Jen Dollar's Blog: Florida Real Estate News

Archive for the ‘Real Estate’ Category

If you're looking for commercial real estate, many great opportunities exist throughout Central Florida. The Orlando area has a growing commercial real estate scene with access to affordable office and retail space.

Most of the news we’ve read about the real estate market in recent years has been pretty depressing. But, the news is actually quite exciting for Central Florida when it comes to commercial real estate.

Did you know that recent reports have ranked Central Florida at ninth in the nation for new commercial real estate construction? It may seem surprising, but it’s true.  In addition, occupancy rates in the downtown area of Orlando, the largest metro area in Central Florida increased in the fourth quarter of 2010 as compared to the fourth quarter of 2009. So, while the vacancy rate still remains in the high teens for the area, the occupancy numbers are increasing, which means that, over time, we’ll see more competition for the office space that is available.

Central Florida has also been ranked third in the nation for growth in commercial inventory. So, it’s clear that the Orlando metro area and surrounding Central Florida counties are getting ready for something big.

Commercial real estate in this area has been growing for several years. We probably have Mr. Disney, in part, to thank for that. After moving much of his empire to Central Florida, he not only helped improve the economy and the tourist industry here, but he also gave other businessmen the idea that Central Florida was a great place to locate their own businesses. At first, this commercial growth expanded primarily to other businesses similar to Disney’s: those in entertainment and tourism.

But, in the last few years, we’ve seen an influx of new businesses in Central Florida in all segments of the commercial market. Many companies are finding Central Florida a great place to move their businesses because of the family friendliness of the towns, the wonderful weather, and because of how welcoming the area has been to new businesses. That’s right; growth often leads to more growth, as businesses see an area like Central Florida responding to the needs of the business community.

Growth In Luxury Housing Helps Orlando Area Office Space

Another positive trend that has contributed to the growth in the commercial real estate market in Central Florida is the growth of the luxury home market. All the trends are related. As the entertainment industry began to move into central Florida, it brought with it many celebrities and other highly paid business people looking for luxury homes. As the luxury home market grew to accommodate these residents, it created even more need for businesses in the area, to provide goods and services for these high-end neighborhoods.

So, if you’ve been one of the many people who believe that all the news in the real estate market is bad news; think again. The Central Florida commercial real estate market is growing and continuing to provide a bright spot in an otherwise dull market.

So, if you’re a business owner looking for a place to move your business; don’t forget Central Florida. The area offers everything your employees could want in a place to live, making it easy for you to attract the very best talent. And, the market is ready and waiting with commercial and residential properties for your business and your home. Contacting a knowledge Central Florida area commercial realtor is important because of the many differences that exist among commercial and residential real estate, like for example zoning.

Looking for commercial real estate in the Orlando area? Realty Executives has commercial real estate specialists that will help you find the perfect spot for your business – and we’ll get you the best price. Search Orlando area commercial real estate now!

Contact Realty Executives to get started on your search for commercial real estate.

Job Description

We are looking for aggressive sales associates who are interested in a career selling real estate.  We will provide you will all the tools needed for your success; we need you to go out and make the deals happen.  We are investing thousands and thousands of dollars a month into our technology platform and we are giving it away to our Executives for FREE!!  Our competitive commission structures, technology platform and training and education classes cannot be touched by other brokerages.  We are a family owned and operated company looking to invest in your potential.  We do it all for YOU!  We hope you will consider becoming a valuable member of this exclusive team and we invite you to learn more about our company and the exciting opportunities that may await you with Realty Executives.  Please call me directly 407-252-3762 or email at jenniferdollar@realtyexecutives.com

Company Description

Our family has been involved in Commercial and Residential Real Estate for the past 30 years. We currently Own and Operate three Realty Executives Offices, RE Seminole in Lake Mary and RE Central Florida in Dr. Phillips and RE Orlando in Longwood. We have over 70 Executives working in our offices, but we are always looking to add talent to the team. Currently we are looking to add about 5-10 Executives in our Lake Mary office and 5-7 Executives in Dr.Phillips and 5-10 in Longwood. We have a steady stream of incoming leads from our state of the art lead generation program as well as incoming consumer calls on our REO properties. If you are looking to be part of a growing team of professionals, please contact me directly at 407-252-3762.

