Hojin’s Southwest Orlando Real Estate Scoop

2010 New American Home Intro

Interview of the Architect Behind the 2010 New American Home

2010 New American Home Interior

2010 New American Home Exterior

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The gated community of Brookestone in Ocoee, FL has seen 6 sales so far in 2010 with an average sales price of $271,750, average price per square foot of $85.90, and average square footage of 2,998.

The median price was $261,000 and median price per square foot of $90.35.

It took an average of 94 days to sell which is fairly good in this market.

The good news here is that there’s 6 properties under contract with list prices ranging from $185,000 to $319,000. The average price of the pending properties is $241,167 and a median price of $247,400.

Overall, the real estate stats reveal a healthy market where buyers are starting to take notice of the more attractive price.

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The home buyer tax credit has been extended, but not for everyone. It only applies to those who were under contract to purchase a home before. April 30, 2010.

Under the original bill, those buyer would have had to close by June 30. The new bill extends the closing date to September 30.

I think it’s just fair since there’s so many short sales out there and I’m sure there were quite a few buyers who got stuck not closing because they chose a short sale which are notorious for taking forever to get a reply.

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Silliman Homes, formerly Reiche Silliman, is now building in the community of Waterstone, the last gated community on the Butler Chain of Lakes.

They’re not offering any of the lakefront lots with this builder, but prices range from $500,000 to $700,000. I hear they’ve sold two homes already.

I love the homes they’ve built at Mirabella at Vizcaya, Kensington Park, and Cypress Landing so I have high expectations for their homes here.

Waterstone was originally slated to be an ultra luxury community but now includes homes that are a bit more affordable. I don’t believe any of these homes have been built yet, so we’ll have to wait and see how the rest of this community develops.

Buyers who purchase in this community will probably be surround by construction and unfinished land for quite some time unless we see an unexpected boom in the market which is unlikely.

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Local timeshare mogul, David Siegel, has put his unfinished mansion on 10 acres along Lake Butler named “Versailles” in the guard gated community of Reserve at Lake Butler Sound in the Town of Windermere for sale at $75 million “As Is”.

It’s actually listed at $100 million in the MLS which is the price if you want it finished to your specs.

I’m sure most buyers will be buying this property with cash, but if you were to buy this home at $100 million and get a 30 year mortgage at 4.51% with 20% down, the monthly payments would be $405,824 plus taxes and insurance.

I realize we’re talking about $75 million, but the “As Is” price is a better deal. Whether or not $75 million is a good price is another debate altogether.

Depending on what stage of construction this home is in, I can find contractors all day long that’ll complete this home for less than $25 million. From the photos, it appears this home is at drywall stage which means it’s only a matter of putting on the finishing touches.

It has 66,800 square feet (not 90,000 sq ft as reported in the news), 13 bedrooms, 23 bathrooms, 20 Car Garage, and the architecture is based on the residence of Louis the XIV.

It’s being hailed as the most expensive home in America by WSJ but it’s no where near the house Zillow zestimates at $270,408,000. The home that previously held this title was the oceanfront Portabello in Corona Del Mar, California.

A site has been set up for the mansion at http://www.lakebutlermansion.com with all the photos and videos available on this property.

It’s been on the market for nearly 2 months but somehow the press has gotten news of it recently.

Folks around these parts all know that David Siegel made his fortune through Westgate Resorts, the premier timeshare in Central Florida.

He’s also known for his former home on Lake Butler Palazzo del Lago which his former wife, Betty Whitaker, currently resides in.

Here’s a link to the Virtual Tour of “Versailles”. Here’s also a Vitrual Tour of Lake Butler which is the lake this property is located on created via helicopter by Ed Fink of Big Eye in the Sky

I’ll gladly set up a private viewing of this estate with the right credentials so Contact Me.

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There was a post on this blog back in 2008, Disney Planning New Luxury Home Community, and now it’s finally coming to reality. I had my doubts as well, but it looks like Disney is finally getting this community underway.

According to this article in the Wall Street Journal, Disney unveiled it’s plans for it’s ultra luxury community called Golden Oak this week. Prices will range from $1.5 to $8 million and will encompass 4,900 acres with 450 homes in 3 distinct villages.

I believe this community is located on Osprey Ridge which Disney closed down a few years back. It’s arguably the most scenic of all the courses at the resort.

Owners will be allowed to bring in their own custom builder to create the home of their dreams within the set of guidelines provided by Disney. I feel sorry for the builder of these homes. If the guidelines are anything like the ones in Celebration, it’s probably the size of a small phone book but it did end up looking beautiful.

I don’t know if they’ve heard, but the real estate market here in Orlando and every where else in the world isn’t all that good.

Now they want to build something no one can afford?

Perhaps Disney knows something that I don’t know.

Having followed the market in SW Orlando for quite some time, I’ll be curious to see how all this pans out. I guess you don’t have to worry about the company going bankrupt before they finish, but how long will it take?

They quote 10 years, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it took a little while longer.

Anyway, here’s a SLIDESHOW of the community if you’re interested.

Please contact me for more information on this new community.

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Senator Harry Reid proposed a 3 month extension of the Homebuyer Tax Credit this past week for those who are already under contract to purchase a home. The bill gives more time to those who rushed in to get the tax credit but face uncertainty about meeting the June 30 deadline for closing. It provides for more time for those who chose a short sale which typically takes a long time to get approved and for those having mortgage approval issues.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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The first thing anyone thinks of when you mention Orlando, FL is Disney World. Those of us who live here know that we don’t see the famous mouse as much as most out of towners would think, but residents here are forever linked to Mickey Mouse.

So the Mouse House created recently by an Orlando based company, IQ-Homes, relishes our association. The home is shaped like a mouse, so I wouldn’t want to live there but it does incorporate quite a few green and smart home technologies that I’d like to begin seeing in more homes.

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