Orlando Real Estate Blog

Orlando is a great place to live, work and play in. I decided to have a boys night out with the kids and living in Orlando provides a lot of opportunities for some wholesome and inexpensive family fun. Our night started out at Downtown Disney. We stumbled upon a new restaurant that just opened T-Rex…and for my youngest son, a big dinosaur fan, this was a special treat. The line for the place was around the building so we just checked out the gift shop and poked our heads in for a peak.

The place looks awsome…fire was shooting out of a volcanic ridge, dinosaurs roared and the tropical fish provideded a good balance to the chaos by swiming peacfully at the bar. I think we know where my youngest next birthday dinner will be…

We then boarded a bus to take us to Disney’s Fort Wilderness Lodge and Campground…the first stop on the property is called “The Outpost”, this is where you would get the buses to take you to your cabin or RV spot. I simply told the driver on one of the other buses that we wanted to go to the “Campfire”…soon we arrived to the sounds of campfire songs, and the smells of hot dogs roasting. My kids…that did not know where I was taking them had smiles on their faces usually only seen on Christmas day.

Our first stop was the wagon to get some grub…ooh I mean food. And soon the movie Tarzan started and to my surprise the kids had not seen this one. It started to get a little cool, of course, our jackets are back in my truck…safely at Downtown Disney. So it seemed like a good time to get some marshmellows and sit by the fire. We could sit comfortably around the fire…roast the marshmellows and watch the movie…great set up. I don’t know what my kids liked more…eating them or watching them burst into flames.

A lot of people came to see the movie but I would say it was still very comfortable and everyone was having a good time. Next time I hope to get a cabin for a few days to really explore the property and the amenities Disney provides.  All said I probably spent less then $20, and had a great time.

Another interesting note…I spoke to the bus driver and suggested that Disney should have hybrid buses…I hear they have over 250 buses in Orlando alone.  To my surprise he said they are on order and should be arriving starting next year.  I don’t know how true this is but it sounded good and he even suggested I visit http://www.designlineinternational.com/electrichybrid.cfm Which I did. Looks like they are electric which is great and I hope this is true…to see Disney a sterling member of the community take the lead in this area is a great thing.  Now only if I could get rid of my gas guzzler…btw I paid 1.99 a gallon this weekend for gas at Sam’s…$44 to fill up is great and half of what I was paying a few months ago.

                                        This may or may not be Disney’s new Bus

                            The Jamaican Bobsled team may have selected the colors…

I just went to this house and it is in very good condition and is located in a great little community in the Metrowest area called Stonebridge Lakes.  This community is very close to the Valencia Community College West campus and Universal Studios.  The community is gated and includes the groud maintenance for $180 per month which is not too bad.  The curb appeal of the community is great since all of the lawns are mowed and the grass is green…I loved the look

The Vitals…give me the vitals….

• Bank owned and on the market for 73 days
• 4 Bedroom 2 bathroom with 1,684
• Tile roof with a pond view
• zillow.com high value of $385,000 and current value of $269,000
• The bank is asking $225,000 and I think that is a very good price. 

This property is available as of right now…call for more details

Sometimes it is fun to see what people can create with almost unlimited budgets.  I was looking at some finished lots in Windermere and came across Ken Griffey Jr’s new home.  He sold his house in Isleworth and built this home in a real nice part of Windermere on a lake with over 10 acres of land…the builder was Ray Coudriet…one of the areas most respected custom home builders.  I couldn’t count all the garage’s but it was A LOT of them… I am sure the Griffey’s put a lot of time and work building their dream home and the results look amazing…the public records have the house at 24,457 sq ft heated.

It was a cloudy day but as you can see the house goes on and on and on….and has a double wall on the side to keep the riffraff out..so I couldn’t get in!

                     Casa De Homerun!

I have have been to several auctions of late by the very nature of my line of work.  Sometimes pulled to go by a client, other times out of pure curiosity. They always prove to be interesting so I recommend you pack up the kids and head to one for some good ole’ entertainment.

One auction of note, was the Lou Pearlman auction in the Windermere community of Chain-Du-Lac. The auction was a “bankruptcy auction” and subject to the judges approval and the judge declined the winning bid of $3,750,000 due to the fact that the bank pay off was much higher hence the current asking price of $5.6M. Hurry…buy this $5.6M fixer upper before it is too late….actually it will take a lot of work for a buyer to get the house in order and an investor would have to buy it for a steep discount when you consider the risk.

       This is Lou Pearlman’s old a/v equipment room….better run to Best Buy!

  The rear view of the old Pearlman House…now Bank of America’s…

Another auction I had the misfortune of attending was for a property called World Crest.  This is a condo hotel community located right off of Disney property.  I had a client fly into town to attend the event, willing to buy all of the units if the price was right.  We had to register the day before the auction.  See…this was an “absolute auction” for 15 units.  They made us at the time of registration place a minimum bid that we would definitely buy at. So we had to put a low number, what if we won!  We had to buy the units at a number the would CASH FLOW!  So we put $50,000 per unit down as I am sure everyone else did.  At that point I told my client they will probably cancel the auction and unfortunately I was right.  The auction was doomed for failure…why would you try to sell a vacation property in September…THE SLOWEST MONTH FOR TOURISM!  

Look at the monster turn out!

