As the name of my blog implies, I am optimistic about where real estate is heading at least here in Orlando. Someone who follows my blog forwarded a link to me about an article in money magazine that ranks Orlando number 3 for markets that are going to keep going down. Negative news sells papers - oh wait apparently it doesn't actually sell papers but ad space on "journalistic" websites. There is no denying that prices have plummeted here in Orlando. As of today 1,568 sales have been reported for March in the Mid Florida Regional MLS with a median sales price of $137,000. You would have to go back to March of 2007 to find a month with more closed sales (1,745), and January of 2003 to find a month with a lower median sales price ($132,184). Of the 1,568 closed sales 858 (54.7%) were distressed properties. As a percentage that is actually on the lower side compared to what I have seen the last few months.
Active listings are running at 21,340 with 8,162 (38.2%) in distress that is actually on the higher side (but not much). You would have to go back to January of 2007 to find the active inventory lower (21,266). Pending sales are continuing to rise currently at 4,957 with 3,179 (64.1%) being in distress. That is pretty much what I have been seeing for the last several months. Foreclosure and short sale properties are going to continue to have an impact on the Orlando real estate market for at least a couple of years. Although, with declining inventory and little new construction, the impact of the distressed properties is pretty much being absorbed each month. In fact, I believe prices would probably have to rise 25% before we see any significant increase in new construction. If prices remain at their current level, we should see a significant acceleration in sales.
Of course we could get there a lot quicker if the government bought up all the foreclosure properties (one million). I keep promoting this idea since this would instantly stabilize the real estate market and the economy. Without this type of intervention, I am expecting Orlando to take less than two years to get to a stable real estate market. I believe prices will stabilize and begin increasing in the next few months if we continue to see the sales trends of the past several months. Then look for the market to actually begin getting hot again. With the lead time for new construction to get out of the ground, we could actually see an inventory imbalance in the other direction within two years. This leads me to the conclusion that now is definitely the time to buy. Lower prices, lots of selection, low interest rates, first time home buyer tax credits. It won't last forever.
David Welch, Real Estate Optimist
I have a couple of homes for sale in Avalon Park that are just terrific values in the neighborhood. One just got better with a $25,000 price improvement. Check out 3810 Marsh Lilly for a truly great home in the best part of Avalon Park. The other home at 1112 Brant Point is like a model home, and it is located in one of Avalon Park's gated neighborhoods, Spring Isle. I also have an absolutely gorgeous condo in Conway at Sienna Place. Located at 4852 S. Conway Rd. Unit 12, this condo features luxury amenities like hardwood floors, granite countertops and stainless appliances. The best part, Owner Financing is available on this condo. I have another condo in Winter Park, located in Chateux Du Lac (pardon my French). This terrific 2/2 is priced about $30,000 below the market at 1500 Gay Rd, #7-B. Lake of the Woods in Fern Park is a highly sought after townhome community, and I have the pleasure of listing a beautiful home there. 162 Carolwood is a terrific 3/2.5 with nearly 1,900 square feet of living space, plus a big screened porch and a two car garage. For the investor, 1910 & 1912 E. Kaley offers a cash flowing duplex in the SoDo (South of Downtown) area. Check out some of my YouTube videos of the area.
David Welch, Real Estate Optimist, @realtyoptimist
With just a few days left to close out this month, it is really shaping up to be another great sales month. So far this month 1,213 sales have been posted with a median price of $130,000. March closed out with 1,653 sales (that should be revised upward to about 1,700) and a median price of $137,000. A good number of sales close right at the end of the month. I know that I have two that should close in the next couple of days, so look for April to close in the 1,600 range as well. A year ago in April we closed only 1,231 sales with a median price of $211,000, so prices have absolutely plummeted in our market over the last year. The good news is that the sales pace we are on right now should have our market at an equillibrium point within about a year.
There has been a lot of press about the number of foreclosures picking up significantly since the moratorium has been lifted, but I have not seen evidence of it in our local statistics so far. Of the closed sales 700 have been distressed sales or 57.7% of the total closed with 510 being bank owned and the other 190 being other distressed (short sales). The number of shorts is actually quite a bit higher than last months 111, so maybe the banks are finally getting it and closing these deals. For several months now, distressed properties have accounted for between 55% and 60% of our closed deals. Pending sales continue to run up with 5,814 pending contracts, that is up from 4,906 last month. There have been 2,983 new contracts written so far this month which is also up from March's 2,956. Of the pendings 65.3% are distressed properties accounting for 3,798 contracts with 1,478 or 38.9% of the distressed being bank owned. So, even with the increased short sale closings they remain the bottleneck in the process. (Roughly 61% of the distressed pendings and only 27% of the distressed closings are short sales.)
