Resale or Renovation?

Experts say you should consider how changes will affect your home's value before you get your heart set on specific home-improvement projects.

Jennifer Lisle Special to the Sentinel January 15, 2006 Orlando Sentinel

When Christy Cleveland and her family outgrew their 1,800-square-foot ranch house in Long Beach, Calif., two years ago, they first considered trading up. Additional expense: $400,000 to $500,000.They next looked at adding a second floor. Estimated cost: $200,000.Ultimately, they decided to add a recreation room and an extra bath at the back of the garage. Cost: $40,000. Please click on link for full details.

Orlando Full House

Economists forecast healthy home sales unless speculators bail out

Jack SnyderSentinel Staff Writer January 12, 2006 Orlando Sentinel

The nation's housing markets should remain quite healthy this year, if a bit off last year's record-setting pace -- though that could depend on how investors and speculators behave in coming months, experts in Orlando said Wednesday.

A trio of economists at the International Builders' Show warned that, if investors who have flooded the U.S. market in recent years begin selling off their properties as appreciation rates decline or investments such as stocks become more attractive, it could lead to problems in certain parts of the country. Click link for full story.

Mortgage Preapproval Letters Not Worth the Paper

By Pat Curry • Bankrate.com


Start shopping for a house and inevitably someone will suggest you visit a lender and find out how much house you can afford.

That visit generally results in a preapproval letter from the lender. It's an important document because in hot real estate markets, many agents won't even show a house without some indication that the buyer can get financing to close the deal. Click on link for full story.

What Home Buyers Really Want

By Dana Dratch • Bankrate.com


Home buyers want the basics. But they also demand the best. Or at least the best their money can buy.

The features most in-demand by buyers? According to the National Association of Realtors, or NAR, the top five are:

Centralized air conditioning
Walk-in closet in the master bedroom
Bedroom on the main floor
Patio
Oversized garage

Click on link for full details.

Metro Orlando is Hot for New Jobs

But experts would like to see region add more than just service workers

Jay HamburgSentinel Staff Writer January 9, 2006 Orlando Sentinel

While no economist claims a perfect crystal ball, those who track and study employment trends generally agree that 2006 should be another good year for jobs in Central Florida.

Florida led the nation in job growth last year and, within the state, Orlando had the top growth rate among the state's six big metro areas. Click on link for full details.

East Orlando is Growing

Schools, shopping outweigh bad trafficJack

SnyderSentinel Staff Writer January 1, 2006 Orlando Sentinel

East Orange County is peppered with rapidly growing communities such as Waterford Lakes and Stoneybrook. And Ivy Moore has sampled many of them.

Since she and her family moved to the area five years ago from San Diego, they have owned homes in Avalon Park, Waterford Lakes and, most recently, Lake Nona, moving into a nicer house each time.

Moore has seen housing prices soar -- 67 percent in the past two years -- as ever-increasing numbers of people are drawn to the area. Click link for full story.

Cooling trend forecast after another year of record sales

Jack SnyderSentinel Staff Writer January 2, 2006 Orlando Sentinel

This past year was the fifth consecutive record for housing sales and the experts, while expecting some cooling, see 2006 as shaping up as the second-best year ever.

Everyone from home builders to real-estate sales people are pumped, ready for another year of strong sales.

However, David Lereah, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, says there was evidence this year of "a tapping of the brakes on a hot market."

Back to the Big Easy

Good news for New Orleans: Realtors say they're proceeding with their annual convention as scheduled Nov. 8-13 in the Big Easy. That will mean more than 25,000 visitors and an economic impact exceeding $30 million.

Record year

Locally, look for announcements of record years in housing. Beazer Homes' Orlando Division said it sold 600 houses last year for more than $186 million, a record. Nicholson Homes posted 400 new-home sales last year and is getting in position for a strong 2006. The company has contracted to buy more than 500 building lots at Cara Estates in Haines City in Polk County. Construction on homes is expected by this summer.

Breaking up

After 10 years of affiliation, Brentwood Custom Homes of Altamonte Springs is ending its relationship with Arthur Rutenberg Homes. Brentwood has been one of the largest Rutenberg franchise builders, but Chairman Frank Pizzica said the company is moving into new territory. When Brentwood started as a Rutenberg builder, it did $3 million in the first year. In 2005, sales exceeded $100 million. Pizzica said Brentwood now builds one-of-a-kind luxury homes.

