central florida: Ten things sellers can do to improve their chances - 05/06/08 03:40 PM
If it is a sluggish market for sellers, then by definition, it is a great market to be a buyer. One of the things that makes it such a great market to be a buyer is the choice that is out there right now. And so if you are a seller, … (6 comments)
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central florida: Incredible Custom built home for sale in Windermere, Florida - 05/03/08 11:16 PM
This is a truly amazing home currently under construction in the beautiful town of Windermere, Florida.
Not only are we able to offer you a $15,000 contribution to closing with our preferred lender, but we will also be delighted to place a brand new 2008 C300 Sport Sedan in one of … (1 comments)
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central florida: One of the best custom built homes for sale in Sanford - 05/03/08 11:10 PM
AMAZING OPPORTUNITY to acquire a custom built home on a one acre homesite. This beautiful Mediterrainean Estate is currently under construction in the gates Lake Markham Preserve.
Completion is expected in the next few weeks. Just some of the features include exquisite beautiful tropical landscaping with lighting. Patterned brick pavers;3 Car … (0 comments)
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central florida: Probably the best home for sale in Windermere - 04/26/08 11:32 PM
Jumbo Loan available in the 6s with preferred Lender!
$15,000 towards closing costs with preferred Lender!
Brand new 2008 Mercedes C300 Sports Sedan
Incredible reduction in price! The home is now eight weeks from completion and there is still time to make changes! Not only are we able to offer you a … (0 comments)
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central florida: $900,000 reduction on Butler Chain of Lakes lots!! - 04/26/08 11:23 PM
REDUCED BY $900,000!!!!!!!!!!! Yes I have three side by side acre and a third lots with direct water frontage on Lake Sheen - part of the famed Butler Chain of Lakes.
Yes you can have Shaq as a neighbor if you are lucky enough to buy, one, two or all three of … (0 comments)
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central florida: Property for sales tax swap on the Florida Ballot! - 04/25/08 10:20 PM
The extremely strange Florida Taxation and Budget Reform commission - which meets once every 20 years - finally agreed to something on the last day of its year long work - to put a proposal to the voters of Florida to swap some property tax for a sales tax. The question … (9 comments)
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central florida: Probably the best home for sale in Altamonte Springs - 04/19/08 10:17 PM
THIS IS JUST FANTASTIC VALUE for this 3 bedroom 3 bathroom home in a highly desirable part of Altamonte Springs. This is Altamonte real estate at its very best. GREAT LOCATION!!! This home is seconds from everything including shops, restaurants, major highways, transportation and more. You have to Check out the … (0 comments)
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central florida: Foreign countries also have falling home prices - 04/19/08 08:49 AM
As if more proof were needed that money is now an international affair, reports are now confirming declining home prices in many other parts of the world.
The International Monetary Fund estimates homes in Spain, where prices tripled in the past 10 years, are overvalued by 15 percent, The New York Times … (9 comments)
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central florida: Allstate banned again from writing insurance in Florida - 04/08/08 09:31 PM
In a decision that will send shockwaves through the insurance industry, a court today ruled that the State of Florida was within its' rights to ban Allstate from writing all insurance until it complies with a demand to produce documents. Apparently, we have not been in good hands!
And within hours, the … (20 comments)
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central florida: Will William Gray see his shadow? - 04/07/08 09:44 PM
Right around this time of year we have a news event in this country which is tantamount to the February appearance of Punksatony Phil. We have the whole did he see his shadow or not? Will winter carry on for another six weeks or not?
Well Dr William Gray has to wait … (11 comments)
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central florida: Florida scores big in "top ten clean cities" - 03/19/08 07:37 AM
Forbes has announced its top ten cleanest metros in the United States and Florida takes no fewer than four of those top spots - including Number One - Miami.
In addition to that, Jacksonville comes in at Number Three and Orlando (above), Number Four with Tampa-St Petersburg rounding out the four at … (18 comments)
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central florida: Why consumers need Realtors when buying from builders. - 03/03/08 05:06 PM
So yesterday I went out with a long standing client. We went to a new development in Central Florida and to cut a long story short, we found a home that my client decided to buy.