The active inventory of homes for sale continues to drop with only 20,479 currently active in the MLS this morning. That is a decline of nearly 1,000 homes from March's 21,448. I expect that number will probably drop some more over the next few days. As it stands right now, if we close this month with 1,600 sales the months of inventory will be down to 12.8 which is only slightly lower than March's 12.98. However, I expect sales to exceed 1,600 and the inventory to drop a bit more, so look for the months supply to dip lower. Of the active listings only 7,785 are distressed which is 38% of the total and only 1,312 are bank owned which is roughly 17% of the total distressed. The total percentage of distressed properties for sale is in line with the last several months and the number of bank owned is actually down a few percentage points. If the banks could get their shorts and REO's closed in a timely manner, we would be seeing 2,000 closed sales a month. At that pace we would take two and a half months off putting us at a 10.25 months supply.
David Welch, Real Estate Optimist, @RealtyOptimist
Look for closings to take a little longer as new appraisal rules come into play beginning May 1. If it were not already hard enough to get a real estate transaction closed the new rules have been put into place to create more separation between the appraiser and the lender. The thought is that lenders put too much pressure on appraisers to come up with the right number to make a deal close. In the twelve years that I have been an agent, I have fortunately had very few appraisal issues, and I have never experienced a lender strong-arming an appraiser into making the appraisal work.
This new rule apparently thinks that each transaction occurs in a vacuum and that buyers and their agents have no idea what is going on in the market. Therefore they must be protected as well as lenders from their own loan officers. Most of the problems that I have heard about have involved loan fraud, and involve virtually everybody on the purchasing side of the transaction. Of course in these cases, if the appraiser is taken out of the equation, the deal falls apart. These cases are few and far between in the grand scheme of the real estate market. Now, because a few broke the law, everyone has to pay. A few bent the rules or stretched the truth, and it is going to cost everyone involved in a real estate transaction going forward. Why not just prosecute the ones that actually abused the system without penalizing the rest.
Why am I making such a big deal out of this? Simply put the extra regulation will add an extra level to the process of obtaining an appraisal. This will either add additional cost to the buyer (or seller since they are frequently asked to pay the buyer's costs), or it will take money out of the appraiser's pockets or both. Since there will be a buffer separating the appraisers from the lender someone has to manage the appraisal ordering process and keep the appraisers at arm's length from the lenders. That layer will involve basically a clearinghouse which will have to be managed and staffed at a cost. If an appraiser wants Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac work, they will need to belong to this clearinghouse. That is likely to cost them some money, but lenders will also have to go through the clearinghouse to order an appraisal which is likely to cost them. That cost will be passed on to the consumer. This is also likely to force some appraisers out of the business, since some portion of their fee will likely go to the clearinghouse. Fewer appraisers will add to the time it takes to have an appraisal completed. So, in a nutshell, look for appraisals to cost more take longer and probably be of a poor quality as the remaining appraisers take on more work for less money.
For a more objective view of this issue read the article by Beth Kassab in the Orlando Sentinel.
Yes the US Department of Agriculture has 100% financing for identified rural areas. These days that is hard to come by unless you are a veteran with VA eligibility. I found the USDA site where you can check eligibility requirements at http://www.sc.egov.usda.gov/. They use maps to lay out which areas are ineligible for the loans. As you can imagine a lot of areas in Florida cannot get the rural housing loans, but I was pleasantly surprised to find how many do qualify. All of Lake county is eligible for USDA rural financing. The website also has information on eligibility requirements for the buyer. You can check that out yourself, but I recommend speaking with your lender first. If you need help finding a good lender give me a call at 407-924-7670 or contact me by e-mail David Welch. There are actually parts of Orange and Seminole county that are available for this type of financing as well as most of Osceola, Volusia, and Polk.
Orange county downpayment assistance also has money available for homes that have had at least $5,000 worth of work done to them in the last 12 months or for brand new homes. I know at least one builder that is working with the Orange county downpayment assistance on their homes in the Apopka area. I have a customer building a brand new home with over 1,800 square feet of living for around $165,000 and he is getting $20,000 downpayment assistance from the county. The downpayment assistance starts at $20,000 and can go as high as $35,000 depending on income and other information. Give me a call 407-924-7670 or e-mail me David Welch for more information. If you are ready for a new home, I would love to help you find the home and the financing you need.
