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Orlando, FL Real Estate News

By Walter DiLoreto, Real Estate Short Sale Specialist
(PHP Houses)
If you’ve got a move on your mind, you may be wondering whether you should wait to sell until mortgage rates come down before you spring into action. Here’s some information that could help answer that question for you.In the housing market, there’s a longstanding relationship between mortgage rates and buyer demand. Typically, the higher rates are, you’ll see lower buyer demand. That’s because some people who want to move will be hesitant to take on a higher mortgage rate for their next home. So, they decide to wait it out and put their plans on hold.But when rates start to come down, things change. It goes from limited or weak demand to good or strong demand. That’s because a big portion of the buyers who sat on the sidelines when rates were higher are going to jump back in and make t...
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By Jerry LaRose, Orlando, Windermere FL. Real Estate, ABR, GRI, e-PRO, CLHMS
(Orlando Realty Partners)
 Though the national index figures reflect the illusion we most favor -- a steady and virtually guaranteed rise in home prices -- a very different picture emerges when you examine price indexes by state or metropolitan area. Here are some examples.In Houston, the first Texas city to fall in the oil bust, the home-price index peaked at 108.5 in 1983. It also bottomed early, hitting 81.5 in 1987. But it was a long bottom: The index didn't recover to its 1983 level until 1997. So recovery from the market top took a full 14 years. San Antonio peaked in 1984 at 109.7, didn't bottom out until it hit 82.5 in 1990 and didn't recover to its old high until 1995, a period of 11 years. Austin peaked in 1986 at 100.1, falling to 72.7 in 1991 and reaching recovery in 1994, about eight years. Dallas a...
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By Rob Arnold, Metro Orlando Full Service - Investor Friendly & F
(Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc.)
The City of Orlando has come up with another bright idea.  Let's use our tax dollars to buy workforce housing.  You can read a detailed article about this in yesterday's Orlando Sentinel. The city is considering charging devleopers a linkage fee to help pay for this.  I always find it amusing that every statement or article on this subject describes the workforce as firefighters, teachers, and policemen.  On top of all these professions already being government employees (which makes the government look pretty pathetic), many of these people work additional jobs on the side at great pay anyway. Teachers only work 9 months a year.  Many police work side security jobs that pay great hourly rates. And all their jobs are unionized.  I certainly am not out to bash these professions, but hone...
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By Richard Carpentieri, GRI, ABR, PRM, e-PRO
(Keller Williams Realty)
Cypress Springs is located off of Curry Ford Rd in the east Orlando section of the Orlando real estate market.  There has been 10 single family houses sold in the 4th quarter of 2007.  They sold for prices ranging from $220,000 to $656,000 with an average price of $342,890 and ranged in size from 1,443 square feet to 3,985 square feet.  The average time they took to sell was 133 days. There are presently 5 houses that are pending closing. They range in size from 2,302 square feet to 2,940 square feet and have asking prices from $329,000 to $429,900.  They have been on the market for an average of 154 days.There are a total of 59 houses on the market.  They range in size from 1,324 square feet to 5,367 square feet with asking prices ranging from $168,000 to $1,400,000.  Of these 59 house...
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By Richard Carpentieri, GRI, ABR, PRM, e-PRO
(Keller Williams Realty)
Somerset is located in the Williamsburg section of the Orlando real estate market.  There has been 1 single family house sold in the 4th quarter of 2007.  It sold for a price of $203,000 and was 1,260 square feet.  It took 28 days before it sold. There is presently 1 house that is pending closing. It is 1,873 square feet and has an asking price of $264,000.  It has been on the market for 129 days.There are a total of 12 houses on the market.  They range in size from 1,064 square feet to 2,432 square feet with asking prices ranging from $190,000 to $249,900.  Of these 12 houses 9 of them are priced at $220,000 or lower.Considering the amount of houses sold in the 4th quarter of 2007, the saturation rate, (the amount of time it will take to sell all of the houses in a specific area assumi...
