Selling a house in Central Florida is harder in 2026 than it was two years ago. Inventory in the Orlando metro is up roughly 18% year over year, and the median home now sits on the market about 32 days before it goes under contract — up from 22 days a year earlier. Add 30 to 45 days for a buyer’s lender to close, and a traditional listing is a two-to-three month project. That’s before repairs, showings, or a financing fall-through.
Homvado buys houses directly across Central Florida for cash. You get a fair offer within 24 hours, you sell as-is, and you can close in as few as 7 days. No repairs, no agent commission, no closing costs charged to you.
Florida had the worst foreclosure rate in the country in the first half of 2026. 27,494 Florida properties recorded a foreclosure filing — about one in every 373 homes — and filings were up roughly 33% from a year earlier. In the Orlando–Kissimmee corridor, one in every 1,703 housing units had a filing. Osceola County ranks among the top four counties statewide.
If you’re behind on payments, you are not an outlier. And you are almost certainly not out of options.
Here’s the part most homeowners don’t know: Florida is a judicial foreclosure state. Your lender has to sue you in county court and win before they can sell your house. That takes time — and every day of it is a day you can still sell.
|
Stage |
Typical timing |
What’s happening |
Can you still sell? |
|
First missed payment |
Day 1–15 |
Grace period, late fee applied |
Yes |
|
30–90 days delinquent |
Month 1–3 |
Lender collections; late payments hit your credit |
Yes |
|
Demand / breach letter |
~Day 90–120 |
Lender demands the full balance |
Yes |
|
Lis pendens filed |
Month 3–6 |
Lawsuit begins; becomes public record |
Yes |
|
Summons served |
+20 days to respond |
Miss the deadline and you get a default judgment |
Yes |
|
Litigation |
6–18 months uncontested |
Case works through county court |
Yes |
|
Final judgment |
— |
Court sets your auction date |
Yes |
|
Auction (clerk’s sale) |
20–45 days after judgment |
Property sold online through the county clerk |
Only until the certificate of sale is filed |
|
Certificate of sale filed |
Day of / after auction |
Your right of redemption ends here |
No |
|
Certificate of title + writ of possession |
~10+ days later |
Eviction proceeds |
No |
Start to finish, an uncontested Florida foreclosure usually runs 10 to 24 months. Contested cases run 18 to 36 months.
Under Florida Statute 45.0315, you can stop the foreclosure by paying off what the judgment specifies at any time before the clerk files the certificate of sale. After that filing, Florida gives you no right of redemption. None.
That single line is why timing matters so much. A cash sale that closes before the certificate of sale is filed can pay off the mortgage, stop the case, and put whatever equity is left in your pocket — instead of letting the auction decide what happens to it.
Homvado will walk through this with you confidentially, whether or not you sell to us. See Payment Relief in our selling options for how this works.
Talk Through Your Options — no cost, no pressure, no judgment.
A note on foreclosure rescue scams. Florida’s foreclosure rate makes it a target. Never pay an upfront fee to “stop” a foreclosure, never sign a deed over to someone promising to let you rent the home back, and never sign anything you haven’t read. Homvado charges no fees at any point.
We proudly buy houses throughout Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area. If your property is in one of the counties below, we'd love to hear from you.
Selling your house doesn't have to be complicated. Our process is simple, transparent, and designed around your timeline.
Learn more about every step of our home-buying process on our How It Works page.
We’d rather you see this honestly than pretend a cash offer wins every time. It doesn’t.
| Homvado cash offer | Traditional listing | |
|---|---|---|
| Time to offer | Within 24 hours | Listing period varies |
| Time to close | As few as 7 days | ~32 days on market + 30–45 days to close |
| Repairs | None | Usually required; buyer’s inspection may reopen the price |
| Showings | None | Ongoing |
| Agent commission | $0 | Typically 5–6% of sale price |
| Seller closing costs | $0 charged to you | Typically 1–3% |
| Financing fall-through risk | None (we pay cash) | Real — appraisal and loan approval both matter |
| Sale price | Below full retail | Highest potential price |
| Certainty | High | Lower |
The honest math. On a $395,000 Orlando-area home — roughly the metro median in mid-2026 — a 5.5% commission is about $21,700, and seller closing costs at 2% add another $7,900. Before a single repair, that’s roughly $29,600 off the top, plus two to three months of continued mortgage, tax, and insurance payments. A cash offer is lower than full retail, but the gap is narrower than the headline price makes it look — and it’s a certain number on a certain date.
