This is the story of Irene Mazza. When she first came to see us, she had a rental property that was costing her $150 per month and was ready to just let it go to foreclosure. We sat down with Ms. Mazza and explained her options to her. After hearing about all of the options available to her, she decided on a loan modification.
We’re happy to report that not only did we help her get her home loan modified, but she is now instead of losing $150 every month, she’s making $300 per month on her rental property.
Don’t take our word for it, watch the video and you can hear it right from her.
There’s been a lot of buzz about the current housing recovery in Orlando, many real estate agents feel that these developments mean the end of Orlando short sales. Speaking as a realtor that specializes in doing short sales, I completely disagree with that, and I’ll tell you why:
Has The Orlando Real Estate Market Fully Recovered?
It’s true that we are now facing a housing market that’s less heated and moving towards normalcy. Home price increases are driven by market demand as well as inventory shortages. And as far as pricing goes, according to CoreLogic, there was a nearly 12% growth in 2013. However, halfway through 2014, we’re already experiencing a cooling trend overall in Orlando with lower-priced properties in the lead with just 2% growth. All these things can be attributed to rising interest rates, a drop in investor participation, ever-changing short sale rules, as well as increased inventory.
Any active real estate agent can tell you that decreased inventory will lead to higher prices. Then when housing prices increase, it gets people feeling good about the market again which helps to convince homeowners that were on the fence about selling, to put their house back on the market. However, while price increases are encouraging, we still have a long way to get to erasing equity losses from the last decade.
In my opinion, the restart of any housing market is directly related to inventory and that’s why I feel that the current rebirth of the Orlando real estate market is an illusion. If you haven’t heard the term “shadow inventory”, it basically means real estate inventory that’s not yet reflected on the market.
There are several reasons why shadow inventory exists. Here are the most common:
Loan modifications- This is a foreclosure workout program that’s designed to modify the terms of the loan making it more affordable to the homeowner
Homeowners in litigation- These homeowners are in actively litigating foreclosures with their lenders causing the property to be tied up for up to several years in some cases.
Short Sales that have fallen short- Those people that have just given up trying to short sale their home because of an incompetent agent that couldn’t get the job done or a lender that just won’t budge.
Foreclosed properties- This is when a property has gone to foreclosure and taken back by the lender. I believe that this is the biggest reason for shadow inventory. When the lenders take back these properties it can sometimes take up to several years for the property to be put back on the market. Once it’s put back on the market for sale, it’s then considered an REO [real estate owned] property.
Unrealistic Property Values Not Helping Things
Another major factor that affects housing recovery is the perception of property values. Dealing with hundreds of BPO agents and appraisers [sometimes known as Deal Killers”] I know how much someone’s price opinion can vary from someone Else’s. It’s not uncommon to find very high and very low comps for most properties. This can be problematic because, with a short sale side, buyers will always try to use the lowest comps to justify buying a distressed property. Unfortunately, in the real estate industry, you just don’t know how things will play out in any transaction which is why you have to be prepared for everything.
Orlando Short Sales Will Be Around For A While
All of the things mentioned previously in this article all play a role in why I think that short sales are here to stay…at least for the next year or two. 91% of our clients are short sale clients and I can truly say that a short sale represents a way out for people, a way to get out of a bad situation and help people to move on with their lives. I also believe that lenders will start to wake up and smell the coffee when it comes to short sales vs foreclosure. Lenders benefit far more from a short sale as opposed to spending valuable time and money on a foreclosure. By allowing more homeowners to short sell their homes, they won’t have to deal with the hassle of getting the property back on the market and hoping to recoup a portion of their money.
This is the story of an Orlando homeowner that was losing her house to foreclosure. Through a frantic Google search, she found our company, Orlando Realty Consultants after typing in “Orlando short sale experts”. Jenny Zamora, Broker for ORC met with Ms. Porter and explained the situation, and went through all the different options available to her in detail.
When Ms. Porter realized that she just couldn’t afford to keep the home, she opted for an Orlando short sale. We then went to work immediately with the lender to minimize any chance of the lender setting a foreclosure sale date. Within two short weeks, we were able to get an offer approved on her home and three weeks later we closed on it. We also managed to help Ms. Porter receive $3,000.0 from the lender so that she can move into another house.
We were very happy to help Ms. Porter get out of a bad situation and move on with her new life. But don’t take our word for it, watch her video testimonial and hear it in her words.
If you or someone you know is in need of doing a short sale on their home. Feel free to contact us at 407-902-7750 or visit us at https://orlandorealtyconsultants.com/ for a free consultation where we will explain all the different options available to you.
The Orlando real estate industry has been reveling the home-buying season in 2014. April 2014 marked a month of consecutive reductions in the rates of fixed mortgages. Rates of interest on the standard 30-year home loans dropped to their lowest level in the second week of April. The rates, the lowest since February, reduced again in the third week – increasing buyer activity in the industry.
Now, according to a new industry report, this year’s spring buying season commenced with a significant rise in the month-to-month sales of residential real estate property. According to industry experts, the month of March saw 17.28 percent more sales than February. Further, in terms of just the “normal” sales in February and March, the latter month outperformed the former by nearly 24 percent!
Realtors in Orlando will confirm the opinions of the experts – all major listing agents in Orlando reporting their hands full with residential buying and selling since the beginning of the season.
Home Buyers are fueling median residential real-estate prices in Orlando
The median price of properties in Orlando was recorded as $160,000 in March 2014. Just a month ago, the rates stood 1.27 percent lower, at $158,000. The rise in median prices is being fueled by increased demand from prospective buyers – a trend characteristic of the spring buying season.
Realtors unanimously hold the spring buying season a good time to buy residential properties, especially for first-time buyers. According to the experts in Orlando short sales, the median rates of short sales in March 2014, witnessed a 4.59 percent hike from the value same time last year.
With the short-sale inventory expanding, the spring season is also expected to bring new opportunities for buyers who haven’t been able to find suitable deals yet. Compared to the number of foreclosed homes available for purchase in March 2014, a fairly large number of foreclosed homes were made available to buyers in March this year (125 percent more than in March 2013). Homes also spend lesser time on the market now, than they did a year ago. The average listing period in March 2014 was 76 days, compared to the 79 days in 2013.
Making the most of the home-buying season
Conditions in the Orlando real estate market seem to be ideal for residential buyers now. Banks are easing up on home loans, the rates of fixed and variable-rates mortgages are decreasing and the market has plenty of options in different price ranges. Further, with Florida’s diversifying economy and its growing reputation as a premium retirement destination in all of the US, many prospective buyers are showing foresight by investing in properties during the season.