Now this particular builder was having a "ONE WEEKEND ONLY"sale with contributions to HOA and closing … (9 comments)
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central florida: Subprimes defaulting before resets - 02/23/08 03:02 PM
The problem is not the resets. Many home owners are defaulting on subprime loans even at the low introductory rates offered and perhaps shows us two things - well actually one thing. Greed!
Lenders clearly dropped their stringent requirements at the height of the boom. They were issuing what I have called … (10 comments)
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central florida: FEMA adds more than 2,000 Central Florida homes into the flood zone - 02/23/08 02:24 PM
FEMA is in the middle of re-drawing the flood zone map for Central Florida. First up was Seminole County with Orange (2009), Polk (2010), Lake and Brevard (2011) all still to come.
If you find your home has suddenly been moved to a flood zone, you can appeal the decision. A … (5 comments)
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central florida: Orlando places third in "ten best cities for housing bargains" list - 02/16/08 08:27 PM
Orlando, Florida is third on the list of the ten best places to find a housing bargain right now.
Forbes' Matt Woolsey reports that the best place to get a bargain on a home is an area where there is healthy job growth and more houses available than people to buy them.These … (4 comments)
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central florida: Let's all maximize the negativity! - 02/16/08 10:52 AM
Now I am not the biggest fan of the National Association of Realtors. I feel that those in charge want to accomplish two things - to be at the center of American politics and therefore power, and secondly to increase the number of members and therefore money.
Having said all of that, … (10 comments)
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central florida: Homeowners are an optimistic bunch - 02/09/08 11:09 PM
A massive 77 percent of owners believe their own home has either held its own or increased in value, according to a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive.
All the negative press in the world apparently has had no effect on more than three quarters of all homeowners and that can only … (3 comments)
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central florida: What the heck is wrong with Realtors? - Part 2 - 02/06/08 04:38 PM
As I said yesterday, the standard of professionalism in our industry is a LONG way from where it needs to be,
I had no intention of making this title a series, but a new day has brought me new evidence.
If you missed yesterday's installment, then you can find it here: What the … (25 comments)
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central florida: What the heck is wrong with Realtors? - 02/05/08 11:45 AM
The standard of professionalism in our industry is a long, long way from where it needs to be and this leads to a few things.
Firstly, it lead to me having quite a frustrating morning today. I took some cash buyers out to see six properties - all in the same community. … (28 comments)
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central florida: Lessons in doing it right! - 01/28/08 08:37 AM
I am nowhere near stupid enough to think I know it all - although it is amazing how many people I encounter in a typical week who actually think they do.
Having said that I do know that exceptional customer service is just one of the many things that sets me apart … (45 comments)
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central florida: Do YOU know what your agent is doing? - 01/26/08 12:30 PM
Actually it's hard to believe, but I am coming to the conclusion that there are real estate agents out there who simply do not want to sell their listings.
First of all, many of them price them inaccurately to begin with and then simply throw them on the MLS in the hope … (27 comments)
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central florida: Four year high... for mortgages? - 01/19/08 12:08 AM
Yes it is hard to believe but demand for mortgages surged this week, reaching a four year high as interest rates continued to fall dramatically.
The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that application volume reached 906.4, an increase of 28.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, up from 706 one week earlier. On … (9 comments)
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central florida: How to sell your home fast in a slow market - 01/17/08 10:43 PM
Now this may or may not come as a shock to you, but homes are still selling inside of two weeks all over the country - even in some struggling areas.
The reasons are simple and were recently highlighted in The Baltimore Sun.
Some research on that market showed that 13% of the … (14 comments)
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central florida: I was just asked to commit mortgage fraud - 01/12/08 07:23 PM
Now there's not much unusual here. It happens all the time to all of us. What is different about this one however, is the source of the request.
One of my clients had his home listed with me. Due to a variety of circumstances he needs to re-finance the home and so … (12 comments)
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central florida: My journey to the mystical 100,000 mark! - 01/07/08 12:18 PM
Well it has been a curious journey to get to this milestone. It had three starts and included a long layoff for back surgery, but I made it over the weekend and then someone suggested I post here about exactly how I got here.
