Archive for September, 2007
Friday, September 28th, 2007
I’m attending an interesting local conference called BlogOrlando today, located at Rollins College in Winter Park. What’s interesting about this is that there are a number of local bloggers who talk about real estate and the local communities in Orlando.
So far I’ve been able to meet Tim Welch (pictured), who writes Colonialtown blog, and Chris Gent, who writes about the Conway area, for the Orlando Sentinel.
I also had the chance to have lunch with Debra Horowitz who is an expert in the Avalon Park real estate market in East Orlando.
Blogging about communities within Orlando is an area I hope to see increase greatly. The best news about an area is put out by the locals in that community - I see our job at Roofable as finding some of the best news and commentary from them and helping even more people find it.
Posted in Avalon Park, Downtown Orlando, East Orlando, Orlando, Winter Park | 10 Comments »
Thursday, September 27th, 2007
Even with a cooling condo market, Tradition Towers overlooking Lake Eola is back on track. This time however, half of the building will be a new top end luxury hotel. Developer Steve Walsh claims that their hotel will be even more exclusive than Orlando’s Grand Bohemian. I’ll be interested to see if that is the case.
It’s a brave move to continue building into a slumping condo market. I certainly hope to see Orlando continue to grow though, so am glad that it’s happening.
(more at the Sentinel)
Posted in Condos, Downtown Orlando, Real Estate News | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, September 26th, 2007
The Consumer-focused Carnival of Real Estate is a way to highlight great writing around the real estate blogosphere as it relates to things that everyday people care about - not just real estate agents. Below I highlight my 5 favorite entries:
Should Your Home Valuation Deserve To Appreciate If You Install A Pool?
Silicon Valley Blogger writes an entertaining article about adding a swimming pool to your property. Is it really worth it?
How Buyers Can Walk in the Shoes of Sellers and Listing Agents
An excellent article by Steve Leung, talking about how buyers can better understand sellers motivations and get the most for their money.
FHA Reform Hits the Wall
The Salt Lake City blog discusses the changes (or lack thereof) in Congress about the FHA reform bill.
Will Agents List My Property if I Owe More Than It’s Worth?
Dan Melson gives his insights into property listings that an owner is “upside down” on.
Deja Vu~Buying/Selling Simultaneously in a Buyer’s Market vs a Seller’s Market (what a world of difference!)
Pat Kapowich’s insightful post being in a buyers market, and trying to sell your property at the same time as buying.
Posted in Quick Links | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, September 25th, 2007
Florida Super Homestead Tax Exemption might be thrown out. (via Rob and Sentinel):
Choosing the “super” homestead exemption would mean the homeowner would forever lose the Save Our Homes cap. And as Orange County Property Appraiser Bill Donegan and others have shown, many people who stay in their homes more than four years would save more with Save Our Homes limiting future tax bills.
Maitland city council wants to make some big changes, but have their hands full with local citizens (via Orlando Sentinel):
The centerpiece of Maitland’s downtown makeover would be 675 condominiums and apartments, shops restaurants and offices built by the Brossier Co. Those buildings would rise on land that is now home to City Hall, the Police Department and other city offices, a shuttered Winn-Dixie supermarket and parking lots.
Posted in Maitland, Quick Links, Real Estate News | 4 Comments »
Monday, September 24th, 2007
[Hojin Chang guest authors a post this week, he is a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker who specializes in Southwest Orlando (Dr. Phillips, Windermere, Gotha, Celebration, Winter Garden, Ocoee, Clermont and Hunters Creek) and writes a blog at sworlandoblog.com. ]
Use the interactive map to find out who the largest farm subsidy beneficiaries are in the Orlando area
With the state of the current real estate market its becoming harder to find places to invest in real estate that will not be falling in value for the next few years. Perhaps a farm that receives subsidies is a great real estate investment. Farm subsidies that were originally designed to keep farmer afloat during the Great Depression is now a 16 billion dollar a year program being abused by the wealthiest who are farmers in name only.
Paul Allen, co founder of Microsoft, Ted Turner, and the Prince of Lichtenstein are among the recipients of this subsidy. They’re not farmers by any means, they just own land that used to be farms and qualifies for this subsidy. As long as the land you own is designated to receive the subsidy, the government pays even if the land is no longer a farm. Heck they keep paying even when you’re dead.
