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Orlando, FL Real Estate News

By Heather the Realtor Orlando, Lake Mary, First Time Home Buyers, Bank Owned Homes
(LemonTree Realty)
Heather's Top Picks Bank Owned Real Estate Around Orlando, FL This is a new edition in a series of blogs about Real Estate in Central Florida. I currently blog about What's Hot & What's Not in Orlando, a weekly look at the top listings for sale and recently sold properties. This series will go over my top picks of bank owned real estate in both Seminole & Orange County, FL. I will break down my top picks by area and price points. Each week will feature a new list of real estate for sale. Definitions: REO stands for Real Estate Owned or Bank Owned and it refers to a property that has gone back to the bank, or the mortgage company, after an unsuccessful foreclosure auction. A short sale is a property that is for sale where the value of the property is less than the amount owed to the ban...
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By Rob Arnold, Metro Orlando Full Service - Investor Friendly & F
(Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc.)
There was an interesting story in the Orlando Sentinel yesterday about how the City of Orlando will be using $6.7 million of federal grant money to buy, fix up, and re-sell approximately 20 houses and hold 11 others as low-income rentals.  This grant money was divvied up in the same law that raised the FHA buyer contribution to 3.5% and killed Nehemiah down payment assistance.             Doing some quick math means that they will be paying approximately $216,000 per house.  Considering that the median price in Orlando is $180,000 as of October 2008, it sounds like they are targeting the fancier neighborhoods as opposed to the working class areas.  Of course maybe the city is simply doing what government is good at ... overpaying for things.  Who knows? It does seem pretty interesting t...
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By Marc Grossman, GRI, Greater Orlando Real Estate Broker
(Marc It Sold!)
This is a guide to a smattering of events occurring in the Orlando Central Florida area.  The sections are divided into Art, Music, Theater, Author, Etc, On-Going and Plan Ahead.  There is surely something for everyone.  THEATER & FILM A VERY SPECIAL EVENING WITH GARRISON KEILLOR             What:             creator of A Prairie Home Companion             When:            November 24 - 7:30pm             Where:          Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre                                     Livingston                                     Orlando             Contact:        407-839-3900 - Ticketmaster   FUNDRAISER   GIVE HOPE & HOLD'EM GALA             What:             benefits Arnold Palmer Children's Hospital et al. Gambling,                                     entertainment, food, drinks...
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By David Welch, Real Estate Optimist - #OrlandoRealEstate
(Charles Rutenberg Realty)
City of Orlando voted to spend $6.7 million in Federal Neighborhood Stabilization money. This will go to purchase about 30 homes in selected neighborhoods in the city of Orlando. I have to agree with the plan to focus the purchases in specific areas to derive the greatest benefit. Had the money been spread around more the impact of the program would have been diluted. Hopefully, this plan will allow the targeted neighborhoods to see real results and have a favorable impact on the homes surrounding the purchased properties. In the end, while I am generally not in favor of such invasive governmental actions, I believe this will have a positive impact on our local real estate market. A similar program on a larger scale is underway in Orange county. This should be the more effective way to ...
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By David Welch, Real Estate Optimist - #OrlandoRealEstate
(Charles Rutenberg Realty)
Great article in the Orlando Sentinel online this afternoon about existing home sales in Orlando. We continue to be the bright spot in Florida. We had almost four times the sales of the Miami area, even though they are quite a bit larger than Orlando. In fact 14% of all the real estate sales in the state of Florida occurred in the Orlando marketplace. Almost every week, I read some negative article about Orlando real estate. Prices have fallen a great deal in the City Beautiful, the inventory continues to run very high, and there are quite a number of distressed properties. Despite the doom and gloom, the weather also remains absolutely fantastic. We have a cold front moving through right now so the high is only in the mid sixties with clear blue skies and lots of sunshine. We still hav...
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By David Welch, Real Estate Optimist - #OrlandoRealEstate
(Charles Rutenberg Realty)
We are about half way through November, and there are 378 closed sales posted in the MLS so far. The median price is remaining somewhat stable, but lower at $175,000 with a median days on market of 104. If the time on market holds that will be a one week improvement in the time to sale. The other numbers I have noticed have to do with the inventories of homes for sale, distressed properties and contracts pending. The first two are actually down just a tad, like a handful of homes. The most significant thing is that the distressed properties are not continuing to climb. The pending contracts are continuing to climb especially among distressed properties. There are 1,674 pending contracts on properties identified as distressed with 6,359 active distressed properties. I have seen a high of...
