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Judy Chapman, REALTOR® ~ Short Sales / Luxury & Lake Properties

Baldwin Park Real Estate - House Sales in October 2009

Want to know what’s selling in your neighborhood? These statistics should give you a feel for the market value of your house.

Keep in mind that many of these sales are for Short Sales or Foreclosed/Bank-Owned properties. Under these situations, the Sold Price may be considerably below the Original List Price. Sorry to say, ‘distressed’ sales drag down the values of all the other homes in the neighborhood, whether or not they’re Short Sales or Foreclosures.

Street

Date Sold

Original List Price

Sold Price

Beds

Baths

Sq Ft

Pool

BRADY

10/15/09

$489,900

$450,000

4

3

2794

N

LEAHY

10/26/09

$459,000

$439,000

3

2

2611

N

LINDALE

10/02/09

$423,315

$405,000

3

2

1779

N

STANFIELD

10/16/09

$365,000

$365,000

3

2

2281

N

PENWAY

10/21/09

$299,000

$272,000

3

2

1849

N

COMMON WAY

10/09/09

$299,000

$299,000

3

2

1781

N

HANKS

10/20/09

$240,694

$300,000

3

2

1763

N

Properties have been listed and sold by various MLS members.

Data drawn from the My Florida Regional Multiple Listing Service.

If you’re a homeowner who wants to sell your house, the following should give you a better understanding of the Orlando FL marketplace.

Remember the old adage that ‘real estate is always local’. Your neighborhood may be different from the neighborhood just down the road.

Homes in Orlando are selling. In fact, they’re selling so well that thousands of homeowners just like you are moving out and moving on. Last year, 1,000 homes in Orange & Seminole counties sold every month on average. In 2009, monthly sales are averaging 1,600 homes. This represents a 60% increase! If the house down the street can sell in this difficult environment, so can yours.

What’s the long-term outlook for the Orlando FL real estate market? Prices have leveled off in recent months. Even so, due to rising unemployment and foreclosure/short sale saturation, it will probably take several years — perhaps as long as a decade or more — for home prices to completely recover.

What about homeowners who are having difficulty keeping up with mortgage payments but can’t sell because their house is worth less than the amount owed on their loan? There are several solutions, but the way a Realtor® can help is by selling the house as a Short Sale.

Winter Park FL Luxury Real Estate - House Sales in October 2009

These statistics should give you a feel for what’s happening in the luxury segment of the Orlando FL real estate market.

Street

Date Sold

Original List Price

Sold Price

Beds

Baths

Sq Ft

Pool

TRISMEN

10/09/09

$2,795,000

$2,050,000

4

3

5033

Y

PHELPS

10/15/09

$1,799,950

$1,325,000

4

4

4461

Y

CYPRESS

10/30/09

$1,750,000

$1,450,000

5

7

5783

Y

FAIRFAX

10/23/09

$1,350,000

$1,125,000

3

2

3280

Y

DETMAR

10/09/09

$1,238,000

$910,000

4

4

3969

Y

KINGS

10/30/09

$1,125,000

$965,000

5

3

3668

N

Properties have been listed and sold by various MLS members.

Data drawn from the My Florida Regional Multiple Listing Service.

A few tidbits of note ...

Homes listed above $500,000 often take longer to sell than properties priced at the lower end of the market. While many houses priced below $500,000 may take 6 or 7 months to sell, homes in upscale neighborhoods may take as much as 2 years to unload.

Keep in mind that many of these sales are for Short Sales or Foreclosed/Bank-Owned properties. Under these situations, the Sold Price may be considerably below the Original List Price. Sorry to say, ‘distressed’ sales drag down the values of all the other homes in the neighborhood, whether or not they’re Short Sales or Foreclosures.

What’s the long-term outlook for the Orlando FL real estate market? Prices have leveled off in recent months. Even so, due to rising unemployment and foreclosure/short sale saturation, it will probably take several years — perhaps as long as a decade or more — for home prices to completely recover.

What about homeowners who are having difficulty keeping up with mortgage payments but can’t sell because their house is worth less than the amount owed on their loan? There are several solutions, but the way a Realtor® can help is by selling the house as a Short Sale.

Lake Mary Real Estate - Short Sales in October 2009

These smart homeowners didn’t have to lose their house to foreclosure. Instead, they hired a real estate agent to help them sell their house as a Short Sale.

