Lake Mary Holiday in the Park ~ Friday, December 5, 2008 from 6 - 8 pm Join Santa & Mrs. Claus before his big trip on Christmas Eve for The Annual Tree Lighting in The Park at Lake Mary City Hall.  Live entertainment, free face-painting, kids games and reindeer rides.  Bring canned goods or an unwrapped toy to receive refreshments and cookies.  Free to the public - The Park is Located at Lake Mary City Hall at the corner of Lake Mary Blvd. & Country Club Blvd.  6:45 Tree Lighting 7:00 Mr. & Mrs. Claus Arrive    Move To Lake Mary (Orlando & Seminole County Real Estate) Lake Mary is 15 miles North of Downtown Orlando & The #1 Place to Live in Florida Debbie Summers Licensed Real Estate Professional, ALHS, ePRO 407 758-1020 or  Debbie@MoveToLakeMary.com 12/03/2008

This is the weekly update of homes sales, including townhomes and condominiums for Lake Mary Florida.  The "Just Sold" Lake Mary & Heathrow Florida Update includes the 32746 zip code. Another solid week of sales in Lake Mary, I have noticed this week that there is little variance in the listing price to sold prices.  The homes that sold this week all sold within 5% of their list price.  This tells me that sellers are becoming more realistic with their offering prices... Stay tuned to see if this trend continues.  Single Family Homes Sales in Lake Mary Florida Sold Neighborhood Street Address Living Area Beds & Baths Pool $352,500 Heathrow 1389 Chessington Cir. 2,270 4 / 3 Y $260,000 The Crossings 258 Morning Glory Dr. 1,712 3 / 2.5 Y $218,000 Huntington Pointe 297 Hanging Moss Cir. 1,95... 11/29/2008

I'm Celebrating.... The 1st Anniversary of The Lake Mary Farmer's Market and my first post.  Just over a year ago I finally felt like I was ready to write my first post, I had been lurking around reading for months on Active Rain, but wasn't ready to jump in.  I'm so glad that I did with my First Post about the "New" Lake Mary's Farmer Market...   Participating in the open forum of Active Rain has been a wonderful experience for me and I've met a lot of great new people along the way.  Thank you Active Rain for providing a place for all us to learn and grow in... It's great to be in the rain. Lake Mary Farmer's Market...  This post still rings true today and the Farmer's Market has been a huge success! The City of Lake Mary is set to debut their deeply anticipated Farmer's Market on Sat... 11/28/2008

Lake Mary First Time Home Buyers... perk up. We all know what inflation is and the ugliness that can go with it. Most of us know that deflation is the opposite of inflation.... but don;t know much more than that. In fact, business TV and newspapers have inflated deflation [sorry for the play on words... but I like doin' that] as a hot topic this week and, since Monday, Google has tracked 13,000 mentions of it. Make this 13001. Deflation is a recurring cycle in which the prices of goods and services fall. Suh-weet... falling prices that is so cool, right? Well, um, not really. Why? Human nature. When prices are declining across many industries at the same time, IT CAN SHUT DOWN THE ECONOMY! If you think about it... Find out the ugly truth of deflation by finishing the blog post here: Tal... 11/25/2008

Stirling Sotheby's International Realty's Lake Mary/Heathrow office will celebrate their "2nd Annual Thanksgiving Pot-Luck" feast for all of their Sales Associates & staff on Tuesday, November 25th.Joyce Marsh, Managing Director,  started the tradition last year when she took over the management of the Lake Mary/Heathrow team.  This office covers Seminole, Volusia, and Flagler counties with agents servicing those areas.About 35+ agents/guests will be participating.  Our office is definitely international with many multi-cultural and ethnic groups represented.  Everyone is encouraged to bring in various cultural dishes that represent their own traditional thanksgiving celebrations. This is an opportunity for our agents to network with each other as well as enjoy good food, fun, and fello... 11/24/2008

If you are considering buying a bank-owned property in Lake Mary, you should know: The agent who has the house for sale is the listing agent and represents the bank, not you. The bank may require that the home be on the market for a minimum number of days prior to reviewing any offers. So, even if you write a full-price offer the first day the house is listed, the bank may want the home to be marketed for 1 week, 2 weeks or longer before accepting an offer. The bank will continue to keep the property for sale while they are reviewing your offer (and any others they might have). The bank will not provide any disclosures about the property. Since they never lived there, they cannot tell you whether there have been any roof leaks or water intrusion issues. The bank may require you to quali... 11/24/2008

What's Hot and What's Not Week in Review - 11/24/2008 Past Weeks: 10/06/2008 10/13/2008 10/20/2008 11/04/2008 11/10/2008 11/18/2008 Each week will feature the hottest sales and listings in Orange County and Seminole County, FL. As to not offend anyone we will not be listing the Nots. This week we are showing the most lavish homes in the Orlando Real Estate Market located in Longwood FL in a community known as Alaqua Lakes.  One of the most sought after communities in the Lake Mary area. Orlando Luxury Real Estate at it's finest. Hottest Home of the Week JUST SOLD: This weeks hot home sale is located at 4090 BERMUDA GROVE PL LONGWOOD, FL in ALAQUA LAKES. Welcome to this highly customized golf front home in Alaqua Lakes. Privately located on the 2nd fairway, this home features scenic vie... 11/24/2008

