Hi folks. So here's the deal. I should NOT know more about FHA loans than the Mortgage Brokers that are attempting to do them. My market area, Poinciana FL, has always been a 100% financing market. Back in the 90s if you wanted to purchase a home in Poinciana it was USDA "Farmer's Home Loan" all the way. This was the mortgage product of choice. Back then you couldn't do FHA in Poinciana because the HOA(Homeowners Association) would not subordinate their first lien position.  Finally, about the year 2000, the HOA changed their position on this, but by then, sub-prime loans ruled the day. FHA, even though it was now available, was not needed.  Sub-prime Mortgage Brokers had a field day in Poinciana up until April of 2007 when the rug was pulled out from under them. Not knowing how to do a... 06/13/2008

POINCIANA, Fla. -- June 10, 2008 -- If you blinked at yesterday's meeting of the Association of Poinciana Villages (APV), you would have missed the board's touching on the issue of foreclosed homes in Poinciana. With foreclosures on the rise, officials throughout Florida are fielding more complaints about pools, those in-ground symbols of luxury, that have become host to algae, frogs, turtles and other wildlife. As the issue of foreclosures worsens, local families becoming ill from living near these types of pools may become an issue that will force the APV to act. If left too long to fester, "green pools" produce a foul smell, which attracts the attention of those living by them and could also become a safety issue for children attracted to green-pool homes, which are for the most part... 06/11/2008

Hi folks. I was on the phone early today speaking with a Legal Process Server, you know, the people that serve foreclosure papers. This server, Tammy, was talking to me about her job and how busy she has been, swamped, was the word she used. According to her she has been spending most of her days delivering papers in Poinciana and Davenport FL.  Poinciana, of course, is my market area and Davenport is an area near Disney World that is predominately short term rental vacation homes. This market has also been hit real hard. With the declining economy, folks are just not spending money on vacation and the owners of these properties, mostly from the UK, are not generating enough income to pay the mortgages.  I would not want Tammy's job. She said she gets cussed at, screamed at and threate... 06/07/2008

OK....this one should be fun!! This post is to explore current market conditions in Poinciana FL. Also, this is my opinion of what's happening in the Poinciana FL market and where I think it's heading.  First let's get into some cold hard data. All of this data was pulled from the Mid-Florida Regional Multiple Listing Service (MFRMLS) on 5-20-2008. It is deemed reliable but is certainly not exact. The data is for Poinciana neighborhoods and does not include Solivita, Crescent Lakes, Cypress Woods or Lake Marion Golf resort.  Today, there are 1,170 properties for sale(active). The average property being a 3 bedroom 2 bath home built in 2004 with 1,777 sq ft living area priced at $165.051 or $95.72 per sq ft.  There are 144 properties under contract(pending). The average property is a 4 ... 05/20/2008

Orlando, Florida | Poinciana's premier Realtor attended the first Green Conference in Central Florida held at the Orange County Convention Center.  If you missed it you're not alone.  Attendance was not the 50,000 that conference organizers had projected but it was well-attended. Sponsored by the Global Green Alliance, the Expo was host to over 500 companies they consider a part of the "green supply chain." There were the much-expected burn-outs and flower-power vendors, such a Peace Frog; vegan and organic vendors galore; green builders; a few vendors some with questionable environmental impact, such as one called Sunshine Greens that seems to think it is "environmentally friendly" to replace thousands of acres of live lawns with their artificial turf; and a few others, like Bank of Am... 05/19/2008

Calling all Investors!! Housing prices in Poinciana Fl. Are low. Real low. In fact, there are about 35 homes, available right now, that are less than $100,000. These are bank owned properties (REOs) and are NOT short sales. This means they can and will be purchased quickly.  A great example is a 3 bedroom 2 bath home with 1809 sq ft living area built in 2006. This house has never been lived in and is priced at $96,900 or $53.57 per sq ft!!! Folks, that's incredible. You can't build a house for that price. This property would easily rent for $900 per month. I'm also sure that by the time you read this it will be sold. It hit the market yesterday and won't last long.  This particular house sold for $206,500, brand new, in April of 2006. The person that buys this house will get a great pr... 05/14/2008

