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

Soy la unica en Poinciana que habla español y que se sabe el Internet cómo ningún otro.  Whatever that means to you, ultimately it means that Darhlene is quite the unique REALTOR when it comes to sales in Poinciana.  Most agents marketing in Poinciana offer residential real estate expertise, but with Darhlene, you get a whole lot more.  The ability to speak Spanish to buyers, who these days - more often than not, need a REALTOR who has the level of intelligence to speak multiple languages - is exactly what you'll find with the one many call "Como Ningun Otro."  But speaking Spanish is not my only expertise.My experience in the real estate industry spans decades, or at minimum, twice as much experience in the industry than all other REALTORS in the area.  How did I get there?The diversit... 04/12/2008

Today, I had a closing where the Buyer almost didn't close. It seems the closing costs were about $800 higher than expected. I wasn't on the Buyer's side so not quite sure where the issue came in.Probably just first time home buyer jitters and some lack of communication between the Buyer and her mortgage broker. Eventually though the Buyer came around and the deal closed.I'm so glad it did. Not only for my Seller's sake but also for the Buyer's. Here's why.The Buyer was getting down payment assistance through a program named S.H.I.P. This is the acronym for "State Housing Initiative Partnership". This is a program through the State of Florida that assist homebuyers in purchasing a home.The buyer must: Meet the income requirements. Annual household income cannot exceed 120% of the area ... 04/11/2008

OK, all you Stagers out there....this post is for you. My friend, Craig Schiller, wrote this post earlier this week. First, thanks Craig. I feel honored that my opinion means so much to you. As promised, this is my post on Staging.Folks, if you have never read the posts in the "Stage It Forward" group, you need to. These folks are VERY passionate about what they do and I for one respect that immensely.OK, with that said, I want to try and get my head around staging and how I can implement it into my business. From everything that I have read about Staging I agree that it will work. But my questions are.Would having a property Staged increase it's value? I'm not sold on the idea that it would. While a Buyer may be enticed to purchase a Staged home, over one that's not Staged, I don't bel... 04/05/2008

Hi folks. Did you know that in the last 24 months I have had 42 withdrawn or expired listings!!! "But Broker Bryant....you are a pricing expert. How could you possibly have that many listings you could not sell?"Well that's a good question. Let me see if I can answer it. First, let's break it down and see what happened to those 42 listings. 8 listed with another REALTOR®.9 of them went into a rental program at my suggestion.7 of them unfortunately were foreclosed on. 17 are waiting for market conditions to change.1 sold with another REALTOR®.During this same 24 month period (Mar 06-Mar 08) I listed 92 properties. 19 are still on the market and 31 of them were sold. My list to closing percentage was 34% over this period!!!! That's pitiful.In the 24 month period, prior to that one, I had... 04/04/2008

                                           I wish I could say this was an April Fools Day joke.....but it's not. It's my March market report for Poinciana FL.The following is the reality of the market in Poinciana.There were 31 closings for March. This is actually a 50% increase from February. So that's a good thing.The average sale was a 1857 sq ft home listed at $140,201 and sold for $137,609 in 131 days. $75 per sq ft living area. The sold price is down about 5% from February.Out of those 31 sales, 21 one of them were banked owned properties(REOs). 4 were short sales. 2 were builder inventory and 4 were owned by Mr. and Mrs. Average Home Seller. This is right in line with my last market report, "Selling Retail listings in a wholesale market".Now let's look at a few of the houses that... 04/01/2008

Do you like Thank You cards?  I do.  I got one just in time for Easter from a client with whom I worked for six months!  A pre-foreclosure too.  It was a bear of a deal, unlike the cute bunny I received on my card.  But in the end, I got my buyer exactly what he was looking for and at a fantastic price. The home I helped him buy was a generous 1,794 square feet.  With three bedrooms, two baths, a free pool table with cues, and a backyard facing the preserve, it was a magnificient deal at only $170,000. On top of that I helped to ensure the buyer received a minimum equity of $50,000 walking into his just cleaned home.  Even in today's credit-crunched society, that's amount is tough to achieve.Pre-foreclosures are in full swing in Poinciana and aren't going to go away until after this yea... 03/29/2008

