Tag: Stop Foreclosure in Orlando

Certified Distressed Property Experts and Orlando Real Estate

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

What is a Certified Distressed Property Expert [CDPE]?

It means that an Orlando Realtor with the CDPE designation is someone that is supposed to understand the complex and ever-changing issues in today’s Orlando Real Estate market. The agent should have knowledge of foreclosure avoidance options available to homeowners. A CDPE can provide solutions, specifically short sales, for homeowners facing market hardships.

Many times Orlando homeowners make the mistake of trying to do things on their own when they’ve fallen into foreclosure. This is always a bad idea because when someone is in financial distress, they’re just not thinking clearly, especially with the emotional burden of potentially losing their Orlando home to foreclosure.

Speaking with a realtor that is CDPE certified, also known as an “Orlando Short Sale Expert” is by far the best course of action to take. First of all, it doesn’t cost you a cent to consult with an Orlando realtor [if a realtor ever tries to charge you for a consultation, turn around and walk away], so you have absolutely nothing to lose in this regard. CDPEs have the tools, knowledge, and experience to help homeowners figure out the best solutions for their specific solution through the execution of an Orlando short sale or loan modification.

Are you considering an Orlando Short Sale?

If you’re currently looking for an Orlando Short sale Expert, make sure to select an agent that possesses the CDPE designation to make sure that you have a trained professional to address your specific needs.  CDPEs have an obligation to go above and beyond for their clients in need and you shouldn’t settle for anything less.

It’s not just about the CDPE Designation…

With all of that being said about CDPEs, it’s important to also consider the amount of experience the Orlando agent has had as a CDPE and what is their success rate with short sales in Orlando. This is something that is easily researched online or even better… ask your potential agent to show you proof of how many short sales listings they have and also ask them how many short sales they’ve closed in the past 6 months.

Another great option that may save you some time is just Google Orlando Short Sales and see what comes up. The top three results that come up should give you a great starting point. Like most people in the world today, I use Google for just about everything.

You want an agent that’s aggressive and doesn’t take no for an answer. Working with short sales is tough and you need an agent that is willing to go toe to toe with the bank for you. Unfortunately, this kind of tenacity and work ethic is something that is difficult to teach, realtors either have or don’t have.

Ask me anything, I’m here to help.

Jenny Zamora, Lic RE Broker.  Certified Distressed Property Expert

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Orlando Short Sales Soar as Home Foreclosure Sales Fall

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Short Sales Outnumbering Foreclosure Sales in a Big Way.

The Orlando foreclosure crisis is nowhere close to being over, but the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter every day. Orlando short sales are a win-win for everyone involved. Short sales [which occur when homeowners sell their homes for less than what they still owe], also close much faster than foreclosure sales, and they relieve lenders of the responsibility of maintaining vacant homes as well as not having to worry about the properties getting vandalized.

It makes you think,… with soo many benefits in it for the lenders the question is why weren’t they doing this the whole time?

 New Developments in Orlando Real Estate

There have been some changes made in the rules of Orlando short sales lately. For starters, lenders no longer have a choice. The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced this month that mortgage servicers will be required to review and respond to short sale offers within 30 days and make final sale decisions within 60 days.  All of this is supposed to take place in June of this year, meanwhile, lenders are scrambling to train enough staff to handle the demand for new short sale files.

A Win-Win Situation for Orlando Homeowners

By going the short sale route both the lenders as well as the homeowners win. Homeowners get to walk away from debt-free, the lender re-cooperates some of their money back and everyone gets to move on with life.

Doing a short sale is usually the best option for people. Statistics just from our own office indicate that 90% of the time homeowners choose the short sale route after consulting with one of our Orlando short sale specialists and all the options have been explained to them. With all the incentives being offered by lenders these days, it just makes the most sense in most cases.
With lenders being much better equipped to process short sales now, it’s absolutely the fastest way for borrowers to walk away from their distressed properties. Also, credit repair is much easier to achieve when you’re dealing with some late payments on your record as opposed to a foreclosure.

Cash for Keys for some homeowners.

For many homeowners, banks are offering cash incentives for the homeowner to agree to a short sale. We’ve gotten our clients from $3,000.00 up to $20,000.00 back at closing. This is a tremendous help for homeowners in making the transition into a new homeless financially painful.

Short Sales are better for Orlando neighborhoods.

Banks are terrible property owners, foreclosed homes often stay vacant for months and even years, meanwhile, the home deteriorates due to lack of maintenance. To make things worse, vacant houses might as well have targets painted on them in certain neighborhoods. Thieves go after things like fixtures, appliances, copper pipes, etc. Banks are unknowingly cannibalizing their own assets with foreclosures.
Short sales put new owners in vacant homes much faster than foreclosure sales.  This is good news for Orlando neighborhoods that have been hit hard by the mortgage crisis. New homeowners are typically pretty excited about being new homeowners and the first thing they usually do is work on the curb appeal of their new home. Many times this creates a domino effect and before you know it, surrounding neighbors will also want to improve their curb appeal.


Ask me anything, I’m here to help.

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Orlando Home Buyers Having to come out of pocket to settle with HOA Bullies

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Homeowner Associations have gotten tougher and tougher to negotiate with over the years. It used to be that an Orlando homeowner trying to short sale their house wouldn’t have to worry about paying their delinquent HOA dues until the closing date. Not only that, but they would also settle for a fraction of what is owed to them, usually about 10% or less in most cases. Those days are long gone!