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By Richard Carpentieri, GRI, ABR, PRM, e-PRO
(Keller Williams Realty)
Montpelier is located in the Williamsburg section of the Orlando real estate market.  There has been 2 single family houses sold in the 4th quarter of 2007.  They had selling prices of $177,000 and $222,000 and ranged in size from 1,554 square feet to 1,576 square feet.  They took an average of 129 days before they sold. There are presently 2 houses that are pending closing. They are 1,268 square feet and 1,554 square feet and have asking prices of $184,000 and $190,000.  They have been on the market for an average of 117 days.There are a total of 10 houses on the market.  They range in size from 1,540 square feet to 1,878 square feet with asking prices ranging from $199,000 to $249,900.  Of these 10 houses 8 of them are priced at $220,000 or lower.Considering the amount of houses sold ...
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By Sean Allen, International Financing Solutions
(International Financing Solutions )
  Sea World in Orlando, Florida is one of my favorite places to visit. This past week, Pilar & I, visited Sea World for a few hours and had a wonderful experience. I'm not sure if this is for Florida residents or everyone in general, but if you buy a 1 day pass for $67.00, your pass is good as often as you like until December 31, 2008. That is an awesome deal if you know you will be able to visit again in the future. Although the basic admission price of $67.00 is high, once you think about it, it really isn't. Just think of ALL those animals which they take care of, the staff, the upkeep and of course, the Beer company needs to make a profit.    The shows at Sea World are simply amazing and usually extremely funny. Pilar & I especially enjoyed watching the "Mime" doing his act before t...
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By Richard Carpentieri, GRI, ABR, PRM, e-PRO
(Keller Williams Realty)
Lake Ridge is located in the Williamsburg section of the Orlando real estate market.  There has been 4 single family houses sold in the 4th quarter of 2007.  They had selling prices ranging from $185,000 to $224,000 and ranged in size from 1,612 square feet to 2,072 square feet.  They took an average of 86 days before they sold. There is presently 1 house that is pending closing. It is 1,873 square feet and has an asking price of $219,900.  It has been on the market for 15 days.There are a total of 9 houses on the market.  They range in size from 918 square feet to 2,820 square feet with asking prices ranging from $157,900 to $299,900.  Of these 9 houses 7 of them are priced at $215,000 or lower.Considering the amount of houses sold in the 4th quarter of 2007, the saturation rate, (the ...
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By Dawn Pratt, East Orlando Real Estate
Recently sold homes median figures for Waterford Lakes East:Median size:  4 Bedrooms 3 Bathrooms and 2366 Square FeetMedian listing price:  $325,000Median sales price:  $310,000Median amount of days on the market:  104For more information about the Waterford Lakes real estate market, please forward your questions to:WaterfordLakes@yahoo.com, or visit my blog: East Orlando Life.
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By Jerry LaRose, Orlando, Windermere FL. Real Estate, ABR, GRI, e-PRO, CLHMS
(Orlando Realty Partners)
Until l993, mortgage lenders had traditionally relied on underwriters to determine if a borrower was worthy of a mortgage loan. The underwriter would mail out employment and bank verifications, order a credit report and review each piece of information when it was received. The underwriter or loan committee would meet to determine if the borrower met the guidelines established for the type of loan he was applying for. This process would often take weeks or even months to gather the information and make an underwriting decision. In today's fast paced market, lenders want to be able to make decisions within 24 hours, if possible. So lenders have had to change the way mortgage loans are underwritten. One of the first changes made to speed up the underwriting process was to accept verificat...
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By Richard Carpentieri, GRI, ABR, PRM, e-PRO
(Keller Williams Realty)
Windmill Pointe is located in the Williamsburg section of the Orlando real estate market.  There has been 1 single family house that sold in the 4th quarter of 2007.  It sold for $195,000 and it was 1,576 square feet.  It took 51 days before it sold. There are presently 0 houses that are pending closing. There are a total of 11 houses on the market.  They range in size from 1,070 square feet to 2,296 square feet with asking prices ranging from $145,600 to $289,900.  Of these 11 houses 9 of them are priced at $225,000 or lower.Considering the amount of houses sold in the 4th quarter of 2007, the saturation rate, (the amount of time it will take to sell all of the houses in a specific area assuming that no other houses are listed in that area) will be 33 months.  This is higher than the r...
