by Dawn Deegan Starting June 15, the Short-Sale Process should officially start to speed up. That is the date that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac new guidelines go into effect:   they are required to approve (or not) a Short Sale within 60 days from receipt of an Offer.   Large banks will be required to respond to a Short Sale Offer within 30 days of receipt.   You can read the full article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/27/realestate/mortgages-speeding-up-short-sales.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss Here in the Greater Orlando area, Short Sales made up 29% of our overall sales last month, while 25% were REOs (Bank-Owned).   Bottom line: bank involvement in sales contribute to 54% of our Sold homes.   As banks prefer Short Sales (their costs greatly escalate to take a home into foreclosure), we can expect to see the Short Sale to REO ratio rise in the future. I am Short Sale Foreclosure Certified, and you can contact me with any questions, and/or for a confidential disc

Click here to view a video on the State of the Greater Orlando area market, for April 2012.  Feel free to contact me with any questions.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=tkcFwHVTb_U Our year in a snapshot: * Monthly revised sales. ** Includes listings with a status of "Active With Contract." ORRA Dawn Deegan is a Broker-Associate REALTOR® with Charles Rutenberg Realty. She holds the designations of Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR®), Short Sale Foreclosure Resource (SFR), and she is a Graduate of the Realtor® Institute (GRI). She also holds the Transnational Referral Certification (TRC), enabling her to help in real estate endeavors world-wide. Dawn is dedicated to providing only the best possible services and expertise to her Buyers and Sellers of residential Real Estate in the Greater Orlando area. This includes Windermere, Orlando, Winter Park, Baldwin Park, and Davenport. Her emphasis is on superior delivery of

The following chart is from Realtor.com. Note that 7 of the 10 markets are in Florida, with Orlando being #3! << The following are the top 10 turnaround markets, according to Move Inc.’s report from May (including the year-over-year median list price increases). 1. Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz. Median list price increase from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012: +26.94% 2. Miami Median list price increase from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012: +24.32% 3. Orlando Median list price increase from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012: +11.54% 4. Boise City, Idaho Median list price increase from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012: +17.53% 5. Naples, Fla. Median list price increase from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012: +14.34% 6. Oakland, Calif. Median list price increase from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012: +7.07% 7. Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Fla. Median list price increase from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012: +18.27% 8. Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla. Median list price increase from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012: +12.95% 9. Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla. Median list price increase from Q1 2

After my visit to Trader Joe’s, I eagerly drove back to my friendly city of Orlando, a trunk full of provisions in place, with a bag of Thai Lime Chili cashews somewhere close to me.   Mmmm.   According to my check out person, Michael, a past 10-year-resident of Orlando, Trader’s will open next in 1) Sarasota; 2) Gainesville; 3) Jacksonville; 4;) and make its way down to West Palm.   I inquired about Orlando, and he informed me that they intend to have the Distribution Center in Orlando, so no doubt, a store will be here as well (I can just imagine the Distribution Center somewhere on Orange Blossom, S of 528, visible as you trek down the Turnpike).   Well, this Trader Joe’s aficionado can hardly wait.   Until then, I will make another trip back to Naples, after all, I learned of another great Gulf beach there, then to Sarasota in September, as there are nice beaches there, too!   Until then, my pantry runneth over. All posts are written by Dawn Deegan, Broker-Associat