 

Orlando Homeowners Associations have become the bullies of the block

What we’re seeing more and more is that the HOA’s are trying to bully Orlando realtors as well as the homeowners into getting the entire amount of what is owed to them. If they don’t get their way, they take to property to foreclosure regardless of what the lender is doing. HOA’s are fed up with being put on the back burner every time and now they’re taking it personal. They are also very aware of the law, HOA’s are entitled to get one year of past dues if the lender takes the property to foreclosure. They also know that it’s much easier for them to foreclose than a bank [no proof of ownership necessary, no issue with robo-signed documents ]. A completely different animal than a bank foreclosure.

Once they get the property into their possession, they rent it out. HOA’s know that even though it costs them a couple grand to foreclose on the homeowner, they are now able to rent rent the property out and recoup some of the loss. Many times they are able to make thousands of dollars just because the lenders take so long to foreclose.

Orlando Buyers are Having to Come out of Pocket to Pay Delinquent HOA dues

I personally think it’s ridiculous that an HOA would foreclose on a homeowner because of a few thousand dollars in past dues. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done about it, especially when they’ve already hired an attorney to handle all negotiations. I can tell you there’s nothing more frustrating than having an Orlando short sale 90% complete and the only thing holding up the deal is settling with the HOA. All your negotiating with the lenders is done, they’ve both given you payoff letters, and they’ve also given you 30 days to close. The only thing left to due is get the HOA to give you a discounted payoff letter and you’re golden.

The problem is that they want either the entire amount or an amount that is very close to full payoff! Unfortunately, if they don’t budge, then either you figure out a way to get them their money or the deal falls through. As an experienced Orlando realtor I will take a cut on my commission just so the deal will go through. Most of the time however, this isn’t enough for them. Sellers usually can’t afford to come up with any money, and the only ones left that can make the deal happen are the new buyers. Even though that debt has nothing to do with them at all, we have to make them aware that if they don’t pay it, they don’t get the house.

Orlando Real Estate Broker

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Orlando Short Sales Overtaking Foreclosure Sales

Posted on by Jenny Zamora
 For the first time Orlando short sales are becoming more popular than sales out of foreclosure.  As a matter of fact, in Florida short sales have outnumbered bank-owned home sales since July.
 
Lenders are favoring short sales more and more these days, with good reason. Short sales have proven to be faster and more lucrative process than foreclosure. Short sales accounted for 24 percent of all home sales nationwide while foreclosure sales represented 20 percent.
   

Top 3 reasons why lenders favor short sales over foreclosure sales

 
•    Taking a home to foreclosure is a long, drawn out process and can take up to a couple of years sometimes. Even then, there are soo many things that can go wrong if things aren’t processed correctly by the attorneys, which happens more often than you would think.
 •    Lenders can avoid paying a ton of money in legal fees. You can’t foreclose on a home without attorneys. I’ve seen attorney’s charge as high as $15,000.00 for  1 single foreclosure case.
 •    Better sales prices on Orlando properties. Statistics show that banks get higher and better offers when they short sale as opposed to the foreclosure sale. Many times it won’t even sell at the auction and it ultimately becomes the banks problem…Again!
 
In the end it’s all about the almighty dollar.
 
Lenders are finally realizing that Orlando short sales are a win for everybody. Mortgage companies are even offering large cash incentives to homeowners who agree to do a short sale. I’ve gotten some of my clients up to $20,000.00 back at closing from their lender. How’s that for a bailout plan?
 

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Orlando Real Estate Attorney Drops the Ball, Homeowners Pay the Price!

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Last week we picked up a new client , we’ll call him “Joe”, and his story one that we’ve heard far too many times, only the characters were different. So I felt that I needed to share it with everyone in hopes that someone will benefit from it.
Joe fell behind on his mortgage about 6 months ago and decided that he wanted to short sale his Orlando house. Instead of consulting with an Orlando short sale realtor, he and his wife went to see a real estate lawyer.

Joe’s BIG mistake

The biggest difference between consulting with an Orlando real estate attorney and consulting with an Orlando realtor is that one charges $250.00 per hr and the other doesn’t get paid until the job is done. Can you guess which one is which?

Anyway, back to the story. When they sit down with the attorney, they were so impressed with all the shiny plaques on the wall and the expensive furniture, that by the end of the conversation, they wrote him a big fat check for $3,000.00 for him to complete their short sale…[ I guess my mom was right I should have gone to law school!]

The plot thickens… At first they asked him to submit the usual paperwork: bank statements, tax returns, etc. Then he would call in for the usual update once a week or so. This went on for a few months and the answer from the law firm was always the same; it’s being worked on.
After he didn’t hear back from the lawyer for a while, he decided to call his lender to find out what’s going on and guess what?…. The lender had closed the file because of missing documents!!

Joe was furious and wanted answers so he called the Law office to speak with the lawyer. His only conversation with the lawyer to this point was when he wrote him the check, after that he would always be transferred to a processor or secretary.
When he demanded to speak with the lawyer, they said he would have to schedule an appointment to come in…Oh, and he would have to pay the hourly rate of $250.00!!

With an approaching auction date, and having to start the short sale from the beginning, he was now in a much worse position. Not to mention he lost the $3,000.00 that he paid to the lawyer…have you ever tried getting a refund from a lawyer before?
We’re working hard on Joe’s file right now, especially to stop the foreclosure sale on his house. Since he wasted so much time, our work is cut out for us.

The moral of this story is…Even if you’re considering a lawyer to do your short sale, why not consult with an experienced Orlando short sale realtor first. It’s Free!

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