Properties for sale in the area include single family homes, apartments, condominiums, townhomes, multiple family dwellings, and much more. Currently, the real estate market favors the buyer's pocketbook. As a result, investors with long-term goals couldn’t ask for more favorable market conditions.

If you're considering investing in Central Florida real estate, consider the following:

•    Location: Look for homes that are in low-crime communities, near a variety of award-winning schools, charming parks, restaurants, shops, and major arteries. There is no shortage of these amenities in Central Florida.
•    State of Disrepair: Investors often seek properties that need minor repairs. It is easier to add "quick value" to a home that needs some work. Unless the home has serious structural flaws, the value added to a “repaired” home will significantly outweigh the cost of the repairs.
•    To Rent or Not to Rent, That is the Question: Once the property has been purchased and any necessary repairs have been made, the homeowner can either flip the home for a quick profit, wait until the property value increases with market inflation, or begin renting the property to one or more people. By renting out the home, the owner will be making money off of their investment almost immediately. In the long run, even though it is a more elaborate ordeal, renting the property before the final sale will usually put more money in the pocket of the homeowner. Furthermore, the first couple of rent checks will typically pay off the cost of any repairs.
•    Find an Agent that Understands Your Needs: Purchasing different kinds of real estate requires equally different areas of expertise. For instance, successfully purchasing a foreclosed home requires a completely different body of knowledge than buying a property that is “for sale by owner”. Find a real estate agent that understands your needs and desires.
•    Examine Your Credit Report: Correct any defaults and/or outdated information on your credit report.
•    Compare: Look, look, and look again. Make sure that the property you’ve got your eyes on is really a good deal. This is easily accomplished when you compare it to a wide variety of similar properties.
•    Inspect: Have the home inspected for major structural flaws. If the seller will not allow a home inspection, then perhaps you should look elsewhere.

There are plenty of properties for sale in the Central Florida area. Examine the tips mentioned above, and get ready for an exciting and fruitful investment!

This is HUGE!!!

In an effort to speed sales of distressed properties and homes
that have been rehabbed by investors buying and selling for a profit,
FHA will no longer require that the property be owned by the seller for 90 days!

This rule waiver is scheduled for one year and designed to “stabilize
home values and improve conditions in communities where
foreclosure activity is high”, according to the announcement.

This is going to reduce hold times for investors and increase investor activity. It also
means FHA will insure REO’s for buyers!! Did I mention how BIG this is? This will definitely
stimulate some sales!!

Here’s why this is so great….

For investor resales, FHA is the only way to go right now because they
require only 3.5% down and the seller can contribute up to 6% to
the buyers closing costs, getting them in very, very light when
necessary. Problem was, FHA wouldn’t underwrite any home being
sold within 90 days of the purchase. This rule has squelched many
investors activities and kept them from buying, because they were
being forced to hold the properties longer, increasing their expenses.

Also, FHA couldn’t insure loans to owner/occupants (O/O) who wanted to buy bank REO’s
because they were also not owned by the seller for 90 days in most cases.

On one hand, this is going to increase competition from O/O’s a bit for
investors who buy from the banks, but the deals we buy typically need repairs
that, number one, sellers aren’t willing to accept, and two, sellers
would have to fund those repairs in cash after the sale,
something most of them can’t and won’t do.

Since the kinds of deals we buy don’t qualify for FHA
financing until substantial repairs are made, this will keep most of
our investor deals safe and untouched by the non-investor public.

So, no matter how you slice it, this is great for investors, great for
the public and great for home values. This can literally end
price declines in weaker areas hit hardest by the foreclosure debacle.

There are a few details to the rule waiver and it’s only scheduled
to last a year at this point, but I’m betting HUD bans the lift
permanently OR amends the rule to 45 days seasoning, which, in my
opinion, fully satisfies the purpose for which it was originally intended.

Home price forecast: -24.5% (one year, forecast through March 2010)

City Stats

Population: (2006) 1,984,855
Median family income: (2008) $59,200

Home Prices

Median home price: (2008) $218,000
Affordability index: (2008 median home price/family income) 3.7
Prices peaked in: 2006:Q2
Total climb during the boom: (2000 to peak) 132.3%
Total decline so far: (Peak through 2008) -40.4%
One-year change: (Q4 2007 to Q4 2008) -30.5%

Forecast

Price change : (from peak to bottom) -65.3%
When they’ll hit bottom: 2011:Q2
At bottom, prices will drop to levels last seen in: 1990:Q3

I still receive negative emails from negative people about the next wave of foreclosures. I have been hearing this for the last couple of years and inventory continues to shrink. I feel this is a result of the banks working with homeowners to keep them in their homes. Loan modification is one way banks and homeowners have found common ground to help slow down the foreclosure process. This fear of the next big wave of foreclosures is based on the amount of newly filed Lis Pendens and the ability of homeowners to withstand their adjustable mortgages. A portion of these pre foreclosures get resolved, therefore, the foreclosure predictions are less then predicted. There are new foreclosures coming as there always will be. The big difference now is we have confident buyers and declining inventory. A few years ago we had a long way to go before hitting bottom. Today we have homes selling for the land value. It simply can’t go any lower!

(July 10, 2009 – Orlando, FL) A steady increase in the pace of Orlando home sales activity is creating conditions that are within striking distance of a balanced market. Inventory level reflects an 8.37-month supply at the current pace of sales; a market with six months of supply is considered by housing economists to be balanced between buyers and sellers.

