The Pulse of East Orlando Real Estate, With a Focus on Waterford Lakes

By Mary Shanklin, Orlando Sentinel

Neighbors in the northwest Orange County community of Rose Point noticed something unusual going on at the vacant, foreclosed house on Rywood Drive: A Rooms To Go truck was unloading furniture there.

Community coordinator Rebekah Dulberg knew the house was under contract but could not understand why someone would be moving in before the sale had closed. Delving into the matter with law enforcement, other homeowners and a real-estate broker, Dulberg uncovered a rental scam at that house and another one nearby.

"Anyone who has a vacant house could be victimized," Dulberg said.

Orlando inventory down 31 percent; median price bounds 16 percent

The number of existing homes available for purchase in Orlando is continuing a steady decline that began in back in July

By David Barley, World Property Channel

(ORLANDO, FL) -- According to the Florida Association of Realtors, Florida's housing market reported gains in median sales prices and a reduced inventory of homes for sale in January.

"We're seeing positive signs of a strengthening recovery in Florida's housing market," said 2012 Florida Realtors President Summer Greene, regional manager of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Florida 1st in Fort Lauderdale. "In both the statewide single-family and condo-townhome markets, pending sales are higher and the statewide median sales price rose -- up 5.3 percent to $129,000 for single-family homes and up 18.8 percent to $95,000 for condo-townhomes. Improving the availability of affordable financing to qualified buyers and investors would continue to stabilize Florida's housing market and economy."

The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less. Sales of foreclosures and other distressed properties continue to downwardly distort the median price because they generally sell at a discount relative to traditional homes, according to housing industry analysts.
 

By Jim McTague, Barrons.com

Fannie Mae will soon start auctioning off foreclosed houses and pools of non-performing loans in bulk. How to buy a cut-rate rental property.

Fire sale! The Federal Housing Finance Agency has approved a big residential real-estate auction at Fannie Mae to help the mortgage giant unload its inventory of 122,616 foreclosed houses. For the first time, the regulators are permitting Fannie Mae to sell houses in bulk. The test sale also will include pools of non-performing loans.

Corporations, partnerships and non-profits with at least $5 million in assets are expected to flock to the pilot auction, which hasn't been scheduled yet. But there also will be a place for individuals with incomes exceeding $200,000; couples with combined incomes over $300,000; and individuals and couples with a net worth of more than $1 million, excluding their primary homes.

All of the bidders will have to have a proven track record as successful landlords because the properties can't be flipped. Buyers will have to rent out the houses for a yet unspecified term of years. Many of the houses to be included in the test auction are occupied by tenants. These are persons who had been renting the units when their landlords defaulted on the property's mortgage. Federal and state laws protect them from eviction.