With only about $100 billion left from the original bank bailout what have we seen from the banks and the Feds? Before I go on with this, let me mention the Feds are expecting tens of billions from banks that are paying back TARP money. Many have said they don't like the strings attached, so did they need it in the first place? Back to my point. With the bailout, banks were able to shore up their balance sheets and started slashing prices on their foreclosed properties. I am not saying the prices did not need to come down, but I have actually spoken to REO agents that have said that they are advising the banks to stop cutting the prices and start signing contracts. I posted on case a few weeks ago where the bank cut the price to my buyer not once but twice and then pulled the property for auction. All they had to do was sign the contract, and they would have had the property sold for $15,000 more than the price they dropped it to for auction. The intent of the TARP funds was to give the banks the liquidity to loan money, instead it was the impetus for them to slash prices on their REO's.
The Feds complain that the banks are tightening lending, but FHA increased their downpayment requirement from 3% to 3.5% tightened up credit requirements and all but eliminated condo financing. The number one government backed financing vehicle (and still one of the easiest loans) has become increasingly difficult to obtain. The condo financing policies have forced condo prices into the realm of ridiculous. On top of the greater difficulty in obtaining financing the most recent appraisal guidelines from FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac force appraisals lower. The $8,000 tax credit requires first time home buyers to file their taxes to get the money back, but many don't have the cash to close in the first place. The Fed response is to adjust your witholding tax and save up the difference. The problem is that the median wage earner would have to save up for two years to fully save the $8,000, but the tax credit ends November 30, 2009. To really take advantage of this why not make it a downpayment assitance credit. Add to this the inconsitency of the messages from the White House to "buy now", and "prices and interest rates are going to go lower." At least this has begun to turn around into seeing "glimmers of hope", but The Fed has said they want to see rates go lower. If people expect prices and rates to go lower they will wait.
Four steps to clearing this up: 1. Feds buy and hold one million foreclosures, stabilizing the real estate market; 2. Make the tax credit available as down payment assistance; 3. FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ease up on the guidelines be prudent not restrictive; 4. Come out with a consistent message that prices and rates are good, and it is the time to buy. These four steps will attack the real estate market issues from both sides by reducing supply, and improving demand by increasing buyers desire and ability to purchase.
David Welch, Real Estate Optimist, Follow me on Twitter
The number of properties for sale in Baldwin Park is down while the number of contracts pending are up. It's not a coincidence that the inventory is down by about 10 homes at the same time the pending sales are up by about 10 homes. As of this morning there are 125 properties for sale and 45 with contracts on them. I am seeing a real increase in the number of short sales in the neighborhood, and they are attracting a lot of attention. There have also been a number of foreclosures, especially among the condos it seems, that have been selling pretty quickly at great prices.
David Welch, www.davidwelch.com/baldwinpark
The Burnham Institute is making their move into their new home in Lake Nona. Read the article in the Orlando Sentinel today for more on that story. This is just one of the many reasons I am so optimistic about Orlando's economic future. There are "experts" predicting doom and gloom for the city beautiful, but I doubt they actually have a clue what is going on here. The Burnham move kicks off what is nothing less than the next boom in Orlando. They have been here for some time now getting their shop set up in a small space at the Florida Blood Center's headquarters. They are moving into a space about eight times bigger, and this is just the beginning. The UCF medical school will be getting underway with some of the best and brightest in the country. UCF had more applicants per opening than any other medical school in the country. It did not hurt that these first students get a free ride, but that shows the community support for this program. There will also be a new VA hospital and Nemours Childrens hospital in the area. The total impact to the Orlando economy is estimated to be equivalent to Disney. Innovation Way will complete the connection of this area to the University of Central Florida and the Central Florida Research Park.
In addition to this activity, Orlando and really Central Florida is a vote away from clearing the path for SunRail. This commuter rail project could be up and running by 2010 of 2011 connecting the people of West Volusia to downtown Orlando and shortly after that all the way to Poinciana in south Osceola county. This will be a huge boon to the economies of the areas along the rail line with stops in several cities. This project creates thousands of new jobs and relieves one entire lane of I-4 congestion. Of course, when it is 80 and sunny blue skies it makes it much easier to be optimistic. Orlando remains the number one tourist destination in the world and one of the top places people would like to live.