 Thank you for the free coffee and bagel but it doesn’t offset my fuel cost since it was about 4 bucks a gallon at the time.  Not only that I was told the auction cost the developer $150,000 upfront no matter if he sold a unit or not.  I am currently making a T-Shirt for the developer that says “I paid $150K for an auction and all I got was this shirt”.  I am available for consultation…its right on my card…”consultant”.  I would have saved him some serious money.

The auctions always have some good food…one event I went to in Lake Mary had a full spread…I loaded up my plate, got a drink and watched the festivities commence.  I can not say too much about this deal but we offered the seller a day before the auction a good price for the whole community…it was declined because they wanted our deposit hard…which we would not do until we had a due diligence period to inspect the property.  So they went forward with it and boy did they work the room good…I had to give them credit.  Less then half the properties actually closed at this point and the first bidder payed a lot more then the second or third buyer did, talk about losing equity fast for “lucky” bidder number one.  They still have properties available in that community today.  We offered a fair price that could have allowed the developer to wash his hands of the community.  Are you still reading this…..I can’t stop going on about this. It also amused me that the owner of the auction company said he would buy the lots himself if he wasn’t prohibited to do so, due to auction rules,…I call BS on that one. 

I just got another auction come across my desk…”honey forget the beach”… we are going to see a train wreck and I can tell you the time and place,  plus we will be fed!  The only way an auction will work, in my opinion, is if it is “100% Non-Cancelable Absolute Auction” to the highest bidder and I have not seen anyone willing to do that to this point. So for now auctions are going going gone….

You feel pretty good right now…you just cast your vote for your candidate of choice…one promises “change”…another a “new direction”…semantics I guess…but I applaud you for exercising your rights!  While you may feel as if your choice, made today, will be the most important decision you made over the last couple of years…it doesn’t have to be.  You can choose to pick a new home for you and your family; at a price that would have sounded impossible just a year ago. Invest in yourself, invest in America, buy a new house!  Or don’t and remember this opportunity you let slip by, on the day you cast your vote for America’s future, you also could have invested in your own! Mark this election day down as the day opportunity, change, and a new direction stared you in the face…what are you going to do with it?

You can qualify for a loan as long as you earn enough (have a job) and have good credit.  Yes, you need to have good credit…not perfect…but good and you know if your credit is good or not. If people are constantly calling you for payments, your credit is not good.  If your credit is in the tubes I know people that can help you work to improve your credit score.  FHA loans only require 3.5% down and have great rates, plus first time home buyers have many tools available to bring home ownership into reality for you. 

Invest in your family, buy a new house this year! 

I just sold our last 5 remaining lots in The Estates at Lake Clarice.  They have been sold to an investor at a price of $165,000 a piece and is working with SD Homes to build your dream home in Central Florida.  Not what what we sold them for last year but considering the state of things a health price nontheless.  I still have opportunities in the community for you to build a new home with SD Homes, AR Homes, and HNR Homes on homesites they have!

I also recently sold a home in the community for $1,964,000…more details on that soon!

I have just came across a great deal for the right investor, a grouping of over 160 finished lots at a price of only $5,000 per lot from one seller.  Keep in mind they enjoy the gift that keeps on giving…property taxes…so you would have some carry cost.  They are located all around the state, mostly near the coast. Call or email me for details…

A deal or not a deal…That is the question!

It is easy to get shell shocked by the doom and gloom news, seemingly ever falling property values and a constant barrage of campaign commercials.  But I maintain, that right now, a silent gold rush is upon us.  Smart investors have been sitting on the sidelines amassing cash since 2004 for this very day.  We now have property values at or below levels that allow an investor to Cash Flow a rental property!  While I know it sounds crazy….people making money in real estate and all…but what better time to buy? 

Let me tell you about a great deal….lets call it Bank Owned Deal #1.

• Located in Windermere, Fl.
• 4 Bedrooms 2 and 1/2 bathrooms
• 2,690 Sq. Ft. Heated with a garage
• Conservation Lot with Lake View from the second floor
• Asking price of $249,900 which is only $92.90 per square foot
• Zillow estimates the Current Value at $332,000 with a high a year or so ago of $474,000
• Sold for $456,000 on 4/12/20006….wow wow wee waa….I would like to meet that appraiser!

I am also of the opinon that we could acquire the house for less…especially on a quick close and cash deal.  The really crazy thing is that you could get FHA financing with only 3.5% down…that is just $8,746.50! The good thing is that at this sales price it represents an affordable payment compared to the areas average income.

Now how about Bank Owned Deal #2 ….

• Located in Vista Lakes near the Orlando International Airport
• 3 bedroom 2 bath with 1,756 heated square feet
• Covered Patio, wood floors, vaulted ceilings…ect ect…
• Asking price of $166,500 that is only $94.33
• Zillow estimated value of $220,500 with a high value of $316,000 a year or so ago!
• Sold for $254,800 on 8/29/2005
• FHA down payment of only $5,927.50

This deal is only a few miles from all the development going on at Lake Nona and is very close to Down Town! 

If you would like further details on any of these properties please feel free to call me or email me at any time…I have a ton of other properties as well in some great locations!  The time to buy is when nobody else is…especially when the prices are low!

Just a word of caution on FHA loans some offers with FHA financing may not be accepted by the lender as FHA has stringent inspection requirements with some cosmetic items affecting approval, and some of these bank owned properties are in rough shape.