Another way to abuse this subsidy is that big farmers can subdivide the farm into as many separate entities to get more subsidies. There are cases where a single farm is subdivided into 60 farms to get 60x’s the subsidy and its perfectly legal as long as you legal subdivide the farm.
All of this is being paid by our tax dollars. I don’t see an end to this scam any time soon because the politicians in the Midwest will never get reelected if they even mention anything about reforming this program.
I guess the only thing you can do is buy a farm that qualifies for this program.
Learn more about subsidies for the rich:CNBC video link.
Posted in Market Analysis, Real Estate News | 5 Comments »
Friday, September 21st, 2007
IDX Realty is having an auction of $100 million worth of property on October 6, 2007 at the DoubleTree Suites Hotel in Orlando from 11am - 6pm. Find out more on their website, or on the Orlando Sentinel.
The properties for sale range from vacant land and commercial buildings to multimillion dollar estate homes.More than 60 properties, in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and New Jersey, are being sold by investors, builders with too much inventory, lenders with foreclosed-upon assets, Realtors, and regular homeowners who need to liquidate assets.
Condo Metropolis reports 40 condos were sold at auction in the Lake Mary.
The day saw some great and some not so great deals. One lucky bidder was able to grab a town home which was left by accident on the offer board at a lower price, while one lady who couldn’t make up her mind fast enough on a bid and ended up paying $18,000 more simply on a time rule technicality. I don’t think she even realized what had happened.
Posted in Condos, Lake Mary, Quick Links, Real Estate News | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, September 19th, 2007
This is my fan.
My fan has a story. When my husband and I moved into our newly built house a few months ago we had to make some hard decisions. For instance, do you build a fence around the yard to keep three little boys from exploring the retention pond or buy a fan for the living room? The fence won.
One day, as I was exploring a neighborhood garage sale my eyes fell on this fan. I was excited. I bought it. Brought it home. Bragged about it. Hooked it up and found that it didn’t work. Wisely, my husband didn’t condemn he merely suggested that I look up the manufacturer on the internet. The tag read “Gulf Coast Fans,” which led me to the front door of Dan’s Fan City here in Orlando.
I brought in my little treasure and asked the sales guy what I needed to buy to fix it. He looked up the serial number and explained that I need a new motor. My heart fell. Then he went on to explain that all their fans have a life time warranty and they will replace the motor for free. Free? I explained that I wasn’t the original owner and he said it didn’t matter, that they’d call me when the new fan arrived.
Sure enough, a week later I went back, picked up my new motor, attached my blades and installed it in my living room. It works!!!
In the end I bought what turns out to be a $600 fan for $50! Dan’s Fan City’s good customer service makes me so happy. That, and the relief that my pride is still in tack.
So, if you’re in the market for a fan I’d suggest giving these guys a shot.
Posted in Orlando | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 18th, 2007
The Texas Traffic Institute puts out an annual Urban Mobility Report on the traffic conditions throughout the US. They pay particular attention to the 85 major urban areas.
Orlando has the distinction of being one of the top 10 worst cities for average hours spent stuck in traffic.
Annual Delay per Traveler – Extra travel time for peak-period travel during the year divided by the number of travelers who begin a trip during the peak period (6 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m.). Free-flow speeds (60 mph on freeways and 35 mph on principal arterials) are used as the comparison threshold
I’m tempted to start venting about the toll roads, ridiculous freeway interchanges, sprawl and the obvious lack of planning by our local governments… But I won’t, I’ll save that for a later date. Instead, bask in the knowledge of the countless hours you and your fellow Orlando citizens waste each year on our roads.
[update: more on the Orlando Sentinel site]
Posted in Orlando | 2 Comments »
Monday, September 17th, 2007
You don’t see a 38 acre island on the market everyday around Orlando. Long Island is located within Lake Harris, in Tavares , Florida. Tavares lies about an hour to the Northwest of Orlando and is easily accessible via Florida’s Turnpike (map). The listing price is $13,000,000.