Members of the Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association in June sold 43.12 percent more homes than in June of last year, contributing to the area’s year-to-date sales increase of 43.76 percent. There were 2,131 closings in June, which brings the year’s total to 9,993, while a total of 6,951 homes had changed by this time last year. Of those June sales, 45.99 percent of the homes were either bank-owned (832) or distressed (148). The remaining (1,151) “normal” sales made up 54.01 percent.

ORRA President Les Simmonds, L.G. Simmonds Real Estate Corp., explains that the increase in sale activity can be attributed in part to first-time homebuyers taking advantage of the $8,000 federal tax credit. “The first-time tax credit should be expanded to all buyers of primary homes regardless of income,” he says. “And, extending the credit into 2010 would allow more time for the market to catch up with underlying demand and maximize the potential for a housing recovery.”

The significant percentage of bank-owned and distressed home sales continue to have an influence on Orlando’s reported median price. The median price of all Orlando homes sold in June is $131,200 (a 39.26 percent decrease compared to June 2008 and an 0.92 percent increase compared to May 2009). The median price for “normal” sales is $172,500 (up 4.55 percent from last month’s $165,000). The median price for bank-owned sales is $79,900 (down 2.56 percent from last month’s $82,000) and the median price for distressed sales is $152,000 (up 8.57 percent from last month’s $140,000).

In addition to an increase in completed sales in Orlando, there is more than double the number of homes currently awaiting closings (7,230) than in June of last year (3,329). Of those pending sales 3,686 are homes that came under contract in the month of June alone, yet again marking the most in a single month this year.

The area’s average interest rate increased in June to 5.48 percent, which along with this rise in median price has contributed to a drop in the area’s affordability. Orlando’s affordability index, however, continues to hover near the 200.00 percent mark, 183.66 percent to be exact. (An affordability index of 99 percent means that buyers earning the state-reported median income are 1 percent short of the income necessary to purchase a median-priced home. Conversely, an affordability index that is over 100 means that median-income earners make more than is necessary to qualify for a median-priced home.) Buyers who earn the reported median income of $52,421 can qualify to purchase one of 9,318 homes in Orange and Seminole counties currently listed in the local multiple listing service for $238,757 or less.

First-time homebuyer affordability in June decreased to 130.60 percent. First-time buyers who earn the reported median income of $35,646 can qualify to purchase one of 5,462 homes in Orange and Seminole counties currently listed in the local multiple listing service for $144,316 or less.

Homes of all types spent an average of 104 days on the market before being sold in June 2009, and the average home sold for 93.77 percent of its listing price. In June 2008 those numbers were 121 and 93.41 percent, respectively.

The most single-family homes sold in any one price category (184) fell into the $200,000 – $250,000 range. On the far ends of the scale 10 homes were sold for $1 million or more while 118 homes — the most in a single month this year — sold for less than $50,000.

Inventory

There are currently 17,831 homes available for purchase through the MLS. Inventory decreased by 1,292 homes from May 2009, which means that 1,292 more homes left the market than entered the market. Compared to last year, the June 2009 inventory level is 27.44 percent lower than it was in June 2008 (24,575).

The inventory level’s 8.37-month supply is the lowest since July 2006. Increased sales activity has led inventory months-of-supply to decline by 61.14 percent since January 2009, when months of supply clocked in at 21.54.

There are 12,862 single-family homes currently listed in the MLS, a number that is 5,436 (29.71 percent) less than this time last year. As usual, most homes (1,558) are listed in the $200,000 – $250,000 price range. Condos currently make up 3,383 offerings in the MLS, while duplexes/town homes/villas make up the remaining 1,586. Most condos by far (641) are priced below $50,000; the majority of duplexes/town homes/villas (246) are listed in the $120,000 – $140,000 price category.

Condos and Town Homes/Duplexes/Villas

The sales of condos in the Orlando area increased by 189.71 percent in June when compared to June of last year, and increased by 4.23 percent when compared to last month. A total of 394 condos changed hands in June of this year compared to 136 in June 2008. To date 1,781 condos have sold this year, a 157.74 percent increase over last year’s 691 by this time.

The most (176) condos in a single price category that changed hands were in the $1 – $50,000 price range, almost three times the number (61) that were sold in the next most populated category ($50,000 – $60,000). Only 11 condos sold for more than $250,000 in June, which is actually the second highest tally this year (a high of 17 condos sold for more than $250,000 back April).

Orlando homebuyers purchased 174 duplexes, town homes, and villas in June 2009, which is a 32.82 percent increase from June 2008 when 131 of these alternative housing types were purchased; year-to-date sales for these home types are up 36.95 percent. The majority (30) of duplexes, town homes, and villas sold in June 2009 fell into the $100,000 – $120,000 price category.

MSA Numbers

Sales of existing homes within the Orlando MSA (Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties) in June were up by 56.90 percent when compared to June of last year. Throughout the entire MSA, 2,774 homes were sold in June 2009 compared with 1,768 in June 2008. To date, MSA sales are up by 53.81 percent over this time last year, with sales at 12,863 compared to 2008’s 8,363.

Each county’s year-to-date sales comparisons are as follows:

Lake: 25.07 percent above 2008 (1,831 homes sold to date in 2009 compared to 1,464 in 2008);
Orange: 65.57 percent above 2008 (6,762 homes sold to date in 2009 compared to 4,084 in 2008);
Osceola: 110.66 percent above 2008 (2,450 homes sold to date in 2009 compared to 1,163 in 2008); and
Seminole: 10.17 percent above 2008 (1,820 sold to date in 2009 compared to 1,652 in 2008).