central florida: Ten things sellers can do to improve their chances
- 05/06/08 08:40 AM
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, what can you do to make your home stand out from the crowd?
The South Florida Sun Sentinel rounded up some real estate professionals and asked them. Here are there top ten.
1. Curb appealThis is arguably the most important part of preparing your home for sale because it's the buyer's first … (6 comments)
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central florida: Incredible Custom built home for sale in Windermere, Florida
- 05/03/08 04:16 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 the garage bays for you!
Completion is just 45 days away now and when it is done, the price will go up so why not call Simon Conway today to arrange your private tour of this magnificent home? Call 407 876 8200.
Custom built executive level home in incredible Windermere, Florida.
Six beautiful … (1 comments)
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central florida: One of the best custom built homes for sale in Sanford
- 05/03/08 04:10 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 Garage; Faux Paint and Iron Work Detail; Dominating Mediterranean Themed Stone Work and Wraught Iron Balconies. And that is just OUTSIDE!
Inside we have all main flooring with Crema Marfil Marble Chiseled French Versailles Pattern; Foyer area with intricate detailed Glass Mosaics; Dining area with exotic Marble flooring with border … (1 comments)
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central florida: Probably the best home for sale in Windermere
- 04/26/08 04:32 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 $15,000 contribution to closing with our preferred lender (as of 9/12 Jumbo Loans in the 6s), but we will also be delighted to place a brand new 2008 C300 Sport Sedan in one of the garage bays for you!
Custom built executive level home in incredible Windermere Florida. Six beautiful bedrooms and … (0 comments)
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central florida: $900,000 reduction on Butler Chain of Lakes lots!!
- 04/26/08 04:23 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 these side by side one acre plus direct lakefront plots on beautiful Lake Sheen!
Watch the sunset every night from your own backyard on this stunning Butler Chain lake.
It is hard enough to find one lot on this chain, but to find three all next to each other is not something … (0 comments)
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central florida: Property for sales tax swap on the Florida Ballot!
- 04/25/08 03:20 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 will appear on the November ballott and needs 60% to pass.
The measure would cut most property-tax bills by at least 25 percent, revamp the way the state pays for schools and order the Legislature to replace the estimated loss of $9 billion with new, expanded sales taxes or other revenue.The … (9 comments)
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central florida: Probably the best home for sale in Altamonte Springs
- 04/19/08 03:17 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 Virtual Tour
This spacious home features beautiful granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, ceramic tile, a fireplace in the family room.
This is a 'MUST SEE' home. Call and make an appointment TODAY or you will miss out on one of the genuine bargains out there!
Great yards front and rear on this quiet … (0 comments)
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central florida: Foreign countries also have falling home prices
- 04/19/08 01:49 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 reported. In parts of India, houses have declined 20 percent in the past year.In Ireland,a home bought for $575,000 by university administrator Emma Linnane in May of 2006 would sell for about $475,000 in the spring of 2008, the report said.
Meanwhile in Britain, approvals of mortgage applications have dropped by … (9 comments)
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central florida: Allstate banned again from writing insurance in Florida
- 04/08/08 02:31 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 company put 150,000 documents on its website, but the State suspended it from writing new policies anyway because it still has not produced everything that has been asked for.
According to AP, Office of Insurance Regulation spokesman Tom Zutell said that while the state's legal team would review the documents to … (21 comments)
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central florida: Will William Gray see his shadow?
- 04/07/08 02:44 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 for two more mnths before he comes out and does his thing.
Oh and for the uneducated, his "thing" is how many hurricanes will hit the US mainland in any given year. It is quite important and certainly insurance companies pay attention and adjust premiums accordingly.
But you see there is a … (11 comments)
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central florida: Florida scores big in "top ten clean cities"
- 03/19/08 12:37 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 Number eight.
According to Forbes, in recent years, Florida's Department of Environmental Protection has launched programs aimed at providing power plants with the equipment needed to scrub out harmful emissions before they're discharged. The agency has singled out the Tampa Electric Co. for going beyond federal and state requirements on emission … (18 comments)
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central florida: Why consumers need Realtors when buying from builders.
- 03/03/08 09:06 AM
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 costs thrown into the deal - but that was it. they were firm on price!
Well of course they weren't, but that was the face they presented to the public.
Now of course I negotiated on my client's behalf and managed to achieve a substantial reduction on their already "reduced" prices. … (9 comments)
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central florida: Subprimes defaulting before resets
- 02/23/08 07:02 AM
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 in the past "do you have a pulse?" loans. There were no standards. There were limited or no checks. No one cared if a borrower could afford the repayments because there was always going to be that fast building equity.
Then there are the borrowers themselves. A lot of them saw … (10 comments)
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central florida: FEMA adds more than 2,000 Central Florida homes into the flood zone
- 02/23/08 06:24 AM
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 number of homes originally on the list have been removed following successful appeals, but there are still some anomolies, including three familes who live at the top of one of the County's steepest hills which FEMA has now said are in the flood zone.
And being in the flood zone costs … (5 comments)
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central florida: Orlando places third in "ten best cities for housing bargains" list
- 02/16/08 12:27 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 are markets "where you have high inventories but pliable borrowers, with lenders willing to deal," says Anthony Sanders, a professor of finance at Arizona State University.Forbes magazine went looking for markets where the damage from risky lending hasn't been as dramatic as in some parts of the country and where … (4 comments)
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central florida: Let's all maximize the negativity!
- 02/16/08 02:52 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, MOST of the economic reports that come out of there are fair and balanced (apologies to Fox News).
So this week a report came out about the Metros in the country and what follows are five of the key paragraphs from AP's unbylined report "New data reveal breadth of housing slump":
Sales of existing homes … (10 comments)
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central florida: Homeowners are an optimistic bunch
- 02/09/08 03:09 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 be good news.
In addition to the headline results, the survey also produced other interesting data.
· 82 percent will spend the same or more on minor home improvements (install new garbage disposal, repaint or wallpaper a room).
· 67 percent say they will spend the same or more on major home improvements … (3 comments)
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central florida: What the heck is wrong with Realtors? - Part 2
- 02/06/08 08:38 AM
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 heck is wrong with Realtors?
So yesterday I talked about my inability to gain access to 50% of the homes my cash buyers wanted to see.
While I was doing that yesterday, I also received a call from someone who wanted to acquire some vacant land.
We had a long conversation, identified some … (25 comments)
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central florida: What the heck is wrong with Realtors?
- 02/05/08 03:45 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. They are going to buy one of them for sure.
The problem is, I couldn't get into three of them and this leads to the second problem. Realtors are NOT representing their selling clients correctly because the thing is, this is not unusual.
So now we have three owners who will have … (28 comments)
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central florida: Lessons in doing it right!
- 01/28/08 12:37 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 from my competition.
And every now and then something comes along that reminds you of a couple of things.
First of all - that part of my business I'm doing right. That actually brings me some of the greatest joy to be honest.
Second thing I learnt yesterday, is that the world is … (44 comments)
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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, what can you do to make your home stand out from the crowd?
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