Artist Rendering of Golden Oak

Disney revealed a new luxury community with around 30 single-family residential homes for sale at the Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. The community, to be known as Golden Oak, will encompass an area spanning 980 acres and featuring custom homes between $1.5 and $8 million.

The luxury homes are being built in phases, and the first phase will have three options. Village Homes “will capture the romantic look of a Mediterranean village” on a quarter an acre lot of land according to Disney.  Estate Homes will be on half an acre with “a variety of construction styles”; and Grand Estate homes, designed for big families, include sizes ranging up to three-quarters of an acre. The facilities will eventually include a private clubhouse, a planned Four Seasons resort, concierge services,  full spa, and a golf course.

Disney is now taking refundable deposits, but have your check books ready – because they start at $25,000. The first homes are slated to be available in 2011, and the build out will is planned to include 450 homes.

More details can be found at:

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2010/06/golden-oak-luxury-residential-resort-community-at-walt-disney-world/

A big welcome to Kathy Duer and Curt Roese who have both recently joined the Realty Executives Family.  Kathy has joined RE Central Florida and Curt has joined the Seminole office.  Both Kathy and Curt bring with them many years of real estate experience.  We are very happy to have both Kathy and Curt on board! Make sure to say hello when you see them around the office.

Building relationships is one of the most effective ways to increase your real estate business.  Creating relationships come easy for most professional real estates agents but growing them to a level that creates income can be challenging.  Staying in touch on a consistent basis with all of your lead sources takes time, energy and dollars.  Most agents fail with this important task because they do not have an effective plan or system to stay in touch with their prospects and clients.  Isn’t it time to take your business to the NEXT LEVEL??  If you are ready, please visit the Tools for Realtors section on my blog.  I have just posted a 3 step marketing plan that was designed to be an easy to follow, step-by-step guide for real estate agents of all levels.  I would be more than happy to work with you as a mentor if you need help putting this plan together.  Don’t let 2010 pass you by… Let’s get moving now and make it your most productive year yet!!

Day 1 from ORRA’s Agent Profitability Workshop:

Statistics to remember: 56% of on purpose activities don’t make you any money, only 44% make money.  Decrease your non-productive time, increase your productive time.. MAKE MORE MONEY!

Six Elements of Success are Passion, Vision, Winning Differences, Creativity, Technique Mastery and Take Action.  You have to have passion, it drives you.  Passion causes you to do things you normally wouldn’t do.  Passion motivates you.  Vision/Goals are your direction, goals, plans, etc.  You need to know where you are going.  Make them short-term and attainable.  Short-term goals give you passion.  Winning Differences, what are yours?  What do you bring to the table?  Know your winning differences and use them to help you sell real estate.  Example would be an expert at short-sale listings (a real expert) – you know you can sell short sales better than the other agent – USE IT.  You must be creative.  With creativity there is always a way and it helps to fix most problems.  Adversity comes to everyone which is a good excuse for failure for the average agent.  Master your Technique, do you have the skills to get the job done?  Ask yourself this question.  Finally, take action!  If you don’t take action the 5 elements before mean nothing.  How fast you get there is not as important as how are you getting there?  Take a step everyday.  If you don’t you will always be on the sideline.

I will have more information for you as the week goes on – but please borrow this information from me and use it!

It's better to burst the bubble than it is to create an unhappy customer later.

As realtors, we have a propensity to focus on precisely what the client wants – and rightfully so. We’re rewarded with sales if we live by that strategy. Our business is based on helping our customers find exactly what they’re looking for, and the realtor that’s there at the right moment showing the customer what they want gets the sale. What’s the harm in that, right? We have to give the bad news and skepticism that could in some cases ruin a deal, but generates a stronger sphere of influence. That honest assessment is what creates an appreciative customer and a relationship built on trust. Bursting the bubble isn’t fun, but we all know how thankful we were when someone told us a hard truth.

We have to remember that our job is more than closing a deal. It’s more than giving the customer exactly what they want. We’re the professionals in a position to save our customers from the things they don’t know. We should act in a manner to find what the customer wants, and protect them from the problems they don’t know as consumers, but that we do as realtors. We answer the questions they don’t know to ask, because we’ve seen the pitfalls of hasty purchases.

