lashawn norden: Back-Up Offer ~ Ever Considered One?
- 11/07/11 01:28 PM
In Central Florida, there are nearly 10,000 properties under contract each month. While some might say those are “good” numbers to have, in order to get a true picture of the real estate market, it’s best to look at how many closed sales there are each month as well.
The Orlando Regional REALTOR Association distributes a summary of the prior month’s activity called the “Market Pulse” each month which shares the number of active listings, homes under contract, average days on market and the number of closed properties.
While it’s encouraging to see that nearly the same number of … (5 comments)
lashawn norden: 3 Reasons Sellers Should Leave for a Showing
- 11/01/11 04:41 AM
When a home is listed, Sellers often ask if they should leave the home when a Buyer is scheduled for a showing. As an experienced REALTOR in Central Florida who has represented hundreds of clients, my answer is always the same...YES!
Sellers often feel the need to stick around to tell the Buyer about the upgraded electrical system or some other improvement they’ve made that they think the Buyer might care about, but what they don’t realize is they may be hurting themselves rather than helping themselves by not leaving when a showing is scheduled.
Cut the grass & pull the weeds: When buyers pull up to a home and get out of their car, the lawn is one of the first things they notice. If the grass is overgrown or there are weeds everywhere, address it. Curb appeal is essential! Turn the lights on in all rooms/make sure bulbs are working: It’s frustrating to a buyer when bulbs are out and they can’t … (5 comments)
lashawn norden: Why Buyers Should Ask for Proof of Short Sale Offer Submission
- 06/01/11 02:40 PM
Chances are, if you are a buyer and are interested in purchasing a home in Central Florida, you will likely encounter more short sales than traditional or foreclosure listings in your search. When considering writing an offer on a listing that is a short sale, make sure that your buyer’s agent knows (and is able to explain) the details of the Contract for Sale and Purchase and the required Short Sale Approval Contingency addendum.If your buyer’s agent is knowledgeable about the short sale process, they can also put a few additional safety measures in place to make sure that if your … (5 comments)
lashawn norden: What does “Active with Contract” status mean?
- 05/23/11 01:40 PM
In early May 2011, the Mid Florida Regional MLS (the source where all homes in Central Florida are listed for sale), changed their rules to allow for homes that are under contract to remain on the market using a new status called “Active with Contract.” According to the MFRMLS, the definition of “Active with Contract” means “there is a contract on the property with a contingency; however, the MLS Participating Office will continue to market the property.”
This new status will require a Seller to specifically request in writing that their property remain on the market while the contingencies in … (11 comments)
lashawn norden: FAST TRACK| Pre-approved short sales benefit Buyers in Central Florida
- 03/17/11 01:33 AM
Earlier this month, Wachovia/Wells Fargo bank released a program in Central Florida called “Fast Track.” The “Fast Track” program was designed for mortgage holders with loans from Wachoiva, Wells Fargo and World Savings Bank in order to streamline the short sale process.
“Fast Track” homes are those that have a pre-approved price, which means that Buyers won’t have to wait weeks or months to see if their offer meets the needs of the lender as the lender will have already conducted a Broker Price Opinion (BPO) or an appraisal, if necessary.
Even though it seems as though all lenders … (3 comments)
The "Fast Track" program is one in which the short sale process has been streamlined, cutting out most of the mundane "paper collection" tasks that have been required in the past, and removing the guessing game of whether a certain offer will be accepted by pre-approving the listing price up front.
WOW! It's so refreshing to have a lending institution who realizes that being proactive rather than reactive will only … (0 comments)
As many sellers, buyers and real estate agents know, the short sale approval process at most banks takes months (if not longer); and even when progress is made, less than 30% of short sales actually end up closing.
While there are many reasons surrounding the low closing ratio, one of the most common reasons is the length of time it takes to get a response to the buyer’s offer. … (1 comments)
In Central Florida, an “escrow” deposit is synonymous with an “earnest money” deposit. While the amount of the deposit is negotiable, having it held in an “escrow account” is not.
The Florida Realtors-Florida Bar (often referred to as the FAR-BAR) Contract for Sale and Purchase requires that the escrow deposit be held in a third-party account, either managed by … (0 comments)
The new contract was expanded to ten pages and there were several changes that may surprise Buyers who are purchasing a home in Florida if not known about and responded to at the time of contract writing.
One of the additions to this contract that may impact Buyers is the paragraph titled: Property Inspection; Right to Cancel.
Unlike prior year contracts, the new one clearly states in italics and bold print:
While a Buyer might like the idea of purchasing a home that’s not occupied, it might be worthwhile to verify the status of any required Home Owner Association dues before getting too excited about a potential offer.
In some cases, homes have been vacant for many months...or even longer. When vacating, Sellers may have opted to stop paying their homeowner association fees (as well as their mortgage, property taxes and insurance) and in doing … (5 comments)
Since many of the purchases this year were made by First Time Home Buyers, I thought it might be helpful to explain how property taxes in Seminole County are calculated.
On the tax bill, one will note that it’s broken into non-ad valorem taxes and ad valorem taxes.
