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In the Orlando area, there are over 20,000 homes for sale. So, how do you beat the overwhelming odds and get your house sold? What's the not-so-super-secret number one selling tip? It's easy. Set the price right in the first place.

This market is no place to test the price for a month or two. Average home prices are clearly falling, so you don't want to be behind the curve when selling. Look at it this way, the average sales price in the Orlando area fell a little more than 10% from August to September this year. That's quite a drop in a month. So if you had placed your home on the market in August with a price that was only 5% too high, not only are you not likely to get any offers, but by the time you're ready to try dropping the price, average… Read Full Post

Better late than never, here's the Market Analysis for the Orlando area in October, 2007.

Overall, stats are pretty similar to September. Inventory is at 26,330, compared to September's 26,310. Only slightly higher than last month, but certainly quite a bit higher than last year when it was 21,324.

New contracts have gone up slightly from last month's 1,173 to 1,304. That's compared to 2,602 in October of last year.

Though expired listings has dropped by 211, withdrawn listings have made up the difference by going up 228 to 2,181 total.

If there's one good statistic in the report, it's that sales, thankfully, have at least gone back up into quadruple digits. 1,034 sales for the month is certainly not stellar, but it's better than last…

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With inventory high and housing prices low, it’s nearly impossible to sell a home in some markets these days. So it should come as no surprise that many people are looking for a little divine intervention. Thus, St. Joseph is seeing an increase in popularity among many people trying to sell their home.

Some sellers firmly believe that burying a statue of Joseph, the patron saint of workers, in the yard of your home can help bring in more buyers. There are some arguments over how he should be buried. Some say he should be buried upside down. Others say he should be buried facing away from the house to denote “leaving”. For some, he should reside in the back yard and for others in the front. And what about those trying to sell a condo or townhome? Well…

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Well, it's that time again - time for the Orlando Regional Realtor Association to release the market stats for September of '07. As we've come to expect, the news is fairly grim. 

New contracts are down to 1,173 from 2,182 last year. 

Inventory has gone down for the first time this year...by three - from 26,313 to 26,310.

Average Days on the Market is up to 113, compared to 67 days during September of last year. 

But the real heartbreaker is Sales, down to triple digits for the first time in recent memory - 924 compared to last year's 2,434.

Is there any good news in the report?  Well of course there is, someone just needs to let the buyers know.  Inventory is up, housing prices are down, and mortgage rates have dropped more than a third of a…

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With a inventory higher than it's been in years, the buyer certainly has the upper hand in this housing market. Faced with a sea of competition, sellers have been forced to slash prices if they hope to have any chance of making a sale. It's tempting for a buyer to use this current market to their advantage and make drastically reduced offers. This is understandable, of course, everyone wants to get the best deal possible, but it can be risky. An offer that is much lower than the listing price runs the risk of offending the seller or making the buyer look like they're not serious about making a deal. Follow some of these tips for bidding low:

 

Gauge the Seller's Motivation
There are many outside factors that could prompt a seller to accept a lower bid… Read Full Post

Colleen Mitchell has been in the lending field a long time and she's great at her job. I've used her services on many occasions and I trust her expertise. I asked her to write a short summary on what the recent Fed Cut would mean for mortgage rates:

How Do the Fed Cuts Effect Mortgage Interest Rates?

So the Federal Reserve cut rates! What does this mean for consumers who are thinking of purchasing or refinancing a home? Many mortgage applicants are calling Countrywide and expecting a lower interest rate. Others who have been waiting to refinance are puzzled as to why mortgage rates have not moved lower after the recent .50% Fed rate cuts. Is a Fed rate cut really good news for mortgage rates? Here are the facts: The Fed can only control the Discount…

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In Central Florida, Winter Park is one of the most prestigious places to own a home. Many of Orlando's wealthiest and most notable familes own homes in this historic city. So just for kicks, I thought I'd take a moment to showcase the highest-priced home for sale in Winter Park and get a taste of the best that luxury homes have to offer.

This beautiful 8,000+ square foot home is located within walking distance of Rollins College and the upscale shopping of Park Avenue. Built in 1898, it is on the National Registry of Historic Places, it features 7 bedrooms, 8 and 2 half bathrooms, a guest suite with its own kitchen, staff quarters, a game room, a library, a home theatre, 4 fireplaces, a top-of-the-line electronics system and a 3,000 sq. ft. air…

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Here in Central Florida, the Orlando Regional Realtor Association has released the Real Estate statistics for August of '07. In Orange and Seminole counties, the numbers were not wholly promising. In August of 2007, the number of new contracts decreased by 980 compared to last year, down to 1,451. But as usual, the real problem with the market is the amount of inventory - 26,313, that's the highest it's been in over 12 months.

Is there a silver lining to this? Well yes, and for some reason the local media seems reluctant to cover it. The plain truth is that this is a good time to buy a home. The choice of options for a buyer to pick from is better than ever and sellers have been forced to lower their prices in order to compete. A buyer can now make… Read Full Post