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Celebration, FL Real Estate News

By Olympus Executive Realty Inc., Home Of The Top Producers
(Olympus Executive Realty INC.)
Welcome to Georgetown at Celebration, Florida Presenting The Georgetown at Celebration marquee Georgetown at Celebration is nestled within the North Village of Celebration. North Village is located closest to the 1-92 main entrance.  Celebration is located near the Walt  Disney World Resort and was developed by the Walt Disney Company. In 2001 it was named the Community of the year by Urban Land Institute. The total investment project was estimated at $2.5 billion.  Celebration is made up of many villages or neighborhoods, all with their own character. This Community is the ultimate paradise to raise your family.  You can walk through Celebration anytime and see families walking together, bilking, walking their dogs, like it all once was. If you are visiting the Walt Disney area make su...
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By Joyce Marsh, Joyce Marsh Homes
(Joyce Marsh Real Estate LLC)
Golden Oak at Walt Disney World Resort... Golden Oak at Walt Disney World® Resort is the first ever residential resort community where families can live in the embrace of luxury, privacy, and the magic of Disney. Joyce Marsh, Luxury Homes Specialist can provide addtional information & complete brochure about this outstanding project.  JoyceMarshHomes@gmail.com  If you would like more information about Golden Oak at Walt Disney World® Resort, or to request a brochure, please contact:Joyce Marsh, JoyceMarshHomes@gmail.com  or call me direct at 386.299.8291.Golden Oak at Walt Disney World Resort is the first ever residential resort community where families can live in the embrace of luxury, privacy, and the magic of Disney.  Click on the link above to learn more about this exciting opportu...
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By Bryant Tutas, Selling Florida one home at a time
(Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC)
Hi folks. One of our Sellers over at www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com wants to know how to skirt around the 'Arms Length Transaction" requirement of his lender and continue to live in his house after the short sale by renting it back. The language in the "Arm's Length Transaction Notice" is as follows: "Affiant further says that there are no agreements or understandings, written or implied, that will permit Seller to remain in the above mentioned property as a renter or to regain ownership of said property at anytime after the execution of this short sale transaction" The seller thinks thats: "This is the wording in my arms length affidavit for my short sale. I know the offer that has been submitted to my lender is someone who is going to rent the property out. When the arms length affidavi...
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By Bryant Tutas, Selling Florida one home at a time
(Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC)
Hi Folks. Here's an email I received yesterday from one our members at www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com. It shows the common misunderstanding that lenders handle short sales like they do REOs (foreclosures). Hi Broker Bryant, I read some of your comments on Short Sales Superstar.    I am a potential buyer.  We have bought several properties in the past but are very inexperienced with short sales.  We have been looking for a home for a long time and have not been able to find what we are looking for until now, except that the property is a short sale and an offer has already been submitted to the lender.  So, instead of just walking away, I am hoping to learn a little more about how short sales work in the hope that we may have a chance at purchasing this house if we approach it in the right...
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By Bryant Tutas, Selling Florida one home at a time
(Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC)
Hi folks. I'm pretty cool, calm and collected when it comes to dealing with Short Sale issues BUT.......today I'm really pissed!! In a nutshell, I have been working on getting a FHA short sale approved for about 10 months now. We lost the first Buyer because the 2nd mortgage, PNC Bank, would not budge from wanting $6,200 to remove the lien so we could close. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal except in this case we were dealing with an FHA Pre-Foreclosure Sale (PFS). When it comes to junior liens this is what the FHA guidelines state: Basically what this means is they will pay a MAXIMUM of $2,500 towards the junior lien. In my case the amount is down to $2,250. So we had to find $4,000 to make  the deal work. The Seller is destitute. It's only a $60,000 transaction so there is certain...
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By Bryant Tutas, Selling Florida one home at a time
(Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC)
Well that's a good question. What do you think? Most folks would probably answer this question with a resounding YES! But...what if I told you the answer is "No....you don't necessarily need a hardship to qualify for a Short Sale. You may be able to do a Strategic Short Sale". Heck, big business and lenders do them all the time. One reason lenders/investors may approve the Strategic Short Sale is that the hardship in no way changes the financial outcome of the Short Sale for the lender. The numbers are still the same. In fact, the numbers may even be better for the lender on a Strategic Short Sale because the Seller is in a financial position to contribute. So why wouldn't they approve it? Now while you may not have to have a hardship to do a Short Sale you may very well be required to...
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By Bryant Tutas, Selling Florida one home at a time
(Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC)
Title Companies handling Short Sale "negotiations" is the new trend in my area. I quote "negotiations" because they don't really handle negotiations at all. Instead they do what Title Companies do....shuffle paperwork. Here's an excerpt from one National company's solicitation to agents. Now folks there may be Title Companies that are doing a good job with Short Sales but I have yet to experience one. I guess the issue is that handing your Short Sale over to a Title Company is handing it off to a 9-5 Monday through Friday hourly employee. They are NOT going to spend the time required to push your particular Short Sale through to closing. They are NOT negotiators. They are office workers. And there's nothing wrong with this unless.......you are counting on them to help you avoid foreclos...
