Barbara Hampden

You can depend on Barbara Hampden's experience, integrity, and comprehensive market knowledge, to make your real estate transaction a success!

Welcome to cosmopolitan Orlando, home to people from all over the world who join in a love of nature, sunshine, water, state-of-the-art industries, cultural venues, top ranked universities, low taxes, and world class attractions! The Orlando residential marketplace offers diverse communities to accommodate all income levels and choice of housing styles. From golf course to lakefront estates; gated communities to older in- town neighborhoods; condominiums to town homes; single family homes to mansions; whatever you desire in housing style, Central Florida can satisfy your needs.

Our market has changed. How do you respond?

Central Florida continues to see record low prices for resales of residential homes combined with a shortage of inventory. How do we explain this apparent dichotomy?

The lower prices reflect both the economic recession and lenders' return to traditional, sound methods of evaluating buyers' ability to pay their mortgage. Lenders again lend on what a buyer can afford to pay, based on verifiable income. So called "liar" loans and "pay what ever you want" loans no longer exist.

While some sellers believe that the boom years prices will return if they delay selling for a few years, the underlying economics reflect stagnant U.S. income growth. Local home prices will, at best, move sideways in the coming years, given the "shadow foreclosures" reflected in the tax rolls that have not been listed for sale. Slowing the foreclosure process is a Florida Court System that holds lenders accountable for their sloppy loan paperwork. Hence, "short-sales" will continue to be a large segment of the resale homes in Central Florida.

Sellers whose homes are "underwater" in value need to work with an agent who has experience in negotiating short-sales with lenders. Our short-sale department has helped homeowners sell their houses since 2007, when the short-sale market began. While short-sales are financially and psychologically damaging experiences, most sellers feel great relief when the heavy burden of debt is lifted.

Sellers whose homes are not "economically distressed" do enjoy a modest sale price premium over distressed properties. These homes typically are in older, more established communities, whose owners bought before the boom years.

Responding to our record low prices, buyers are flocking to Orlando from all over the world, vying to get a place in the sun. For buyers, conditioned by news reports that it's a buyers' market, it can be a frustrating and difficult process to find a home. Multiple offers, short-sale lenders who want unrealistic returns for their distressed loans, all- cash offers, and newly vigilent mortgage lenders mean that buyers need a trustworthy advocate who protects their interests and works hard to find them a great house.