Tax Forms – What is Homestead Exemption?

This post is specific to property taxes in Seminole County, FL but will likely apply to other counties as well. Be sure to confirm dates and tax filing forms required for your county of residence. 

WHAT IS A HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION?

Homestead Exemption is a tax reduction allowable to homeowners who make their property their permanent residence. If approved, this exemption could reduce the taxable value of your residence by up to $50,000. The first $25,000 of this exemption applies to all taxing authorities. The second $25,000 of exemption excludes School Board 

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1746 Carillon Park, Oviedo, Florida - Oviedo Home For Sale

Oviedo Home For Sale - 761 S Lake Claire Circle

646 Balfour Dr, Winter Park, FL Home For Sale

Home for sale in Oviedo - Watch Video

New video on 'Just Reduced' listing in Oviedo! This home is nearly 3,000 sq ft and priced to sell at $264,900 with seller paying 2.5% of your closing costs! 

 

 

Email this property to a friend. 

Description: Better act quickly as this house is priced to sell! Shows like a MODEL HOME and can be ready for a quick closing. This 4 bedroom 2.5 baths with almost 3000 square feet has everything you have been looking for in a home. The downstairs is great for entertaining with a spacious living and dining room. The kitchen has a BREAKFAST BAR and nice dining nook. It overlooks the SPACIOUS FAMILY ROOM with sliding doors that open to your private backyard. Nestled among the shade trees, enjoy grilling on your outdoor patio while overlooking a greenbelt area. NO REAR NEIGHBORS! The upstairs is so large it feels like another house. The master bedrooms is sure to please with expansive space, including a sitting area, and walk in closet. The master bathroom is complete with DOUBLE VANITY, GARDEN TUB and WALK IN SHOWER. The other 3 bedrooms upstairs are larger than normal and are connected with a nice bonus area. Walk to the local A rated elementary school. Other amenities include UPDATED LIGHT FIXTURES, NEW CARPET AND TILE and newer A/C. This one won't last long! 

 

NBA Lock-Out’s Effect on Orlando

ORLANDO – The NBA has been in a lock-out and has already missed the first couple weeks of the season. Orlando has a lot at stake if the NBA does not work out their differences. The NBA All-Star game is scheduled to be in Orlando early next year. That weekend alone is expected to produce $80M – $100 Million of economic impact in the Orlando area.

Here’s a breakdown of who is working at the Amway Center besides Dwight Howard and his high-priced buddies:

- 550 hourly food service employees, and 21 who are salaried.

- 66 janitors.

- 125 ushers or ticker takers

Buddy Dyer took charge along with other NBA city Mayors and wrote a letter to David Stern and the NBA. Below is their letter:

An open letter to the National Basketball Association and the NBA Players Union from America’s Mayors:

We are the Mayors of our country’s NBA cities.  Every year, our residents pack the arenas where our teams play.  They buy the NBA’s products.  They cheer for their favorite players with passion and intensity.  They attend games and make lasting memories with family and friends.  Many own or work at small businesses that depend on NBA games for survival.  No matter how you look at it, our NBA teams are a vital part of the economic and social fabric of our cities.

Unfortunately, lost in the debate over a new NBA collective bargaining agreement, has been the perspective of those very residents and the negative impact a cancelled season might have on them, our cities and our local economies.

We know the issues being discussed between NBA owners and players are complex and need to be addressed to ensure the long-term wellbeing of the league.  We are not interested in taking a side.  The United States Conference of Mayors has always maintained impartiality in major leagues sports negotiations.

Rather, we respectfully ask that you consider the consequences to our cities should the lockout continue.  We ask that you work quickly to find a way to compromise so that we might salvage the upcoming NBA season.

We are proud to call our cities home to NBA franchises.  As basketball fans, we know winning and losing is part of the game.  Rest assured; everyone loses if there is no season.