Home Prices Enjoy Record 2-Year Run

Jay HamburgSentinel Staff Writer Orlando Sentinel January 1, 2006

Home prices in the Orlando area have rocketed to dizzying heights these past two years, taking homeowners, real-estate agents and developers on a wild ride that has left them breathless -- but hoping the momentum will send prices even higher. Click link for full details.

Existing-home sales surge in Orlando

From Staff reports December 29, 2005, 4:34 PM EST

WASHINGTON -- In Central Florida, the number of homes available for resale surged again in November to reach its highest level in more than nine years. Still, existing-home sales through November remained on pace in Metropolitan Orlando to set a 13th consecutive annual record, according to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association.

November existing-home sales in the four-county area were up more than 20 percent, the Realtors said, compared with November 2004, when the area was still recovering from a series of hurricanes in August and September.

Inventory in the metro area's core market (primarily Orange and Seminole counties) totaled 9,685 homes at the close of November -- its highest level since July 1996, the local association said.

The median price of the homes sold in November rose to $249,900 -- up more than 37 percent from a year earlier but only 1.3 percent higher than in October.

The Orlando area's median home price, on a tear from December through July, has risen just 2 percent since then.

Growth angers some residents of College Park

Condo projects lead to the formation of a group pushing for sensible development.

Nancy N. GlickSpecial to the Sentinel December 29, 2005 Orlando Sentinel

The growth of College Park is changing the appearance of Edgewater Drive. Side streets are now cut-throughs, traffic has increased, parking is a problem and another condo high-rise is proposed for the Orlando community's retail strip.

Many residents and merchants are banding together to try to preserve the quiet neighborhood as a close, sleepy 80-year-old residential and commercial mini-suburb of Orlando. Please click link for full story.

Ski-High Returns

Commercial real-estate sales post impressive gains

Jack SnyderSentinel Staff Writer December 28, 2005 Orlando Sentinel

Impressed by the rising value of your home in Central Florida's red-hot housing market? This has also been a dream year for many commercial developers, real-estate investors, and the brokers who help them select the right properties. Click Link for full details.

Cadillac prize is sign of a braking market


Jack SnyderSentinel Staff Writer December 26, 2005 Orlando Sentinel

Want more signs of a cooling Central Florida housing market besides growing inventory, longer times to sell properties and scattered price reductions?

How about incentives?

Realtors say new home builders didn't have much need for them when the market was super hot and waiting lists and lotteries were common in new communities.

Things have changed. Builders are again actively courting Realtors to bring their clients by to shop their properties. And some developers are sweetening the pot beyond sales commissions.

Paramount Cos. of Florida is offering a 2006 Cadillac CTS to the salesperson or broker who completes the most condominium sales at Regency Park Lake by March 31. The developer said the retail value of the bonus prize is $33,800. The condominiums are at 733 Secret Harbor Lane in Lake Mary.

Orlando Condos at April 2005 Prices

Live in or invest in Keywest Style Condominum today with April 2005 prices. These 3 condos are located in Casselberry, Florida. All new appliances, flooring, kitchen cabinets, bath vanity, plumbing, air conditioning. Newly painted buildings in gated community with new landscaping, renovated pool, fitness, and club house area. Onsite property management in the near future to manage the rental properties and community. This community is in a top school district. This community nearly sold out. Click on the link to contact us or write at info@orlandobuyersbroker.com.

These are available:

1 bedroom and 1 bath, 531 square feet $98,200.00, interior location

1 bedroom and 1 bath, 647 square feet, $121,400, interior location

1 bedroom and 1 bath, 647 square feet, $122,400, interior location

Please contact us if you are interested.

Orlando Home sales still setting records

Jack SnyderSentinel Staff Writer December 21, 2005, 11:07 AM EST Orlando Sentinel

Orlando-area existing-home sales continued on a record setting pace in November, though the month-to-month increase in the median price has slowed considerably and inventory is now the highest in more than nine years, the Orlando Regional Realtor Association reported today.

The median price of homes sold in November was $249,000, up only 1.3 percent from October but a 37 percent increase from November 2004.

The pool of homes for sale last month reached 9,685, a 163 percent increase over November of last year and the highest level since July 1996. Brokers say the market is entering a slower paced phase, thus the growing inventory, but sales are still strong.

