Central Florida & metro Orlando real estate services

That's right.  Our firm sells houses and other real estate involved in foreclosure.  That includes pre-foreclosure, short sales, and bank owned properties from both institutional banks and private mortgage lenders.

Not only that, we are on a first name basis with many of the listing agents who represent bank owned properties around the metro Orlando area.  With 12 years+ in business and hundreds of successful foreclosure transactions under our belt, we can help find a great deal just for you.

Currently our firm has over 100 foreclosure properties listed for sale.  We can also represent you on the thousands of other foreclosure deals available in the Central Florida marketplace.  There is an art to negotiating foreclosures, and we can help you do it.  Here are just a few examples of various deals we have sold in the last few months:

Sanford bank owned house worth $150,000, sold for $99,000.

Longwood pre-foreclosure house worth $140,000, sold for $75,000.

Orlando pre-foreclosure house worth $160,000, sold for $81,000.

Deltona bank owned house worth $130,000, sold for $73,000.

Cocoa short sale house worth $120,000, sold for $69,000.

Great deals abound in Central Florida / metro Orlando.  Don't miss out on yours.  Contact us today for a free list of foreclosures and bank owned properties meeting your location and price range.  Or check out our website for a list of our current inventory: www.SDRhouses.com/properties.html .

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(Copyright © 2008. Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor in Orlando and Central Florida.

ABR, CPL, CRB, GRI, Managing real estate broker, Licensed mortgage broker, Notary Public

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318    www.SDRhouses.com/   www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com/

Learn to invest in Central Florida real estate and Orlando real estate. Investor mentoring and counseling available. We sell properties, list properties, and we buy houses cash throughout the Central Florida & metro Orlando area.  

I also provide flat fee MLS listings, For Sale By Owner, and menu-based services in most parts of Central & South Florida, the Space Coast, and the Treasure Coast including Orlando, Winter Park, Maitland, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Apopka, Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Longwood, Winter Springs, Oviedo, Lake Mary, Sanford, Deltona, Debary, Deland, Mount Dora, Eustis, Clermont, Kissimmee, Winter Haven, Lakeland, Tampa, Sarasota, Bradenton, Miami-Dade, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Port Saint Lucie, Melbourne, Daytona Beach, Ocala, Gainesville, Volusia, Brevard, and more.

We did have a contract on this house in June and came close to selling it, but it fell apart due to financing issues with the VA loan.  I left this property on the market longer than normal in the hopes that I could report a sale for those following my blog.

Many people have asked whatever happened to this house.  Well for now, it is rented out to a tenant at $990 per month on a 1-year lease which is about break-even because of the private money loan I have on the property. Hopefully we can eventually convert this tenant into a buyer.  I have moved my focus unto other properties in my portfolio that have become vacant and will hopefully be fixed up and sold. 

When I do end up selling this particular house, I will make sure to post something about it.  Happy investing!

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(Copyright © 2008. Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor in Orlando and Central Florida.

ABR, CPL, CRB, GRI, Managing real estate broker, Licensed mortgage broker, Notary Public

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318    www.SDRhouses.com/   www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com/

Learn to invest in Central Florida real estate and Orlando real estate. Investor mentoring and counseling available. We sell properties, list properties, and we buy houses cash throughout the Central Florida & metro Orlando area.  

I also provide flat fee MLS listings, For Sale By Owner, and menu-based services in most parts of Central & South Florida, the Space Coast, and the Treasure Coast including Orlando, Winter Park, Maitland, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Apopka, Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Longwood, Winter Springs, Oviedo, Lake Mary, Sanford, Deltona, Debary, Deland, Mount Dora, Eustis, Clermont, Kissimmee, Winter Haven, Lakeland, Tampa, Sarasota, Bradenton, Miami-Dade, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Port Saint Lucie, Melbourne, Daytona Beach, Ocala, Gainesville, Volusia, Brevard, and more.

Davenport foreclosure, Davenport short sale, Davenport townhouse for sale, Central Florida short sale Realtor,Orlando short sale Realtor,Orlando foreclousre specialist

Will my property's listing appear any different in the MLS and the internet than a listing by a full service Realtor? Your property listing will appear on the internet and the MLS just the same as any other listing. The only difference is that the MLS will contain a note in the Realtor Remarks section that this is a "limited service listing" and that other Realtors need to contact you in order to show the property & negotiate an offer. Besides that, there is no difference with your listing and any other.

