Investment and Vacation Real Estate - Orlando, Florida

Some bank-owned units selling for 5-15 percent more than asking price

Private investors are returning to Orlando, as bank-owned condos — especially those priced at less than $60,000 — generate a flurry of activity in the local housing market.

The result has been bidding wars among individual investors who have “$50,000 sitting in a bank account,” said Realtor Marcus Burke, co-founder of Orlando-based Condo Metropolis LLC.

The buyers are coming from everywhere. Burke recently courted potential buyers from as close as Dr. Phillips — such as one buyer who already closed on three deals — as well as investors from Ireland, Norway and Iceland. “You still can’t get a loan on these things, so what’s happening is regular people who have $50,000 in cash are coming out of the woodwork,” Burke said.

Cash quickly has become king, especially in the condo market. Nineteen — or 79 percent — of the 24 condo sales in the downtown Orlando ZIP codes of 32801 and 32803 during the last three months were cash deals, said Windermere-based Appraisal & Consultant Services Inc. The rest involved taking out mortgages.

The reason the cash deals are becoming so much more prominent: People see them as a way to make their investments work for them now — by collecting rent on a property that has no mortgage — while waiting to sell them for a larger profit three to five years from now, said Nicholas Pilz, a certified appraiser and owner of Appraisal & Consultant Services. complete story

Source: Orlando Business Journal - Anjali Fluker