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By Brian Hart
(Fine Homes Orlando)
From July 23 to 25, Celebration becomes a veritable Who's Who of Survivor stars, with some Amazing Race and Big Brother people sprinkled in there for good measure. From CelebrationTownCenter.com: Come meet the stars of the hit reality shows “Survivor” , “The Amazing Race” and “Big Brother” as a part of this year’s Summer Sidewalk Sale in beautiful Celebration Town Center and participate in the “Sales” Survivor Treasure Hunt July 23rd through the 25th. On Friday, the Sidewalk Sale kicks off with a “Sales Survivor: Treasure Hunt”. Visit the restaurants to get your “treasure map” and use the clues to navigate through Celebration Town Center to uncover the answers. One “Sole Survivor” will walk away with $500 worth in cash and prizes. Continuing on Friday a special VIP sponsor party will ta...
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By Brian Hart
(Fine Homes Orlando)
Some mates from the UK were wondering about Segway tours of Celebration. I can't say how they found out about these tours, but they contacted me to learn more. So, as a public service, you should check out: Segway Tours of Celebration, Florida. I'm not affiliated with them in any way, but I can vouch that they are a real thing, as I see them zipping around every few days. Who knows... it might be a unique break from the theme parks for a few hours!
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By Brian Hart
(Fine Homes Orlando)
Article: WSJ.com: A Walker's Guide to Home Buying For a few years in the early 2000's, I lived in South Tampa and worked in central New Jersey (Somerset County). Monday mornings I woke up bright (well...) and early, hopped on a plane, and was to my cube in Raritan by lunchtime. On Fridays I'd head to Newark around lunchtime, catch the 2:50 to Tampa, and be back home in time for happy hour. Rinse, repeat. During the week I was staying in a rented room in Stewartsville, about 35 miles from work, which took anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour each way. Point is, there was a lot of time spent in cars and planes. Enough time to know that I didn't want to do it any more. When presented with the opportunity to move to either Tampa or Orlando, there wasn't much debate. We chose Celebration. Wit...
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By Bryant Tutas, Selling Florida one home at a time
(Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC)
Hi folks. There's an old scam that's floating around again. "Buyers" that contact agents via Trulia and other sites wanting to purchase a property without seeing it for full price.  Normally properties in the $500K range. The "Buyers" are mostly from out of the country and ask that the deal be run through their Attorney. It seems pretty legit on the surface. The Buyer will place a $5,000 deposit and will want to send over a larger "down payment" of usually $100,000 or more. What happens is that after the contract has been signed they will ask for the information for the escrow agent so they can send over a certified check. Shortly after the check is received by the escrow agent the Buyer will contact the agent and cancel the deal. The "grift" is that they are hoping the unsuspecting es...
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By Bryant Tutas, Selling Florida one home at a time
(Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC)
.......ramming it home!!! You know I read stuff like the article below and it really just pisses me off. Brokers and agents like myself have been busting our butts for several years now working Short Sales to help salvage people's credit and help reduce the losses to the lenders.  Short Sales help keep neighbiorhood values up and are  a service to the community. We convince people to not just walk away from their obligations but instead to try and do the right thing. Then I read this........ Lenders use deeds-in-lieu to clear out inventory WASHINGTON – June 30, 2010 – Thanks to new federal programs that offer cash incentives...... It’s cheaper for lenders to do deeds-in-lieu because it gives them overnight control of the property. With mortgage rates at less than 5 percent, lenders beli...
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By Gary Berkson, ABR, CRS & CDPE
(RE/MAX Central Realty)
There are certain parts of Central Florida where the community is unique and one of the places is Celebration Florida.  Celebration Florida-You've Got To See This Place   Located in Northwest Osceola County, Florida and just 30 minutes away from downtown Orlando.  Celebration is high tech and prides itself with a strong sense of community. Take a sneak peak why visitors and residents love Celebration Florida! View Larger Map Homes For Sale in Celebration Florida Townhomes For Sale in Celebration Florida | Condos For Sale in Celebration Florida Vacant Land For Sale Celebration Florida
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By Bryant Tutas, Selling Florida one home at a time
(Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC)
Hi Folks. We had one of our members over at www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com post an article wanting to know if it was normal for Short Sale Agents to submit "offers" on their Short Sale listings just to get the ball rolling. The idea of course is to start negotiations with the lender by submitting an offer that may not be real, or it could just be a very low offer from an investor and, then substituting a real contract once a legitimate Buyer is found. In theory, this speeds up the process. She used this Internet ad that she found as an example: "WHY WOULD I USE YOU TO HELP ME RATHER THAN MY RELATIVE THAT ALSO HAS A REAL ESTATE LICENSE? Most banks will not stop the foreclosure process and start the short sale process until you have an offer on your home. We start the process by making an of...