Will other real estate agents sell my house or will they avoid my house because it's an MLS-only listing? A smart Realtor shows their customers every home that is available for sale that meets their buyer's criteria. Each property is a little different, so by avoiding your home their buyer might end up buying nothing & then the Realtor loses out on getting paid any commission. And buyers are espcecially picky during a buyer's market, like it is now. There is always the chance that some real estate agent may blackball a listing and not show it because it is a limited service listing, a lower commission amount offered to the buyer's agent, or any number of other reasons. Typically Realtors who bring up those sort of scare tactics are just doing so becuase they are not sure of how else to justify charging you hundreds or thousands of extra dollars for their own similar services. The United States Department of Justice has already stated that these sort of anti-competitive practices like blackballing violate federal antitrust laws. Realtors who violate these laws could be subject to substantial civil and criminal penalties. In the future, flat fee MLS listings like so many internet-type services will more than likely be the rule rather than the exception.

Can you help me with proper pricing and marketing of my house? Is there any other marketing I should be doing? 90%+ of what is going to sell your house is a "For Sale" sign and directional arrow signs, a listing in the local MLS, and a listing on the heavily trafficked internet websites. The other 10% or so may bring you a lead in if you are lucky enough. And we encourage you to market the property in any way that you can think of. We will be happy to give you a free pricing analysis and a free marketing consultation at the time you list your property with our firm.

An interesting fact that many consumers are not aware of is that the reason why most real estate agents advertise using newspaper & magazine ads, radio & TV ads, open houses, postcards & letters, newsletters, & more is generally not to sell your particular home. Certainly that would be a great thing if it did sell. The reason they do this is to bring them more listings, customers, and business. If they get  buyer leads, they can use the MLS to sell that buyer any house that the buyer likes (and not just yours). No matter what they sell, they still earn a commission on it.

If you are interested in our flat fee MLS or our full listing service, just contact us anytime or visit our website www.SDRhouses.com .

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(Copyright © 2008. Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor in Orlando and Central Florida.

ABR, CPL, CRB, GRI, Managing real estate broker, Licensed mortgage broker, Notary Public

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318    www.SDRhouses.com/   www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com/

Learn to invest in Central Florida real estate and Orlando real estate. Investor mentoring and counseling available. We sell properties, list properties, and we buy houses cash throughout the Central Florida & metro Orlando area.  

I also provide flat fee MLS listings, For Sale By Owner, and menu-based services in most parts of Central & South Florida, the Space Coast, and the Treasure Coast including Orlando, Winter Park, Maitland, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Apopka, Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Longwood, Winter Springs, Oviedo, Lake Mary, Sanford, Deltona, Debary, Deland, Mount Dora, Eustis, Clermont, Kissimmee, Winter Haven, Lakeland, Tampa, Sarasota, Bradenton, Miami-Dade, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Port Saint Lucie, Melbourne, Daytona Beach, Ocala, Gainesville, Volusia, Brevard, and more.

Central Florida got to spend 4 days last week dealing with Tropical Storm Fay.  This storm arrived Tuesday afternoon and started moving out on Friday.  In the meantime it dumped several feet of rain on many areas of Central Florida.  Brevard County on the east coast apparently got the worst of it. 

       

   

You can see the photos above of my street -- totally underwater.  My neighborhood in Seminole County got pummeled pretty heavy obviously, especially on Thursday.  I think it poured down rain for about 36 straight hours.  I never realized that I owned waterfront property.

I've lived in my home for 9 years now and it isn't in a flood zone. I've never seen anything like this even after enduring 3 hurricanes in 2004.  But we are located about 500 feet from the Little Wekiva River (which is really just a small stream).  All the storm drains run off into the river.  Apparently the river overflowed its banks and backed up the storm drains of our neighborhood.  A few of the houses around here did get flooded.  Luckily mine did not, thank goodness. 

I did get a serious roof leak at one of my rental properties and a little water blew through the trim around the windows at my office, but other than that everything is OK by me.  So many other people were not so fortunate.

Pretty crazy, huh?

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(Copyright © 2008. Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor in Orlando and Central Florida.

ABR, CPL, CRB, GRI, Managing real estate broker, Licensed mortgage broker, Notary Public

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318    www.SDRhouses.com/   www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com/

Learn to invest in Central Florida real estate and Orlando real estate. Investor mentoring and counseling available. We sell properties, list properties, and we buy houses cash throughout the Central Florida & metro Orlando area.  

I also provide flat fee MLS listings, For Sale By Owner, and menu-based services in most parts of Central & South Florida, the Space Coast, and the Treasure Coast including Orlando, Winter Park, Maitland, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Apopka, Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Longwood, Winter Springs, Oviedo, Lake Mary, Sanford, Deltona, Debary, Deland, Mount Dora, Eustis, Clermont, Kissimmee, Winter Haven, Lakeland, Tampa, Sarasota, Bradenton, Miami-Dade, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Port Saint Lucie, Melbourne, Daytona Beach, Ocala, Gainesville, Volusia, Brevard, and more.