If we can be of any help to the process of securing the upcoming season, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

Mayor Gregory A. Ballard, Indianapolis

Mayor Buddy Dyer, Orlando

Mayor Kevin Johnson, Sacramento

Mayor A. C. Wharton , Jr., Memphis

Mayor Vincent Gray, Washington, DC

Mayor Michael Nutter, Philadelphia

Mayor Phil Gordon, Phoenix

Mayor Annise D. Parker, Houston

Mayor Mike Rawlings, Dallas

Mayor Anthony Foxx, Charlotte

Mayor David Bing, Detroit

Mayor Ralph Becker, Salt Lake City

Mayor Julian Castro, San Antonio

Mayor Michael Hancock, Denver

Marketing Campaign

Throughout the years, real estate marketing has shifted from newspapers, classifieds, and brochures to websites, online classifieds, and videos. Nearly 90% of homebuyers begin their home search online, so there is no question as to where we [Realtors] have shifted our marketing efforts.

The Core Group and Coldwell Banker spend 99% of our time critiquing and improving our online marketing, but we have not completely disowned print. The image to the right is a sample of one of our listings that is being Featured in the weekend real estate section. This section is in place to market home for sale and open houses that are taking place over the weekend.

Be on the lookout for this ad in Friday's (10/14/11) Orlando Sentinel.

 

Is it a good time to sell? - 5 Reasons to sell now!

Your House Will Get More Exposure Now Than the Winter

Housing sales usually level off in the summer and then regain momentum in September and October. The spring buyers’ market has passed. Don’t miss the early fall market. It has consistently outperformed the winter season.

Distressed Properties Will Impact Prices

Distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales) on the market will increase this fall and winter. This will put tremendous downward pressure on prices for at least the next 12-18 months. Get your home sold before they become your competition.

Mortgages Will Become More Difficult to Attain

Lending standards are continuing to tighten. There is legislation currently being considered that will make it even harder for buyers to qualify. Less demand will equate to lower prices.

It is the Perfect Time to Move-Up

With prices where they are and interest rates at all time lows, there may have never been a better time to move-up into your dream home. If you move into a more desirable home now, you will be in position to gain larger equity as prices eventually appreciate.

You Get to Move On with Your Life

Probably the most important reason to sell is so you can get on with your life. You are considering selling for a reason. Do not allow a less-than-stellar housing market prevent you from reaching your goals as an individual or as a family. Think about the reasons you are thinking about moving. Are these reasons really important to you? If you have to take less than you were originally hoping to get for your house, your family has a question to ask each other: Is the dollar difference in sales price worth putting off our plans? Only you and your family know the answer to that question.

Rate Watch

This Week; over the weekend it appears there is a deal to avoid a debt default. Congressional leaders and the President came to a compromise as by know everyone is aware of. What isn't clear yet is will the deal make it through the House after members actually see the plan that early this morning hasn't been seen by most members in the House or Senate. The stock market will open better this morning on the news but the bond market isn't likely to buckle much. So far there has been nothing from the rating agencies whether the deal is sufficient to avoid a downgrade of US credit rating.

Once the borrowing limit is increased markets can move back to focusing the economy. Today at 10:00 the July ISM manufacturing index and this afternoon auto and truck sales for July. This is employment week with July employment data on Friday. Expect continued uncertainty and potential market volatility this week as investors sift over the debt ceiling details. Prices of bonds and mortgages will continue to hold a bullish bias given the economic weakness and high unemployment. Whether we can hold the 10 yr at 2.75% area is not clear; it will take a few days for the entire agreed upon plan to be digested.

Orlando Real Estate News

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Orlando loses foreclosure infamy — for now Orlando Sentinel The real cloud hanging over Orlando's real-estate recovery, Sharga added, is the number of houses still destined for foreclosure that haven't received the first default notice yet. Orlando lawyer Justin Clark said his office remains busy with ... See all stories on this topic »

Marriott time-share spin-off will give Orlando a new headquarters Orlando Sentinel ... which operates or franchises 3500 hotels in 71 countries, has acknowledged the difficulty of finding stockholders these days who want to invest in both an asset-light hotel-management company and a real-estate-intensive time-share operation. ... See all stories on this topic »

Two Orlando rock figures pass this week: Rob Grill and Joe Lambusta Orlando Sentinel (blog) He took us through a great period.” Lambusta segued into real estate in the 1990s and had suffered from some health issues, Dolan said. Even then, he remained a valuable caretaker of Orlando's rock history. In 2005, Lambusta talked to the Orlando ... See all stories on this topic »

Study: Bakersfield among top markets for rental home investors Bakersfield Californian 5 in the country for rental home investors, according to two real estate firms that teamed up to gauge the market. The study by HomeVestors of America, a property-investment firm, and Local Market Monitor, a real-estate data firm, looked at current ... See all stories on this topic »

How much activity is enough?

