Orlando Real Estate Market News | Page #17

Every home seller dreams of closing the sale of their property quickly and at a final price that’s as high as the asking price. Of course, a home buyer wants to get that same property for a price as far below the asking price as possible. Where the two parties meet depends on many variables, starting with the overall market condition. 

The key to getting the most money out of your Orlando home is to price it appropriately from the start. Some home sellers want to list high, but this strategy can backfire. If you don’t get any offers, your home could languish on the market for many months and you could wind up selling for a greater discount than if it was priced right to start. 

Pricing your home correctly from the very beginning will help ensure a…

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The June Team Donovan community reports have now been updated and are available from the following link:

                                                                                Community Report

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May 'musings' from the Orlando resort area...

The number of homes available in the resort area was down 3% from April as 1955 were recorded as listed for sale. The only type of listing class that showed an increase was short sales which were up a net 3 from April at 34. Bank owned listings were down 20 month on month at 41 while normal owner listings fell 64 at 1955. The average days on market that a home took to sell was unchanged from last month at 130 whilst the average price achieved of a home that closed was down very slightly from last month at 96.6% from 96.7% in April. The average price of a home in our market was up 0.6% from last month at $171,500 and was 5.2% higher than the May 2015 figure of $162,956. During May the market saw 167 homes…

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The May Team Donovan community reports have now been updated and are available from the following link:

                                                                                Community Report

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The April Team Donovan community reports have now been updated and are available from the following link:

                                                                                Community Report

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March 'musings' from the Orlando resort area...

March closings across the resort area resulted in 281 homes changing hands which was 2 less than the March 2015 total but 36 above the 245 February 2016 closings. Overall inventory levels were down 2.1% from last month at 2010 active listings. By type normal owner listings were down 45 month on month at 1912 while short sales fell 2 at 35. Conversely bank owned inventory recorded a rise of 4 homes at 65. Year on year inventory levels have continued to rise with the overall March total up 11.2% from the same month last year. The median price of a resort area home was up 0.5% from last month at $169,893 and up 4.6% from the March 2015 median price of $162,118. The areas average days on market remained…

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Are you in the market for an Orlando vacation home? If so, you may have come across a listing on a real estate website like Team Donovan’s that says the home is a bank owned / REO property. REO stands for Real Estate Owned, which means the home has been foreclosed upon and repossessed by the lender (which is typically a bank).

Foreclosure processes vary by state, but the end result is the same. After a bank forecloses on a property, they place the home into their inventory of real estate owned. At this point, federal agencies such as Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae or HUD (Housing of Urban Development), may have to settle with the bank if there was some type of guaranteed loan involved. It doesn’t matter whether these agencies or the bank own the property,…

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Are you thinking about buying a second home in Orlando? Many travelers from Canada and the United Kingdom come to Central Florida year after year to spend a relaxing holiday. At some point, it may make more financial sense for you to buy a vacation home in Orlando, rather than spending money on a hotel or vacation rental home. In a previous article, we shared five things you should know before buying an Orlando holiday home. Here are a few more important points to consider before making a purchase. 

1. Determine the Financial Stability of the Homeowners’ Association – Many Orlando vacation homes are located in a housing development that is governed by a homeowners’ association (HOA). An HOA makes and enforces rules for the properties in its…

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The March Team Donovan community reports have now been updated and are available from the following link:

                                                                                Community Report

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Many people who travel to Orlando, Florida from outside the U.S., such as Canada or the U.K., enjoy their holidays so much, they decide to buy a second home here. If you want to make Central Florida your “home away from home,” there are some important points you need to know before you buy.  

1. Decide How to Pay for the Property - Many foreign buyers wind up purchasing a holiday home with cash, since financing can be difficult to obtain. If you plan to finance your purchase with a U.S. bank, expect that a minimum down payment of 30 percent will be required. A U.S. mortgage also generally requires far more paperwork than loans secured in other countries. Another advantage of raising finance outside the U.S. is that your holiday home purchase in…

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