show. Trust me, it’s best to let the pro’s handle the majority of the work load. Your time will be better spent looking for the next deal.

Taking too much time to complete the repairs

For each month that you own the property there is another month of carrying costs that you have to pay. Between the mortgage, insurance, property taxes and utilities it can add up much faster than you think. Carrying costs will not only take a monthly chunk out of your profits but can also cause you to take a loss. When you sign an agreement with your contractor, make sure that he commits to a deadline in black and white. You can also try to squeeze in a clause that charges your contractor a daily fee for everyday that the project goes past the deadline. This will keep your contractor motivated to finish the job on time and keeping you on track to get the home back on the market A.S.A.P.

Trying to Sell it on your own

Some newbie investors tend to think that they can sell the property on their own to avoid paying realtors commissions. Big mistake! You should list the house an experienced Orlando realtor that has a proven track record in working with investors. A realtor will not only fight to get you the highest price possible, but they will also assume the responsibility of making sure that everything gets done smoothly… or they don’t get paid.

Your goal as an investor should be to buy a house at the right price that you can quickly then turn around and sell for a profit. You should never let your emotions involved and become attached to any home. Always be willing to walk away from a potential deal, especially when it’s a NON-DEAL.

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Orlando’s Real Estate Boom and How to Take Advantage Of It

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

The Orlando real estate scene has seen renewed residential construction activity this year. According to Real Data Apartment Market Research, more than 6,100 dwelling units are being constructed in the Orange and Seminole counties – double the count of September 2012. Central Orlando and the areas near the University of Central Florida have seen frenetic construction activity. Another 5,000 units are being considered for development in Orlando.

Price recovery

Resale homes from Orlando short sales residential markets are now selling at a higher price compared to last year. The average resale price for a single-family unit in the four-county metro area of Orlando is $172,000 – an increase of 22.9% when compared to the previous year’s price. It is a clear sign that the economy is progressing towards recovery.

How to take advantage of Orlando’s short sales

Foreclosures usually mean an advantage for would-be buyers. But all is not rosy on the property front. Short sales are usually accompanied by costly problems. Buyers must be aware of a few facts before they sign the check to buy a short sale property.

   * Property problems should not be ignored. Prospective buyers should understand that the previous owners were unwilling to part with the property. They tend to take their frustrations out on the construction before leaving. Many of the original owners willfully damage the interiors before they move out. Besides this, many Orlando short sales properties have been lying vacant for an extended period of time. This gives rise to mold, termites, leaks, and filth. Squatters further damage the residential unit.

* This problem is further compounded by the fact that banks are not required to furnish the disclosure statement generally required from a standard seller of a property. It would not even reveal whether the dwelling unit was constructed from quality materials or not. The rule of thumb, in this case, is that if the house is between 15 to 30 years of age, then there is a strong possibility of it requiring some expensive repairs.

*The buyer should physically inspect the home. It is better to physically go to the house and ask all the required questions. If there is an existing problem, the buyer should ask for repair estimates. If required, specialized inspectors should be called in before making an offer.

*Insurance and Legal information should not be ignored. A disclosure statement would state whether the house is constructed on a flood plain. If it is so, the buyer will have to pay thousands more a year as additional insurance costs.

If you’re interested in seeing what properties are available, contact an Orlando Realtor to get the ball rolling.

 

Orlando short sale expert

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