During the listing process, we keep a close eye on web-stats for each and every property. We monitor search results from the major search engines as well as our local MLS. This aspect of the marketing process is more of an art than a science. This is an example of a property we put on the market 2 days prior to this screen shot being taken. This screen shot shows that there were 919 prospective buyers who are actively searching for properties that were triggered when this home hit the market. This means their search criteria fits what this home has to offer.

Furthermore, 1583 emails were sent with this property in the email. This is the biggest number I have ever seen on one of our listings. The truth is, with this property, we received 2 offers within 15 hours of hitting the market, and another 2 within 48 hours. We had over 15 showings in the first 2 days. This is a rare case but don’t forget…Good Deals Never Last!!!

 

Get your offer accepted!

You have finally found the house of your dreams. It is priced right and is receiving a lot of attention from other buyers. You don’t want to miss this opportunity so you are ready to put in an offer with the real estate agent immediately. What can you do to guarantee your offer is the one accepted? Financially, offers can be broken down into three categories:

1.) An All-Cash Offer

Obviously, a cash purchaser is always favored by any seller. In today’s real estate market, an all-cash offer is even more enticing. Last month, one in four real estate transactions were impacted by a low appraisal. An all-cash buyer eliminates the need for the bank appraisal.

2.) A Non-Contingency Offer

If you don’t have the cash reserves for an all-cash purchase, the next best thing would be to make a non-contingency offer. To do this you should be already pre-approved for a mortgage and have your current house already in contract. This gives the seller the confidence that you are already a qualified buyer who will be able to complete the purchase.

3.) A Contingency Offer

Some buyers start the process of looking for a new home before their current home is sold. This could be a big mistake. If you find the home you were hoping for (perfect for your family AND priced right), it will be very difficult to get your offer accepted because you are not actually qualified to buy.

Asking a seller to wait for your home to sell is somewhat unreasonable in today’s environment. One of the reasons you would want the home is because the seller priced the home at a value to sell it NOW. They want to know it is sold when they accept an offer. They normally will not even entertain a contingency offer. 

Bottom Line

Unless you have the ability to purchase with cash, the best thing to do is to be pre-approved for a mortgage and have your current house already in contract before looking for the home of your dreams. That guarantees you will get the home you love at a price that makes sense.

Home Alone Home For Sale – CB Previews

If you are around my age you remember watching the Home Alone series. The actual home was located just outside Chicago and has just been listed for sale. Reminisce with me as we take a tour of the home in the video below. The home is listed for $2.4 Million and is listed by Coldwell Banker. 

Continue Reading.

Two Fla. cities set for dramatic turnaround…http://wp.me/p146tm-fr

Kiplinger.com names two Florida cities – Jacksonville and Orlando – to its list of 11 comeback cities in 2011. According to the website, 2011 will see a “dramatic turnaround – new investment by businesses, growth in the number of jobs and a reblooming of hope” in the noted cities.

The website did not list the cities in any particular order.

Orlando

Kiplinger predicts that Orlando employment will increase by 3 percent this year. It points to an improvement in tourism for the vacation destination, but also points to the growth of a “life science cluster of medical care and research.”

Jacksonville

Kiplinger expects job growth of 2.8 percent this year. It points to increased demand from financial service firms, hotels, health care, restaurants and warehousing.

Other cities in the top 11 for a turnaround include:

• Charlotte, N.C.

• Chattanooga, Tenn.

• Flint, Mich.

• Las Vegas

• Nashville, Tenn.

• Phoenix

• Portland, Ore.

• San Jose, Calif.

© 2011 Florida Realtors®

Rent can NOW BOOST your credit score! http://wp.me/p146tm-cJ

On-time rental payments now help boost credit scores

In the past, only negative rental payment data such as evictions and collections were reported to consumer reporting agencies. Therefore, your on-time rental payments never helped boost your credit scores, unlike credit card, mortgage or car payments that help raise credit scores when paid on time.

