Investors are returning to the Orlando Florida real estate market and according to experts, it is safe to buy a previously foreclosed upon house if title insurance – complete with a land survey – is available on it. 

Flipping – where an investor buys a house, makes some improvements, and then quickly resells it for a big gain, has once more become big business.

Instead of relying on astronomical price increases, Orlando real estate investors now buying homes at foreclosure auctions from banks are instead relying on the age old adage of buy low, sell high. Investors are reselling the properties within months or even weeks for large gains – often reaping bigger profits than speculators during the real estate boom from 2001 – 2007. 

But investors have to certainly be more cautious and a good Title Agent together with a good Land Surveyor in Orlando will protect them.

In the fall of 2010, some lenders suspended foreclosures while they reviewed their procedures. This was due to the “robo-signing” scandal in which some banks and law firms had not followed proper procedures on foreclosure paperwork. There are now many court cases pending wherein buyers are being forced to hand their purchases back to the original owners of these properties due to improper procedures during the foreclosure process – leaving buyers to fight for a return of their investment. 

As long as the new lender and new owner have title insurance though, the former owner can’t seize the home back and the new owner will keep the house. 

Many Orlando REO houses – that is, real estate owned by the bank – are decrepit. They sit empty for months before they are sold, and they end up in such bad shape that they are ineligible for mortgages. Investors often buy these REOs with cash, fix them up and sell them, just like the house flippers of the boom years. 

Buying an REO straight from the bank rather than from a flipper may surely reap greater profits – as long as investors perform their proper due diligence. 

A Clean Title 

Whether purchased with a loan or with cash, issues regarding the property’s past could “cloud title” and cast doubt on the buyer’s ownership rights. Title insurance together with a land survey protects against defects in the title, such as undiscovered liens, forged signatures, defects in documentation, or physical encumbrances. “Physical encumbrances” can only be accounted for with a land survey performed by an Orlando Florida land surveyor and is the only way for a title policy to actually cover any losses associated with issues such as boundary disputes or encroachments. 

An owner’s title policy – complete with a land survey – is optional but is highly recommended for properties that have been through foreclosure. Frankly, it is foolish to purchase any land in Orlando without a land survey. A title policy without a land survey will include a “survey exception” – a statement that says that issues concerning a “matter of survey” are only covered if a land surveyor has provided a land survey in connection with the title. Many investors are foregoing obtaining a land survey to cut on investment costs. A land surveyor’s fee is a tiny fraction of the fees associated with such an investment and is essential in investors due diligence requirements. A great many very costly survey related issues can be avoided completely by obtaining a low cost land survey from a land surveyor in Orlando. 

Federally backed home loans used for purchases of Orlando properties are required to include a land survey. But many investors are buying with cash and title companies are not obtaining land surveys. Cash investors are well advised to insist that their title agents obtain a land survey or to contact an Orlando land surveyor directly. 

Some title insurers have even refused to issue policies on some homes foreclosed by lenders involved in the robo-signing scandal (they are obviously not contacting land surveyors either). Fidelity National Financial is the largest mortgage insurance company and has issued a statement that “this situation will not have a material adverse impact on its title business.” Fidelity’s message is that “they’re still going to underwrite on REO properties.” This does not necessarily mean that they will require the use of a land surveyor… investors must take care to protect themselves fully. 

We at Landtech Surveying strongly believe that investors and homebuyers must be protected and must be properly informed in their decisions. We work with many Orlando title agents and throughout Florida and may be contacted directly by visiting www.landtechsurvey.com 

We are happy to answer these questions as well as inform you of our low fees, coverage area, and turnaround time.

For twenty five years I have maintained an enormous effort toward delivering the very best customer service I can – this being defined as the fastest, friendliest, most accurate and most cost efficient land surveying in Orlando. To this day I attribute much of my firms success to this endeavor.

The last few years however, I have come to realize that this is certainly not the sole reason for this success.

Although not a direct conscious principle, managing and directing a team of individuals in an uncompromisingly ethical manner has truly guided all my decisions and has surely been pivotal in my land surveying firms longevity. I didn’t require any coursework or seminars to know that this was the only way in which to run a business. I had an inherent need of the pride associated with acting in such a way. It is simply who I am.  I am convinced that the reason I am still conducting business – albeit at a slower pace given the current downturn in the housing market – is due to quality customers in Orlando wishing to deal with quality vendors… in this case, an ethical land surveyor who refuses to cut corners or circumvent legal statutes.

Surely I could have resorted to gifts, bribes, unstructured “profit-sharing”, or offered the ubiquitous “washout survey” and amassed an amazingly dense list of customers.

But where would all those customers be now? So many of them either going out of business or even being indicted for fraudulent operations. And if my business were reliant upon theirs… where would I now find myself? Most likely meandering the long lines of the local unemployment office along with 10 % of our population.

Instead, I enjoy a core group of like-minded customers in Orlando and throughout Florida committed to delivering ethically sound quality services and sure, we are battling a slump right now but we will all still be here to enjoy a return to normal housing activity… Orlando will survive and we will profit fairly once more.

Of course I would enjoy working with more of you… what business owner doesn’t want to increase their market share? You may visit http://www.landtechsurvey.com/ for full details of what we offer.

I love the history and multiple disciplines of land surveying. I love being a Land Surveyor. I find myself quite proud of what I have accomplished as a Land Surveyor and business owner and what I have shared with both my customers in Orlando and my employees. The very best result from all this is the slight welling up of my eyes and the slight lump in my throat when my 14 year old son looks at me, speaks of his respect for me, and tells me he wants to grow up “just like you dad”.