The first wave of foreclosures were mainly investors or would be investors that tried to flip after the market already flopped. Many of these in the Orlando market were new homes that could not be resold until they were completed. By the time they were completed the market had already cooled off leaving the investor high and dry. These were true investments that the buyers had no intention of ever living in. The would be investors were people who took a chance on a sub-prime loan to get into a home that they only planned to live in for a couple of years and sell. They were not concerned about the adjustable interest rate, because they were not going to be in the home long enough for it to matter. I call these would be investors because they were making the purchase from the stand point of the appreciation on the property instead of making a home purchase. The market cooled and in fact turned on a dime here in Orlando leaving them with higher payments and a decreasing value on their property. Many if not most of these were 100% financing, so it did not take long for them to get upside down in the property.
Now we are into the second wave, and these are the people that are being effected by the downturn in the economy. These are not people walking away from their homes. These are not people who necessarily took out sub-prime or 100% financing on their homes. These are people who had equity in their houses, until the foreclosures and short sales became such a dominant force in the market that they eroded all the equity that had built up. Now, these homeowners are facing foreclosure because they have lost their job and their home is no longer worth what it was just a couple of years ago. These are the people that should be helped by the stimulus plan, but it really does not do any good to modify a mortgage down when you are out of work. Unfortunately, jobs tend to come back later in the recovery cycle. All of the government efforts have actually helped to push prices lower putting more homeowners upside down in their homes. That has lead to lower homeowner equity and lower confidence in the economy driving down demand plunging us into this deep recession. In other words the bailout has been bailing the water right into the consumer's boat.
My recommendation: have the federal government buy up one million foreclosures and get them off the market. This will stabilze the real estate market and real estate prices. The $200 to $300 billion it will cost will relieve the banks from managing these properties and let them get back to loaning money. This investment in low priced assets will also clear probably $400 billion in bad debts off the banks books and "detoxify" potentially trillions in mortgage backed securities. The best part is that, when market conditions improve the government will be able to sell these asset for more than they paid for them and even recover some if not all of the holding costs.
Every time I write about these two homes, the phone rings or I get an e-mail that someone wants to see one of them. They are absolutely beautiful and ready to sell. They are NOT short sales, and they are NOT bank owned properties. These homes ARE fantastic deals just waiting for the right buyer. The first is located in the gated subdivision of Spring Isle in Avalon Park. Check out all the details, the pictures and the virtual tour for 1112 Brant Point. Just look at the picture taken from the landing looking down at the living room. This place is gorgeous.
The other home belongs to the original owner, and she is ready to sell this fabulous house. Located in the best part of Avalon Park, and walking distance from the village center, park, and pool. 3810 Marsh Lilly is in the Live Oak section of Avalon Park, and offers over 3,000 square feet of living space. This home has an enormous eat in kitchen open to the family room with soaring two story ceilings. There are also formal living and dining rooms and a broad front porch that Avalon Park is know for.
I spent the better part of the last two days in Tallahassee speaking with our elected representatives and attending committee meetings regarding issues that range from commuter rail to septic tanks. Some of the meetings went very well, and were more of a chance to meet and greet and thank people for doing a great job. Other meetings were very frustrating as you watch elected officials using the system to their advantage to get their way. In at least one meeting I felt like we may have made a difference, and learned more about our representatives issues that they are concerned about.
I would like to thank Senators Andy Gardiner, Lee Constantine and Gary Siplin for meeting with members of our delegation. I would also like to thank Represetative Eric Eisnaugle, and Representative Geraldine Thompson's aid for meeting with us as well. I know there were others that took time out of their hectic schedules to meet with others from our team. If you live elsewhere in Florida, and believe that rail will have an impact on your local traffic and way of life, please contact your senator and tell them to support SunRail. This is not just an Orlando issue. It is not just a Central Florida issue, but something that effects the state as a whole. Is the current resolution perfect? No, but what compromise ever is. Unfortunately, Senator Dockery whose husband lost millions on the now defunct high speed rail amendment, is now trying to do the same to SunRail and future rail projects in Florida.
Our team met with Senator Siplin, who is the only Central Florida representative that has not been in support of commuter rail. His primary concern is funding education. We heard his concerns about funding education, but the dollars for the rail cannot be spent on education. If the federal dollars are not spent on this project, they will go to another state. This happened eight years ago, and Charlotte NC was the big winner. They now operate well above their financial projections, and their citizens enjoy all the benefits that could have been enjoyed here in the sunshine state. Our entire team felt like Senator Siplin heard our message. I hope that he understands that we heard his too.
