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 Oakthis 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.
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.
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.
If the sound of Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bugatti, or Bentley gets your heart racing, this new attraction near the Mall at Millenia may be the place for you.
The Exotic Car Gallery showcases the most exotic and rarest of road machines in a setting for all of us mortals to enjoy.
For most people, the closest we’ll get is seeing them in pictures, magazines, or perhaps one on the road, but you get an up close and personal experience at the new gallery.
The residential real estate market here in Orlando continues it’s trend toward stability. While none of us have a crystal ball that tells us where the bottom of the market is, the signs are beginning to appear.
The number of homes on the market has dropped 27.5% over the past 12 months and sales have jumped 35.3% in the same period according to the stats for Orange county.
When you look back 15 months, the improvement becomes clearer with the number of homes dropping 34.6% and sales increasing 97.7%.
We’ll have to wait and see how much the home buyer tax credit affected these numbers. My guess is that there’s quite an influence here since many of the sales that I’ve been witnessing even here in Dr. Phillips and Windermere, where the average prices typically are above the price limits set in the tax credit, have been towards the lower price ranges.
In any case, there’s no doubt the market is improving and beginning to stabilize.
The newly launched Earth View in Google Maps integrates features found on Google Earth to allow for a virtual flyover of an area. It’s literally like taking a helicopter ride over an area you’re interested in.
I’m sure home buyers from out of town will start utilizing this feature to get a feel for an area they might be interested in and you don’t have to be a gazillionaire to be able to do it.
One of the challenges of finding properties away from your home city is grasping a sense of where everything is in relation to a property.
In Dr. Phillips and Windermere, home buyers from out of town are always concerned with where the property is in relation to Disney, golf courses, major shopping destinations, and major employers. This new tool makes it easy for anyone to quickly learn where everything is.
Everyone once in a while, my real estate adventures lead me out of SW Orlando and this past week it’s led me to downtown looking at condos. The skyline’s changed quite a bit over the years with the addition of lots of new buildings this past decade.
The one building that I’ve noticed over the past few years is the Winnie Palmer Hospital. I had no idea what the building was until today. I just knew it was my favorite building to look at while driving down the East West Expressway or I-4.
A little research reveals that the building was completed in 2006 for a whopping $111 million and it’s also the third largest birthing center in the country not to mention it brings the Orlando skyline alive.
Who knew? The coolest looking building in downtown Orlando is a hospital.
So far in 2010, 5 sales have taken place at Brookestone in Ocoee. Two of the sales were REO bank owned properties which accounted for the lowest sale prices of $227,000 and $220,000.
The average selling price of all the properties sold was $281,400 with an average price per square foot of $84.
The highest price per square foot of all the sales in 2010 was $117.41 and the lowest was $57. Quite a wide range, I know.
The median price per square foot was $86.36.
The highest sale price was $340,000, the lowest $220,000, and median was $285000.
The average size of the homes sold was 3,081 square feet and it took an average of 100 days to sell.
Currently, there’s 5 homes for sale in Brookestone with asking prices ranging from $219,000 to $269,900. I’d say prices are quite attractive at the moment and it’s a great time to buy in this community.
Please contact me if you’d like further info on the properties currently for sale.