But this has changed now that Experian® will be including positive rental data in consumer credit reports. The addition of this data is a tremendous benefit to anyone who rents, especially those who are non-credit-active, cash-based consumers.

Key Benefits to Consumers

• Establish or rebuild your credit — You can now make your continuous on-time rental payments count towards establishing or rebuilding your credit
• Qualify for what you deserve — If you were previously unable to qualify for a lease or credit product due to a thin credit file you will now be able to demonstrate past rental payment history and qualify for what you deserve

How It Works

Experian RentBureau receives updated rental payment data every 24 hours from its national network of property management companies. In order for this data to be included in your credit file, your property management company must contribute its rental history data to Experian RentBureau.

Experian recognizes the value of having a good rental payment history. Please contact your property management company and ask them to contribute their data to Experian RentBureau.

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Foggy Morning

It's a foggy morning. That is the Brighthouse Stadium that can barely be seen.

Justin Core | REALTOR | Coldwell Banker Res RE | The Core Group | 5965 Red Bug Lake Road, Ste 101 | Winter Springs FL 32708 | Cell: (407) 446-5048 | Office: (407) 696-8000 | Fax: (407) 696-7279 | Email: justin.core@floridamoves.com | Web: www.thecoregroupfl.com |

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Investors Prepare: Eye Of The Storm-http://wp.me/p146tm-cA

There have been many headlines recently announcing that foreclosures have declined in recent months. But while the stories are technically correct, they do not accurately reflect the current events.

Foreclosure statistics are affected by the issues with the challenges incorrect documentation which the banks have spent the last several months attempting to correct.

James J. Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac addressed this issue in a recent press release:

“We’ve now seen three straight months with fewer  than 300,000 properties receiving foreclosure filings, following 20 straight  months where the total exceeded 300,000. Unfortunately this is less a sign of a robust  housing recovery and more a sign that lenders have become bogged down in  reviewing procedures, resubmitting paperwork and formulating legal arguments  related to accusations of improper foreclosure processing.”

 

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HUD Homes: $100 down payment - http://wp.me/p146tm-bV

$33,000.00 Address: 218 CANNON WAY CASSELBERRY, FL 32707 SEMINOLE COUNTY Appraisal Date: 10/26/2010 Bed/Bath: 3/1.00 Total Rooms: 6 Square Feet: 828 Year: 1960

In an effort to increase affordability for owner occupants, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is rolling out a $100 downpayment on HUD homes for sale for a limited time. Coldwell Banker is a HUD approved broker and I have shown many HUD homes through the real estate downturn. HUD stands for Housing and Urban Development, which is a government program regulating housing and city development.

$100 Down Payments!

 
Available to owner occupant homebuyers when purchasing a Florida home at full price and using an FHA-insured mortgage. It’s a great time to purchase a Florida HUD Home with FHA financing.

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Nudist Park in Oviedo? http://wp.me/p146tm-bN

I came across this and have to put this out there to see if anyone knows more than I do. I discovered it by accident when searching for the Oviedo Sports Complex on my iPhone maps. This is what came pulled up....

Unfortunately,

 

I will have to start taking a different route to work.

 

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The Cheapest & Most Expensive Homes in Oviedo - http://wp.me/p146tm-bg

The Oviedo Real Estate Market is an interesting place and offers a smorgasbord of home styles, price ranges, and features. Let’s take a look at todays cheapest home and the most expensive home in Oviedo. For the sake of not overexciting you from the start, we will start with the cheapest house first. I am going to do my best to sell these with my descriptions.

 

1278 Taylor St. Oviedo, FL 32765

$39,000 (*est. payment: $181.24/mo)

This home is coming to you all the way from Washington Heights subdivision just off 426 heading out of town towards Geneva. This 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom beauty boasts nearly 830 square feet and is complimented by it’s oversized 1/4 acre lot. It was built in 1970 and played host to many long disco nights. The 1-car carport is any man’s dream and the backyard views are to die for. It is currently rented for $650/month and could be a great investment based on the current asking price.