Yes, I attended the Active Rain party at Hard Rock Live that was held the same weekend of the NAR convention. Yes, I am a Trulia advocate. No, I'm not a "paid" staff member for Trulia.   But, YES, I've gotten "paid" by being involved with Trulia. These guys really do have a great product...as you'll hear many say (including yours truly) on this video! Thanks Trulia...you guys do ROCK!   Subscribe in a reader 11/20/2008

The Hyatt Place Lake Mary is now open in the Heathrow area at the Center of the High Tech Corridor.  Located just off Lake Mary Boulevard & Interstate 4, this new state of the art "boutique" feel hotel offers the signature Hyatt Grand Bed and 42" flat panel televisions.  The high tech traveler will appreciate the Hyatt Plug Panel that allows guests to connect their devices including laptop computers, MP3 and DVD players to the television. For the business traveler or Lake Mary resident the new Hyatt Place also feature 2,000 sq. ft. of function space including; two meeting/banquet room and an executive board room.  Please see these additional photos of the hotel. The Hyatt Place Lake Mary is offering a special room package now through December 31, 2008.  You receive one night free when y... 11/20/2008

This is the weekly update of homes sales, including townhomes and condominiums for Lake Mary Florida.  The "Just Sold" Lake Mary & Heathro Florida Update includes the 32746 zip code. This week there was a sold number of homes sold in Lake Mary.  There were 8 single family home sales, 1 townhome and 2 condominiums.     Single Family Homes Sales in Lake Mary Florida Sold Neighborhood Street Address Living Area Beds & Baths Pool $932,500 Heathrow 1405 Langham Ter. 4,251 5 / 5.5 Y $485,000   460 Lake Road 3,344 5 / 3.5 N $365,000 Heathrow 1383 Chessington Cir. 2,176 4 / 3 Y $340,000 Heathrow 1522 Cherry Lake Way 3,143 5 / 4 Y $255,000 Cardinal Oaks 465 Cardinal Oaks Ct. 1,744 3 / 2 N $255,000 Heathrow 810 Lakeworth Cir. 2,022 4 / 2 N $ 207,500 Egrets Landing 3244 Egrets Landing Dr. 1,620 4 ... 11/19/2008

As I mentioned in a previous post that you can read here, you CAN buy a home in Lake Mary Florida for $200,000 or less... In searching today for young couple who is hoping to buy their first home, I noted 20 homes with a MINIMUM of 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1500 square feet and a two car garage that are listed for sale in Lake Mary within this price range. Here is a breakdown of those 20 homes: 4 are bank owned  11 are short sales 5 are traditionally owned properties (Being offered for sale without third party approval being required) While 20 homes may seem like plenty to select from, if you are a Buyer who would like to own a home in Lake Mary for $200,000 or less and would like to purchase, close and occupy by December 31st so that you can qualify for Homestead Exemption (which reduce... 11/18/2008

How come everything in Orlando gets cheaper when everyone is worried about their job and don't want to spend any money!! Okay, so it is a rhetorical question and the answer is somewhat obvious, but how cool would that be if, everything got cheaper and you just got a raise!? I feel your pain. Well, on the first Friday of every month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the 'jobs report'... officially called the 'Non-Farm Payrolls report.' Well, the October's data is trending with the rest of 2008. See the pretty graph? Don't let the green fool you. After dropping another 240,000 jobs last month like a newbie at a craps table, the economy... Read the whole story at: Does less jobs mean Cheap Lake Mary Real Estate Deals? 11/17/2008

Appleton's Cafe - Lake Mary FL  The Next Best Thing to Mom's Cooking! A few weeks ago I was traveling to Orlando and I took a slight detour East on Interstate 4.    Recently I was able to reconnect with an old friend of mine from high school.... who I hadn't seen in 30 years. We found each other on-line through a social network that I use to promote my business and it's also generally a place where you can connect with old friends. It was interesting to see how we both look now and how we both ended up in FL after living in NY and being within a few minutes from each other.    Now after all these years we now live a few hundred miles from each other.       I found out through our recent conversations that my friend Tricia Rodriguez owns and operates a very successful restaurant called A... 11/17/2008

SO how are the evil mortgage products doing? Huh, they may actually be better than the fixed products? Maybe they aren't evil after all... just different. It is true that some of the wrong people got bad advice from some neophyte mortgage 'professional', but the good news is that those folks are back waiting tables. The interest rate against which adjustable-rate mortgages [ARMs] change is continuing to fall -- This could very likely be the evidence we need indicating that the worldwide banking system is starting to stabilize. On any ARM, the initial "start rate" remains fixed for some period of time [typically 3 - 5 - 7 - or 10 years], and then adjusts according to some pre-determined agreement. It is more a hybrid than it is a pure "ARM". For a conforming mortgage, an ARM will typica... 11/16/2008