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By Judy Chapman
(Referral Network of Illinois LLC)
When respondents were asked in a Zogby Interactive online poll how they would rank 8 major American cities as the best place to live, Orlando came in 3rd. San Francisco led the pack with 13% of the vote, followed in order by Chicago, Orlando, New York, Las Vegas, and Houston. Miami came in last with only 3% of the vote. When asked to rank the same 8 American cities as the best vacation destination, Orlando again came in 3rd. San Francisco placed 1st again with 19% of the vote, followed by New York (17%) and Orlando (14%). Miami came in 6th with only 6% of the vote. The survey, in which 7,106 adults across the U.S. participated, was conducted from January 18 through 21, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.
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By Richard Carpentieri, GRI, ABR, PRM, e-PRO
(Keller Williams Realty)
Lime Tree is located in the Williamsburg section of the Orlando real estate market.  There has been 1 single family house that sold in the 4th quarter of 2007.  It sold for $195,000 and it was 1,554 square feet.  It took 28 days before it sold. There are presently 0 houses that are pending closing. There are a total of 6 houses on the market.  They range in size from 1,310 square feet to 1,873 square feet with asking prices ranging from $165,000 to $235,000.  Of these 6 houses 3 of them are priced at $195,000 or lower.Considering the amount of houses sold in the 4th quarter of 2007, the saturation rate, (the amount of time it will take to sell all of the houses in a specific area assuming that no other houses are listed in that area) will be 18 months.  This is below average with the re...
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By Richard Carpentieri, GRI, ABR, PRM, e-PRO
(Keller Williams Realty)
  Green Briar is located in the Williamsburg section of the Orlando real estate market.  There has been 2 single family houses sold in the 4th quarter of 2007.  They sold for $210,000 and $224,000 and were 1,873 square feet and 2,293 square feet.  They took an average of 232 days before they sold. There are presently 2 houses that are pending closing. They are 1,268 square feet and 2,016 square feet with asking prices of $174,900 and $215,000.  They have been on the market for an average of 144 days.There are a total of 17 houses on the market.  They range in size from 969 square feet to 2,646 square feet with asking prices ranging from $155,000 to $289,500.  Of these 17 houses 15 of them are priced at $225,000 or lower.Considering the amount of houses sold in the 4th quarter of 2007, t...
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By Jerry LaRose, Orlando, Windermere FL. Real Estate, ABR, GRI, e-PRO, CLHMS
(Orlando Realty Partners)
13924 Fox Glove St., Winter Garden, FLsend this to a friend WOW!..... Golf Couse Frontage at this Price? Yes, Don't Walk, Run to get this fabulous Deal. Guard Gated community. Enjoy your morning coffee or youprint this page 4 Bdrm Single Family Houseoffered at $325,000Year Built2003 Sq Footage2,475 Bedrooms4 Bathrooms2 full, 0 partial Floors1 Parking2 Car garage Lot SizeUnspecified HOA/Maint$144 per monthDESCRIPTION WOW!..... Golf Couse Frontage at this Price? Yes, Don't Walk, Run to get this fabulous Deal. Guard Gated community. Enjoy your morning coffee or your evenings favorite beverage on the screened enclosed patio overlooking this spectacular Arthur Hills design 18 hole golf course. Garage extended by 4 feet & currently set up for an office, can easily be converted back to full 2 ...