Street

Date Sold

Original List Price

Sold Price

Beds

Baths

Sq Ft

Pool

PICKFAIR

10/29/09

$279,000

$272,000

4

2

2205

N

SHADY OAKS

10/19/09

$479,000

$230,000

4

2

2429

Y

MALVERN

10/30/09

$319,900

$300,000

4

2

2390

Y

SWEETGUM VALLEY

10/30/09

$599,000

$560,000

4

2

3930

Y

Properties have been listed and sold by various MLS members.

Data drawn from the My Florida Regional Multiple Listing Service.

Because the payoff of a loan will be ‘shorted’ by a significant amount, the mortgage lender must approve a Short Sale. Handled properly, the likelihood of successfully selling your house as a Short Sale is high. Once the Short Sale is behind you, you can often get on with your life with hardly a backward glance.

A Short Sale is nothing more than putting your house up for sale in the usual manner, waiting for a qualified buyer just like any other home seller would, facing a few extra hurdles, filling out additional paperwork, waiting a bit longer for the closing to take place, and finally moving out and moving on.

Real benefits come with selling your house as a Short Sale. Among them are: 1) substantially reducing or completely eliminating financial liability, 2) minimizing damage to your credit rating, 3) emerging from bad credit quicker than you would with a foreclosure, and 4) having a sense of satisfaction that you’re taking care of the problem proactively and responsibly.

How To Estimate the Number Of Jelly Beans in a Jar When You’re a Real Estate Agent in Orlando FL

This afternoon I attended a block party. One of the ‘games’ was to estimate the number of M&M Chocolate-Covered Peanuts in a jar. Not jelly beans, I know. But I like M&M Chocolate-Covered Peanuts better, anyway.

I’ve played these games before and never came close.

This time, the ‘hostess’ held up the jar, and I immediately saw something I never saw before. Instead of getting lost in the whole jar, I saw only the rectangular area of M&M Chocolate-Covered Peanuts directly facing me.

I made a calculated guess of how many M&Ms were in that rectangle. Didn’t count each one, just eyeballed it and came up with ...

25

Then I guessed how many rectangles made up the circumference of the jar ...

6

Then I multiplied 25 x 6 =

150

Then I took a wild stab at the interior volume of the jar ... the part I couldn’t see. I guessed ...

½ of surface area = 75

Therefore total M&Ms in the jar should equal ...

150 + 75 = 225

Since my lucky number is 2, I made my official guess ...

222

The correct answer was ...

237

I didn’t win because someone else guessed 230.

Next time I’ll estimate that the center of the jar is halfway between 2/3 and ½ of the jar, or halfway between 75 and 100, which equals ...

87.5

Therefore, 150 + 87.5 equals ...

237.5

Think everybody, including me, will be freaked out?

What this has to do with real estate, I really don’t know, but one day I’ll figured that out, too!

Avalon Park Real Estate ~ Short Sales in October 2009

These smart homeowners didn’t have to lose their house to foreclosure. Instead, they hired a real estate agent to help them sell their house as a Short Sale.

Street

Date Sold

Original List Price

Sold Price

Beds

Baths

Sq Ft

Pool

ABEY BLANCO*

10/09/09

$259,000

$184,000

4

2

2888

N

WILD TAMARIND

10/29/09

$164,900

$165,000

3

2

1714

N

PODOCARPUS

10/16/09

$179,900

$192,000

4

2

2297

N

GUIANA PLUM

10/27/09

$195,000

$165,000

4

3

1913

N

FLOWERING DOGWOOD

10/12/09

$549,000

$365,000

5

4

3458

Y

Properties have been listed and sold by various MLS members.

Data drawn from the My Florida Regional Multiple Listing Service.

* Sold by Judy Chapman

Because the payoff of a loan will be ‘shorted’ by a significant amount, the mortgage lender must approve a Short Sale. Handled properly, the likelihood of successfully selling your house as a Short Sale is high. Once the Short Sale is behind you, you can often get on with your life with hardly a backward glance.

A Short Sale is nothing more than putting your house up for sale in the usual manner, waiting for a qualified buyer just like any other home seller would, facing a few extra hurdles, filling out additional paperwork, waiting a bit longer for the closing to take place, and finally moving out and moving on.

Real benefits come with selling your house as a Short Sale. Among them are: 1) substantially reducing or completely eliminating financial liability, 2) minimizing damage to your credit rating, 3) emerging from bad credit quicker than you would with a foreclosure, and 4) having a sense of satisfaction that you’re taking care of the problem proactively and responsibly.