How can you avoid getting adversely affected by the current Orlando real estate market conditions?
For the last several years most of the country has experienced some form of a slow down or a challenging real estate market. Falling prices, reduced sales, foreclosures and short sales are common place throughout the US. The Orlando real estate market is no different.
How can you avoid getting adversely affected by the current market situation? The following are a few tips for buyers and sellers in and around Orlando that will help them reach their goals regardless of market conditions.
Orlando home buyers
- Search for the best interest rates available. Rates are low and lenders are eager to make loans. Compare rates and closing costs to find the best home loan for you.
- When comparing homes ask how long the home has been for sale, and if the seller is offering any concessions to buyers or commission incentives to the cooperating Realtors. Knowing these facts could help you save several thousands of dollars on your home purchase.
- Make sure to inspect any home you are buying ‘as is’. With so many homes offered for sale in this manner, buyers should be careful and concerned about conditioning and should hold the seller accountable for repairs or be free to cancel the contract should undisclosed condition problems be discovered.
- Ask to see a list of comparable sold properties in the area in which you are considering purchasing a home. If the area appears to be dropping quickly, it may be wise to hold off pulling the trigger until you are comfortable that the bottom has been reached or find a home in a different area of Orlando where home prices have stabilized.
Orlando home sellers
- Price it right to begin with. Over pricing or testing the market will will lose you buyers and could ultimately cause you to sell for much less than you anticipated.
- Stage it and clean it. You have a lot of competition in Orlando, more than ever before. Now is not the time to leave beds unmade, floors unswept, painting ignored or faucets, leaking. Your two pack of cigarette smoking a day in the house is turning off buyers. You may get one chance to impress before the buyer moves on, put forth your best impression.
- Don’t sell your home. You can avoid selling for much less than the market will allow by simply waiting. If you do not have to move and cannot sell your home for what appears to be the correct price now, then wait. Tell your agent to call you when the market favors your expected pricing, but for now, you will be sitting it out.
The Orlando market will continue to improve in the months to come. For some it simply is not the right time to buy or sell. For others, this market can still offer great opportunities.
As long as a buyer wants to buy and a seller wants to sell, and both approach their desires with the right information, it can be a win-win.
Villa Mirrano Tuscan Home Bellaria Windermere Florida
Custom built home by Stonebridge Exclusive Homes. Authentic Tuscan Architecture with an elegant Tuscan style in Bellaria, Windermere Florida.
Interior features include:
- First floor library
- All 5 bedrooms are suites
- Wine closet with lovely Tuscan Iron Gate
- French windows and doors
- Stone flooring
- Tile flooring
- Wood flooring
- Custom cabinets
- Rich detailed wood trim
- Stone counters
Outside features include:
- Covered lanai
- 4 car garage
- Pool & spa and accentuated with Tuscan stone fireplace
- Surround sound outside and inside
- Closed- circuit TV system outside the perimeter of the home
- Irrigation is supplied by well
- Just under 1 acre of property (.92)
This home looks, feels, and shows just like a model home.
To schedule an appointment to view, please contact Bill Sirigas, Watson Realty Corp. 407-973-0329
How long does it take to sell a home in Orlando?
The Orlando Real Estate Association reports that in July, 2010 the average time it took for a home to come under contract was 85 days. This is down significantly from July 2009 when it took 101 days for a home to receive a contract.
Orlando homeowners can take steps that will further help speed up the time it takes to receive a contract on their home. Here are a few suggestions that will help you receive an offer on your home before your competition does:
List the home correctly from the start. Testing the market by overpricing your home in the beginning will lengthen the time your home stays on the market. Market conditions in Orlando are not suitable for listing above the suggested market value provided by your agent.
According to a 2009 survey conducted by the National Association of REALTORS® , 4 out of 10 homebuyers purchased a home for the first time. First time homebuyers are budget conscious and are looking for the right house at the right price. Overpricing your home results in 40% of the potential buyers in the market from ever considering or viewing your home. With assistance from their Real Estate agents, first time homebuyers will seek find homes and negotiate with sellers whose homes are reasonably priced.
Making the home hard to show will extend the time your home is for sale. If buyers are forced to work around your tight schedule, they may elect to pass on viewing your home for a similar home that is much easier to see.
From a buyer’s viewpoint the market shelves are full of inventory. Bank owned, short sale, distressed, pre-foreclosure and well priced homes with equity are abundant throughout Central Florida. If your home is not available when the buyer is ready to look they will, in some cases quite literally, walk next door to view your neighbor’s house and forget all about yours.
A hands-on experienced Realtor has shown buyers today that a house priced correctly can receive multiple offers and be sold within days. Waiting around for the seller to be available for showing makes no sense to the buyer or their agent and could result in the seller not reaching a timely sale.
