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.

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.

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.

Apparently, you ride this sucker horizontally and not in a seat like traditional coasters so you really feel like you’re flying like Superman or in this case a manta ray. It’s definitely one of the perks of living in SW Orlando. All you gotta do is drive five minutes and you’re there.

To be honest, I haven’t been to SeaWorld in years and I’m not even a Shamu hater, but I’ll probably have to check this ride out.

Here’s a few videos I found on Pulse of Central Florida which has a great post on the roller coaster wars currently going on between local theme parks. Apparently, Universal Studios has a new coaster called Rip, Ride, Rockit.

I guess I’ll have to check this thrilling ride out too since it’s right here in Dr. Phillips. It’s hard to imagine they can top the Hulk coaster at Islands of Adventure, but after seeing the video I’m not quite sure anymore.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The event that continues until May 17th has some nice entries for SW Orlando. I’ve already seen the W.J. Sauerwine home in the Garden section of Keene’s Pointe priced at $1.565,o00. It’s a fabulous floorplan and the smart home integration and the drive thru garage is awesome. I’m also noticing a lot of custom homes these days incorporating the smart home integration which I think is pretty cool.

There’s also the if I win the lottery I’d get one of those homes with 130 feet of shoreline on the Butler Chain in an established subdivision called the Lakes priced at $4.75 million. It’s absolutely huge and can’t figure out why anyone would need a house that big even for the Brady Bunch, but I love the idea of living on the Butler Chain.

Established communities are probably your best bet this year since it’ll take a long time for the less established communities to get built out.  It’s also the time you’ll get the best deals on a new home, so check out the Parade if you’re into something new.

virtual ebook: 2009 Parade of Homes Orlando

Well, the drywall coming out of China has some problems like a lot of Chinese products and now I’m required to provide a Chinese Drywall Disclosure to home buyers. Recent reports say drywall from China churns out sulfur based gases that eat away air conditioning coils, pipes, and wiring. Worst of all, it stinks…  literally. When building materials became hard to come by during the housing boom around 2004, builders started importing goods from China. Man, they make everything over there.

One of the major builders to do this in Florida according to the Wall Street Journal is Lennar. I gotta tell ya, they’ve built quite a few homes here in SW Orlando since 2004 including Stoneybrook West, Windsor Landing, and Brookestone to mention a few. I’m sure there’s other major builders that used this product and I’m sure they’ll get pulled out of the rank and file once the lawsuits start piling up.

I can’t believe there’s another toxic import from China. It seems like it was not too long ago, the news was about lead in kid’s toys made in China. One thing that’s for sure is that Chinese products are cheap, but at some point quality will have to come into play.

Here’s a pdf of the new disclosure: Chinese Drywall Disclosure

Click here to view the embedded video.

This week I’ve been showing homes in Clermont to Tom and Jean from Illinois. They’re die hard fisherman, and can’t wait to move to Central Florida.

We came across a new community in our search yesterday that I thought was worth mentioning. It’s called Foxchase and the builder is Standard Pacific Homes. It’s conveniently located off Highway 27 on Hammock Ridge Road. They offer a Tuscan, Cottage, or Mediterranean elevation for each of their 11 floor plans and prices start just below $200,000 and can go up to $300,000.

The average price is in the low to mid $200′s and they have quite a few completed inventory homes available for immediate delivery. I was happily surprised at the choice of well thought out plans and the amount of upgrades available.

The lots overlooking the Legends golf course were especially striking. There’s an inventory home overlooking the golf course for under $300,000. You get an awful nice view with a new home for a pretty reasonable price. Only in this market.

For buyers looking in the Clermont area, Foxchase is definitely worth a look. The homes are nice and the location is convenient.

The only downside that I saw was that you can only get St. Augustine sod in the front yard. The city of Clermont restricts sprinklers to the front yard for new construction. All new homes here have this issue and to be honest, it’s kind of a bummer. The city’s been complaining about how their property tax revenue has been declining, but they put this retarded restriction on new construction that worsens that problem.

Anyway, da Scoop gives a thumbs up for Foxchase.

see floorplans: Foxchase

It seems like just the other day when I met her at my first job straight out of college. She was the top real estate agent at the office and I wanted to be just like her someday…. I’m still working on it by the way.

I’ve never met anyone more dedicated, caring, and willing to help. I believe it carried over to everything she did. A quote she emailed to me one day still sticks with me today. It said, good service comes from the heart.  She was extremely busy and successful, but somehow always had time to help me out as well as countless others.

I’ve been fortunate in my life in the fact that there’s always been someone looking out for me and teaching me things throughout the different stages of my life for whatever reason and Barbara has been that person for me a bunch of times. She’s been that angel lookin out for me… cheesy, I know but Barbara would appreciate that comment for sure.

I can’t say how many times she’s helped me out but it’s been a bunch. The funny thing is, some of the things I’m gonna miss about her is her distinctive kackly laugh, her disdain for mispronounced words which I’m guilty of egging her on with on a few occasions, and the fact that I knew she was somewhere close by when I smelled fried chicken. Really, I’m gonna miss her period. I feel fortunate to have known her and may peace be with you.

If Barbara has touched your life, please pay tribute to her on her guestbook: Barbara Brady Guestbook

Besides the obvious bad timing of this community, it is in a fantastic location with mediterranean architecture, tile roofs, and gated entry. Other than the fact that you can’t put a pool out there, it’s a pretty nice choice. I’d buy that for a dollar.

According to their site, there is one inventory home on a cul de sac with 3,192 square feet, 4 beds, 3.5 baths, and granite/stainless for $398,680. Not bad as long as you can put a pool in.

A quick thanks to Neil for prompting me to get an update on this project.

related post: A Peculiar Time for Palazzo del Lago