Finally after 11+ years of waiting.  It's confirmed . . . there will be a groundbreaking set at 4:00 p.m. today for an elementary school that is scheduled to open here in Poinciana with the start of the 2007-2008 school year. I contacted the school district's Department of Community Relations at 863-534-0699 and they confirm that Poinciana is schedule to get another Elementary school. This is welcome news for the parents on Polk county sides of this community. Earlier this year, they got their first (temporary) elementary school which is already overcrowded by at least 300 students! The new school, which is yet to be named, will be on Palmetto Street in Poinciana. After the groundbreaking, parents can meet at the community center at 7:00 p.m. tonight to get more information on the numbe... 12/07/2006

Have you ever had one of those days where you can't get a topic out of your head? I'm having one today. I woke up this morning thinking about something to write about and I keep coming up with PUDs. It just seems to me that there must be something a little more interesting that I could write about than this. I mean come on, PUDs. Boooooooring!!!! But I can't get it out of my head. "Yes, I would like the sirloin, medium rare and a PUD." "Hey, PUD how are you?" It's driving me crazy! So I surrender. This post is about PUDs. I got to get it out of my head!For those who may not know, PUD, stands for Planned Unit Development. My market, Poinciana, Fl., happens to be the second fastest growing PUD in the country second to "The Villages" which is also in Central Florida. A PUD is a planned mix... 11/25/2006

I have been in Real Estate for 12 years and today is the day I have been waiting for. I am so excited I can’t stand it. Are you ready? Today I listed “The Best House In Poinciana”! Don’t believe me? Then call the Seller and ask him. “Mr. Seller, I hear you have “The Best House In Poinciana”.” “Yes, you are correct, just like I told Broker Bryant this morning, I have the best house in Poinciana.”Now folks, how many times have you heard this? I think I hear it at least once a week. It never ceases to amaze me how many people think they have “The Best House In Poinciana“. What’s really funny is that Poinciana is a cookie cutter community. Almost all of our 17,000 homes are very similar. They are concrete block one or 2 story homes with a 2 car garage sticking out in the front and sit on a ... 11/03/2006

In my local community, Poinciana, there are over 1,566 homes that are listed in the MLS.  Not to mention the additional homes for sale by owners (FSBOs).  Of those homes, there are quite a number that are listed as 'pre-foreclosure'  And many are also listed as 'owner motivated'.  Owner will contribute X$ amount towards closing cost etc.  Yet, with all these great incentives, these homes continue to sit on the market for months on end.  Why?  One of the reasons is that many local buyers still cannot afford some of these homes.  Another reason is as we all know, too much sellers, and not enough buyers.  Also, many first time investors cannot afford to continue paying a second mortgage on these investment properties.Despite the drastic cut in home prices, despite the great incentives, des... 11/02/2006

Let the games begin! Ok, so I just received a call today. I’ve kind of been expecting it but was hoping it wouldn’t come for a while. The call I received was from an Appraiser. Now, since I sell a lot of properties in my market, I get one of these about every week, asking me about a recent sale, so they can use it in their appraisal. I always try to answer any of their questions and try to be as helpful as I can. Why? Because I want to be the “go to guy” in my market. Also, Appraisers buy and sell houses. I usually get a couple of listings a year from Appraisers wanting to sell in my market area, Poinciana Fl. So having them call me is a good thing. Today was different. Today, he was asking me about one of my pending listings. He had plenty of sold comparables but the few he had, that w... 10/16/2006

Price reductions. I love ’em and I hate ’em. I seem to have mixed emotions about them. If “The Lovely Wife” is reading this, she will be shocked that I even wrote the word, emotions. Emotions and having them are not my strong suit. Price reductions. I love them, because this is what is needed, to get my properties sold. I hate them, because in my own mind, I am an expert on pricing and should have priced the home properly to begin with. But you know, in this more difficult market, with rapidly changing property values, I have found myself asking for and getting more and more price reductions. Over the last couple of weeks, I have reduced the asking price on 8 of my current listings. Even though they were already “priced right” and were showing up as the lowest priced properties in their... 10/12/2006

I'm drowning in bubbles and I don't know what to do! Bubble, bubble, bubble! I'm so tired of hearing that word. Maybe I live in my own little world, in fact "The Lovely Wife" would definitely agree with that, but I just don't see that housing bubble in my business. I know there are a lot of homes on the market. I know Sellers are having a hard time selling and Realtors are struggling, but I am very, very busy. Listing, arranging showings, negotiating and going to closings. I like this "bubble" and I like it a lot!In my market, Poinciana Fl, there are close to 1,500 homes on the market. Last year, this time, there were approximately 200. So obviously things have changed. Out of those 1,500 listings almost 800 are homes less than 2 years old. What does that tell me? It tells me a lot of i... 09/07/2006

Wow! It's been real busy. Just when I was starting to worry about getting low on inventory, I got slammed. Five new actives and three more coming on after they clean and de-clutter. That's a pretty good weekend.What I'm noticing too, in my market, Poinciana FL, is that Sellers are starting to get it. They are very receptive to pricing right and getting their home in condition to sell. Of course, these were all expired and withdrawn listings, that had been on the market for months. I guess after six months of very few showings and no offers, their "best house in Poinciana", "don't build'em like this anymore" HOME, has now turned into the HOUSE that they need to sell. Reality has set in. They're with the program. Elvis has left the building.A couple of things I try to do to get Sellers to... 08/15/2006

Yes, you read that right! Inventory in Poinciana, Fl has plummeted. Last week there were 1,450 homes on the market and today..........1,429!! Yes it's true. It is now a Seller's Market in Poinciana, Fl. Never mind that we have 11 months worth of inventory on the books. It dropped! I am going to call all my Sellers right now to increase the price on their homes. Maybe I should send off a press release. Oh wait a minute I just got the foreclosure list. Never mind. 07/27/2006