The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), recently set up a Web site to keep consumers, drywall manufacturers, builders and others up to date with its investigation into Drywall imported from China, blamed for rotten egg smells along with fast metal corrosion and miscellaneious health problems.

CPSC's Drywall Information Center offers updates (online and via email) on the investigation, help for homeowners trying to determine if their drywall is making them sick, where drywall problems have been reported and other related information.

Preliminary research from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found the Chinese-made drywall contained sulfur, which is not in U.S. drywall, but widely used in black gunpowder, matches, insecticides and fungicides.

EPA tests also found strontium, (a metallic element that is highly reactive chemically, including, in a finely powdered state, spontaneous ignition at room temperature) at levels 10 times as high as in U.S. drywall.

Some 36,000 homes in Florida, as well as additional properties in post-Hurricane Katrina Louisiana and Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi and California, were constructed with the Chinese-made material, which is different from U.S. drywall. The material has apparently been installed in some 100,000 homes nationwide according to U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL), whose high number of affected constituents put him at the forefront of an effort to learn more about the drywall material.

The drywall seems more common in South Florida with Orlando real estate being slightly less affected.

A 3-community Orlando condo auction is scheduled for Sat August 29th 2009. Communites are:

1. Audubon Villas condos at Hunter’s Creek
2. The Cascades condos at Kissimmee
3. Oxford Square condos in Casselberry

179 condos in total will go under the auction hammer. First 20 will be absolute. For more info visit our Orlando Condo Auctions blog. You must pre-register and will need a deposit check to bid.

If you’re out for something a little more upmarket, consider the condo auction at Artisan Park in Celebration. These condos used to retail in the high $300’s but now suggested opening bids are in the mid $100’s. Floor plans from 1200-2000 SF and HOA dues in the mid $500’s. There’s a week of open house viewing left.

In all cases, prospective buyers must register and a deposit check will be required up front to bid.

See CondoMetropolis.com for more details or call 407-290-3408.

"So anyway, this is the kitchen - beautiful isn't it - and in the living room you will notice the, um, the dead body on the floor?"

Many of you telephone real estate agencies, having seen something you like the look of online, and ask us to just meet you there at the property for a viewing. We've never met you, you've never been to our office - you're not even a client.

Some buyers are surprised when we want to "pre-qualify" them before meeting them at an empty house or putting them our cars; that is, make sure they are ready, willing and able to purchase a home before they we show them homes.

This period is also an opportunity for the buyer to decide if they would like the Realtor in question to represent their home buying interests, while the Realtor also has an opportunity to decide whether or not the buyer is likely to be um, an axe weilding psychopath? Because meeting random strangers to visit homes isn't really part of a Realtor's job description - although many agents are willing to take the risk in the hope of finding a client. But in reality, a buyer should become a client first, get pre-qualified for a loan second, and look for houses last of all. But I digress.

So back to the story: the dead man on the living room floor is 45 year old Ricardo Contreras, a California agent that had gone missing the week before. In this case, the victim was actually male - which goes to prove that equality is alive and well in the murder business. 

And which is why an agent might ask to meet with you at the office before showing you homes. They're not being awkward, they just don't know you from Adam. Or Eve for that matter. Chances are that you're not a homicidal maniac - but you might not have a penny to your name, which is far, far worse in our world.

Personally, I don't mind being found deceased on my own living room tile, but on a dirty carpet in a foreclosed home? Mamamia... the indignity of it all!

Original post at the Orlando Real Estate Pros Blog.

1. Forbes named Orlando north america's #1 vacation city in it's latest ranking of destinations;
2. Meanwhile, Foreclosures.com ranks Florida #2 for Foreclosures (Cali was first);
3. According to a new study, 33% of Florida children are either obese or overweight.

Conclusion: Orlando is the best place to buy a cheap condo, bring your kids and eat ice cream.

We can't help with the supply of fat kids, but see CondoMetropolis.com for more info on Orlando foreclosures, and try the Orlando Real Estate Pros for more info on Orlando real estate.

If one more REO agent asks me to return their "addendums" ASAP or the bank will cancel the contract - I will probably just cancel it myself. If you're going to be in the REO business, then for the love of God:  a.) get some manners, and b.) try to at least sound like you know what you're doing. There is no such word as "addendums". The plural of "addendum" is ADDENDA.

Likewise, the Latin vernacular for a property that has begun foreclosure proceedings is "Lis Pendens" and not "Liz Pendings" or any of the scores of horrific bastardisations I've seen agents use on AR, Trulia and anywhere else they can ply their advice.