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By Alexander Harb, Dallas, Texas Real Estate Investing
(Knights Investing)
     This is what happens when you do your job well and with excellence as a real estate agent:You help your client find a GREAT chunk of land.You help him negotiate a fantastic price on it.You sit in on the closing years later of half his property because you KNOW he is paying off ALL of the other land by selling the other part of it.    This exactly what happened back in October of 2001.I turned a client of mine on to an AWESOME section of land called Wedgefield in eastern central Florida. It was owned by the people at NASA in Cape Canaveral several years ago when the Government was thinking of putting ALL of the Space Shuttle operations in Florida. They wanted a GREAT place for the employees of the space program to have an area they could live in, and play in. They could also be able...
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By Dawn Pratt, East Orlando Real Estate
What's Happening in 32828?                                                  November     December   JanuaryNumber of Homes Sold              35               45             23Homes for Sale                          883             862           911New Listings                              140             137           196Recommendation: If you're buying a home, it is important that you work closely with a highly-motivated agent, like myself, who understands what's going on with the real estate market and local economy. I will be able to advise you on how to get the most for your money and what homes you may want to avoid, as there are homes on the market that are not priced at their fair market value. If you're selling your home, it's also important that you work closely with a highly-m...
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By Judy Chapman
(Referral Network of Illinois LLC)
Vent the frustrations you have with your neighbors at www.RottenNeighbor.com. I dare you. No complaints have been posted in neighborhood in East Orlando, but in a nearby neighborhood, these comments were registered (all grammatical errors belong to the posters): ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  has no regard for other peoples property allows her dogs to relieve and run loose in other peoples yards and then blame that person for being upset ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   Who do they think they are the colbys?? One word PLASTIC wow are these folks unfriendly faake and snobbish cosmetic surgery and tennis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  Rumor mill prom queen and crazy driver The mom in this house spreads, cultivates, and ignites false rumors about everyone she m...
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By Jerry LaRose, Orlando, Windermere FL. Real Estate, ABR, GRI, e-PRO, CLHMS
(Orlando Realty Partners)
Voters say ‘Yes on 1' PROPERTY TAX AMENDMENT!  As you may know, the January 29th 2008 Presidential Primary election Voters said‘Yes on 1' Property Tax Amendment 1, Which lowers property taxes statewide. The property tax amendment allows buyers to take their Save Our Homes tax savings with them when they move. One of these changes allows homestead property owners to transfer up to $500,000 of their Save-Our-Homes benefits to their next homestead. You can visit the Orange County Property Appraiser Website at: http://www.ocpafl.org/to view a powerpoint presentation on the Portability and click on the Portability Calculator to determine your portability and tax amount.  To view full story CLICK HERE
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By Chantal Gakwaya
(Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate)
When will the Orlando Real Estate Market Hit the Bottom? I get so many buyers asking me, "When will the Orlando real estate market hit the bottom?" To tell the truth, I have given up on trying to estimate when the market will hit bottom. Buyers are being bombarded with information from all over the country about how bad the real estate market is. And yes, if you bought a house in '05 or '06 or even as early as the beginning months of 2007, then it is a bad market for you to sell right now. However, if you are buying a home - the selection is nothing short of spectacular and the prices for some of these homes cannot go any lower than it already has. So the answer to the question is, The market has hit the bottom ALREADY. Well, ALREADY sort of. When I say sort of, I mean that some homes a...
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By Jerry LaRose, ABR, GRI, e-PRO, CLHMS
(Keller Williams Classic Realty)
Orlando Real Estate - Voters say ‘Yes on 1' PROPERTY TAX AMENDMENT!As you may know, the January 29th 2008 Presidential Primary election Voters said ‘Yes on 1' Property Tax Amendment 1,  Which lowers property taxes statewide. The property tax amendment  allows buyers to take their Save Our Homes tax savings with them when they move. One of these changes allows homestead property owners to transfer up to $500,000 of their Save-Our-Homes benefits to their next homestead. What is Portability?Portability             The ability to transfer the benefit of the homestead property assessment limitation (defined in FS 193.155) described as the dollar value difference between market value and assessed value, or a percentage thereof, from an existing homestead to a newly homesteaded property.      ...
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