Real Estate Blog 
Getting the Best Out of Remodeling
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 at 11:54am. 43 Views, 0 Comments.
Years ago, when the housing market was booming, the economy was healthy and the sky was filled with rainbows and flying unicorns, remodeling your home was considered a good investment. You were almost certain to get your money back - and then some - when you decided to sell. Unfortunately, those days are no more.
Though you're no longer guaranteed to earn your money back, remodeling can still pay off if you make wise choices about what you do. Here are a few tips:
- Fix What's Already There
Sure, it's tempting to add that extra game room, or that huge bathtub with the jets. Buyers may even thank you for it in the end (though don't expect them to raise their offers that much more). But what buyers won't thank you for are repairs. With a flooded…
Looking to Rent With Lousy Credit?
Thursday, May 13th, 2010 at 11:48am. 46 Views, 0 Comments.
It can be found!
With unemployment and foreclosures the highest they've been in decades, many people are watching their credit scores tumble. If you've lost your home and are looking for a new place to rent, this can be a huge worry.
First of all, if you earned your low credit score through a lifetime of bad spending habits, this won't help you. There are certainly things out there to help you get your credit back up but it's going to take a great deal of time and work and landlords will be unlikely to take you in on faith. But if your lower credit score is the result of a recent, unavoidable financial crisis, many landlords may be surprisingly willing to give you a break if you work with them.
The first thing you should do is get a copy of your…
The Waverly's Statistics
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 at 9:34am. 62 Views, 1 Comments.
One of my favorite condo communities in Orlando is The Waverly, a prestigious and impressive high-rise condo community in downtown Orlando, right on Lake Eola. Luxury downtown living really doesn't get much better.
In the last two months, The Waverly has had three condos go on the market with an average listing price of $178,333. These condos are all 2 bedroom, 2 bath homes with an average of 1,178 square feet. At least one of them is a short sale.
Now let's see how The Waverly has done over the past year.
-There were 13 condos sold in The Waverly in the last year.
-The listing prices of these condos ranged from $125,000 to $319,900 with an average list price of $$171,539.
-The final sold price for these condos ranged from $123,000 to $290,000…
The Real Statistics for Kings Ridge, in Clermont
Thursday, April 29th, 2010 at 12:45pm. 72 Views, 0 Comments.
Since we looked at The Legends in Clermont last time, I figured we'd just hop across US 27 to Kings Ridge, another of Clermont's great golf communities. Like The Legends, Kings Ridge is a community made up of many smaller neighborhoods, but the homes are all comparable with each other.
Over the last 2 months, Kings Ridge has had 16 homes go on the market with an average listing price of $161,502. Most of the homes are 2 bedroom, 2 bath homes with an average size of 1,626 square feet. Out of these 16 homes, it looks like only one is a short sale or bank-owned property. None of these properties has sold yet, though one has a pending contract.
The home with the pending contract is 3 bedroom, 2 bath home with 1,760 square feet. It was listed at…
Florida #1 in Mortgage Fraud
Thursday, April 29th, 2010 at 11:45am. 106 Views, 0 Comments.
Ok, so it's not always good to be Number One. According to the Mortgage Asset Research Institute, Florida has the highest amount of mortgage fraud in the country with a fraud index of 292. In the index, 100 represents the amount of expected fraud, while 0 means that no fraud has occurred. So 292 means that almost three times the expected amount of fraud has occurred. Ouch.
So what is mortgage fraud? Well, mortgage fraud is simply defined as obtaining a mortgage under false pretenses. As you can imagine, this covers many things. Some of the most simple frauds are actually perpetrated by unethical mortgage professionals who list false income claims for borrowers or pressure appraisers to overvalue a home so that it will qualify for a bigger loan. There are…
Current Statistics for The Legends, in Clermont
Friday, April 23rd, 2010 at 10:49am. 90 Views, 1 Comments.
Now let's drift away from Casselberry for a moment in our statistics series and fly over to Clermont to look at a very popular community - The Legends.
Over the last 2 months, The Legends has had 16 homes go on the market with an average listing price of $299,774. Most of the homes are 4 bedroom, 3 bath homes with an average square footage of 2,913. Out of these 16 homes, at least 4 of them are bank-owned or short sale properties. None of these properties have sold yet, though one has a pending contract.
The home with a pending contract is listed at $175,000. It's a short sale and is one of the smaller homes with 1,930 square feet.
Now let's look at the homes sold in The Legends over the last year.
-Impressively, there were 37 homes sold in The…
The Biggest Mistakes Homebuyers Make
Friday, April 23rd, 2010 at 9:51am. 48 Views, 0 Comments.
I'm happy to say that there are a lot of new people out there looking to buy a home. With the prices down and the inventory up, so many people are finding the current market to be a great opportunity - especially first-time homebuyers (who have been taking advantage of the tax credit) and retirees (who are finding it affordable to retire to Florida again!).
Our recent economic woes have also lead to a new trend - more cautious buyers. That's a good thing. Making a mistake while buying a home can be a devastating error that you live with for many years to come. So what are the most common mistakes that homebuyers make? I'm glad you asked, reader. I happen to know and I've got six of tips to help you avoid them.
1 - Know What You Want, and What You Can…
Current Statistics for Lakehurst, Casselberry
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 at 9:42am. 69 Views, 0 Comments.
And now we're going to look at the statistics for Lakehurst, a wonderful Casselberry neighborhood on the shores of Lake Howell.
Over the last 2 months, Lakehurst has had 9 homes on the market, with an average listing price of $496,522. Most of the homes are 4 or 5 bedroom homes, with an average square footage of 3,031 sq. feet. Out of these 9 homes, only one of them seems to be a bank-owned or short sale property. Three of the properties have sold.
The sold homes sold for $295,000, $306,000 and $360,000, well below the average listing price.
Now let's take a look at the homes sold in Lakehurst in the last year.
-There were 4 homes sold in Lakehurst in the last year (three in the last two months alone).
-The listing price of these homes ranged…
The Statistics of Carriage Hill, Casselberry
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010 at 11:15am. 59 Views, 0 Comments.
Now let's take a look at Carriage Hill, another great, well-established Casselberry community located close to shopping and many of the area's major roads.
Over the last 2 months, Carriage Hill has had 8 homes on the market, with an average listing price of $153,563. Most of the homes are 3 or 4 bedroom homes, with an average square footage of 1,795 sq. feet. Out of these 8 homes, at least half of them are bank-owned or short sales. Three of the eight homes have pending contracts and 1 has sold.
The sold home sold for $170,000, well above the average listing price. However, it was also the largest home on the market, with 2,229 square feet.
The three pending homes are listed at $149,900, $144,900 and $99,000. The lower priced home is a short sale.
Now…
A Look at the Statistics of Sausalito, Casselberry
Friday, April 2nd, 2010 at 1:05pm. 96 Views, 0 Comments.
There's a lot of misinformation and speculation out there about the housing market right now. Opinions can vary wildly about where our market is, what it's doing and where it's going. But, as always, the truth is in the real numbers. So starting with this blog I'm going to begin to take a look at some of our local neighborhoods more closely and examine the recent market statistics and see what, if anything, we can determine from the real numbers.
Today's subject: one of my favorites - Sausalito and Sausalito Shores in Casselberry. First, some basic stats.
-Over the last two months, Sausalito has had 11 homes for sale on the market.
-The listing prices range from $114,000 to $179,000 with an average listing price of $145,700.
-The average square…