Cole Carroll Team

Questions to ask when buying a short sale

Short sales made up 23% of the closed sales in Orange and Seminole Counties since January of 2010, so trying to avoid them is like trying to avoid love bugs in Florida this time of year.

So if you're going to look at short sales, here are a few key questions that you should be asking the agent or seller.

"Is the seller's ‘package' ready to be sent to the lender?" This package is the extensive financial forms and statements that must be submitted with your offer to the seller's lender for approval. In order for a bank to approve a short sale, the sellers need to be in a true distressed situation. If the package is not ready or if they don't know what you are talking about, it should be a red flag to you.

"How many liens are on the property?" This is important because each lien holder has to separately approve the sale after you get a contract. The more lien holders; the more complicated approval may be.

"Are there any past due Home Owner's Association dues?" This is one that can show up in the final hour to cause high blood pressure for everyone involved. Find out up front and save yourself the stress.

Laura Carroll

Short Sales in the Casselberry Market. Based on the data from the Orlando Regional Realtor Association, it looks like there is continued demand for short sales in Casselberry. However market forces continure to favor the cheapest pricing creating greater demand for bank owned properties.

From January to September there have been 205 sales of single family homes. 73 were bank owned; 42 were short sales and 90 were non-distressed, traditional sales. Below is a comparison of current active listings and sales over these past nine months.

Jan - Sept Closed Sales

Total Sales 205

Bank Owned 73

Traditional 90

Short-Sale 42

Active listings

Total Listings 222

Bank Owned 40

Traditional 105

Short-Sale 77

Months of Housing Supply

Total 9.8 months

Bank Owned 4.9 months

Traditional 10.5 months

Short-Sale 16.5 months

From the comparison we can see that the supply of Bank Owned homes is within five months, indicating a greater demand for these homes due to price point. There is a larger supply of traditional sales and even greater for short sales. The reduced demand for short sales is the result of competition from the bank owned sector. As supply of REO properties is reduced, buyers will look more at short sales as a lower priced alternative to traditional sales.

The average number of days on the market for homes in Casselberry from July 1, 2010 through September 30, 2010 was 77 days. However homes listed as short sales spent 25 more days on the market than the average.

Bank Owned Short-Sale Traditional

Days to contract 53 102 89

Average Sales Price $113,990 $124,563 $164,463

Average Price/SF $63.62 $79 $93

(based on avg s.f of 1670)

Based on these price per square foot averages, short sales in Caselberry are selling for about 15% less than traditional sales and 24% greater than bank owned properties.

Laura Carroll

Data provided by Orlando Regional MLS.

Baldwin Park Home Market - by Laura Carroll

Baldwin Park is a very desirable community in the Orlando area. With neo-traditional designed homes and a Village Center with restaurants and shops, it has the appeal of a small town.  Since we always have a lot of interest from buyers for this area, we thought we would start sharing some of our market statistics.

Monthly comparison 2010 vs. 2009: In the past 30 days, from August 15 to September 15, 2010 12 homes sold in Baldwin Park.  Average price was $401,200 and price per square foot averaged to $159. These homes were on the market an average of 98 days prior to contract.

For the same period one year ago the average price was $327,415 with an average price per square foot of $156.  It took an average of 67 days to get to contract.

Year to date comparison 2010 vs. 2009: Year-to-date figures (which are a bit more reliable than month by month statistics) show average sales price at $411,412, up $37,748 from 2009. However, price per square foot at an average of $159 this year was down $8 from 2009. The number of closings was about the same (138 closings in 2010; 132 closings in 2009.)

Absorption Rate: There were 196 closed sales in Baldwin Park in the most recent 12 months and there are 66 listings currently active. This means that the market is sustaining about 16.33 sales per month and gives us about 4 months of inventory.  Compared to the rest of Orange County, which has a 5.9 month supply of homes, this looks pretty good.

In Summary: There are still many homeowners here who are "underwater" with their mortgages, and we anticipate that short sales and foreclosures will continue to be prevalent in the market at least the next couple of years.

These statistics depict a relatively stable market in Baldwin Park even after the roller coaster ride we've been on the past few years in Orlando. Baldwin Park certainly appears to be in better shape than the overall county. This is likely due to the superior location and neighborhood amenities coupled with the traditional appeal of the homes here.

Statistics provided by Orlando Regional MLS

For additional information about current market conditions or available homes in Baldwin Park, Laura Carroll can be reached at lcarroll10@cfl.rr.com

For more information find us on our website: www.ColeCarrollTeam.com