Category: Florida Real Estate

Benefits of Living in a Planned Community

Posted on by John Conde

  An Orlando home buyers must have list is based on a number of factors, but most lists generally consist of the same expectations. They want an updated kitchen, open floor plan, nice size bedrooms, and walk-in closets. However, above anything else, there is one requirement that is on every home buyer’s wish list – location, location, location.

 

The area in which you live is important for many reasons, including:

 

·         Proximity to friends and family

·         Proximity to schools for kids

·         Commute to work

·         Convenience to stores and restaurants

·         Hobbies and interests

 

This is just a shortlist of reasons why location is a top priority for home buyers. Land developers understand the value of location and convenience and that’s why some build master-planned communities on the land they own.

 

Reasons to Buy  

In addition to location, there are countless perks of buying a home in a planned community. Factors like parks, amenities, and quality of the home are major influences in the overall landscape and architectural design of such developments. Here are seven reasons to buy in a planned community:

 

1.       Convenience – Possibly one of the biggest reasons to buy in a planned community is convenience. You simply can’t beat being five minutes away from the grocery, restaurants, and shops – many of which are walking distance from your house.

 

2.       Amenities – Planned communities allow residents to enjoy all the luxuries in life, including access to a gym, golf course, and swimming pool. Other amenities like new schools, parks, and trails add to the perks of living in a planned community.

 

3.       Sense of Community – There’s nothing better than living in an area where neighbors gather and plan activities together. Residents of planned communities take pride in where they live and support others who live there as well.

 

4.       Social Life – This is part of the shared sense of community. Regardless of your personality or hobbies, neighbors automatically feel a bond because of where they both call home. Everybody knows everybody in planned communities and because so many places are within walking distance, it’s common for families to plan meet-ups on a regular basis.

 

5.       Security – Planned communities offer something that most neighborhoods can’t and that’s a sense of safety. Regardless of whether the community is gated or not, residents of planned communities feel safer because of their relationship with their neighbors. They look after each other and most importantly they trust each other.

 

6.       Maintenance – Planned communities are typically associated with homeowner’s associations that ensure the community’s landscape remains clean and maintained. Some communities take care of gardening, mowing, and other landscaping duties because it’s included in the cost of living in the community.

 

7.       Investment – If all other perks of owning a home in a planned community don’t persuade someone to buy, the pure investment of purchasing should. Buying a home in an upcoming planned community is typically a great investment as housing prices usually rise as the development becomes more established. If you happen to buy when the community is already developed, homeowners can feel safe in knowing that their property won’t depreciate in value.

 

It’s clear that planned communities have perks that most Orlando home buyers strive to find. It’s a relaxing environment that offers more convenience than anyone could ever dream of having.

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Hiring Settlement Agents for Cracking a Rewarding Property Deal

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Properties need to be bought and sold often. Finalizing these deals require certain professionals who can guide the customer thorough several grueling sessions. Real estate agents are often the best options but have some intricacies associated to them. They involve imprudent techniques and look to take the shorter route. The activities associated involve those similar to the brokers and this makes them a mush costlier and riskier take. Here comes the option of a property settlement agent who can make the customers forget their worries associated with the sale or resale of commercial, personal and several residential structures. These settlement agents look for a more transparent approach involving the documents and other necessary details.

Initiating the Search

With the property come responsibilities and also complexities. These gradually evolve and make the customer look for better and bigger avenues to get technical aid. Property settlement agents help the client in making these decisions keeping the frugal aspects in mind. Starting with the search requires the online approach initially. Many companies provide the services and they need to be looked at for recruitment. The area and the location need to be mentioned and the search engine does the rest. The reviews and associated consultation need to be done before making the final choice which has to be considered keeping several factors in mind. Several candidates have to be considered and the final call depends on the viability and associated technical know-how. Several factors need to be mentioned before zeroing down on a single settlement agent. The points which need to be considered are as follows:

  • The tenure of the service needs to be looked at and this clearly indicates the prowess associated with the operation.
  • Some companies provide the services while there are freelancers as well. The requirements need to be taken into account and the staffing of the company needs to be taken into the consideration as well.
  • The quotations have to be looked at beforehand and the associated fee which can waver must also be checked before going ahead with t he process.
  • Proper communication is a must as the thought process needs to be propagated seamlessly throughout.
  • If hired one needs to look at the payment methods which are accepted as this can get tricky at times.

Effectiveness of an Agent

These settlement agents look to smooth out the complexities associated with the real estate and property dealings. The help find the correct documents and initiate the process in a more regulated manner. They include the properties of stamp documentation and also look for lost and prior documents. Property sales require effective registrations and a lot of hassle can creep in. these ambiguities are be well addressed by the property settlement agents who look to make all the changes and also help apply for the certificate. Other arrangements which are being considered include land transfers and also filing applications for the customers. They also provide the power of attorneys which can help ease out the overall process of inherited or bought real estate property.

Conclusion

Making real estate and property deals have been greatly smoothened by deploying effective property management agents which in turn allow proper documentation and consider working via well-defined and legalized channels.

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More Jobs in Florida as Construction Heats Up for Multifamily Homes

Posted on by John Conde

News that U.S. housing starts in March hit their five-year high on the back of a sharp gain in construction of multifamily homes augur well for job creation which in turn provides an added stimulus for the residential market, Sarasota Bay Real Estate said.  For every 1,000 multifamily homes, the full-service real estate brokerage noted that industry estimates put at 1,100 the jobs that are added.

U.S. Commerce Dept. figures released this April showed that construction of multifamily residences including apartment buildings jumped 31% to 417,000 units, the highest level reached since January 2006. Overall, national housing starts this March increased by 7% to 1.04 million units from the revised 958,000 revised annual rate in February.