The tendency for Americans to try to stick an "S" on everything to make it a plural betrays the fact that most of us barely managed to graduate high school. Worse still, many on AR are actually proud of the fact that they write like 10th graders! Others try to justify their poor use of the English language as "getting down with the people"; however, I haven't seen many attorneys talking to their poorer black clients in Ebonics. They still ask their clients questions. They don't "aks" them, right?

The truth is that poor spelling and grammar only betray us as poorly educated. If we want to have equal standing with accountants and attorneys who charge $300 an hour - then we better start acting like them. You don't need a degree in Latin to be a Realtor - but there's a great website at Dictionary.com that costs nothing to use.

To some, Orlando looks like a city of concrete, condos, smoke and crime. At least it does to those folk that are moving from South Dakota or Wyoming. But for those of us who moved from New York or Chicago or London (or in my case, all of the above) there's something distinctly suburban about Orlando's downtown neighborhoods: Cobbled streets, more trees than a 12-year old could climb in a lifetime, and the sorts of creatures that you'd expect to find, well, in the local zoo.

Case in point: two days ago I was looking at some Orlando real estate with a client, when I had to swerve to avoid a... yes... one of those big blue, greenish things that looks sort of like a bird, but which can't actually fly like one. He seemed particularly interested in a foreclosure listing that had gone up recently.

After snapping a couple of evidential shots with my iPhone (lest I be accused of smoking crack), I stopped the next jogger I saw and asked if it was an every day occurance to see peacocks strutting their stuff down the sidewalks just a few blocks away from Downtown Orlando.

"Yes!" she said. "Don't you just love it?"

I did. Sort of.

But there's a downside to everything in life, and if you've ever heard a peacock's call you'll know what I mean. I thought someone was being murdered on the sidewalk - until I figured these things probably hang out in pairs. So I looked left and right - and then I realized there was more than one downside to having these avian artwork pieces as neighbors.

Remember how it feels when you've spent the whole Sunday washing and waxing your car - and then some pigeon goes and shits on the roof?

Well, I found the other peacock.

At Condo Metropolis we've been working on dedicating a page to each of the major condos in Orlando. Here you'll find photos and floorplans and a quick blurb about each:

Bermuda Dunes, visit our Bermuda Dunes condos page. This condo is in the heart of MetroWest. One of the nicest in this neighborhood.

The Vue Orlando, visit our Vue condos page. This downtown Orlando condo has great views of Lake Eola and is just a couple of years old. Upscale and wi-fi throughout.

The Star Tower, visit our Star Tower condos page. This downtown Orlando condominium has just 100 units, each with oversized floorplans. Very modern interior with first-class appliances. Remaining units can be customized.

The Solaire at the Plaza condos, visit our Solaire condos page. These downtown condos are the cheapest of all and the crowd who live here, the youngest. Walking distance to bars and clubs!

The Waverly visit our Waverly condos page. This downtown condo is one of Orlando's first condo conversions. Can't beat the location on the lake!

The Paramount visit our Paramount condos page. Downtown Orlando's newest condo, completed just last year. It has a brand new Publix on the ground floor and is opposite Lake Eola.

Lake Buna Vista Resort and spa, visit out Lake Buena Vista condo hotel page. This is a condo hotel - and one of Orlando's few new condotels to survive.

The Crest at Waterford Lakes, visit our Crest condos page. A condo conversion out by UCF. Great for students and investors.

Veranda Park in MetroWest, see our Veranda Park condos page. Italian style condos, some of the most beautiful in Orlando. Marble bath tubs!

101 Eola downtown Orlando, see our 101 Eola condos page. Amazing modern architecture and reasonable pricing in this new condo.

530 East Central condos, downtown Orlando. One of Orlando's original condos. Great pricing and nice location.

Call or email us for a tour or more info on these or any of Orlando's condominiums!

Think about it for a moment. As a buyer, what would make conditions perfect for buying? In an ideal buyer's market, what FOUR wishes (now there's a good start) could the Real Estate Genie possibly grant you as an incentive to buy? How about:

1. Large inventory; over supply, massive choice;
2. Low interest rates;
3. An $8000 non-repayable government loan for first-time buyers might be nice;
4. Silly prices, not only reversing the gains of the last few years but going beyond that and taking us back to pre-2005 pricing. Fifty cents on the dollar, twenty-five cents on the dollar... whatever.