The 2,336 homes sold last month were a 23.1 percent increase over November of last year. Sales for the year are expected to set a record for the 13th consecutive year.

10 biggest mistakes of novice investors

By Pat Curry • Bankrate.com

Real estate has become the tech stock of the 2000s, the darling investment that everyone seems to think will be his ticket to easy wealth. And why shouldn't investors be snapping up cute little cottages? After all, mortgage rates are low and the housing market is hot. How hard could it be? Slap on a new coat of paint, put some flowers in pots by the front door, put a "For Rent" sign in the yard, and start counting the cash. Click on link for full details.

As prices soar, so does amount you can borrow

Forget jumbo loans: The conventional limit rises to $417,000 next year, matching the 16 percent increase in home values across the country.

Jim DebothSpecial to the Sentinel December 18, 2005 Orlando Sentinel

The 2006 conventional loan limit, which is the most mortgage money you can borrow without having to get a higher-cost jumbo loan, will take a giant hike to $417,000 -- up 15.9 percent from this year.

This is the largest single increase in the ceiling since the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, the federal agency that keeps track of home prices, established an annual limit in 1980.

Whether the increase will affect your plans or finances depends on the sort of home you want to buy and where it is.

Sometimes referred to as a conforming loan, a conventional loan is the sort that most of us get when we buy a house. It also is the type of loan that most lenders link to their "best" interest rate. A lender advertising a 6 percent interest rate, for example, is normally referring to a standard 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage.

The 2005 conventional loan limit on a single-family home was $359,650, and anyone borrowing more than that would have to pay an extra quarter point or more in interest for a jumbo loan. As of Jan. 1, however, home buyers can borrow up to $417,000 without triggering the higher rates charged for jumbo loan amounts.

Though the new limits are important to the mortgage industry, the only buyers who benefit are those shopping at the upper end of the limits spectrum. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two biggest mortgage buyers in the country, estimate that this will help roughly 500,000 families in high-priced areas and hot real estate markets such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle.

In some areas, a $417,000 mortgage, coupled with a good down payment, can get you a starter house or a fixer upper without a jumbo mortgage rate.

"The 2006 limit is based on the average price of homes across the nation," says Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist for Freddie Mac, "and is consistent with house-price appreciation.''

A National Association of Realtors study found the median price for an existing home rose 16 percent from October 2004 to October 2005. So the loan limit increase reflects that rise in the median, or middle, and the average price of houses nationwide.

"So, just as house prices grow year after year, so do the loan limits. We've had five years of very strong house prices," and the annual price increases show that. "It certainly helps make mortgages and home ownership that much more affordable."

The 15.9 percent increase applies to multifamily units, too. The new limit for a duplex is $533,850. It's $645,300 for a triplex and $801,950 for a four-plex. The new limit also affects second mortgages, putting the new limit at $208,500.

The limits are 50 percent higher in Alaska, Hawaii, the Virgin Islands and Guam, which are designated "high-cost areas." This means that if your credit and income are good enough, you can get a $1.2 million mortgage for a four-plex in Hawaii, for instance, and have it treated as a "conventional" loan.

Nothaft says that the difference between a conventional and a jumbo loan can be half a percent in a 30-year conventional loan, or even more depending upon your credit, the size of your down payment and the type of loan you get. At $417,000, even a half-percentage point can make a major difference.

If your credit is less than perfect, or if you don't have a big enough down payment, you could wind up with a nonconforming loan and have to pay more in interest because these types of loans are considered riskier. Typically, the riskier the loan is for the lender, the more expensive it is for the borrower.

10 Biggest Home Buying Mistakes

David Weekley, CEO of Houston-based David Weekley Homes, is one of the country's largest home builders and also the author of a new book, "How to Buy a Home Without Getting Hammered." Click link for full details.

When home sellers lie

From a leaky faucet to a big remodel without a permit, uncompleted repairs or undisclosed problems can mean big headaches for home buyers. Please click link for full details.

Vacation Homes: Not Just for the Rich and Famous

You, too, can own a vacation home, even if you're not rich. The trick is in avoiding the property-management middleman. Click the link for full details on how.

Hot Properties: High Tech Condos

Before buying a new condominium, prospective buyers should check into their high-tech amenities to ensure a high resale value. Click link for more details.