As of yesterday, Darhlene Zeanwick became one of the only-3,100 realtors in the entire U.S. with Green Leadership certification from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and Poinciana's first "Green Realtor."  The research is voluminous.  Green really affects every aspect of life and lifestyle.  For example, do you have any idea how much carbon dioxide your home puts out into the air each year? Try about 13,500 pounds for a 3,000-square-foot home.  Most of Poinciana's homes are not quite that large but still:  If you have a 1,000-square-foot home, that property is  putting out more or less 4,500 pounds of carbon dioxide every year and, let's see, each person lives how many years?With the mug-me levels of heat in Florida, especially in August, it's not that unusual to hear of cooli... 03/28/2008

  Hi folks, today I want to talk about selling properties in Poinciana FL. It's brutal!!! The problem I'm running up against is Mr. and Mrs. Average Seller are just not able to compete with the wholesale market i.e. banked owned properties and short sales. As primarily a listing Broker, I have been banging my head against the wall for about a year now. The biggest issue is a lack of equity. Homeowners in Poinciana have lost about 40% in value in the last 15 months.What this means is most Sellers are just not in a position to sell, unless they are able to bring money to the table or they apply for a short sale. But what if they don't qualify for a short sale? What if they are making payments but need to sell for health, financial or any other valid reasons that are not related to being i... 03/26/2008

Online Videos by Veoh.com Hi folks. I don't normally post two days in a row but......it's Easter weekend and I'm lazy. So I think I'll blog!!!This post is about "disintermediation". I have a whole bunch of stuff I could write about this topic but today I want to concentrate on Real Estate portals, specifically Trulia, Zillow and Cyberhomes.First, in a nutshell, "disintermediation" is defined as "getting rid of the middleman". The idea is that Sellers and Buyers no longer need agents and can just log on to Trulia, Zillow, Cyberhomes or any of the other real estate portals and buy and sell real estate without the help of the middleman or REALTORS® specifically. Now folks I don't want to debate the value of a REALTOR®. Been there done that.I want to talk about this disintermediation thing.... 03/21/2008

POINCIANA (PHN) | After a delay caused by federal funding being redirected to Hurricane Katrina victims, Poinciana is finally seeing the first stages of its soon to be upgraded post office.  The new, 7,270-square-foot post office will be located behind the Publix supermarket on Cypress Parkway in the area known as the Promenade Shopping Center.  The groundbreaking ceremony will be held on Tuesday, March 25 at 10 a.m. will be attended by U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow, for the 12th district, which covers Poinciana.  The ceremony will be held at 4774 San Remo Road in Poinciana.Although postal services without the frustration of long lines will be one benefit of the project, a non-discussed side effect would be to make Poinciana more attractive to those who work in Orlando.  Coupled with ... 03/17/2008

Here we go again! As most of you may have heard, according to The Wall Street Journal, Countrywide (CW) is now being investigated by the FBI and the Department of Justice for securities fraud.According to the Associated Press."Investigators are looking at evidence that may suggest that company executives knew their mortgage securities would see many more defaults than predicted in its public documents, one source told the Journal.""Congressional figures showed that Countrywide lost $1.2 billion in the third quarter of 2007 and another $422 million in the fourth quarter. The company's stock fell 80 percent between February and the end of the year.During the same period, Mozilo received a $1.9 million salary, $20 million in stock awards contingent upon performance and sold $121 million in... 03/10/2008

  Hi Broker Bryant,I heard back from Ms D. Reamer and this is what she said to me:Hi , Mr Desperate Seller we are very interested in the property but we can only give a month rent and some type of a deposit. I know that rent to own requires a larger down payment but maybe we can work something out we are responsible and have two children having a home would be a very important step for us. We can take over mortgage payments with you as the loan holder and of course everything would be in writing and the house would be registered under us through the county. in order for me to move out of my apartment without having to pay 2 months worth of rent I would need to supply them with a HUD 1 form that they typically give at a closing either that or I would have to wait till June which is when ... 03/08/2008

