APRIL 4 & 5
If you missed the Winter Park Art Show, this is a good one to catch next weekend. Lot’s to do with some great food available as well.
Show runs from 10AM to 5PM both days.
ANS: Yes… for the second straight week nationwide.
What’s the catch? Most of the activity is focused on refinancing; nearly 30%. Yet, with home prices down, and the mortgage rate at the lowest point in modern times (4.85%), interest has picked up.
Example: In sections of northern Orlando, a 3BD/2BA condo can be purchased for a little as $48,000. With the required 20% down payment on a 30 year term at 4.85%, the principal and interest would be $202 a month. (Could certainly be a good deal depending on the HOA dues?) In any event it’s far less than what one would pay for rent.
Despite offering a competitively priced and varied menu together with a wide selection of draft and bottled beers and efficient, friendly service, The Double Eagle Brewery And Eatery on west US192 is closing its doors for the last time today. Another sad casualty of the economic downturn. We will especially miss their chicken wings which were amongst the best in the area.
Presently training new staff, the Longhorn Steakhouse should be the next major chain restaurant to open on west US192 in the Rolling Oaks Commons shopping plaza.
The 320,000 square foot shopping plaza still has leases available for new clients. Units range from 1,000 to 6,000 square feet.
March 20, 21, & 22, 2009
The Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival is one of the United State’s best outdoor art shows. Nearly every year more than 300,000 visitors attend. Out of 1,100 artists from around the world, only 225 were chosen to participate this year by an independent panel of judges.
For those of you here in Florida at the moment, don’t miss it. The show is spectacular and in a fabulous location in Central Florida located only minutes from the attractions area. Two days remain, including live stage music in the Park. It simply doesn’t ‘Get Any Better Than This.’
See for yourself…
Quite a few folks seem to be interested in LTR and seemingly aren’t aware of where the rental rates are these days. Here’s a sample of rates for homes recently published in one of the local Kissimmee newspapers. Bear in mind this is not necessarily for the resort area where price points may be just slightly higher by $50 to $75 a month or so.
Kissimmee:
- 2 Bedroom / 2.5 Bath, Condo – $797/$795 Security Deposit
- 2 Bedroom / 2 Bath, Home – $795 / $795 Security Deposit
- 3 Bedroom / 2 Bath, Home – $895 / $895 Security Deposit
- 3 Bedroom / 3 Bath, Home – $950 / $950 Security Deposit
- 4 Bedroom / 2 Bath, Home w/pool – $1300 / $1300 Security Deposit
- 4 Bedroom / 3 Bath, Home w/ pool – $1400 / $1400 Security Deposit
The reality though, is that this is just a sampling. Owners can ask anything they like. Question is, will they get it in a market that is becoming overly saturated? As an example of price point pressure, we saw a 5BD/3BA w/pool in Sandy Ridge yesterday for $1,100 a month.
New watering restrictions are now in place for Lake County.
Residential properties for now can water two days a week. Odd-numbered addresses can water on Wednesdays and Saturdays; even-numbered addresses can water Thursdays and Sundays. Non-residential properties can water Tuesdays and Fridays.
Watering is not allowed between 10 A.M. and 4 P.M.
The BIG change comes November 1, when Lake County goes to one-day-per-week watering. Odd-numbered addresses will water Saturday, and even-numbered addressed will water on Sunday. Non-residential land can be watered on Tuesdays.
What all residential owners with St. Augustine grass in their yards should be considering at this time is the implemenation of Xeriscaping practices into their landscapes. One day a week of watering will not be enough to sustain this type of grass for long.
A good example of Xeriscaping can be seen in our February 4, 2008 post and the follow up on April 16, 2008. Since these homeowners in Bridgewater Crossing completed their project, a next door neighbor has done the same.
Plan for the future now…
Watch for this in a new home subdivision coming your way… and maybe even in a few future phases of developments currently that are in a stalled status.
Al least one large national builder is now offering 2BD/1.5BA two story homes of this size with a one car garage at this price point. Imagine… principal and interest on a 30 year fixed mortgage at today’s rates with 5% down will be under $350.00 a month.
Would they sell? Certainly seems as if young first time buyers now renting for upward of $450.00 a month more would have an interest, as well as seniors were these homes to be in a well regulated deed restricted community.
Time will tell…
SHINGLE CREEK REGIONAL PARK
Have to bring your own equipment. Guarantee you though, nowhere else will you find a horseshoe pit in the middle of an orange grove. See for yourself…
The park is easy to find: 192 to Bass Road at the Walmart / L onto Old Vineland Road at the traffic light / R on Babb Road / R into the parking lot.
This park is also the site location of the most recent ‘Where Am I’ contest posted on February 2, 2009. Check it out.
* Third party postings are not endorsed by, nor do they reflect the opinions of Florida Ideal Realty.