Saturday, June 6, 2009

How to Decide if You Should Remodel Your Orlando Home or Move

From birthdays and anniversaries to graduations and weddings, your home has seen many great days. But, you also may find yourself making repairs more often, and you could begin to get the feeling you need a change. This change can come by remodeling your Orlando home or selling it. Before you make a decision, consider a few very important factors.

· What does remodel mean to you? — If your idea of a remodel is as simple as replacing flooring and adding fresh paint, that should be an easy fix. But if a complete demolition job is involved, you'll probably save yourself money and a lot of headaches by buying a new home.

· Factor in finances – Whether you plan to remodel your Orlando home or move, money is involved. Figure out if it financially makes more sense to make updates to your current home or move into a new already updated home. You'd be surprised how quickly renovation costs can add up, so keep that in mind.

· Assess your neighborhood – Do you still recognize the area you once knew? Are your neighbors still "neighborly?" An important point to consider is whether or not the neighborhood still has value. You want to make sure it is well kept and safe. If not, selling could be the answer. You also don't want to price yourself out of the neighborhood. If updating your home would make it the highest valued home in the neighborhood, you'd be better off moving into a neighborhood where you can purchase one of the lowest valued homes.

· What about the children? Most times, when kids practically grow up in a home, many strong friendships are made. Think about how moving can affect your kids. Starting over in a new neighborhood and a new school can be life changing for children. In this case, remodeling your home could be the better option.

Bottom line, when trying to figure out if you should remodel you Orlando home or sell, take your time. You should exhaust every possibility to ensure you make the right choice for you.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

6 Steps to Prevent Orlando Foreclosures

The thought of losing your home due to foreclosure can be a devastating experience. If you've been late on payments or missed them altogether, foreclosure could be in your future. However, it doesn't have to be. There are varieties of steps you can take to prevent Orlando foreclosures.

  1. Contact your lender
    In order to sort out the situation, you need to involve your lender as soon as possible so you can figure out the next plan of action and keep your home.
  2. Set up a repayment plan
    Usually, repaying your missed payments is the start of fixing the problem; that's why contacting the lender is so important. Depending on what you work out, your repayment costs may only be a little bit more than the cost of your current mortgage.
  3. Try to get forbearance
    Depending on your specific situation, you may be able to put your loan in forbearance. This means, you could be allowed to make smaller payments or you could be free from payments altogether for about a year.
  4. Modify your loan
    This is also known as a loan modification. The plan involves reducing your interest rate, resulting in cheaper payments. This can help you get back on track and avoid Orlando foreclosures.
  5. Refinance
    Refinancing your loan could also result in a lower interest rate, therefore, helping you keep you home. For example, if you have an adjustable rate mortgage that keeps going up each year, refinancing to a fixed-rate loan would be tremendously helpful.
  6. Sell your home
    Although this option is not ideal, it is better than foreclosure. When you sell your home, you have the chance to keep your credit score intact.

There are never any perfect choices when facing foreclosure. But before you think all is lost, examine your options.

If you need to sell your home as quickly as possible, give us a call at 407-876-5771. We have a proven track record for selling homes faster than the average Orlando real estate agent.