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By Heather the Realtor Orlando, Lake Mary, First Time Home Buyers, Bank Owned Homes
(LemonTree Realty)
If you have been anywhere near Downtown  Orlando or Thornton park in the past few weeks you may have noticed these large oversized guitars popping up everywhere. Well it peaked my curiousity too. I know there are ones by Publix, Dexters, Wildsides, 23 and Im sure the list goes on. I haven been in town in awhile but plan on trying to find them all over this week. The guitars are part of a charity program, Orlando GuitarTown is a public arts project in Downtown Orlando featuring 36 ten-foot tall fiberglass guitars and a series of 36 regular size guitars artistically designed and colorfully painted by local and nationally acclaimed visual artists and placed throughout Downtown in front of City landmarks, sponsor locations and other popular destinations for several months. The project has ...
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By Richard Shuman, Real Estate Broker - Orlando Area - Love Referrals
(The Only B.S. I Have is from the University of Massachusetts)
Are you waiting for the BUYERS MARKET to END BEFORE YOU BUY?    www.SKIPtheBULL.com     Richard Shuman P.A. Mortgage Brokerage BusinessREALTOR - RE/MAX Select Search for a home www.SKIPtheBULL.com Apply for a Loan  www.WholesalePlusMortgage.com See how much you can spend on a home www.How-Much-Can-I-Spend.com   The same consideration should be given to hiring a REALTOR & Mortgage Broker as hiring any other professional. When I look for a doctor, accountant or attorney, I want someone that is well educated, has experience, ethics and a track record of satisfied clients. What is most important is I want direct answers to direct questions!!! That's why I picked www.SKIPtheBULL.com  I don't play games with my clients! If you want someone to sugar coat bad news, tell you your home is worth m...
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By David Welch, Real Estate Optimist - #OrlandoRealEstate
(Charles Rutenberg Realty)
These are numbers you probably won't see anywhere else. One reason is that there is a degree of inconsistency with how distressed properties are being identified in the MLS. I have been to homes that are identified as pre-foreclosure, but in fact they are already bank owned. I have also been to short sales that do not have the pre-foreclosure or in foreclosure status box checked in the MLS. I say all this to qualify the numbers I am about to share. However, I will also say that even if these numbers are not the most accurate, I do believe them to be representative of what I am experiencing in the market. First, while there are 6,398 properties in one of the three categories I described above, only about 1/3 are bank owned meaning 2/3 are probably in short sale situations. Second, out of...
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By Heather the Realtor Orlando, Lake Mary, First Time Home Buyers, Bank Owned Homes
(LemonTree Realty)
You decided to relocate to Orlando or Lake Mary, FL area. While you may have many questions, one question most all of my out of state clients ask me is how do the Florida Taxes work? This is a great question and Florida's taxes and homestead laws are different then most states so hopefully this blog will help those of you who have recently relocated here or those thinking about relocating to the Central Florida area. How can you become a permanent Florida Resident? Filing a declaration of domicile, qualifying for homestead exemption or registering to vote in Florida. Why type of of Taxes will I pay on my residency? Ad valorem taxes are assessed by the county property appraiser and collected annually by the county tax collector's office. A $25,000 homestead exemption and cap on assessed...
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Why do I love living in the Orlando Area?  That's an easy question...  Because we have it all!  From Professional Sports to the Arts, Orlando is a great city to live in...with theme parks to some of the best beaches in Florida less than an hour away you will never be sitting home on a Friday night with nothing to do in Orlando. If you are looking to get out this Friday or Saturday Night and listen to some great live music with Orlando's favorite party band... stop in at Rusty O'Reilly's Irish Pub and Eatery to see The Standing Hamptons from 9pm - 1am.  I'm looking forward to seeing our good friend Dave Costello, the band's drummer, rock the house this weekend.  Dave is a great guy, husband and father of two of the best looking kids I've ever seen.  A.J. & Reilly's dad is in a rock bank....
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CHAMPIONSGATE, Fla. — Michael Weinberg, marketing director for real estate at ChampionsGate Resort South of Orlando at I-4 and ChampionsGate Blvd., has been earning commendations lately. Marc Reicher, senior vice president of operations at  said Weinberg recently earned his CCIM accreditation as a certified Commercial Investment Member of the CCIM Institute. The accreditation is one of the most coveted professional commendations among commercial real estate executives. Reicher said Weinberg who joined ChampionsGate Resort one year ago, was also recently appointed to the Transportation Corridor Task Force of the Central Florida Partnership.
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ORLANDO — Emerson International recently negotiated three new lease agreements and three renewals that total 5,001 square feet of office space at Major Center Plaza One, its professional office development on Major Blvd. near Universal Studios in Southwest Orlando. Pierre de Amezola, director of sales and marketing at Emerson International, said Emerson leasing associate Sean Westcott negotiated the following new leases Vacation Masters International, LLC leased 1,245 square feet and two 160 square foot mini executive suites were leased to MBK Tours and Franklin Fox and IPA and Associates and David Wroblicky. Westcott and Theresa McGriff with Emerson negotiated lease renewals in the 5728 Major Center building with Allegiance Insurance Group who occupies 916 square feet and The Law Offic...