Heathrow, the guard gated Luxury Golf Community that is the top choice of many Lake Mary home buyers has a bank owned foreclosure that is a real bargain for the right home buyer.  This 3 bedroom / 2 bath with 1,352 square feet needs some TLC, but has lots of potential.  This lake front home is priced to sell at $199,500. 1029 Paddington Terrace, Lake Mary Looking for a great bargain on a Foreclosure in Heathrow?  Please contact me for a FREE list of all the Bank Owned Foreclosures available in Lake Mary and the Seminole County cities(Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Fern Park, Longwood, Oviedo, Sanford and Winter Springs).   Debbie Summers, ALHS, e-PRO, Licensed Real Estate Professional - RE/MAX Central Move To Lake Mary (Orlando & Central Florida) Contact Me @ 407.758.1020 or Debbie@Cas... 11/15/2008

No, your eyes aren't deceiving you and it's not a typo...  There are two -  1 bedroom, 1 bath condos for the price of a car in Lake Mary.  These condos have already been foreclosed on and are now owned by the bank. Regency Park at Lake Mary is located just minutes from Lake Mary Boulevard and Interstate 4.   You can live the Lake Mary Lifestyle for as little as $34,900!  Click here for details about 732 Secret Harbor Lane #106 Click here for details about 2521 Grassy Point Drive #111 If you looking for a deal on a Foreclosure in Lake Mary or the other Seminole Countycities of Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Fern Park, Longwood, Oviedo, Sanford and Winter Springs - Please contact me for a FREE list of all the Bank Owned Foreclosures available.    Debbie Summers, ALHS, e-PRO, Licensed Rea... 11/15/2008

  It's getting to be that time of year!  Now through the 29th of November you can visit The Lake Mary Historical Museum at 158 N. Country Club Road, to see the the Lake Mary Festival of Trees.  Local businesses and organizations once again have donated beautifully decorated trees.  The trees are being auctioned off via silent auction that concludes at the end of the festival and benefits the Lake Mary Historical Museum.  The Trees are available for viewing: Saturdays 10 am to 2 pm & Thursdays 6:30 pm to 8 pm Come out and support The Lake Mary Historical Museum - I'm trying to make it over there today...       Debbie Summers, ALHS, e-PRO, Licensed Real Estate Professional - RE/MAX Central Move To Lake Mary (Orlando & Central Florida) Contact Me @ 407.758.1020 or Debbie@CasAndDebbie.com   11/15/2008

This is the weekly update of homes sales (townhomes & condominiums too) for Lake Mary Florida.  The "Just Sold" Lake Mary & Heathrow Florida Update includes the 32746 zip code. This week in Lake Mary, Florida one single family home sold in Carisbrooke.  Carisbrooke is a gated neighborhood in the Markham Woods Road corridor that travels through Longwood, Lake Mary and Sanford.  This stretch of roadway is home to some of the most prestigious luxury home communities in all of Seminole County. Are you looking for value priced condominiums in Lake Mary?  If you are please contact me to find out about some unbelievable deals in the heart of Lake Mary, minutes from Lake Mary Boulevard, Greenwood Lakes Middle School, Lake Mary High School, shopping and restaurants.  Three bedroom condos are pri... 11/14/2008

Welcome back to the Lake Mary Real Estate Market Update for October 2008.  The home sales information for Lake Mary is for the zip code 32746 and includes Heathrow, Florida.  Lake Mary Florida was voted the #1 Place to Live in the South by Money/CNN.com in 2007. Lake Mary Florida is a my favorite place for Orlando area residents to call home, just a short 15 minute drive to downtown Orlando and 45 minutes to the theme parks & the beaches. Lake Mary is a great place to choose your Seminole County home.  October 2008 Lake Mary/Heathrow Market Snapshot    For Sale Under Contract Sold October 2008 567 77 30 September 2008 558 60 32 August 2008 578 59 26 July 2008 547 51 44 June 2008 554 66 47 May 2008 566 64 42 April 2008 555 74 32 March 2008 575 62 33 February 2008 549 60 32 January 2008 5... 11/14/2008

The Truth About Central Florida Is Orlando really the Vacation Capital of the World? You Betcha. The region offers more lodging options then nearly any destination in the world. accommodations rrange from Luxury resorts, to motels, vacation home rentals and timeshares. Are Alligators everywhere? No. While they are pretty prevalent in this area you will not find them in every rention pond, drain or swimming pool. There have been occasions but like any animal they prefer their natural environment. The are generally more afraid of you, honestly. Attacks on humans are quite infrequent. However for safety you should still keep small children and pets away from shores between dusk and after dark. What about Hurricanes arent they bad there? No. While we recently had 3 major storms a few years... 11/14/2008