Cash isn’t unusual here. All-cash transactions made up about 41.7% of U.S. home purchases in Q1 2026, and Florida runs well above the national average. In Tampa Bay it’s about 42.8%.
If a listing genuinely nets you more, we’ll say so. That’s what Selling Options is for, and the free Seller Guide walks through the comparison in about five minutes.
Here's what makes Homvado different.
More on our background: Why Homvado
As few as 7 days with Homvado. Because we pay cash, there’s no lender underwriting, no appraisal contingency, and no financing fall-through. The main variable is title — if there are liens, judgments, or probate issues to clear, it can take longer. We’ll tell you what’s realistic once we see the title.
Yes. Being delinquent does not stop you from selling. At closing, the title company pays your lender the full payoff amount from the sale proceeds and you keep whatever is left. You can sell at any point before the clerk files the certificate of sale.
Four realistic paths: reinstate the loan by paying the arrears, negotiate loss mitigation with your servicer (forbearance, repayment plan, or modification), sell the property and pay off the loan, or file bankruptcy to trigger an automatic stay. Selling is often the fastest way to preserve equity. Under Florida Statute 45.0315, the window closes when the certificate of sale is filed.
Yes. A lis pendens is notice that a lawsuit is pending — it isn’t a transfer of ownership. You still hold title and can still sell, as long as the sale pays off what’s owed and closes before the certificate of sale. Give us the case number and we’ll work backward from your actual auction date.
A company or investor that buys your home with its own funds instead of a mortgage. No lender means no underwriting, no appraisal, and no loan denial — which is why cash sales close in days rather than months. The tradeoff is that the offer is below full retail, because the buyer takes on the repairs, holding costs, and resale risk.
No. Florida does not require a listing agent to sell your home. You do need a title company or real estate attorney to handle the closing, and Homvado coordinates that. Selling directly to a cash buyer removes the commission entirely.
Usually yes on the gross price — and often less than you’d expect on the net. Subtract 5–6% commission, 1–3% closing costs, repair credits, and two to three more months of mortgage, taxes, insurance, and HOA dues from a listed sale, and the two numbers move closer together. We show you both so you can compare net to net.
iBuyers price algorithmically, charge a service fee (commonly around 5%), typically only buy homes in good condition within tight criteria, and often reduce the offer after inspection. Homvado prices the specific house, charges no fee, buys in any condition, and doesn’t renegotiate after the fact.
Often, yes. Once the court appoints a personal representative with authority to sell, the property can be conveyed — sometimes with a court order depending on the will and the county. We’ll coordinate with your probate attorney and the title company and structure the closing around the court’s timeline.
Yes. We buy occupied rentals and take the property subject to the existing lease. You don’t need to evict, wait out the term, or manage a turnover. Florida law requires that the lease be honored by the new owner, so nothing changes for your tenants at closing.
Yes. Central Florida code enforcement fines can accrue daily and become liens against the property. We buy houses with active violations, unpermitted additions, and open permits, and we handle the resolution after closing. Just tell us upfront so the offer accounts for it.
Chapter 13, and sometimes Chapter 7, allows a property sale with bankruptcy court approval. It requires coordination with your trustee and attorney and adds weeks to the timeline. We’ve closed these before — start with your attorney, then bring us in.
No. Requesting an offer is free. If you sell to Homvado, you pay no commission and no closing costs are charged to you as the seller. Existing liens, mortgage payoffs, and past-due property taxes come out of the sale proceeds, and we itemize all of it before you sign.
That’s a large part of what we buy. Roof replacement, foundation issues, plumbing and electrical, storm damage, mold, hoarding conditions. You spend nothing on repairs, clean nothing, and can leave behind anything you don’t want to move.
Start with the address. We’ll review the property, show you the clearest path — cash or otherwise — and let you decide.
Offer within 24 hours. Close in as few as 7 days. No repairs, no fees, no obligation.
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