 

 

 

 

2760 Tuskawilla Rd. Oviedo, FL

Spectacular 3.88 acre gated lake front estate consisting of gracious main house AND seperate 3 bed historic guest house AND

$2.875M (*est payment $16,397 per month with $575,000 down, $2,300,000 mortgage)

studio or caretaker’s quarters AND 8 game sports court. Boat house & dock on Bear Gully Lake. Brilliantly remodeled LAKEFRONT HOME with 6 bedroom suites in 6408 heated sq. ft. The hardwood floors, vaulted ceilings, fireplace and walk-in wine cellar are featured throughout the house. Perfect floor plan has both formal and family living areas, Master suite and 2 guest suites on main level. 2 more suites upstairs with loft & bonus. Fun areas on the lower level, which include home theater, exercise/gym, billiards, walk-in vault, craft room and 6th bedroom suite. Attached 3 car garage, spacious covered patio with summer kitchen & separate screened patio overlooks the pool and lakefront. ~ Restored 1924 GUEST HOUSE has 2542 htd. sq ft, original hardwood & heart pine floors, 3 bed /2 bath, sitting room, formal living /dining, all white kitchen with retro design appliances & delightful sunny family room. Lower level is a finished basement. Read More

 

If you want more information on either one of these don’t hesitate to email me or request information by going to our website.

 

Orlando named a ‘most romantic’ city

If you’re looking for romance this Valentine’s Day, then the city of Orlando is your place to be, according to a new list of the Top 20 Most Romantic Cities in America.

The Amazon.com list ranks the City Beautiful at No. 3, trailing only Alexandria, Va., and Knoxville, Tenn.

To see the full list, click here.

Other Florida cities making the Top 20 list include Miami at No. 4, Gainesville at No. 9 and Tallahassee at No. 10.

Free Home Staging Service - Show Homes http://wp.me/p146tm-bq

Before

With market conditions continuing to present themselves as nothing less than challenging, more homes continuing to show as distressed, and competition growing as short sales and bank-owned properties come on the market, there are some creative solutions we use to get your home sold. There is a company I want to brag on that has taken the old staging technique and put a twist on it. The company isShowhomes and they have become very creative in marketing to a cash-strapped marketplace.

 

 

After

Marketing a product or service is simple when there is no down side…

Showhomes plan of action is something like this for a vacant home:

• Stage your home while on the market.
• Pay your upkeep costs (electric, lawn, pool, etc.)
• Hire a home manager to lightly live in the house.
• Have the home in show condition at the drop of a hat.
• Provide assurance to a your insurance company as opposed to being vacant.
• Cost to you: Zero dollars!

 

 

Read More and watch video. 

 

Market Pulse - January 2011 http://wp.me/p146tm-bl

The Orlando real estate market is continuing to change on a daily basis. Below you will find the market trends for Greater Orlando with the most up to date information available. Look through the information below and if I can help to interpret the data please call. In the Orlando area we are continuing to see foreclosures (REO properties) and short sales fill the market, which is maintaining the volatile market place. If you are a buyer, seller, or just have a case of the nosey neighbor syndrome we want to help. Use us as your source for everything real estate.

http://wp.me/p146tm-bl

ORLANDO HOME VALUES DECLINING THROUGH 3RD QUARTER-http://wp.me/p146tm-b6

Three quarters of the metropolitan areas of the country are waiting for housing prices to stabilize in the fall, but Orlando is not among them, according to a study published on Tuesday, Fiserv Inc. Fiserv and Moody’s Analytics has reported that house prices have stabilized in a single family of four U.S. urban center. Although housing stabilization is sweeping the nation, Orlando home prices are expected to fall by 14 percent in the third quarter from last year’s third quarter to this year.

The average price of houses in the Orlando metropolitan area four counties was $ 155,000 in the third quarter of last year, Fiserv said.

“We’re only a year and a half away from where prices stabilize in Orlando,” Fiserv chief economist David Stiff said. “Distress sellers — the banks, primarily — have a certain urgency to sell their properties, and that’s created a lot of downward pressure.”

