Archive for October, 2007
Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
The other day I was driving down Lake Underhill Road in Waterford Lakes. I stopped at a light and a woman handed me a flier through the window. It said that there could be up to another 300-600 cars on Waterford Lakes if we don’t immediately contact the commissioners to influence them on an upcoming vote.
Evidently, they’ll be voting on whether or not to grant a developer permission to rezone parcel N19-B to medium density (5-20 units per acre) with 15 usable acres. Parcel N19-B is a piece of land located in the back of Waterford Lakes at the very end of Lake Underhill Road. You can see the proposed development below.
There is more information on this initiative at www.LeadersOfEastOrlando.org. If you would like to write to the commissioners you can email them at the following addresses.
Teresa Jacobs: district1@ocfl.net
Fred Brummer: district2@ocfl.net
Mildred Fernandez: district3@ocfl.net
Linda Stewart: district4@ocfl.net
Bill Segal: district5@ocfl.net
Tiffany Moore: district6@ocfl.net
Mayor Rich Crotty: mayor@ocfl.net
Posted in Orlando | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
Every year the Town Center has been open for families to bring small children to Trick-or-Treat on Halloween.
This year the Town Center will be open for Trick-or-Treaters on Wednesday, October 31, from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. Look for orange pumpkin signs outside participating stores and grab some candy from approximately 30 stores.
Rules and Regulations:
Participating stores will be designated with an orange pumpkin sig
Trick or Treat event is for children 12 years and younger
No toy weapons will be permitted
Masks will be permitted on children 12 years and younger only
Costumes will only be permitted during event hours
Hoods which cover the head or face are not permitted
Posted in Orlando Neighborhoods, UCF Area | No Comments »
Monday, October 29th, 2007
In September of this year we probably all heard about the amoeba in the lakes in Central Florida.
The amoeba is called Naegleria fowleri and thrives in warm, fresh water lakes. It has claimed the lives of at least 3 boys who had been playing in the lakes. The amoeba is extremely rare and almost always fatal. It enters the body through the nose and attacks the brain. It presents with flu-like symptoms that quickly worsen over 1 to 14 days until the patient lapses into a coma.
The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia has only documented 24 cases of the deadly amoeba since 1989 and now Central Florida has seen three cases in one summer.
Even though the weather is going to be changing soon, please be careful if you’re playing in the lakes. The Orange County Health Department Director, Dr. Kevin Sherin, suggests that you wear a nose clip or stay out of the water warmer than 80 degrees.
A nice alternative to the warm, shallow lakes may be a visit to one of the colder freshwater springs in the Central Florida area.
Posted in Orlando | No Comments »
Monday, October 15th, 2007
Today is Blog Action Day, which is about the environment this year.
For my part, I’d like to point out a great blog/site/publication about living “green” in Orlando. Easy enough to remember since it’s called GreenOrlando. It’s an interesting website that is focused on keeping Orlando a great place to live. They focus on eight quality of life aspects: Art, Balance, Ethics, Faith, Fitness, Nature, Teamwork and Sustainability.
Sample stories cover everything from using natural Florida flora to do your landscaping to coverage of Florida’s greenways and trails.
Best of all, the Green Orlando site takes submissions for stories, events and thoughts from you on how to keep Orlando beautiful. Have a thought? Submit it to them.
There have already been some excellent posts written around the Orlando blogosphere about our local environment:
EKDAY - Clean up Orlando
Shaun talks about how the simple act of disposing correctly of the plastic 6-pack soda holders can make a big impact to our local birds.
Hojin Chang - Green Vision House Orlando 2008
“Green Vision Home will be a 4,900 square foot high end custom home to be built by Westmont Homes to demonstrate that green homes can be glamorous and durable enough to withstand the rigors of being in an active hurricane zone.”
[If you have an Orlando blog and wrote something for Blog Action Day, let me know and I’ll add it here.]
Posted in Florida, Green, Orlando, Quick Links | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, October 10th, 2007
La Belleza Dorata is an absolutely stunning property available in Isleworth for $6 million.
This majestic Tuscan treasure is an inspired work of art including lavish finishes, imported stone and magnificent faux painting. This estate provides an unparalleled venue for indoor-outdoor entertaining. Dramatic arches, columns, Venetian plaster, ceilings with hand painted Italian designs are some of the extensive detailing found throughout this home.
A sweeping, freestanding staircase curves up to 3 bedroom suites. Beautiful Italian tile leads onto maple hardwood flooring inside the formal living, dining rooms, & private study. Floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room have lovely views of the outdoor living area.
