Pricing your home to sell upfront and reasons why this is the most important part of marketing your home for sale.

Orlando Florida Real Estate update letter to seller why pricing is the most important part of marketing your home for sale. I know it will be hard to accept but I also know from past experience you can handle the truth.

Like these song lyrics from Coldplay in Viva la Vida

One minute I hold the key

Next the walls were closed on me

And I discovered that my castles stand

Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand

Today the story is the listing appointment and how it helps another seller understand which pillar we need to be pricing.

Scheduled to be on a listing appt. on Friday a couple miles from your home, a referral from a trusted friend.  After reviewing the recent sales in the area it was another eye opener.  The subject home has 5 bedrooms and 3 baths, with a pool, new carpet and the home was just repainted.  The Homeowner expected to get in the mid to high 250K range.  I ran the comps and found a home on his street same size with granite counters not formica and better cosmetics all around sold for 160K. 

Your home is in a higher end market but the same rules apply when it comes to comps and days on the market still paint a picture.

What does this mean?

If we got an offer the appraiser would have to use the 3 most recent sales and adjust accordingly.  I told him the appraiser would adjust down because he didn’t have granite counter tops and despite repainting and new carpet the other home had all tile flooring probably 500-1000 dollar  adjustment which would make his 150-155K you can imagine how he feels.  By the way homes in his subdivision had been for sale for more for over 400 days! 

Pricing is everything we are in a market that just favors the buyers.  They have the choices and the edge now.  Now this example is not the only piece of the puzzle you may not be aware of what is happening here with Short Sales which also will effect the comparables that appraisers use, but that is another blog.

I would love to tell you we could get 450+ for your home, but it won’t happen in todays market to be honest you would be lucky to get 350 and I think by next year you would be lucky to get 300.  This is not what I want to send you but it is imperative you know what is going on here now and why I think it will take at least 5 years to correct.  Some people think it is more like 10, but who knows for sure.

Pricing it right now will save you more money in the long run than waiting.  On the other hand you can continue to rent it as you have been very successful at this too and wait it out.  You do have one of the nicest furnished homes in the area and have been very smart in your print and online advertising for tenants.  If you don’t need to sell it now then wait, if you have to sell it now than price it right in the beginning.

Here are some other reasons why pricing is important don’t just take my word for it check out Tips for Sellers from Realtor.org

and recognize housing markets are local from an article on MSN and bankrate.  More home selling tips that are important to follow in this market.

If you still have questions give us a call buying selling or relocating we can help.  If you would like a copy of our book email me today.

Start your home search here become a VIP.

Here is the whole song Viva La Vida

Pricing your home to sell letter to the seller

Orlando Florida Real Estate letters to the editor NOT.  Let’s try a different tact letters to the seller or My Baby He Sent Me A Letter as borrowed from song lyrics of Joe Cocker’s The Letter.

Had to face some hard facts this week and send out letters to the sellers about the pricing issues.

I decided to share some of these this week here to widen eyes and open discussion to just why sellers need to price their homes to sell.

Here is one of the responses to why you can’t price your home 200K higher than others in the neighborhood just because you have two extra bedrooms and beautiful furniture.

I appreciate that your homes are more bedrooms and top of the line, but this market is as tough as I have seen it and still moving down.

Currently we have over 4000 foreclosures in Osceola County, over 23,000 homes in MLS, and heaven only knows how many hundreds of new homes for sale.  Personally I think this market will take at least 5+ years to turn around.  So with all the competition and builders offering huge incentives that the regular home owners can’t compete.  Foreclosures ruining the comps for appraisers and banks just being so strict now it has been a hard year for all of our sellers to swallow when it comes to pricing.

Here are two stories to consider.  Home priced at the high end of everyone in the subdivision.  We get an offer first week 100K less the seller turns it down.  Nearly a year later his home now is priced 100K less but in a year the highest comps in his subdivision have dropped over 250K.  He moved back in to his house. 

Scenerio two we had a home in a very sought after subdivision priced competitively.  Got an offer for 45K less they refused now a year later they have dropped their price 35K still no takers so they refinanced and are going to stay.  In another year I expect prices to drop in this neighborhood another 50K based on the current pace of sales and foreclosures.

This is not what anyone wants to hear but it is going on and taking a toll.

Where do you want to be?  Pricing now must be a number one priority. 

The longer you wait to price correctly the more you could lose.

Do you want a for sale sign or a sold sign?

We can offer excellent options and honest pricing opinions get the facts right upfront and avoid a frustrating drawn out situation.  Go to our Market Snapshot and find out just what your home is competing against and current prices on your street. 

Still not convinced here are more resources that may help you.

zillow.com and How to Price your home from realtor.com

Oh yes one more thing if you read the next post there is a free book offer.

Call Teri Isner today and the Orlando Avenue Top Team Today if you are Buying Selling or Relocating We Can Help!