The financial services company finds the foreclosure rate of a local area and unemployment, among other factors to come with his market forecasts. Orlando is not alone in Florida in the form of a late recovery in housing, according to the report of Fiserv, based on the Fiserv Case-Shiller index. Of the states 21 urban areas, eight are expected to see house prices continue to fall in the third quarter of 2012. The largest two-year dropoff in the state is expected to occur in the Miami metropolitan division — Miami-Dade County, essentially. Fiserv analysts predict prices there will fall another 15 percent between the third quarter of 2010 and third quarter of 2011, followed by another 10 percent drop the following year.

The three regions that should register the largest increases in home prices during this period is Ocala (Marion County,primarily), Palm Bay-Melbourne (Brevard County) and Palm Coast (Flagler County). The report showed that these suburban areas will increase by 10 to 11 percent into the third quarter of 2012. By analyzing price fluctuations that ...

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Let’s discuss your options.

 

What's up with the #!RT symbols?!? #OldFolks listen up! http://wp.me/p146tm-aV

Let's take a minute to get down to the basics...

Seriously, what's up with all symbols? Am I [Justin] constantly cursing the Facebook & Twitter Worlds? No I'm not, and I'm ashamed if you thought that. It just occured to me that a large portion of our fans and followers are not in the 18 - 28 age group.

This is an example of what I am talking about off our Facebook Fan Page.

 

Let's get down to it -

All of this gibberish is focused at the Twitter world. The facebook posts just happen to be a byproduct of my laziness in posting separately between the two. There are certain symbols that help to control conversations on twitter, and they are:

@: Talk publicly to another person

This is equivalent to tagging someone on Facebook. If you wanted to say something to me on Twitter you would type: "@thecoREgroup yahta-yahta-yahta..."

Don't forget: Everyone can see this.

d: Talk privately to another person

 

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OWN A RENTAL PROPERTY? THE IRS NEEDS TO KNOW…

If you own ONE rental unit… from this year on, all vendors that perform at least $600 worth of work for you now, via Federal law, must be sent an IRS 1099 Form. The obligation to monitor the vendors and issue 1099 forms are not new, but last year, when the federal government enacted the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (HR 5297) extended this requirement to all owners, no matter how small. Even property owners who rent are just doing a secondary activity, perhaps as part of the family investment fund or retirement savings plan, are now considered to be  ”conducting trade or business” to declare 1099 as it now applies to them.

 

Read More Here. 

Just showed a stunning home.

Just showed a stunning lake home. Captured with 360 Panorama in 96.7 seconds.

Don't bank your purchase on a Zestimate? http://wp.me/p146tm-aJ

Zillow is a great real estate website I must admit. This page is one of the first to come up in any real estate based google search, so it must be good and accurate information, right? Personally, as a real estate professional, I like zillow. However, I would be shot at every single listing appointment if I went in with zestimates. Of course, I would love to list homes at zillow prices, because they would sell in a matter of minutes.

The key to selling property is that the sellers set the listing price while buyers determine the sells price. I often have buyers tell me that they will purchase a listing but they will not pay a dime over the Zestimate. What is funny about this is that Zillow admits that these figures are (at times) dramatically different that reality. Without going into detail on how they come up with these numbers, the fact is that this website is unable to account for condition and relevance...

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UCF Basketball vs ECU

Captured with 360 Panorama in 38.0 seconds.

Justin Core | REALTOR | Coldwell Banker Res RE | The Core Group | 5965 Red Bug Lake Road, Ste 101 | Winter Springs FL 32708 | Cell: (407) 446-5048 | Office: (407) 696-8000 | Fax: (407) 696-7279 | Email: justin.core@floridamoves.com | Web: www.thecoregroupfl.com |

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FHA EXTENDS SUSPENSION OF ‘ANTI-FLIPPING’ RULE FOR ANOTHER YEAR

FHA EXTENDS SUSPENSION OF ‘ANTI-FLIPPING’ RULE FOR ANOTHER YEAR

For quite some time the FHA frowned upon financing for buyers purchasing homes from sellers who had owned the property for less than 90 days. The idea was to prevent speculators from defrauding the government through quick flips of houses — often involving straw buyers and corrupt appraisers — at heavily inflated prices. In Central …

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Planet Fitness - Oviedo, Fl

My gym in Oviedo. It's only $10/month. That's less than 2 footlongs at Subway (after taxes). Captured with 360 Panorama in 49.2 seconds.