The dining room & kitchen opens to a Venetian courtyard with Ramada fountain. The spacious chef’s kitchen is enhanced by copper ceiling & a fun hidden pantry. An inviting master suite with sitting room has gorgeous views of the outdoor living area.
Overlooking the 16th tee is the unique Gentlemen’s Private Retreat with its Northwest Territories decor, full sized bar & bath. The expansive golf front outdoor living includes a Jandy controled heated pool & spa with water features, summer kitchen, relaxing gazebo, & disappearing screened lanai with fireplace. Motor court separated by 6 oversized car garages.
Property Location: 9905 Lake Louise Drive, Windermere, FL 34786 (Map)
Listing is by Isleworth Realty, a part of the Tavistock Group
[editor’s note: I’m a sucker for great pictures. Send in your best property images and I’ll add them to Roofable.]
Posted in Real Estate for Sale, Windermere | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, October 10th, 2007
The $7.1 million dollar house that was reportedly on contract is now back on the market. The Orlando Sentinel reports:
The sale of the 9,000-square-foot home near Windermere on Lake Butler last month to Orlando plastic surgeon John Choi fell through after he was unable to obtain financing, said Denise Dell-Powell, attorney for court-appointed bankruptcy trustee Soneet Kapila.
Posted in Real Estate News, Windermere | No Comments »
Friday, October 5th, 2007
Inman Real Estate Connect is a conference that highlights how technology can be used in the real estate space. I was interviewed by Joel Burslem while at it this summer. At that time, I was still part of the eppraisal.com team as well.
By the way, if you do online video in real estate, you really should try WellcomeMat, the service the above video is done in. They have one of the best quality online video players on the web, and they have the chaptering ability that is perfect for using in real estate videos where you want people to be able to switch between “kitchen” or “oustide” parts really easily.
The next Real Estate Connect is in NY in January, 2008.
Posted in Quick Links | 1 Comment »
Thursday, October 4th, 2007
This isn’t really news to anyone who lives here in Orlando. However, there is an interesting article in the RealEstateJournal about the reasons why Florida is having problems with attracting new people to the state.
Some interesting points:
Moving company Atlas Van Lines brought 6,700 families into Florida last year and took 8,000 out, the first time it has moved more out than in.
While foreigners continue to arrive at a rate of about 100,000 year, migration from inside the country is slowing. (RE Agents, you hear that? Better change your strategies…)
A two-tier tax system hits newcomers and part-time residents harder than long time homeowners.
Ms. Thomas and her husband bought a $168,000 house. The mortgage, with property taxes and homeowner’s fees, comes to about $1,500 a month — more than half a month’s pay.
Posted in Florida, Real Estate News | 4 Comments »
Thursday, October 4th, 2007
Innovation Way…AKA the Alafaya Extension. There’s been a lot of speculation about when they’re going to start and complete this project. Dawn Pratt, who writes “East Orlando Life” wrote to Commissioner, Linda Steward, and received a reply from her aide. This is what Dawn reported. For the whole response visit Dawn’s article.
- The widening of Alafaya Trail will begin during 2009
- Innovation Way will stop short 800ft north of the Beachline and will be complete December 2008
- Innovation Way/Beachline Interchange is projected to begin 2009 and be complete in 2011
- Innovation Way from the Beachline to the 417 is projected to be complete some time between 2012 and 2017
Posted in East Orlando, Orlando | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007
The New York Times just released a new graph showing the housing bubble. The only problem is, they have intentionally skewed the way the chart reads to make their bubble look even bigger and more extreme.
Nat Torkington points this out:
“In effect, they’ve zoomed in on the area from 100-150 and magnified the growth in the last 15 years.”
We very well might be in a housing bubble, that doesn’t excuse the NY Times creation of a misleading and overly sensational chart.
The Calculated Risk blog breaks down the errors and omissions even further and then shows what the graph should really look like if the NY Times wasn’t intentionally trying to magnify the negatives:
Posted in Market Analysis, Orlando | 5 Comments »
Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007
Dawn Pratt gets an update from Commissioner Linda Stewart on the time line for extending Alafaya Trail (Innovation Way) to the 528 (the Beachline).
Hojin Chang is showcasing some of the houses that famous people live(d) in SW Orlando. This week she covers the one that Payne Stewart and Tracy McGrady called home, and Shaq’s house.
Rob Arnold gives us 6 Tips to Selling in a Buyer’s Market. (Excellent Post!)
The Orlando Sentinel covers the College Park Leisure Homes (trailers) eviction saga. It’s an interesting case of squatters vs developers right in the middle of Orlando.
Linda Hutchinson of Stirling Sotheby’s answers the question: What do the Rich Really Want?
Posted in College Park, East Orlando, Orlando, Quick Links, South Orlando | 1 Comment »