I told him as we left that I am in his district, my daughters attend public schools and my wife is a public school teacher. Nobody understands the need to fully fund our schools, but this money comes out of a completely different fund and cannot go to schools. Commuter rail will put a lot of people in Senator Siplins district to work and provide a significant benefit to the local economies around the rail stops. That will lead to an estimate $8 billion economic impact to the area broadening and deeping the tax base. That is the only true way to guarantee fully funding education.
Affordability in Orlando real estate hit an all time high in March. The affordability index listed in the official numbers for March climbed to 192. That means the median wage earner can almost afford to purchase two median priced homes. The median priced dropped to $137,000 which is over 37% less than last March. The average interest rate hit a low at 4.67% which combined with the lower median price lead to the record affordability index.
The lower prices and lower interest rates also lead to huge sales numbers. Officially 1,653 homes changed hands. That is up over 47% compared to March of 2008 when 1,120 homes sold. There was an even bigger jump in contracts written in March 2,956 properties going pending compared to 1,679 last year. That is a huge 76% increase in contracts written. The slow down in closing foreclosed and distressed properties is showing up in the total number of properties under contract. Right now there are 4,906 homes with contracts on them which is more than double the 2,398 of last March.
For the first time the Orlando Regional Realtor Association numbers include a breakdown of foreclosed, other distressed and market sales. The official numbers have just over 49% of the sales as either foreclosed 700 or distressed 111. The median price of the bank owned properties was only $95,000 while the distressed properties median price came in at $143,500 and normal market sales median price was $174,995. This drastically shows the impact that short sales and foreclosures are having on our market place. The time on market for the homes that sold last month also dropped to 104 days as did the total inventory of homes for sale. The active inventory dropped by 720 homes to 21,448 which is down almost 16% from last years 25,472 representing a 12.98 month supply of homes for sale. The month's supply has dropped more than 39% so far in 2009.
I'm going back to Tally, Tally , Tally, I'm going back to Tally...(LL Cool J)
Once each year, thousands of Realtors® from across the state of Florida gather in Tallahassee to meet with our elected officials. People often complain about special interest groups weilding too much influence in government whether at the local, state or national level. Keep in mind that about 2/3 of America own their home, and the rest are tenants. Realtors® represent both buyers and sellers, landlords and tenants. Your interests are our interests. We stand for the preservation of property rights, fair tax treatment of property owners, quality of life and sustainable development.
We cannot tackle every issue, but some that are important are: schools, property taxes, insurance and here in Orlando transportation. I will be leaving for Tallahassee tomorrow morning bright and early and will spend the next two days, learning about the different aspects of these issues and sharing that with our local representatives. Your issues are our issues, and we may not always agree about the best way to address every issue but home buyers, sellers, landlords and tenants are alway at the heart of our discussions. Wish us luck in Tallahassee tomorrow and Wednesday.
The federal government has pledged hundreds of billions, in fact over a trillion dollars to aid banks. The purpose was to loosen up the credit crunch and facilitate more lending. At the same time, the FHA has continued to make it more and more difficult to get an FHA (government backed) loan. FHA has never in the past had credit score requirements per se. Now, you must have, correct me if I am wrong, a 660 middle score or you may not get approved. They may have stopped short of requiring a particular credit score, but effectively that is what they have done. Additionally, FHA has made it virtually impossible to obtain a spot approval on a condominium. They did not actually say that they would not do it, but they made it cost prohibitive to do so. Condos, which are often the best option for first time home buyers, have to meet more criteria than just HUD approval to obtain FHA financing. If that were not enough, they have also brought back tougher appraisal guidelines as well.
I am all for reasonable decision making when approving loans. The easy money along with just plain fraud a few years ago was out of control. The answer is not in making restriction so tight that nobody qualifies. As an example, I have on customer who has decided to just pay cash, because the loan process and requirements are frustrating him. I recently had a single mom looking make her first home purchase with an FHA loan to take advantage of the tax credit. The property she contracted for is a Freddie Mac foreclosure. She spoke with several lenders that said she was qualified for the loan on this FHA/HUD approved condominium. Her loan was denied twice, because the underwriters apparently had the discretion to do so. How can we pledge to back a trillion dollars in “toxic debt”, but not take a chance on a first time home buyer purchasing a $50,000 condo. Both lenders reference FHA guidelines as their reason for denying the loan.
FHA is still about the easiest way to get a loan these days with only 3.5% down and and no fixed credit score requirement. I just wish everybody would relax. Easy money was wrong, but so is too tight money. Two wrongs don't make a right.