Welcome to.....The Price is Right! Come on down Poinciana Buyers....we have homes to sell in Poinciana Fl. Not only do we have homes but we have cheap homes. That's right folks CHEAP. Folks, these are some really nice homes that we are selling in the low $120s. Most are only a couple of years old and average about 1550 sq ft living area with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths.  You can't find a house like that any where else in Central Florida, for these prices. Not only are our prices low but if you want to buy one of these homes you may qualify for a USDA Rural Housing Loan. That's right folks.....USDA, the same folks that stamp the meat at the Winn Dixie also have mortgages.  What the USDA does is offer 100% financing in areas that qualify for Rural Development! And guess what?....Poinciana qual... 05/12/2008

My take on what happened in our last legislative session ... A serious budget crunch and seemingly clueless reps led to an uneventful legislative session for Florida lawmakers last week.  Nonetheless they manage to squeeze out some dribble for both their constituents and Florida property owners.  Here are some highlights from this year's bull pen. Fraud Against Distressed Homeowners. Homeowners beware.  Anyone who asks you to pay up front, including lawyers, are mortal demons.  Let those courting your financial failure prove that they can help.  With  HB 643 (Rep. Clay Ford, R-Pensacola) anyone offering you foreclosure assistance is now required to enter into a written contract and these contracts must spell out services provided.  So what are you going to do next time anyone asks you f... 05/08/2008

Hi folks. Richard Zaretsky wrote a great post yesterday titled "Back to Basics...a Review on Short Sales". If you haven't read it please take a few minutes to do so. It is a very good perspective on Short Sales from an Attorney. Richard's post brought up two very good points for me. Both were light bulb moments. The first was the 1099 "thingie". Whether you receive a 1099, or not, has no bearing on whether you have income to declare. Well...duh!!! Why would it. All a 1099 does is reports the income to the IRS for you. If it's not done for you....it is still YOUR obligation to report it. A perfect example of this is the way Title Companies, at least in Florida, handle our commissions. They are not required to 1099 me for commissions paid....BUT...I still have to claim the income. So woul... 05/05/2008

Hi folks. I am writing today to pick your collective brains a little. Have you heard that the House of Representatives recently passed a bill, H.R. 5830, named the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Housing and Homeowner Retention Act?From what I've read, and understand, this Bill will give distressed Homeowners an opportunity to refinance with FHA at 90% of value IF their current Lender will agree to a short payment.One of the caveats is that the FHA will own a piece of the action. When the borrower sells they will either pay, from any profits, a 3% exit fee (a percentage of the original loan amount) to the FHA or a declining percentage of any net proceeds, attributed to appreciation, (from 100% in the first year to 50% in year 4 or after) whichever is larger.I guess this FHA partici... 05/03/2008

Excellence in all aspects of real estate is just as important to us as the variety of real estate services we offer.  One of our services, for example, includes placing only the best tenants available in the Kissimmee area inside your home...read more... 05/02/2008

POINCIANA (PHN) | Poinciana real estate continues to behave like a house of cards.  While price per square foot decreased once again, and list prices did not fall below last month's low of $69,900, sales have decreased and inventory is once again on the rise.  Only 2.6 homes sold in Poinciana-proper in April.  (For chart, go to the original release location.)A total of 98 homes have been sold in Poinciana so far in 2008.  The least expensive of these sells today for $44 per square foot, a decrease of $4/SF from March 2008.Inventory continues to rise in Poinciana while sales dipped slightly in April.   It is expected that May will show a new low for home values, as  sales continue to lag behind the now-increasing inventory in the area. 05/01/2008

Poinciana is located in the southern section of the Kissimmee real estate market off of Pleasant Hill Rd.  There has been 75 single family houses sold in the 1st quarter of 2008.  They sold for prices ranging from $85,000 to $224,900 with a square footage range of 759 to 2,846.  There are presently 114 houses that are pending closing.  They range in size from 810 square feet to 3,897 square feet and have asking prices from $55,000 to $245,850.There are a total of 1,130 houses on the market ranging in size from 880 to 3,985 square feet with asking prices ranging form $69,900 to $499,900.  Of these 1,130 single family dwellings available, 61 of them have asking prices of $100,000 or lower.Considering the amount of houses sold in the 1st quarter of 2008, the saturation rate, (the amount of... 05/01/2008

  Hi folks. Today I want to try to get my head around the distressed property market in Poinciana FL. By distressed properties I mean, banked owned and short sale listings. These stats are from the Mid-Florida Regional Multiple Listing Service and assume that the data was entered correctly. I'm sure there is a small percentage of incorrect data so the percentages may be a tad low. If I had to take a guess I would say they are low by about 2%-3%.So what I'm doing is comparing the figures for Poinciana neighborhoods, zip codes 34758 and 34759 excluding Cypress Woods, Crescent Lakes, Doral Woods, Lake Marion Golf Resort and the other "sub" subdivisions WITH Kissimmee excluding Poinciana. I want to see what percentage of the Active, Pending and Sold listings since Jan.1, 2008 are distressed... 04/28/2008

