Homes for sale subject to a short sale contingency are a huge part of the Central Florida real estate market.

Homes for sale subject to a short sale contingency are a huge part of the Central Florida real estate market. As of 09/28/2011, 3 out of 10 homes listed in our market area are listed with a short sale contingency.


While many people think of REO property when looking for a good deal, Central Florida short sale homes for sale have proven to be just as good a deal for many home buyers. This is clearly seen when you consider as of today's date, 7 of the 10 homes that are under contract, are short sale listings.

Short sale homes for sale

What can you do if you receive a low appraisal on the house you are buying?

The majority of financing transactions will require that an appraisal be completed before approving the loan.  With the number of cash transactions on the rise, cash buyers may also ask that an appraisal be a contingency to the contract. 

The Florida Realtors® website recently posted an article today titled; Low appraisal killing a deal? Here’s what to do. Keeping in mind that appraisals are designed to make sure the property is worth what the buyer is paying, and having a low appraisal kill a deal is not always going to be a bad thing or should be fought.  The article offers several suggestions including;

• Ask the seller to sell at appraised value. Before you laugh, those of us who have been in the business for anytime at all have asked sellers this very question and for a variety of reasons, sellers have agreed.  
• Find an appraiser closer to home.  Many feel that in order to do an accurate appraisal, you should be familiar with the area, neighborhood, or community.  If the appraiser was from a distant land, the article suggests asking for a different appraiser.
• The article suggests that finding suitable comparable create an appraisal problem.  Foreclosure and short sale transactions are not considered normal and when used to appraise a normal sale, could work to lower value.  My research this afternoon of the Osceola market indicated that 60% of the closed business this year in the County have been "normal" or "traditional" sales.  This fact should help give appraisers in this area, a broad supply to choose from.

None of these suggestions guarantee that the deal will still close when faced with a low appraisal but they do offer a few suggestions that over the years have worked.  If it is a house that the buyer liked enough to offer the price they offered, then with the buyer’s or seller’s written approval, try some of the suggestions out the next time you are faced with a low appraisal.

Register for our October 2011 real estate class to be held in Champions Gate

For those interested in attending a Florida real estate pre-licensing class, we will be offering a class starting on October 28th and ending on November 1st with the class exam scheduled for November 3rd.  This class will be held at our Champions Gate office located at 8235 Champions Gate Blvd. Davenport, FL. 33896.  (Directions)

Ellen Thunell will be the class instructor and the classes will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 6 p.m. - 10 p.m.  The tuition fee is $99.00 for the class + $70.00 for the course text, material, supplies, and class exam.

Call me, 407-304-0255 or email me at gstaker@watsonrealtycorp.com to receive a registration package.