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By Bryant Tutas, Selling Florida one home at a time
(Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC)
Hi folks. I've been having a discussion over at www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com on whether or not having the Buyer of a Short Sale pay off part of a junior lien "outside of closing" without disclosing to the 1st lien holder and without placing the payment as a P.O.C. (paid out of closing) item on the HUD is Mortgage Fraud and/or a violation of RESPA. The article is presenting a scenario where the 1st lender does not agree to pay the 2nd $7,000 from the sale. They only agree to pay $3,000. So to skirt around this the agent suggest having the buyer pay the additional $4,000 needed to remove the 2nd lien outside of closing. It's my opinion, that this $4,000 is compensation to the seller for the purchase of the property. This fact, that is pertinent to the sale, is being withheld from the 1st ...
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By Richard Stephan
(TonyDavidsHomes.com LLC)
Home buyer tax credit set to expire this weekIf you're trying to get the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit or the $6,500 credit for certain repeat buyers, this shouldn't be news to you: Your deadline is Friday. That's the last day you can enter into a binding contract, as the IRS puts it, and still qualify.That's not the only thing you'll need to do to qualify, naturally. You can check the list on the IRS site:http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=187935,00.htmlI'm interested in hearing from buyers in Celebration, Fl who are trying to get under contract before the credit clock runs out. (And, for that matter, anyone purposely waiting until afterward to look.) You can send me an email at Richard@TonyDavidsHomes.comRichard A. Stephan, Dipl.-Ing.Licensed REALTOR®, e- PRO®, TRCTon...
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By Bryant Tutas, Selling Florida one home at a time
(Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC)
FIND A SHORT SALE AGENT BY CLICKING ON THE MAP Hi Folks. Whether you're an agent, buyer, seller or investor you really need to come check us out over at www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com.  Our members are the best Short Sale Professionals in the business and are sharing what they know for FREE!! You do NOT have to go it alone. Pop on over and tell us what we can do to assist you. Here's what a couple of our Short Sale Buyer members had to say this week: Thank you Bryant, it's good to know this is going to (hopefully) be an easy transaction. By the way, great site. Very informative and it's helped me understand what a Short Sale is, as a Buyer it's nice to know some of the "terminology" and wording in the short sale process. God Bless. DC  First I have to say, I absolutely love this website! I...
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By Erelopro Out of Business, Relocation Professionals are out of business
(erelopro)
Currently we need a Realtor to be able to assist prospective home buyers that have recently contacted us. These people need assistance in purchasing homes as soon as possible, and we need a Realtor to contact me back. I know that Celebration is attracting a lot of home buyers, and these people have been contacting like every single day. What I can tell you is all of these people have interest in relocating to Celebration, but need more specific demographic and real estate information. All of these people have indicated they need assistance with relocation and/or with a possible home purchase. Kindly call us at (800) 900-2807 to learn how we can bring you 10 - 25 potential home buyers every month for the Celebration, Florida area. Or visit www.PurchaseExclusiveLeads.com for more informat...
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By Bryant Tutas, Selling Florida one home at a time
(Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC)
Maybe. In the last two weeks I have loaded five short sales into the Equator system. All have had BPOs (Broker Price Opinions) ordered and one has already been countered and accepted by the seller. We should have a written approval by the end of the week. Now for those of you that have worked a Bank of America Short Sale in the past you know that having a BPO ordered in less than two weeks rarely happened. So having five BPOs ordered in less than two weeks is a miracle!!! The beautiful thing is that I have not made one phone call. The entire Equator process is automated. For me that is a huge advantage as it frees me up to actually list and sell real estate. While I know it's too soon to sing praises, my experience with Equator, thus far, has been very positive. What's yours been like?...
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By Bryant Tutas, Selling Florida one home at a time
(Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC)
Well OK then. BUT.....did you know getting it removed is not enough? "What ya talkin' 'bout Willis?" Having the deficiency language removed from a Florida Short Sale approval letter don't mean squat. Of course, I am NOT an Attorney nor do I play one on TV. So you need to seek legal advice if this is a big deal. But here's my opinion. Not only would they have to remove the deficiency language BUT they would have to add a clause stating that they will NOT go after you for a deficiency. AND I personally don't think this would make a difference either. So you have to ask yourself "Is going ahead with the short sale better than being foreclosed on?" (Insert the NOT an attorney language). My opinion is "YES". Yes a Short Sale is better than being foreclosed on. At least with a Short Sale you...
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