I look forward to receiving my monthly issue of the "Poinciana Pioneer" and applaud the paper's improved looks - both online and in print - but I have noticed a consistent something that I've been wanting to bring up for the longest time.  It's about some of the resident letters published in this paper.The way I figure it, the APV must not be getting very many letters from residents because, far too often, what is published is either difficult to read or verbose.  Or, as recently as the December 2007 issue, they're pointless diatribes complete with grammatical errors brandished about like fireworks.  I have wondered at times if this is done on purpose, a kind of editor's laugh-at-the-dumb-folks approach, but it is done so consistently that I have to believe that the editor of the "Poinc... 02/29/2008

Gov. Charlie Crist recently appointed a group of 13 to a new program to combat the rising problem of foreclosures. The program, called the HOPE Task Force, stands for Florida Home Ownership Promotes the Economy. "Last year one out of every 95 households experienced foreclosure in [Florida] with filings up more than 275 percent...read more>> 02/29/2008

Hi folks. Here's a little tip for you that may help you in your business. This post was inspired by Jennifer Kirby's post "What Sellers Really Want is to be Lied to..." and several others I have recently read.Jennifer's post was about being "brutally honest" with a potential Seller only to have them list with another REALTOR® that told the Seller "what they wanted to hear" instead of "what they needed to hear". Go read Jennifer's well deserved featured post.Anyway, if you are a listing Broker and you are being truthful with Sellers, you WILL lose listings on pricing or hopefully, you will pass on them, due to pricing. REALTORS®, that specialize in listings and are good at it, rarely take over priced listings. We have to say "no" quite frequently.However, it doesn't mean the Sellers won'... 02/26/2008

Hi folks. Today I'm going to talk a little bit about short sales. As way of disclosure, I want to mention, that I am NOT an expert on short sales. However, I am an experienced Broker in Florida and do have short sale knowledge. I just prefer to not handle many of them. But....I want to see if I can help when it comes to working with Sellers of short sales. How to price the property properly and how to negotiate the deal. First, if you are a Seller facing foreclosure, a short sale could be a viable solution for you and the Lender. Seek the advice of an Attorney and an experienced REALTOR®. My market, Poinciana FL, is saturated with short sale listings. Some will be successful but many more will not. The key to being successful is pricing and negotiating. When meeting with a Seller, who m... 02/21/2008

POINCIANA | The closer we move toward Election 2008, the closer we move towards an ever increasing need for response in the ever worsening U.S. economic recession.  According to the Florida Association of Realtors (FAR), Congress is now eyeing new incentives to address the subprime crisis.  Specifically?  Allowing bankruptcy judges to alter the terms of certain mortgages.Another measure under consideration is a tax break intended for the self-employed and business sectors, and popular with FAR members.  A third: Alloting $10 billion to enable financial agencies -- that industry that got us into this mess in the first place -- to refinance people.  Hmm, people.  President Bush recently backed this one so it's automatically suspect.  But there's one more area of interest.  This one to the... 02/20/2008

FORECLOSURES (REOs) IN POINCIANA FLYesterday I wrote a post titled "Buying foreclosures in Poinciana Fl". The post was a little on the boring side but it was written for a reason....Google juice!! I just listed a couple of REO (bank owned) properties last week so I'm trying to attract attention from anyone wanting to buy or sell a foreclosure in Poinciana Fl.Since ActiveRain has tremendous Google juice I figured a post about foreclosures with a key word rich title would work well for me. Well.....it did!!!In fact with only one post, posted 24 hours ago, I now have the number one position on Google for the following searches. Buying a foreclosure in PoincianaSelling a foreclosure in PoincianaREOs in PoincianaForeclosures in Poinciana Poinciana foreclosures for saleList a foreclosure in P... 02/18/2008