The Orlando Condo Blog

Lennar homes have opened a town home vacation resort close to Disney called Paradise Palms. Current pricing for Paradise Palms resort includes a turnkey furniture package and a private heated pool (only two 3-Bed left for this deal) – for the three bedroom unit the price is $189,990. Financing may be possible as well as $5,000 in closing costs paid.
 
Amenities [...]

A fortune teller asked me to gaze into her crystal ball. “I see wear and tear in your building’s future. I see a new roof will be needed. I see cracking paint and asphalt in need of repair. I see (gasp!) a depleted reserve fund!”
It doesn’t take a fortune teller to predict that common elements [...]

The statutes governing community associations require notice of meetings to encourage owner participation.
HOAleader recently published an article on this subject: HOA Meetings: Does Your State Have Rules for Your Meeting Agendas?
Here are some handy reminders – there are additional options in the statutes. This list is not intended to be all inclusive.

Question: What can the homeowner association do with bank owned properties that go delinquent or let their tenants break the rules?
Answer: Bank owned properties can become common in HOAs when the real estate market is not moving homes quickly enough. Foreclosed homes can remain vacant for long periods, may have yards full of weeds, maintenance [...]

As of July 1st 2010, although condo owners are no longer required to carry home owners insurance, if they do carry insurance (and they should), then that policy must include coverage for “special assessments” by the board of directors.
To quote the new statute 627.714(1): For policies issues or renewed on or after July 1, 2010, [...]

Condominium conversions became tremendously popular (because they were profitable) during the housing boom.  Many old tired apartment buildings were converted to condominium ownership, remodeled and then the units sold.  In some cases the developer substantially remodeled the building and improvements by updating plumbing and electrical systems, replacing the roof, replacing or modernizing elevators and “gutting” the [...]

If you’re a regular reader of the Orlando Condo Blog, then you’ll know by now that most condos have to be FHA approved to attract lending these days (but see our blog below on a bank that claims it can now do Orlando condo loans).
So how does one find out which Orlando condos are FHA approved? Well, we [...]

Question: Our pool and clubhouse are 15 years old. The board wants to build a larger pool and upgrade the clubhouse which would require a $200,000 special assessment and drain our reserves.
Answer: The board has no authority to expand the common area amenities. Its authority is to maintain existing amenities in good condition. However, if [...]

Well, it was just a question of time – and it’s been a very long time it’s true - but it sounds as if Orlando condo loans may slowly be creeping back onto the mortgage radar, at least for certain kinds of purchases.
Yes, there are caveats, and we still don’t know of any loans for those wretched Orlando condo foreclosures [...]

55 West Condos, downtown Orlando 
 
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 2 – 2.5 months free on select units! Not have much left at these prices!

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Call Condo Metropolis on 407-290-3408 to register and take a tour asap. For [...]

President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Financial Regulation Reform Act into law Wednesday, be­ginning what will inevitably become a maelstrom of angry lobbying and  political jockeying.  Obama described the 2300 page behemoth as a “common sense approach to long-needed financial regulation”.  I don’t know about you, but ‘common sense’ usually doesn’t need to be explained in [...]

Orlando condo sales are back with condo buyers coming from every corner of the globe to snap up a piece of Orlando real estate.
 The following graph says it all.
The median price for a unit in Orlando during June 2010 was $52,800, down 3 % from 2009, according to the recently released industry report. Prices were up from $49,900 [...]

New legislation (SB 1196) looks set to help condo buyers during these tricky times. It also encourages bulk buyers of condo inventory by removing some of the liablity previsously associated with such purchases, ie. they will no longer be considered the communities new “developers” for the purposes of lawsuits just because they now own a portion of [...]

Community leaders should understand the financial wherewithal of the associations they lead.  Unit and Home Owners also have rights to review financial records.  It seems like we hear about theft of association funds more and more these days.  Simply leaving finances in the hands of a manager, bookkeeper or treasurer is not enough.  For some practical ideas how to [...]

The U.S.A. and England have moved from “in a relationship” to “it’s complicated” over the one-two punch of BP’s massive oil spill trashing the Gulf of Mexico (now holding the esteemed “greatest American ecological disaster” slot) and our 1-1 tie in the first game of the World Cup. 
 
Facebook status joke?  You betta’ believe. 
 
And as if [...]

Plantation Park Condos, Orlando
As most of you probably know by now, I’m not a fan of short sales - unless a buyer bails on one that’s ready to close. Well here’s one such deal at Plantation Park condos. The buyer has been working out this one-bedroom deal with BOA / Freddie Mac for about 8 months, and [...]

The Mosaic Condominium
Ater a couple of years renting, Mosaic condos near the Mall of Millenia are now selling again.
The 27-building, gated, Mosaic condo complex is one of Orlando’s nicer condo conversions (built 2003) and the current owners have elected to go for individual sales over a one-time ‘bulk’ sale to a new sole buyer.
The Mosaic condo community [...]

SB 1196 Includes New Remedies for Collecting Money Owed to Associations, but Unanswered Questions May Create Liability Exposure. 
Community leaders and managers have complained for years about investor owner delinquencies.  Why should the owner continue to collect rent from his or her tenant without paying maintenance fees and/or assessments?  Sure, both the Condominium and Homeowners Acts allowed the association [...]

Associations have new enforcement mechanisms available – due process requires careful planning & paperwork for associations to take advantage of these new remedies effectively.
 Condominium Associations:
Up until now condominium associations had to have authority to levy fines in the recorded governing documents and did not have the ability to tell delinquent owners to stay out of [...]

Altamonte Springs, Orlando: The Village town homes have just a dozen developer units left for sale. Half of these are 2/2 townhomes.
One-bedroom condos (826 SF) start at just $69K (used to be $149K), with 3/2 town-homes (1465 SF) retailing at just $95K (used to be $250K).
Pay no commission through Condo Metropolis and get your HOA dues [...]