"Yes, yes! That's exactly what I want!" you exclaim to your Real Estate Genie. "One couldn't hope for a better market than that. Give it to me now baby!"

And, Poof!

"You got it!" says the Genie. "Now go snap up a deal while you can!"

"Um," you say, "Well, um, actually, I'm just not convinced the time is right yet. I mean... you know..."

Now if I were your Orlando Real Estate Genie, whose only personal real estate consisted of an over-priced, cramped, misshapen, green bottle, I would smack you upside the head with said bottle, before taking back my wishes and offering them to a more realistic buyer. Hrumph!

"Ok, well keep me posted if you see any good deals."

I hear this all the time from would-be buyers on the phone. "Sure," I say.

What I really want to say is: "Are you kidding me? I'm a real estate broker - and there are 22,000 listings in Orlando right now - half of them foreclosures going for a steal. Why don't YOU get back to me when you're serious about buying?"

But of course I'm not that rude.

The truth is there are hundreds of killer deals out there right now. Question is - how quick can you move if you have to?

For example, I just got back from a local condo complex on the golf course in MetroWest. I ran over there because I heard there was a condo for sale over there - a 2/2 for $44,900K. They've been selling for about $300K. I ran over there, because even I couldn't believe it. I had to see if it was for real. Maybe the place was trashed, drywall all over the floor, mold from baseboards to rafters. But no, it was perfect. New stainless steel appliances, new carpet and walls clean enough to eat off. Almost. Surely some mistake with the number I thought. I called the listing agent. No mistake. I met a potential buyer there about 15 minutes later. "I want it," she said (assuming dad agrees).

This is the best deal I've seen all year. And I've already been to a dozen auctions. It's a bank foreclosure that was corporate owned. And if she doesn't have it under contract in 24 hours I'll eat my proverbial hat - and the next guy in line will take it.

Maybe that guy will be you. But if you want a deal you've got to be prepared to move fast. And have cash ready - or a damn good loan. There's no "Let me think about it," no "Well I have to talk to my bank about a mortgage." Either you want it and make a decision today - or you're not as serious as you think you are.

The banks aren't playing around. And nor should you be. If you're interested in this condo or others like it contact us asap.

(See also this post by the Orlando Real Estate Pros.)

Our recent blog “Where is your Personal Bottom?” looked at how fence-sitters risk losing out on the “waiting-for-precise-bottom” game due to the way the housing market is always three months ahead of where it appears to be at any given time.

Let’s use some real numbers using data just released from the Orlando Regional Realtor Association (ORRA) to see if this theory pans out. Realtors sold 1,443 homes in June, a 7.1 percent improvement from the 1,347 home sales in the month prior. In fact, inventory declined for the fourth consecutive month (but is still 5.3 percent below the 1,524 homes sold in June 2007). In total, 6,905 homes have been sold so far this year, nearly 28 percent less than the 9,588 sales posted in the same period last year. There are a grand total of 24,575 homes available through the Multiple Listing Service, a decrease of 440 homes from the previous month. The month-to-month inventory declined 46.2 percent since January.

These numbers suggest that things are still worse than at this time last year, but there are some signs of improvement. Note: these numbers represent are closed sales. Now here’s a potentially more interesting number - and one which tests the theory: there are also 3,329 homes in the MLS with pending sales contracts - which Realtors consider an indicator of future sales - up from 3,225 in May.

What makes this interesting is that if these homes close in the next three months and that data takes another month or so to hit the streets, today, you could be as much as 4 months behind the true sales curve. The suggestion here is that by the time you hear prices have reached bottom you’re actually way late to the party.

Here are some other fun Orlando real estate facts to consider: * The median sales price of a home in the Orlando area in June rose to $217,500, a 2.9 percent increase over May’s $211,400, but 13.9 percent below the June 2007’s $252,500. * There are 18,298 single-family homes listed in the MLS, while condos total 4,254, and duplexes/town homes/villas make up the remaining 2,023. * Homes of all types spent an average of 123 days on the market before being sold in June 2008. The average home sold for 93.38 percent of its listing price. * There is a 17-month supply at the current sales pace.

Food for thought... My personal guess is that those who haven’t made a purchase (depending on your exact geographical location) by the end of this year or during the first quarter of next year (Orlando) risk missing missing out on “bottom”.

For more info on Orlando real estate, see the blog of the Orlando Real Estate Pros.