Builders Are Upbeat

The recent gain in multifamily housing starts jibes with the forecast of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) that construction of condos and apartments this year will show a 31% gain for the whole of 2013. This reading took into account the sustained improvement in the NAHB’s Multifamily Production Index (MPI). The most recent survey data gathered from multifamily homebuilders put the MPI at 52, indicating that a majority of these developers are upbeat about market conditions. Notably, an MPI above 50, which indicates more builders are looking forward to an improving market environment, has been observed for three straight quarters last year.

In Southwest Florida, Lennar Homes are one of the active multifamily home builders. Its projects in this area include three in Bradenton: River Strand, Verandas, and Terrace. Lennar is also building in Venice at its Stoneybrook community and in North Port at its Cypress Falls neighborhood.

Available Florida Homes for Sale Close to 10-Year Lows

Developments like Lennar’s should help boost the rapidly shrinking home inventory in the region, Sarasota Bay Real Estate said. For March, it noted that available residential properties in Sarasota are close to the lowest level in ten years. Figures from the Sarasota Realtors Association (SAR) showed that home inventory during the month dropped by 18% from March 2012.

The inventory for Sarasota condos for sale this March was estimated at a 4.7-month supply and at 3.8 months for single-family homes. In the year-earlier period, the inventory levels were at 6.7 months and 4.8 months for condos and single-family residences, respectively. These compare with the 41.7 months supply for condos and 24 months inventory for single-family homes in November 2008, during which the real estate market suffered one of its worst beatings.

Just a little over 200 villas and townhouses are featured in the current MLS of Sarasota homes for sale, as it emphasized that with the relatively few pickings, prospective buyers need to avail of the services of an experienced broker. Some of the most attractive purchase opportunities can be found in the golf community of The Meadows Country Club where there is a rich mix of condos, villas, townhouses, and single-family homes, all totaling 3,400 residences. Multifamily-designed dwellings here are priced starting around the mid-$100s.

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Is it time to fire your Realtor?

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

   Big real estate firms put big-time money into marketing which is why when people need a real estate agent most of them go right for the big names that they see on billboards and in TV commercials. There are some problems, however, with using the larger firms that have been brought to my attention enough times to finally write about it.

When brokerages put a ton of money into marketing then they end up getting a massive amount of leads from it. The problem with that is that some brokerages are just not equipped to handle all those new buyers and sellers they just spent a ton of money marketing to. When this happens real estate agents tend to put most of their effort into the deals that are going to make them the most money,… that’s just human nature. Unfortunately, for buyers with lower incomes and sellers with cheaper houses, this can potentially turn into a very bad experience for them.

Real estate agents get paid on commission which means the lower the purchase or sale price, the lower their commission will be. So when the leads get assigned or referred to the agents in the office the buyers with the most money to spend or the seller with the most expensive house to sell will get most of the attention. The rest of the potential buyers or sellers end up getting put to the bottom of the stack. The “when I get around to it” file.

Buying your first home is one of the most important decisions of your life and should be a very happy and exciting experience. The problem is that many people lack the knowledge needed to find the right real estate agent for them.

Is it time to fire your Realtor? Here are some tips that will help you find the best real estate agent for you

1- Google them! – A good agent will have a strong online presence and you should be able to pull up a world of information on them. Take some extra time and read reviews that people have written about them. If they have negative reviews or none at all, then it’s time to move on to your next candidate. From your online search, you should be able to come up with at least 3 good candidates.

2- Set up an in-person interview. – Once you’ve chosen you three candidates now it’s time to meet them in person. They should ask you questions like “are you pre-approved for a loan and how much?” What kind of house are you looking for? How much do you want to spend? What neighborhood?, etc.

Then pay close attention to what the agent shows you. Is it what you’re looking for? Was the agent paying attention to what you said? If the agent starts showing you properties that are far from what you asked to see then…..”NEXT”

3- What’s their track record? – Don’t be afraid to ask questions like.

*How many houses have they sold?

*How many have they sold in the last 6 months

*What do they specialize in? Are they a short-sale specialist? A buyer’s agent?, etc. It’s important that your agent specializes in whatever it is that you’re trying to accomplish. You wouldn’t go see a foot Doctor for a toothache, would you?

*Do they have any testimonials from past clients?

4- Make sure that real estate is their full-time job. A good real estate agent works full time as a real estate agent and there’s just no exception to this rule. If you’re working with a realtor that works part-time as anything else in order to make ends meet then it’s time to cut them loose.

5-Follow Your Instincts. You may have found the most successful real estate agent in town, but if you don’t feel comfortable around them or you just have that feeling in your gut telling you that they aren’t the one for you, then go with it. An agent/client relationship is kinda like a marriage…you’re in it for the long haul. On the bright side, it’s a lot easier to divorce your real estate agent.

So you see, it’s not at all about going for the biggest name with the biggest marketing budget. It’s about you putting in the time and doing the necessary research that it takes to find the right real estate agent for you. Good luck!

Orlando short sale expert

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Winter Park FL short sale | 1760 Elizabeths Walk

Posted on by Jenny Zamora

Winter Park FL short sale | 1760 Elizabeths Walk

This gorgeous 5 bedroom 4 bathroom house is located in the premier neighborhood of Windsong in Winter Park! This 3,710 square ft beauty has 2 floors of carefully planned open layout designed to make anyone fall in love at first site.

Other Great features

* Wood burning fireplace

* 2 car garage

* Screened in porch

* Community Clubhouse

* 2 Large Community Pools

* Playground

This property has easy access to top rated schools, first rate restaurants and shops and nearby Orlando’s top medical facilities. Don’t wait! This one won’t last for long.

Visit us at Orlando Realty Consultants to see this or any other of our terrific Orlando properties.

 

 

Orlando Real Estate Broker

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