 

The Seminole County commission voted unanimously 5-0 in late July to raise the maximum millage rate for county property taxes.   You can watch the actual video of the vote on the county's website. It is #54 on their agenda.

The 2007 millage rate was 4.3578, and the new 2008 proposed millage rate is 4.5153. This is a 3.6% increase from last year. 

At the same time assessed values have skyrocketed throughout Seminole County as well as the rest of the state.  The property appraiser's office has interesting statistics on their website.  Considering the taxable assessed values have increased about 66% since 2003, their is no excuse for the county needing to raise taxes.  Certainly inflation has not increased anywhere near 66% during this time, but the county's wasteful budget certainly has increased through the roof. 

At least the county has done some major cutbacks in the last year including cutting many employees jobs and lowering the salaries of the county commissioners, but there is still plenty of room to cut deeper.

Sadly some of these county commissioners are calling themselves staunch conservatives as they run for re-election in 2008.  Yet, they voted unanimously to increase the millage rate and raise everyone's taxes.  That sure doesn't sound conservative to me. 

Fortunately this Tuesday, August 26, you do have a choice to make your voice heard in the primary elections.  If you do not like how your Seminole County commissioner voted, you have the chance to vote them out of office.  Some of the county commission races are very close and a few votes either way could determine who wins the election.

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(Copyright © 2008. Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor in Orlando and Central Florida.

ABR, CPL, CRB, GRI, Managing real estate broker, Licensed mortgage broker, Notary Public

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318    www.SDRhouses.com/   www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com/

Learn to invest in Central Florida real estate and Orlando real estate. Investor mentoring and counseling available. We sell properties, list properties, and we buy houses cash throughout the Central Florida & metro Orlando area.  

I also provide flat fee MLS listings, For Sale By Owner, and menu-based services in most parts of Central & South Florida, the Space Coast, and the Treasure Coast including Orlando, Winter Park, Maitland, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Apopka, Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Longwood, Winter Springs, Oviedo, Lake Mary, Sanford, Deltona, Debary, Deland, Mount Dora, Eustis, Clermont, Kissimmee, Winter Haven, Lakeland, Tampa, Sarasota, Bradenton, Miami-Dade, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Port Saint Lucie, Melbourne, Daytona Beach, Ocala, Gainesville, Volusia, Brevard, and more.

Whenever I take a buyer out to show properties in metro Orlando, the one thing that always stands out like a sore thumb is the number of properties listed as either short sales or bank foreclosures.   It seems like that in many areas that these listings make up 50% or more of the properties listed for sale.

     

I have quite a few short sales listed right now, and our firm has a huge amount listed.  These listings are always so much extra work to get closed, but they are what is selling in Central Florida.  Being able to successfully negotiate a short sale is critical for any listing Realtor in the country.

The thing that has been so difficult with short sales in the past is that the lenders just did not want to hear about the borrower's problems.  They wanted to turn a blind eye to the borrower in default and let the situation drag out and eventually result in a foreclosure auction.  In my opinion, that scenario has greatly changed in the last few months.  Lenders have finally woken up  to the idea that they need to be much more cooperative if they want to get through this tidal wave of foreclosures sooner.

If a lender does not allow a short sale, then typically the property reverts back to the lender at the courthouse steps.  The property's condition gets more deteriorated, possibly damaged or vandalized, and often gets code enforcement liens placed on it by various municipalities. This drives the value down further and costs the lender more money to winterize & secure the house and payoff the liens.  Then on top of that the lender now has to pay additional closing costs, attorneys fees, and commissions to ultimately get the property sold to a new owner.  All these additional expenses can often mean that the lender ends up losing an extra 30% or more of their principal investment.

It is for these reasons that many lenders have finally started cooperating with sellers and listing agent Realtors to get properties sold at a reasonable discount. 

Our firm has been specializing in foreclosures, short sales, bank owned properties, and other great deals for many years now and would be glad to analyze your situation and see how we can help.  We have many experienced Realtors, including myself, that would be glad to help you sell your house.  Or if you are a buyer, we would be glad to help you find a fantastic foreclosure deal !

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(Copyright © 2008. Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor in Orlando and Central Florida.

ABR, CPL, CRB, GRI, Managing real estate broker, Licensed mortgage broker, Notary Public

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318    www.SDRhouses.com/   www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com/

Learn to invest in Central Florida real estate and Orlando real estate. Investor mentoring and counseling available. We sell properties, list properties, and we buy houses cash throughout the Central Florida & metro Orlando area.  