An aerial view of Long Island, Florida
A shot of the pristine “old Florida” vegetation
From the Coldwell Banker Islands & Resorts listing:
The best fishing in the lake exists off the island’s eastern side. And Lake Harris, being part of a chain of lakes and waterways, even enjoys boating access to the Atlantic Ocean.
A mainland parcel connecting the lake’s shoreline with a paved road provides an access link to Long Island, which remains a wondrously secluded, serene sanctuary whose sensitive use assures the preservation of its magnificent attributes for generations to come.
Posted in North Orlando, Real Estate for Sale | 6 Comments »
Saturday, September 15th, 2007
Hojin Chang’s excellent new Southwest Orlando Real Estate blog lambastes the misleading marketing of companies selling property on Lake Apopka in a post titled, “Lake Apopka: the New Florida Swampland Scam“. If you’re planning to buy there, consider this insider’s view as fair warning! A quote:
“You can’t swim there and the only wildlife that you’ll see is probably a mutant alligator.”
From another of Orlando’s new real estate blogs, Orlando Nest, Linda Hutchinson talks about the value of a good street name in, “What’s in a Name“.
“One client thought Harmony Lane was just too cute. I also had a customer who would only buy a house where the house numbers totaled seven. Fortunately, I found her a house with the numbers 421 and she bought it!”
Posted in Quick Links, South Orlando | No Comments »
Friday, September 14th, 2007
A word of warning should go out to anyone living in East Orlando - “You’re screwed” on UCF gamedays. Just get used to that idea and it will help you get over your frustrations for living on this side of town. The basic truth is that UCF cannot possibly handle the amount of traffic or parking for a University of Central Florida home football game at the new UCF stadium on campus.
I heard that they are planning to bus people from the Waterford Lakes Towncenter (I wonder if the property management company, Simon, knows about that?). What a goat-rope that is going to be. If you think it’s bad there, don’t even bother going towards Oviedo or anywhere around Alafaya Trail north of the 408.
Bill Couch from the Orlando Sentinel has created a really well done interactive map showing the traffic patterns and official parking areas around UCF for the game:
Posted in East Orlando, Oviedo, UCF Area | 3 Comments »
Thursday, September 13th, 2007
It’s been a LONG time coming, but the UCF Knights will be playing their first football game against Texas this weekend in the brand spanking new UCF Stadium. The game with the Longhorns will serve as the first contest at the 45,000-seat venue. 6 games will be played at the new stadium this year and you can still buy eason tickets by calling 407-UCF-1000.
Posted in Quick Links, UCF Area | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, September 11th, 2007
Habitat for Humanity Orlando has put together a proposal to build a 58-unit, $6 million condo complex in Pine Hills, near Downtown Orlando. Interestingly, perspective owners would need to put in sweat equity of 300-500 hours, just like their “normal house” counterparts do on Habitat projects.
The project, called Staghorn Villas, will be built on 3.9 acres at Staghorn Drive and Silver Star Road. Plans call for 10 two-story buildings, each with four- to eight-unit townhouses, and green-space play areas. Habitat Orlando hopes to break ground in February 2008 and finish in spring 2011.
(read more at the Orlando Sentinel)
Posted in Condos, Downtown Orlando | 1 Comment »
Monday, September 10th, 2007
Luxist, a blog about luxury items, has listed the “Overjoy” as its Estate of the Day. Overjoy is located in the Windermere Reserve on Lake Butler Sound. $11,900,000 will get you this 10,155 sq/ft winner of six 2007 Aurora Awards in the Custom Home category.
Listing - 11301 Bridge House Rd., Windermere, FL 34786 - MLS#o4771541 by Reeta Casey
Posted in Design & Architecture, Real Estate for Sale, Windermere | 2 Comments »
Sunday, September 9th, 2007
The Orlando Regional Realtors Association puts out monthly statistics for the MLS in this area. It covers Orange and Seminole Counties and shows a month-to-month comparison for a number of data points.
The chart below is a snippet from the report that compares August 2006 to August 2007. Inventory has gone up, while the average days on market has extended by over 40 days. The number of sales closed is down by about 1000 from this time last year.
You can download the full August MLS report here.
Posted in Market Analysis, Orlando, Real Estate News | No Comments »