As financing continues to be an issue in a lot of areas; condos, investment properties, jumbo loans, and foreign nationals, Canadians can still count on their home town bank. RBC is pretty much "The" source for financing the purchase of a second home / investment property here in the states if you are one of our neighbors from the north. The great thing is that RBC already knows you, and you are already comfortable with the way they do business. I would think there is a level of comfort built into such a relationship. I guess if I were making purchase in Canada, and Bank of America was able to make my loan, I would feel pretty good about that.
If you are thinking of making a purchase here in the Orlando area, there is a local RBC branch. Contact me, and I can put you in touch with a gentleman here who comes very highly recommended. You can e-mail me at sellmyhome@davidwelch.com or visit my website www.davidwelch.com for more information about the Orlando area. Personally, I am working with a couple of Canadian families right now in the purchase of investment properties in and around the Orlando area. Agents in Canada (or anywhere else) I greatly appreciate your referrals, and look forward to hearing from you as well. Orlando is still one of the most popular cities in the world, and is poised for some significant growth potential over the next several years.
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It was very exciting to see the sales activity for March. With 1,646 closed transactions, last month was the best sales month in two years. The median price continued to decline, driven down by foreclosure and short sales to $136,900. Of the closed sales 898 (54.6%) were distressed although only 209 were short sales. Distressed properties as I define them are in the 3rd party authorization, short sale, in foreclosure, pre-foreclosure or bank owned categories in the MLS. I count only bank owned as foreclosed properties. Pending sale continue to climb thanks to the buyers willing to take a chance on short sales. There are currently 5,018 pending with 3,245 (64.7%) in distress and 1,941 of those are short sales. Active listings continue to drop and currently stand at 21,313 with 8,149 in distress (38.2%) with 6,583 of those being short sales. Active listings continue to go down, with a drop of 855 compared to February's 22,168. At the current inventory and sales pace we stand at just under a 13 month supply of homes available for sale. Generally, a six month supply is considered a balanced market. At the current rate of decline, the Orlando real estate market could reach equilibrium in just over 13 months. While bank owned properties continue to come on the market they are also being bought up about as quickly as they become available.
The official numbers should be out around the 10th of the month, but I don't expect they will be much different from what I have reported here. I will bring the official numbers and provide a link to the complete market pulse as soon as they become available.
If you are considering a condo, do not expect to finance it easily. First, if you are going to purchase using FHA, make sure it is an FHA or HUD approved condo. You can search here http://www.myfha.net/FHAguidelines/FHAcondos.html. If it is not on this list you are not going to get an FHA loan. If it is on this list, there is apparently on guarantee that you are going to get an FHA loan either. I recently had a lender deny a loan on an FHA approved condominium because there were too many developer owned units. Another lender did not have an issue with this, but denied the loan for something else. It seems like the lenders are looking for opportunities to deny loans. Trust me, I understand that they need to be prudent, but someone needs to ease up on the condos. They are a great option for a lot of buyers, and most of them need loans. I have one condo seller that is offering to hold the mortgage to see if that will help get his place sold. It is definitely something to consider. Of course, he also has it up for rent. If you have cash, the prices on many units is getting quite low. You can almost certainly generate a good return on your investment. Just be careful of the fees, taxes and the financial condition of the association.
I have two homes listed in Avalon Park that are fantastic deals. One is like brand new and priced at only $269,900 which is a terrific deal on this gorgeous home. You can check it out at 1112 Brant Pt. The other home is in the Live Oak section of Avalon Park. walking distance to the pool, park and village center. A gorgeous two story with over 3,000 square feet of living space with rear entry garage priced at only $324,999. That is over $150,000 off the original price. You can see more about this home at 3810 Marsh Lilly.
For those of you who do not know a lot about Avalon Park, check out my webpage www.DavidWelch.com/AvalonPark. I have YouTube videos that let you take a drive through the neighborhood. Avalon Park is located on the east side of Orlando, and is convenient to the University of Central Florida, Lockheed Martin, the Research Park, and the upcoming Innovation Way leading out toward the new UCF Medical School, Burnham Institute, VA Hospital and Nemours Childrens Hospital. Right now there are a number of great deals in the area, because they overbuilt during the boom. In fact, this was one of the hottest areas during the red hot market of 2004-2006.
March turned out to be a great month for Orlando real estate sales, as I posted on twitter as of this morning there had been 1,450 closed sales so far. We are easily going to surpass 1,500 which we have not seen in quite a while. I'll be doing some research on that and getting back to you. I do know that prices are well below pre-boom numbers, and interest rates remain quite low. This is creating an affordability index for Orlando that is off the charts.
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