The selling market is extremely competitive right now in Orlando. Sellers who want to reduce the time it takes for them to sell their home should follow the suggestions above and call me to discuss a personalized marketing plan for their home.
Leverage our technology to your advantage when buying or selling a home in Orlando.
We are in the age of technology where consumers want information at their fingertips anytime, anywhere. Watson Realty invests millions of dollars to make sure our state of art technology benefits not only our team of sales professionals but also our buyers and sellers in Orlando, Florida and worldwide. Ed Forman, President of Watson Realty Corp. discusses the advantages of our technology in this short video.
When does the new Amway Center in Orlando open?
Orlando is excited about the upcoming ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony to open the Amway Center. The ceremony is scheduled for Friday, October 1 at 10:01 a.m. according to the City of Orlando’s website.
The Amway Center will be put to good use almost immediately with the Eagles scheduled to appear on October 7 and the Magic playing their first game on October 10th!
You can follow the Amway Center on Twitter. The Twitter account says; “A new era for entertainment is about to begin for Orlando”, that beginning starts on October 1, 2010
If you are making a cash offer on a home, make sure you have the cash available.
We recently had a bank cancel a contract entered into with one of our buyers when it became clear the buyer did not have the cash readily available to close. If you are planning on paying cash for a home it is important to make sure you have the cash available to close on the transaction.
A cash offer subject to refinancing other real estate you may own to pull out the funds or you are receiving a cash settlement from another source comes with a contingency that the seller needs to be aware of.
Failure to notify the seller of a contingency involved with you obtaining the cash you need to close on the home could result in delays, or the cancellation of your contract and potentially the loss of your escrow money.
Why would a seller request backup offers?
It is not unusual for a home buyer to discover a home that is under contract and the seller has instructed their listing agent to note in the MLS that backup offers are requested. Why would a seller request backup offers? Backup offers may be requested because of a variety of reasons including:
- The seller has concerns about their buyer’s financing.
- Perhaps there has been a longer than usual time between effective date and closing date negotiated in the contract.
- The seller may have already experienced prior transactions that have failed to close.
- Home inspection or home appraisal concerns.
A backup offer would provide the seller with confidence that should the existing contract fail to close for whatever reason, they would have a new negotiated contract ready to take its place.
Backup offers/contracts would be subject to the termination of an existing contract the seller has executed with a buyer. Buyers should put a time limit on the amount of time they are willing to leave their offer/contract as a backup.
Consult with your real estate agent or an attorney about entering into a backup contract for your home.
If you think you do not need a home inspection, think again.
There is no legitimate reason I can think of to waive having a home inspection when purchasing a house. The cost of the inspection prior to closing could save you thousands of dollars you might otherwise have to pay out for unseen damage or problems that need repaired or replaced. Why would a buyer take a chance and buy a home that has not been inspected?
Bad advice
Someone has told the buyer that there is no need for an inspection.
It could be the jack-of-all-trades family member/friend trying to save the purchaser a few hundred dollars. Armed with just enough knowledge to be dangerous, they will take a quick look around the house and offer their seal of approval without doing a thorough inspection.
Perhaps it is the real estate agent who is giving the bad advice. Shame on any real estate agent who would tell a home buyer there is no need for a home inspection. Buyers should ignore this wrong advice and hire an inspection anyway. The buyer should also pick up the phone and call the agent’s broker and let them know that their agent suggested they not have an inspection.
Be smart when buying your next home and make sure you have the home inspected.
Buyers and sellers should make sure everything is in writing.
When I speak with a buyer and/or seller one of the things I will say to them just before they sign any paperwork, contracts or disclosures is if there is anything I or anyone has said that is influencing you to buy/sell, please make sure whatever that is, you have it in writing.
I think everyone would agree that contracts, addendum, property condition disclosures and the like should be in writing. However what about the little details?
The little details
- Has the seller replaced the roof within the past few years? Get it in writing.
- Has the time for lender short sale approval passed but both buyer and seller are willing to wait a little longer? Get it in writing.
- Is the buyer satisfied with the inspection report? Get it in writing.
- Is the seller willing to leave the buyer the trampoline in the backyard? Get it in writing.
- Will the tenant be moving out prior to closing? Get it in writing.
- Who will pay for repairs? Get it in writing before repairs are made.
The list is endless. If it is important to you as a buyer or seller, it needs to be in writing.
Make sure when purchasing a home you buy a home with plenty of closet space
An important feature to consider when purchasing a new home or making plans to build a home is the amount of closet space in the home.
When you view a home the seller will have staged the home by clearing out the closets in order to make the space appear spacious. You should picture in your mind how your items will fit in the space available?
Will there be enough room for your coats, shoes, holiday decorations, and other items you will want to store away?
Take a look at the home are there plenty of closets?
- hall closets
- entryway closets
- garage area closets
- cleaning room closets
- broom closets
- master bedroom walk in closets