In Lake Mary we have condo associations that are having a tough time remaining solvent with foreclosures piling up, just like other cities all over the country. This is something I tell my clients to be aware of upfront. If they’re on a strict budget and buying a bargain foreclosure in Lake Mary is still a stretch for them – they have to be aware that they could get an assessment at any moment. Now, most associations are doing fine, but our brokerage has seen one particular association give an assessment of hundreds of dollars, and a monthly fee double from what they originally charged. The client also has to know that an unknown situation can cause tension if they like to be involved with their neighborhood. I’ve had customers want a condo, but afteranalyzing the situation for them on resale value and fees – they found out buying a house and hiring a landscaper was a better solution.

Know the property you show. Tell your customers about what they don't know to ask.

This kind of honesty might kill a deal for you, but the customer will thank you for the honesty and they’ll trust you as an advisor and not just a sales person. You may lose a deal with your honesty, but our focus should be on the customer. If you placed a customer on a shoestring budget in a foreclosure that was at the highest point of their approval, at best they could rack up fines if they can’t pay, and at worst they could have a lien or be stuck in a situation they can no longer afford. Guess who they wouldn’t be going to see when they want to rid themselves of the place, and what they’ll tell all their friends about how the transaction went?

So many Realtors have become driven by the mantra “push to close as soon as possible, and hope it appraises.” That’s not a great thing for the profession. Unfortunately, that’s the economics of the situation. What we as agents need to remember, is that we should plan for happy customers that thank us for popping the dream bubble.

New construction can’t have problems because it’s new, right? An HOA/COA can’t charge me assessments when I just moved in, right? The builder can’t use the clubhouse as a sales area forever right? There isn’t a major difference between block and wood frame, right? We know the tough questions, and we need to answer them - even if they aren’t asked.

Every property has its own unique situation, and it’s our job to be informed enough to tell the client what they don’t want to hear. Don’t be afraid to burst a fantasy bubble because your customer will reward you with not just a transaction, but the trust to widen your sphere.

iHOUSE Web Solutions announced today that they have been selected as a Registered Supplier for Realty Executives International. As a Realty Executives Registered Supplier, iHOUSE Web Solutions is pleased to offer global Executives current web based marketing tools to enhance their business and listing exposure. Realty Executives associates will be able to enjoy IDXPro MLS search solution, Spotlight Single Property Websites and ConnecTel real estate hotlines as approved Realty Executives product choices. iHOUSE Web Solutions will participate in various meetings, events, and trade shows throughout the year, including the Realty Executives International trade show in San Diego, CA this March, aiming to provide the valued executives with product knowledge and online opportunities they can add to their marketing plans.iHOUSE and Realty Executives Team Up! - click this link to find out more!

Yesterday a fellow agent stopped me as I was leaving ORRA and asked me the following, “I am new to the real esate business, how do I become successful?” I simply said, “business plan, business plan, business plan.”  It is imperative for anyone selling real estate to have a working business plan, regardless if you are brand new to the business or a veteran.  With so many changes in our market we are constintaly having to adapt and re-evaluate the way we do business and without a business plan it is easy to get lost in the minutia.  Study after study has shown that most agents that fail did so because they did not have a comprehensive business plan to follow. Realty Executives International provides a very inexpensive specific business plan for agents (www.createaplan.com) so that agents are equipped with the necessary tools to develop a realistic business plan and accountability system.  If you are currently an Executive with Realty Executives Create a plan can be found on Executive Access otherwise you can visit createaplan.com – Remember to operate from Profit not Fear!!!

30 under 30 Photo Shoot Video, Realtor Magazine

I am so proud to have been selected as one of Realtor Magazine’s 30 under 30, class of 2010!  I was recently in Chicago for the 10th Anniversary Celebration of the last 10 years of 30 under 30 and I met some amazing young talented real estate professionals.  It was such a wonderful opportunity to network with other young professionals and share our stories.  I came away from the experience humbled and energized.  I am looking forward to staying involved at the national level and continuing to bridge the gap between the veterans and the newcomers. www.realtyexecutivesseminole.com

I copied and pasted the article from the magazine below as well as included a link back to the magazine.  I hope you enjoy – and all you young professionals out there…  it could be you next year!  30 under 30, 2011!!  Read the rest of this entry »