I also provide flat fee MLS listings, For Sale By Owner, and menu-based services in most parts of Central & South Florida, the Space Coast, and the Treasure Coast including Orlando, Winter Park, Maitland, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Apopka, Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Longwood, Winter Springs, Oviedo, Lake Mary, Sanford, Deltona, Debary, Deland, Mount Dora, Eustis, Clermont, Kissimmee, Winter Haven, Lakeland, Tampa, Sarasota, Bradenton, Miami-Dade, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Port Saint Lucie, Melbourne, Daytona Beach, Ocala, Gainesville, Volusia, Brevard, and more.

Virtual tour: Altamonte lakefront home


Altamonte Springs lakefront house, Seminole County lakefront house, Spring Valley lakefront home, Altamonte Springs Realtor, Seminole County Realtor, flat fee listing Altamonte Springs, flat fee listing Seminole County, flat fee mls Altamonte Springs, for sale by owner Altamonte Springs

Last Friday a group of several people involved with the Central Florida Realty Investors (CFRI) legislative committee (including myself) got to sit down Florida's Attorney General Bill McCollum and candidly discuss various issues regarding the real estate industry including the new Florida foreclosure fraud law, FS 501.1377 a/k/a HB 643. We expressed many of our concerns about the new law and General McCollum was listening to what we had to say.  

  

General McCollum is also looking for input regarding ideas to lower the cost of Florida windstorm insurance and to combat mortgage fraud. If you have any ideas regarding any of these topics, please post them here or contact me directly.

CFRI will be taking input on this at the Orange County subgroup meeting on Wednesday, 8/20/08 at 6:30pm.  For more details on when and where go to the CFRI website. 

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(Copyright © 2008. Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor in Orlando and Central Florida.

ABR, CPL, CRB, GRI, Managing real estate broker, Licensed mortgage broker, Notary Public

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318    www.SDRhouses.com/   www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com/

Learn to invest in Central Florida real estate and Orlando real estate. Investor mentoring and counseling available. We sell properties, list properties, and we buy houses cash throughout the Central Florida & metro Orlando area.  

I also provide flat fee MLS listings, For Sale By Owner, and menu-based services in most parts of Central & South Florida, the Space Coast, and the Treasure Coast including Orlando, Winter Park, Maitland, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Apopka, Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Longwood, Winter Springs, Oviedo, Lake Mary, Sanford, Deltona, Debary, Deland, Mount Dora, Eustis, Clermont, Kissimmee, Winter Haven, Lakeland, Tampa, Sarasota, Bradenton, Miami-Dade, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Port Saint Lucie, Melbourne, Daytona Beach, Ocala, Gainesville, Volusia, Brevard, and more.

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Amendment 5, Florida's property tax swapping amendment, was dealt a severe blow last week when a Leon County Circuit Court Judge pulled the amendment off of the November ballot.  The judge ruled that the ballot language was improper and could be mis-understood by voters.  

   

You can read more details of this story in the Orlando Sentinel.  The Florida Chamber of Commerce has already written an open letter to Governor Crist asking that he call an immediate special congressional session to fix the property tax situation once and for all. 

The court decision is already under appeal and most likely will go to the Florida Supreme Court for a decision. Typically opponents of laws make sure they file lawsuits in the most liberal counties they can in order to make sure the judge will rule in their favor.  Often times these rulings get reversed on appeal.

I have not made up my own mind on Amendment 5 just yet. However the way these local governments have gone out of control with their spending and millage increases, I believe that major changes to Florida's taxing structure are in order.  A check and balance system needs to be put in place in order to keep these tax and spend politicians under control.

If Amendment 5 does get back on the November ballot, I will provide a detailed analysis of it at some point in the future.

Update 8/21/08: It is my understanding that Amendment 5 has been put back on the ballot pending review by the Florida Supreme Court.

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(Copyright © 2008. Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor in Orlando and Central Florida.

ABR, CPL, CRB, GRI, Managing real estate broker, Licensed mortgage broker, Notary Public

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318    www.SDRhouses.com/   www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com/

Learn to invest in Central Florida real estate and Orlando real estate. Investor mentoring and counseling available. We sell properties, list properties, and we buy houses cash throughout the Central Florida & metro Orlando area.  

I also provide flat fee MLS listings, For Sale By Owner, and menu-based services in most parts of Central & South Florida, the Space Coast, and the Treasure Coast including Orlando, Winter Park, Maitland, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Apopka, Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Longwood, Winter Springs, Oviedo, Lake Mary, Sanford, Deltona, Debary, Deland, Mount Dora, Eustis, Clermont, Kissimmee, Winter Haven, Lakeland, Tampa, Sarasota, Bradenton, Miami-Dade, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Port Saint Lucie, Melbourne, Daytona Beach, Ocala, Gainesville, Volusia, Brevard, and more.