It was back in June of 2006 that … (22 comments)
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central florida: Just like starting over - truly inspired by a song! - 01/02/08 02:22 PM
Every now and then we get an opportunity - a new beginning - something that is truly a fresh start. A new year brings that to us and in this particular year, we have a chance to start over in all kinds of way.
This morning I just put some … (16 comments)
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central florida: Happy 2008 everyone! - 01/01/08 08:37 AM
Just thought I'd take a few moments to wish everyone a Happy New Year. I know some of you have had a tough 2007 and now that's over with, perhaps it's time to greet the new year with a new and positive attitude.
My 2007 was certainly filled with some challenges. I … (21 comments)
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central florida: Immigration and Real Estate - the Counter argument - 12/31/07 02:06 PM
A few days ago Christopher Smith from Houston, TX, wrote a blog abour Immigration and real estate. Lots of you commented on it, but I felt it was simply looking at what is indeed a complex issue, from just one side.
The counter argument is needed if we are to have a … (28 comments)
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central florida: It all depends on how you look at it - 12/28/07 10:46 PM
There's a story today on MSN Real Estate By Prashant Gopal, of BusinessWeek. It highlights the ten worst cities in the nation in terms of real estate price declines.
There are some in California, some in south Florida and even Sarasota (which was a surprise to me), Florida was in there.
The interesting … (18 comments)
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central florida: What buyers need to know these days to get a loan - 12/08/07 10:51 PM
Lenders are getting far more picky about who they will and will not lend money to these days, but make no mistake - there is plenty of money out there - you just have to make sure you qualify.
So, what are lenders using? It will come as no surprise to most … (4 comments)
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central florida: BIG Florida auction coming. 50% of value expected! - 12/08/07 07:33 PM
Well my assistant had a busy weekend - driving round checking on a number of properties that will be auctioned in the next two weeks - all for clients we have coming to town. A lot of these homes are expected to go for 50% of market value or less.
The investor … (7 comments)
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central florida: Why newspaper ads will eat your budget for little return - 11/30/07 01:44 PM
It pains me to say it (more on that in a moment), but newspapers are dying and from a real estate point of view, are already dead.
Realtors know that more than 80% of buyers now look on line for homes. They want to search neighborhoods; they want good mapping; they want … (100 comments)
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central florida: Wasting public money! - 11/05/07 10:50 PM
Regular readers of my blog will know that apart from everything else I do, I coach my local High School Ladies Tennis Team in the Spring (yes in Florida, tennis is a Winter/Spring game).
Now the thing is to be able to do this for Orange County you have to go through … (24 comments)
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central florida: Top Five markets where prices are rising - 11/03/07 02:34 PM
The Wall Street Journal just released results from their survey of which markets are experiencing price rises and which reductions.
On the black side of the balance sheet and heading the list is Seattle with a 5.7% increase in values. Charlotte is next with 5.6% and then there is a jump down … (4 comments)
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central florida: Winter heating bills should drive people to Florida - 10/27/07 11:05 PM
Do you live in Boston? Perhaps Buffalo, NY? How about Minneapolis or Washington DC? Perhaps even Philadelphia?
Why do I name these five cities? Because they have the distinct honor of being the five most expensive places in the country to heat a home during the winter.
Now obviously here in Florida we … (0 comments)
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central florida: New Home Sales UP, UP, UP!! - 10/25/07 10:03 AM
The Commerce Department reported today that sales of new homes rose by 4.8 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 770,000 units.
This came against analysts predictions of a DROP of 2.5% so once again, Housing seems to be in far better condition than the media and others … (9 comments)
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central florida: Dissappointed weather people! - 08/09/06 11:47 PM
It is interesting to watch a weather forecast here in Orlando right now. We are more than two months into Hurricane season and we have had but three named storms. From a Florida point of view, one actually hit us (Tropical storm Alberto) which made for a nice windy rainy day … (2 comments)
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