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ORLANDO, Fla. – Beazer Homes’ (NYSE: BZH) state-of-the-art gourmet kitchen in its waterfront Legacy community model home will get its first—and most challenging—test when the season No. 1 winner of Bravo’s hit series, Top Chef, whips up a cooking demonstration for area realtors Tuesday, Dec. 2. Beazer is using the invitation-only event to debut its SMARTDESIGN™ Chef’s Dream Kitchen, a true workhorse of a space with all the whistles and bells that chefs demand and home cooking enthusiasts aspire to enjoy, at its new home community located just minutes from downtown Orlando. Professional chef Harold Dieterle, who won the inaugural season of the popular Top Chef television series, plans to stir up the audience with his version of the hot reality cooking show while showcasing the many funct...
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Interested in how Keller Williams Advantage II Realty may help increase your business potential? At 4pm today, November 13th, we invite you over so that you may learn a bit more about the Keller Williams Way. This is your opportunity to learn how we have such major market share in East Orlando, and to discover how you may have the opportunity to see your business grow as well. If you are unable to attend this afternoon, you are more than welcome to attend any one of our upcoming classes. You will have an Ah Ha moment no matter your experience level! Next week's classes include: 1. Synergy Mortgage: USDA Rural Housing (Did you know the Avalon Park area qualifies for 100% financing?) 2. Real Estate Top 12 Freebies 3. Credit Restoration and Education For more information about the party th...
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There are many advantages to buying a proven business buy many people are surprised to learn buying a franchise does not guarantee success    Orlando, FL --  Rick Bisio, franchise consultant and noted author of the book, The Educated Franchisee, recently spoke at a workshop designed to provide franchise information to young entrepreneurs who were considering owning a franchise.  Rick believes that even in today's economy, buying a franchise is a wise choice but one must be aware of the common misconception that franchise ownership guarantees success.   Rick received a huge round of applause from the attendees who were excited to hear him speak. He began, "Purchasing a franchise is safer than starting a new business from scratch.  The whole point of a franchise is that you limit your ris...
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By Mark Maupin See Blog Free Investors Training, National Real Estate Investors Network Host
(National Real Estate Network, LLC)
This article was written by Rick Bisio, franchise consultant and noted author.  Rick is a great friend and business associate of mine; he has givin me permission to re post his article.  I hope you enjoy reading this informative article:   Gathering great franchise information and choosing a proven franchise concept is perhaps the best route to successful business ownership.  There are many advantages to buying a proven business but many people are surprised to find out that buying a franchise does not ensure success.  This is a fairly frequent misperception.  This article examines some of the realities - and misperceptions.   Buying a Franchise is Safer than Starting a Business from Scratch. Almost every potential franchisee I talk with has heard this. And it is true. The whole point o...
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Gathering great franchise information and choosing a proven franchise concept is perhaps the best route to successful business ownership.  There are many advantages to buying a proven business but many people are surprised to find out that buying a franchise does not ensure success.  This is a fairly frequent misperception.  This article studies some of the facts - and misperceptions.   Buying a Franchise is Safer than Starting a Business from Scratch. Almost every potential franchisee I talk with has heard this. And it is factual. The whole point of a franchise is that you limit your risk by buying a system that is already established. The instruments for success already are in place and there's no need to spend years reinventing the wheel with product, pricing, marketing, and so on.  ...
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By David Welch, Real Estate Optimist - #OrlandoRealEstate
(Charles Rutenberg Realty)
The official numbers are finally out. They have not hit the paper yet, but they should show up later today at www.OrlandoSentinel.com. Right now here is how they break down. While sales in October were down compared to September they were 10% higher than October 2007. This year's closed sales were 1,199 compared to last year's 1,090. The flip side of that is the price which are down month over month from $182,000 in September to $178,000 in October. That is a big 24% lower than October 2007's median of $235,000. In case you need help with the math that is an improvement of $57,000. On a 30 year mortgage at 6% interest that is a monthly savings of just over $340.00. The number of pending sales continues to climb with 3,316 properties under contract compared to 1,923 a year ago. Homes sti...
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By David Welch, Real Estate Optimist - #OrlandoRealEstate
(Charles Rutenberg Realty)
I was just on the phone with Chip Gregory with Trinity Mortgage here in the Orlando area. We were talking about some of the things that we are seeing in the Orlando real estate market, and what the big drivers are. First, foreclosures and distressed properties have had a big impact on prices and values all over Orlando. Here in Baldwin Park, I was just checking values for a prospective seller. One investment property he owns in the newest section of the neighborhood has actually gone down fairly significantly due to the distressed properties around his. That particular section of the neighborhood was bought up by investors during the hottest time we had back in 2005. Second, first time home buyers are a huge influence on the market right now. Move up buyers are having a hard time sellin...
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