Oh yes here are the Boxtops singing their version of The Letter

What’s it all about Alfie and Short Sales with clips of Dionne Warwick and Jude Law.

What’s it all about Alfie or in this case Orlando Real Estate Short Sales?

The song lyrics say it all.

What’s it all about?

So if you have heard the term short sale just what is it?

Selling short of what you owe with permission from the lender.

We have so many now in our Greater Orlando Board of Realtors MLS.  Selling them can be a challenge because there are so many and not enough service providers to help get the job done in a timely manner.  Would you like to stand in line at the bank for 3 months and still not know if your deposit was accepted?  This can happen with short sales not always but it is certainly a possibility if you are not working with a professional. 

What’s it all about when you sort it out?

Are we mean’t to take more than we give?

Be careful you may owe tax on the forgiven debt by the lender but not the IRS who could tax the difference as income.  Get professional help when considering this type of sale.

These are questions quite suited to short sales.

Here are some more answers to those questions and why buying or selling with a short sale may be for you.

Many people bought using adjustible rate mortgages, which payments are now adjusting up and they can’t afford the new payments.

This situation has caused the foreclosure rates to skyrocket more.  As more and more of these owners reach the adjustment period and can’t afford the new adjusted payments. They call the bank and ask can we do a short sale? 

That is asking the bank to let them them sell if for less than they owe.  Say a 250K loan is owed the bank, but allowing a short sale or selling short of what they owe a bank might allow them to sell it for 225K. Even if it is a loss to the bank it is better than foreclosure and possible greater loss. 

This has lead to many banks loosing money and unhappy stockholders.  There are so many of these short sales now happening here that it caused some banks to go under.  Now unless you have cash buying a home with a mortgage here means you have to have stellar credit and at least 20-25% down more for a foreign investor as many of them have also just walked away from their loan obligations too.  There are special options for first time home buyers so be sure to ask your professional about these options.

Now here is another explanation of short sales from a fellow Allen Hainge Cyberstar James Nellis.

If you need more information call the Orlando Avenue Top Team today Buying Selling Relocating We Can Help.

Now here is the original of the song by Dionne Warwick it is about 5mins. into the video and if you would rather watch a movie clip with Jude Law of the most recent Alfie movie take 5 to enjoy them both. 

Luxury homes that sold in Orlando over a million dollars

The Orlando luxury homes market is doing extremely well considering all the foreclosures, short sales and bad press the real estate market is getting.

Check out the statistics since Jan. 2008 by month for sales of homes over a million dollars in and around the Florida counties.  Orange, Polk, Osceola, Lake and Seminole Counties have posted multiple sales every month.

So just what has been happening?  Here are the numbers

Orlando Luxury homes over a million sold in

January 2008

19 from 1,000,014 in Celebration Florida to 9M in Isleworth.

February 2008

17 from 1,000,066 to 5,800,000

March 2008

23 from 980 to 4,700,000

April 2008

3 from 1,000,800 to 4,450,000

May 2008

4 from 1,100,000 to 2,950,000

June 2008

1 for a 1,400,000

July 2008

3 from 1,100,000 to 1,812,600

That is 60 Orlando Luxury Homes over a million to the end of July. 

What Orlando subdivisions are these selling in well here is the list:

Celebration, Vizcaya, Baldwin Park, Keenes Pointe, Reunion, Rose Isle, Glades on Sylvan Lake, Sicilian Shores, Isleworth, Estates at Lake Clarice, Estates at Phillips Landings, Pennsylvania Place, Spring Valley Gardens,Summerport Beach, Reserves at Belmere, Woodmere Terrace, Solara at the Plaza, Lake Highland, Heathrow Woods, Tildens Grove,Valencia Terrace, Sunset Bayand Alaqua Lakes, Wingfield Reserve, Sorenson Heights, Sandy Lane Reserve, Interlachen Place, Northshore at Lake Hart, Metcalf Park, Cypress Shores, Spring Lake Park, Windsong, Turtle Creek and Windermere. 

Bring your sunglasses or Isleworth Celebrities need to search one of Orlando’s most exlusive home community read all about the Butler Chain of Lakes is amidst the most popular high end homes in Orlando.

We also have a beautiful home in Wingfield North and for those Millionaires wanting the Caribbean well that is available too.

Buying Selling or Relocating We Can Help! Call us today 407-467-5155.

Benefits of Buying a New Home versus foreclosure what you need to know before buying and Orlando Florida Home

Mama Mia check out these updated Orlando Real Estate Opportunities  today.

Do you know The Name of the Game?  There are so many choices right now but don’t think foreclosures are the only deals. 

Orlando Builders too are ready to get rid of inventory.

What is the difference if you buy a foreclosure or new Orlando builder inventory?