OK, you'll like this one. I've recently been communicating with a Seller that wants to list and sell a couple of vacant building lots in Poinciana. The lot market in Poinciana has pretty much dried up since most of the builders moved out of the area last year.During the peak of the market, 2005, a building lot in Poinciana would fetch about $60,000 to $70,000. These were incredible prices since as recently as 2002 you could find lots in the $5,000 to $7,000 range. Sure wish I would have bought about 50 of those...but nooooooooo.......I'm an idiot!!!!This guy's lots are now worth about $30,000 each, assuming we could even find a Buyer. Anyway, he sent me an email asking if I heard of a company.....let's call them....Surf and Turf, Inc.I picked this name because one of their marketing tec... 04/23/2008

Hi folks. As you know my market, Poinciana Fl, is brutal right now. So, today, I decided to get very proactive with trying to locate some Buyers for homes in Poinciana Fl. Anyway.........watch this. Online Videos by Veoh.com  If you're looking to sell or buy a home in Poinciana Fl, give me a call. I'll be waiting for you. Are you dialing yet?Video property of TLW and ROAR Productions!!!! Hands off. Copyright © 2008 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved Bryant TutasBroker/OwnerTutas Towne Realty, IncLicensed Florida Real Estate Brokerhttp://www.brokerbryant.com/***The content of this blog is solely my opinion***  04/17/2008

Dear Mr and Mrs Homeseller,I hope this email finds you doing well. In this more difficult real estate market it's important that we get as much exposure as we can for your property. Statistics show that most Buyers(about 80%) start their home search on the Internet these days. The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and a sign in the yard won't cut it.So, if the Buyers are on the Internet....then your property needs to be there as well. Anyway, here is a sampling of Internet sites where your property is currently being displayed.TRULIA CLRSEARCHZILLOWCRAIGSLISTREALESTATESHOWSBUYPOINCIANAHOMESCYBERHOMESPOINCIANAPROPERTIESPOSTLETSYour property has also been syndicated through my web site http://buypoinciana.com to another 400+ web sites. Basically we are fishing for Buyers. However, we are no... 04/16/2008

I was recently approached by phone by a person Unusually Interested in showing one of my homes, one of our Poinciana homes way out in cow land.  She gave me her name and company, and, as usual, the processing began to schedule the showing when, Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, it turned out the woman on the phone had been unlicensed for over two years.  As you might guess, the caller never received the information that would've allowed her to enter one of my homes for sale.  I safeguard that for all of my customers.  I also do one more thing that I've noticed many agents don't do at all.  I safeguard against any exposure whatsoever as to home entry.  Agents not willing to take the expense of putting a genuine GE electronic Supra lockbox, like the one you see at right, could leave a home for sale expo... 04/16/2008

Join us for Central Florida Earth Day 2008 presented by Florida School of Holistic Living.Free Family-Friendly Festival April 19 2008 - Noon - 10 pm - hosted by Dandelion Communitea, Florida School of Holistic Living, and Misty Forest at 618 N Thornton Avenue, Orlando Central Florida's Largest Community Earth Day Celebration, featuring three stages of live music all day, with the Token Gamblers, Mr. Richard, Kaleigh Baker, Papa Kapala, and Bughead Full Moon Drum Circle - 7-10 pm Dozens of Eco-Craft and Sustainable Vendors Organic Beer from Orlando Brewing Educational Speakers and Environmental Organizations Wine and Food from Whole Foods Market Live Community Mural Painting, and Art Auction Children's Discovery Area from Playground Magazine and Misty ForestA separate Community Day of Ac... 04/13/2008

POINCIANA (PHN) | In March 2008 there were 70,578 people who called Poinciana home and 18,918 homes.  The least expensive of these sells today for $48 per square foot, an increase of $6/SF from February 2008.  While price per square foot increased, list prices fell again from a minimum of over $87,000 to a new low of $69,900, which represents the least expensive single family home in Poinciana.   A total of 77 homes have been sold in Poinciana through March 31st.  While for most of 2007, homes sold at about one per day, in January and February, the daily average had dropped to about one sale every two days.  March showed improvement with an average once again of one home per day.  (Normal is about four homes sold per day.)Previous reports on absorption rates reflected rates throughout O... 04/12/2008