According to the Seminole County Tax Collector’s website, the non-ad valorem taxes are charged per unit, rather than on the value of the property and may include fees for services such … (0 comments)
As a listing agent in Central Florida, the real estate market has forced those who are serious about their business to tackle the sale of short sales. With that task, we are faced with listing homes that have their mortgage held or serviced by Bank of America (BOA).
Most recently, I was using the online offer submission service for BOA, Equator when new fields populated that required information about the Buyer.
As the listing agent, I found it odd that I was being asked to provide information about the Buyer other than … (112 comments)
lashawn norden: Buyers of Short Sales: Make Sure Your Closing Costs are Accounted For
- 06/06/10 03:01 PM
Many Buyers in today's real estate market are asking for the Seller to pay a portion (or all) of their allowable closing costs, pre-paid items (such as homeowner's insurance) and other loan related fees. If purchasing a property that is being sold as a short sale, the Buyer is ultimately asking the Seller's lender to accept less from the sale than they would receive if the offer was not contingent upon these additional costs being included. While many lender's are approving short sales with Seller paid closing costs, without it being stipulted and accounted for during all phases of the sales process, … (4 comments)
lashawn norden: Central Florida Buyers Need a "Hold Harmless Agreement" When Purchasing a Short Sale or Foreclosure
- 03/08/10 12:34 PM
With the increase of the number of short sales on the market today in Central Florida, many buyers are finding these homes unoccupied with no utilities on. In most cases, the sellers have vacated the property and discontinued power and water/sewer services in an attempt to save money on a home that they already believe they may "lose" to the bank in foreclosure proceedings. While this scenario may not prevent a Buyer from seeing the home and writing an offer, it does become an issue when it comes time for the home inspection and/or appraisal (especially if the Buyer is securing a … (1 comments)
lashawn norden: Tenants might pay their rent, but they could be sabotaging your ability to sell at the same time!
- 02/01/10 02:03 PM
This past week, I've shown more than 50 Central Florida properties to a multitude of Buyers. While most of the Buyers I am working with are first-time purchasers, they are savvy, educated and well prepared. Thankfully, most of the properties I showed this past week were either vacant or owner-occupied and were easy to show...however, there were several that were "tenant occupied" and nearly impossible to show. Now that the week is over and each of the Buyers have elected not to pursue any of the "tenant occupied" properties, I wanted to share the reasons why with Sellers and their Real … (7 comments)
lashawn norden: Is your Central Florida home over-insured?
- 01/30/10 03:21 AM
It's hard to believe that a few short years ago, I wrote a similar article...only at that time, the point of the piece was to inform sellers and my past clients that they should contact their homeowner's insurance company to make sure that their home had ENOUGH coverage. In the mid 2000's, property values in Florida has increased in value by more than 40% over two years. When that happened, many property owners found their homes "under" insured and had to contact their insurance company to have their coverage increased to make sure they had ample coverage in the event of … (0 comments)
lashawn norden: Why aren’t banks REQUIRED to disclose the terms of their “bank addendum” upfront?
- 01/28/10 09:37 AM
If you are a buyer who is in the market for a home, you have more than likely seen (and possibly written offers on) properties that are foreclosures/REO’s (real estate owned). Hopefully, if you have found a home, written an offer and had it accepted by the seller, when you were asked to sign the “bank addendum,” there was nothing shocking in that document or anything that made you re-think your decision to purchase the property.
However, more times than not, many sellers of these REO properties are not disclosing the terms of their “bank addendums” when the property is … (6 comments)
lashawn norden: Finding a Central Florida home that doesn’t require your dog to go on a diet!
- 01/26/10 09:55 PM
Some Central Florida communities require that property owners be a member of the Home Owner's Association in order to live there. Communities that have this requirement typically have recorded documents called "Codes, Covenants & Restrictions" that state what "rules" property owners must follow. One of the sections in these CC&R's that pet owners who are considering the purchase of a home within a particular community should pay special attention to is the "Pet" portion of the documents. Within this section, many communities specify the number of pets, type of pets and size of pets that are allowed. While some communities may … (4 comments)
lashawn norden: How to find "pet friendly" communities in Central Florida
- 01/26/10 12:54 AM
Today is an exciting day for pet owners in Central Florida! As of today, the Mid Florida Regional MLS (which is the data base where all homes in Central Florida are listed for sale), will add a new searchable field for "pets" if that listing is within a community that has a required or optional Condo or Home Owners Association. So, if you are like me and your dog or cat is like a member of the family and you would never give them up if the home you were considering buying had restrictions preventing pets, then this new searchable field is … (2 comments)
Selling or purchasing a home can be exciting and scary at the same time! The goal of my blog is to educate Central Florida Buyers & Sellers about the Good, the Bad & the Ugly things that can happen in a real estate transaction! As an advocate for consumers in Orange, Seminole and Volusia County, I especially enjoy working with first-time home buyers, relocation buyers, sellers of distressed property and luxury home sellers. Native to Central Florida, I'd welcome the opportunity to be your advocate too!
In Central Florida, there are nearly 10,000 properties under contract each month. While some might say those are “good” numbers to have, in order to get a true picture of the real estate market, it’s best to look at how many closed sales there are each month as well.
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