Resolutions for Home Sellers in 2011 -- http://wp.me/p146tm-ac

By listing in early January, you might be able to catch a few of those early birds who start browsing in the winter so that they can find a brand new home before school starts in the fall, said Louis Cammarosano, general manager of HomeGain.com, a real-estate website. In fact, lots of buyers tend to start their searches online right after Christmas, and continue throughout January and February, he said.

If your New Year's resolution involves selling a home in 2011, you've got some work to do: There's lots of stock out there and in a buyer's market like this one, getting an offer on a home can be challenging.

"If you hit the ground walking and you're a fresh listing that has completed everything right, you've got the best shot," said Cammarosano. Think about the following tips to give your home the best chance to get noticed -- and sold -- in 2011.

Price It Right from the Start

Lots of sellers suffer from attachment bias, said Tara-Nicholle Nelson, consumer educator for real-estate website Trulia.com. they think that their home is worth over they'd pay for it in another context. While it's always a bad idea to overprice a home, it's  dangerous in times like this because there is a lot competing stock in lots of local markets.

Nelson's advice: Give yourself a reality check by looking inside comparable homes in the work of open houses. That can help you receive a clearer idea of your home's value. You might even think about interviewing a few real-estate agents to get over one take on how the home ought to be priced, Cammarosano said.

Don't be afraid to advertise in the listing and advertising materials that it's not a foreclosure or short sale, Nelson said. In markets where distressed sales are plentiful, there's buyers who basically don't need to deal with the additional hassle and uncertainty of a short sale or bank-owned property, he said.

The longer something sits on the market, the more cost reductions you might must make and the more potential buyers will assume that there's something wrong with the home, he said. So usually, it's best not to try testing the waters with a higher cost, he adds.

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When should I refinance? #Refinance #realestate http://wp.me/p146tm-ah

Question:

What situation makes sense to refinance? How long will I have to own the home to make up the cost of the refinance?

Answer:

With mortgage rates near historic lows, many homeowners are considering the benefits of refinancing their current home loans.  So how do I tell if refinancing is the right option for me?  2 is the key factor that is used as a general rule of thumb in the mortgage industry.  2 being the number of percentage points you would need to save on the interest rate and 2 being the minimum number of years you would need to stay in the property afterwards to make the refinance worthwhile.  However, one can still see significant savings with even a smaller 1% decrease in interest rate which would make this an attractive option considering the time you plan on staying in this home.  Since one would incur additional closing costs with a refinance option (approximately 2.5% of the loan amount on average) one would need to analyze the monthly savings verse the expense to find a breakeven point.  This would indicate whether the refinance option really works for your particular situation.

This answer was provided by Jeff Edwards of DHI Mortgage.

Docusign: How we use it...

NEW SALES CONTRACTS ON THE INCREASE; MEDIAN PRICE STILL HOLDING STEADY

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(December 13, 2010 – Orlando, FL) Members of the Orlando Regional REALTOR Association reported an increase in the number of home-sale contracts they filed in November, with 3,243 newly filed contracts topping last November’s tally of 3,023 by 7.28 percent.

The area’s pending sales statistic — like new contracts — is also an indicator of future sales activity. A total of 8,998 homes are currently under contract and awaiting closing. This number is also an increase (of 4.23 percent) over the 8,633 homes that were under contract in November 2009.

Members of ORRA recorded completed sales on 1,848 homes in November, which is a 20.65 percent decrease over the November 2009 tally of 2,329 sales. To date, Orlando area home sales are up 21.55 percent over this time in 2009.

“Uneven sales patterns are to be expected over the next months,” explains ORRA Chairman of the Board Mike McGraw, McGraw Real Estate Services. “We are experiencing aftershocks from slowdowns caused by the homebuyer tax credit ending and the temporary foreclosure stoppage. But at the same time, buyers who are responding to record-low interest rates and enticingly low home prices are contributing to a push-pull effect on Orlando’s housing market.”

The median sales price of all homes sold in the Orlando area held steady at $105,000 during November, the third month in a row. According to ORRA the current median price remains 5.11 percent higher than the $99,900 median price recorded in August 2010 and is 14.63 percent below the median price of $123,000 recorded in November 2009.

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