• They might pay for your first years homeowners dues
• They could contribute substantially to your closing costs
• They would include furniture packages if you are in a short term area an $18,000 value
• They would offer a close out price on a returned unit to reduce inventory
• The biggest difference is you have new with warranty versus foreclosed in as is condition.

You do the math?  Want to know where some of these deals are lurking in Orlando?

This is not Our Last Summer Orlando experiences visitors by the thousands year after year talk to us about owning a home here.

You can Take a Chance on Me or you can benefit from all our expertise.  What you need to know before buying a home and if you still have questions give me a call.

 If someone presented you with a crisp new dollar bill or a dirty used one which would you choose?

Now I am not saying all resale or foreclosure homes are dirty, but we have seen some interesting property conditions that even though they were greatly reduced would incur huge expenses to get them up to par.  Resale homes not in foreclosure, staged and ready for showtime sparkle in comparison.

When you show as many properties as we have over the years and in some of the most popular subdivisons they are easy to pinpoint.  You don’t have to waste your time so why not start your Orlando Real Estate home search with the Orlando Avenue Top Team and put our expertise to work for you. 

 Ask about our Orlando Home Search VIP alerts.  You too can be a Dancing Queen in you new home.  There are alot of very good options right now so even if you are still paying someone elses mortgage and building their equity why not your own.

 I Have a Dream you too own a place in Orlando to enjoy the Sunshine State.  So meet our team and let’s get started today with your Orlando Real Estate search for homes. 

Today Mama Mia the movie opens after seeing the play several times it will be fun to see the movie.  I used to vacation every summer in Greece for years before we moved to the Orlando Sunshine the scenery is bringing back so many wonderful memories.

So bear with my musical blogs afterall before I became a real estate broker, co-authored books or owned an online travel store I was a music teacher!

Critical issues you need to be aware of when financing your Orlando Home

Mama Mia is not the only buzz this week opening in Orlando Florida and across the country.  What is happening with the state of mortgages and banks?  It has been all a buzz this week the state of the mortgage market.  

We even have been told about a list of lenders to watch.  Why if you are about to use one of these banks for your home mortgage better get alternatives just in case. 

Well personally I think the volatillity is here to stay, at least another couple years with all the Orlando Florida Real Estate to sell. 

Why it will take that long just to sell off all the inventory that has been created by the high foreclosure rates.

What if you are ready to close and loose your financing right at the last minute because your lender decides not to fund a condo sale?  Don’t think this has not happened we found one of our buyers just this week a terrific deal because of that.  So what can you do? Call us.

Financing for condo hotels is all dried up and those that are still there are almost impossible to find financing for anymore.  What can you do?  Call us for your best options.

Cash deals seem to be the only ones happening without hassels so here are the song titles from Mama Mia that will continue our theme this week.

Gimme Gimme Gimme (not a man a mortgage?)

Gimme Gimme Gimme (not a man but show me the money?)

• Another key factor is the financial status and state of the economy
• What does David Podgursky have to say about this?

SOS or Sellers Orlando Sellers what you need to know!

SOS

• Sellers you need to know what is selling in your neighborhoods check out the market snapshot enter as a seller and find out what really is selling in your nieghborhood. 
• If you are a seller that can’t handle the truth here is another resource from Miamism to discover what else you can be doing.

So just what is all this about check out this video from CBS

If you are still not sure what all this means to you well

• It is imperative that you know what you qualify for before you start looking at homes.  More than once I have said how easy it is to go up in price and how hard it is to go down.  So get it right up front. 
• You need to clean up your credit big time now to qualify.
• You will need to save downpayment or get downpayment assistance in place before you start looking.

We have dealt with some of the best in the business so call us for your Orlando Florida Real Estate today. 

Why isnt my Orlando Home Selling Mama Mia Songs that help

Why isn’t my Orlando Home selling?  Mama Mia here we go again why didn’t my home sell. Money Money Money dollars could be the problem this is survey question number one. 

In another words Price is Key and if you have to sell and get an offer in this market it is Key to take it seriously.

Holding out for those extra dollars can easily be made up in the few months you continue to pay the mortgage and costs vs taking that slightly less offer upfront.  What would actually cost you?

Are you ready to take the Mama Mia poll for getting your home sold?

Money Money Money is your home priced to sell?

• What is the most recent market snapshot you reviewed to be sure you are priced correctly?
• Have you had a recent appraisal?
• Do you know there is a difference between what you need and what it will sell for? 
• How does the current market effect you? 

 Honey Honey have you added incentives that make your home stand out from the crowd?

• offer to pay 6 months of homeowners dues
• offer to pay 6 months of taxes
• offer to pay closing costs
• offer a home warranty

 Slipping thru my fingers are you missing buyers you could have attracted because of curb appeal?

