Investing in real estate in Orlando, Florida.  In our most recent Orlando market it's all about investing.  This year I have worked with many out-of-state and foreign investors doing sight-unseen purchases, as well as folks traveling in for vacation and picking up an inexpensive foreclosed condo while they are here!  I don't see this trend ending soon.

It's like the wild west here in this REO market when you are investing in real estate, and it is almost like going to the auctions. Properties are priced and listed at rock bottom, the investors know (or should know if they have a savvy agent) that they are in competition with each other and submit their offers above the list price.  The lenders call for "highest and best" offers, driving the final accepted price up, sometimes by several thousand dollars for condos, and they go fast!  For houses, I've seen 10's of thousands to a couple hundred thousand dollar differences between list and sold prices. 

A good example of investing in real estate in our area now would be a condo listed at $50,000 which may sell for $69,000 or higher. (Yes, we have them priced that low, and lower!)  Because of the competition and low prices, the accepted offers are generally cash only offers with no contingencies.  It's almost impossible to get a loan for condos at this point at any rate. Click here for the Orlando area MLS to get an idea of what's going on!

For condo examples, we currently have both bank-owned/REO and short sale condos near Disneyworld from $30,000 on up, with nicer 3 bedroom/2 bath condos going for $80,000 and up.  When investing in real estate, this condo market is a cash market due to the competition for these properties, and they are moving, FAST! 

Continuing with our investing in real estate example, let's take a currently listed 1 bedroom short sale condo down by the Orlando attractions that was purchased in 2006 at $165,000.  It is currently listed for $30,000 and we purchase it for $35,000 (which includes approx $800 closing costs for a cash transaction.)  In that neighborhood we can get $800 per month rental (-) $180 condo association fee (=) $620 income per month.  Multiply that by 12 months (=) $7,440 per year income.  Subtract property taxes of $2,000 per year (=) $5,440 per year profit if you manage it yourself (otherwise take 10% per year off that).  $35,000 purchase price (/) $5,440 (=) 6.4 years to recover the purchase price.  Beyond 6.4 years your investment is paying you $5,440 cash per year (-) expenses, that is if you don't raise the rent (which you would do when the economy improves).  During that 6.4 years, the economy has hopefully recovered and the condo has appreciated by many thousands of dollars, making investing in real estate an attractive prospect.  That being said, market history has shown that condo prices are more volatile than other types of real estate. That means that when condos go up, they can go up by 20% and 30% at a clip. When the drop, they can drop to devastating lows, such as where they are now.

A few other examples of investing in real estate opportunities for those who don't want to play in the condo arena: 

• Houses are listed at amazingly low prices as well in Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden and other very nice Orlando area neighborhoods.  We have families not necessarily investing in real estate, but moving up from their $300,000 homes to what used to be $1.5M-$2M homes now listed at $700K or lower because the interest rates are so good, making the payments affordable. The luxury market is obviously suffering when we see multi-million dollar houses going for 1 or 2 million less than original listing price. 
• We also have those investing in real estate searching out two or three houses as rentals for retirement income and/or retirement homes for themselves. 

Contact me to learn more about these opportunities!  View my MLS search page, buyer's resources page, seller's resources page and my relocation information page for more detailed information. 

Market statistics are showing the rest of the country's home prices starting to rise, however, Florida continues to lag behind in those figures.  This makes investing in real estate in Orlando, Florida  continue to be an attractive investment for those who can do it, and do it soon!