• Have you maintained the front of the property
• What draws the buyer to your front door is the path clear of clutter
• Have you added bright colored plants to the front door
• Have you added any fung shui elements check out Laurie Manny’s feng shui ideas

If the real movie is what you are waiting for Friday it is released here is the preview. 

So there you have it part one of three of our Mama Mia Orlando Real Estate Theme.

Orlando is one of te 66 cities listed where it is better to buy than rent.

According to MSN Real Estate Orlando and Kissimmee are on the list of 66 of the best cities to buy, and Florida has 7 cities on the list.  Florida has no state income tax, and our homestead exemption also gives you a property tax benefit for primary residences.

Why is this important for renters?  Well if you are a renter in one of these cities the opportunity to purchase is very good right now and Orlando is one of them. 

If you are renting this may be best time to consider home ownership with lower prices and high inventory not to mention a time to start investing in your own equity vs your landlords.

The cost of owning could be less with a 6% loan versus higher rental costs.  It is still important that you have good credit. 

How were these cities selected and where are the rest?

Information was used from the National Low Income Housing Coalition and Center for Economic and Policy Research. 

Here is the list from MSN Real Estate article.  

As the market for subprime and zero down mortgages got tighter, you might be surprised to see how FHA has changed to help buyers and sellers in today’s market! 

What about insurance costs of owning a home?  You can save 30% on insurance costs if you use the same company for car and home.

So what are you waiting for falling home prices, FHA loan options, and good credit will help put you on the path to home ownership. 

Check out all homes for sale in our Orlando area, we also can check out bank owned homes and great vacation home opportunities.  If you are ready give us a call today Buying Selling Relocating We Can Help.

Special programs and the latest FHA financing available for your Orlando Home Purchase.

Orlando Florida Real Estate is still presenting many opportunities for special mortgage financing and choices.

First the new FHA limits for Orange County Orlando and Kissimmee

Just in from Cindy Hall President of Mortgage Solutions are some 100% financing loans.

These 100% financing loans are currently available for homes located in Orange County.  Where?  Ocoee West of Clark Road, all of Winter Garden and areas out to the Lake County line.  All of Lake County is included. 

There is also territory in Polk County including Davenport.  Here we will have to check specific property addresses to be sure it is located in the approved territory.

What else do you need to know about this available financing?

There are also income restrictions that can be reviewed when you prequalify.

Here is another feature that makes this loan so attractive.  There is no morgage insurance premium which will make the monthly payment lower than previous loans of this type. 

FHA loans now make it possible to get the buyers in for almost no out of pocket costs, utilizing seller funded down payment grants and seller paid closing costs.  There are no income or geographical restrictions with FHA financing.

These are great programs to help buyers get in homes!

Listen to the latest information about new changes in FHA financing from our podcast.

To find the home of your dreams click Search all Homes and get started.  It is easy to sign up for our VIP membership.

For more information about these FHA rates and specifics check the FHA website.  If you are a Veteran there are also opportunities with VA loans available just for Veterans.  Here is a list of the frequently asked VA loan questions.

If you want to explore your options call us today and let us help you find your dream home in Orlando Florida. 

4th of July Scenes to remember

 I  PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE

                                                  FLAG,  

OF  THE
UNITED  
STATES OF AMERICA,    
 

AND TO THE  REPUBLIC, FOR
WHICH IT STANDS,    

ONE
NATION  UNDER GOD,  

INDIVISIBLE,  WITH
LIBERTY  
 

AND JUSTICE FOR  ALL! 

KEEP IT LIT!! KEEP IT LIT
        KEEP IT LIT!

And  God
Bless our Military who are protecting our Country  for our
Freedom.  
  Thanks  
To them, and their sacrifices we can celebrate the 4th  of July 
 

  

We must never forget who
Gets the  credit for the freedoms we have, of which we should be  
Eternally grateful.

I  watched the flag
Pass by one day,
It fluttered in  the breeze.

A  young Marine
Saluted it,
And then he stood at  ease..

I looked at
Him in uniform
So  young, so tall, so proud,
With hair cut square
And  eyes alert
He’d stand out in any crowd. 

 I thought  how many men
Like him
Had fallen through the  years.
How many died on foreign
Soil
How many  mothers’ tears?

How many  pilots’ planes
Shot down?
How many died at sea  
How many foxholes were soldiers’
Graves?
No,  freedom isn’t free .

That Taps  had meant “Amen,”

When a flag had draped a  
Coffin.
Of a brother or a friend.  

I  thought of all the
Children,
Of the mothers and  the wives,
Of fathers, sons and
Husbands
With  interrupted lives.

I  
Thought about a graveyard
At the  bottom of the sea

Of unmarked graves in
Arlington.
No, freedom isn’t free

Enjoy  Your Freedom
&God Bless Our  Troops

I was asked to share this with you so enjoy and have a wonderful 4th of July.