About Oviedo's The Sanctuary

A puppy has 4 basic needs—to play, to be petted, to eat, and to pee. Deny your puppy any one of these things, and you’re in for it.

How to play nice with your puppy

The relationship between you and your puppy is often strengthened with playtime—chasing balls, playing tug-of-war, chewing toys, playing hide-and-seek.

More often than not, it’s not the puppy who needs to learn the rules of the game ... but you. The puppy knows how to play, and play hard. She’s already had practice with her littermates. Therefore, if you follow your puppy’s lead and let her show you how the game is played, you’ll create an unbeatable team.

On the other hand, if you think you know better than your puppy, your puppy will soon relieve you of the notion. You see, your puppy innately knows there must be give and take, teaching and learning, gamesmanship and cooperation. A puppy can instantly tell whether you’re being fair or you’re cheating, whether you’re honest or you’re underhanded, whether you’re kind or you’re mean.

The more you play with your puppy, the more you and your puppy will learn to trust one other. She will quickly teach you not to hog the ball, because when you hog the ball, the game usually stops. So don’t hide the toys. Bring them out in the open for both of you to have your turn at a most enjoyable game.

Praise your puppy often

A puppy needs to feel appreciated. She also knows that without having a respected place in your house, your relationship together just won’t be the same.

Once the puppy knows that her efforts to be a good dog will be rewarded in a mutually beneficial give-and-take, there are no bounds to her loyalty. She’ll do anything for you, many times to the point of exhaustion.

Don’t steal food from your puppy’s bowl

A puppy is extremely intelligent. She’ll instantly know if her bowl is only three-quarters full. When she does, it’s only natural for her to feel resentment. However, since she has a great deal of respect for the one who feeds her, she probably won’t bark. Instead, her resentment will come out in other ways.

For instance, after cleaning her bowl and still feeling the pangs of hunger, she may pout and sulk and walk around hangdog. Or she may follow you around the kitchen, eager for a special treat. If treats don’t come, she’ll get underfoot, hoping for food accidents. Or she may wander off, scrounging for crumbs in dirty corners. She may even resort to begging at the kitchen table.

If you continue to ignore her, the puppy may gnaw on one of your shoes just for spite. When you take the shoe away from her and scold her with a, ‘Bad girl,’ the puppy may unexpectedly turn on you and take a nip out of your hand.

So if you don’t want to have an unhappy puppy, don’t snack on her kibbles. They don’t taste good, anyway, and they’re not very filling. But if you make sure your puppy gets all the calories she needs to be healthy and happy, she will do anything to please you.

Make sure you regularly let your puppy outside

A puppy must devote at least som

e time during the day to tend to ‘business’—go out for energetic walks, bask in the sunshine, sniff at the fresh air, and simply commune with nature.

If, however, you fail to give your puppy time for the natural things puppies do, she may pee and poop on your carpet, chew discarded Kleenex, eat electrical wires, munch on light bulbs, sculpt chair legs, and remove tassels from throw rugs.

If you remember to respect your puppy and give her what she needs most, you and she will have a most rewarding relationship!

Consequences — both emotional and financial — must be faced at every stage of foreclosure. (Click here to Understand the 4 Stages of Foreclosure.)

The later the stage, the more severe the penalties are to your credit rating. Therefore, the faster you act, the better the outcome.

The following is a reverse journey, from the worst-case scenario to the least-damaging position.

Foreclosure

• Damages your credit rating for 7-10 or more years.
• You cannot get a conventional loan on a new house purchase for at least 5 years.
• In most cases, all equity in the house built up over the years will be lost.
• The bank can sue for a Deficiency Judgment on the shorted amount if any.
• Occupants can be evicted by the County Sheriff if they haven’t already vacated the premises.

Pre-Foreclosure

• Damages your credit rating, but not as much as foreclosure would.
• Depending on the amount of your original purchase and whether or not you made major improvements or borrowed against equity, you can often emerge with some equity intact.
• However, if the amount of your loan is more than the market value of your house, you’ll have to put your house on the market as a Short Sale. In this case, you won’t be able to walk away with any cash in your pocket.
• If your house is sold and back payments are made up, damage to your credit report and credit score is minimized.
• If you sell your house as a Short Sale, you may not be able to get a conventional loan on new home purchase for approximately 18-36 months.

Pre-Pre-Foreclosure

• Can also damage your credit rating, but if back payment s are quickly made up, the damage is minimized.
• Depending on the amount of your original purchase and whether or not you made major improvements or borrowed against equity, you can often emerge with some equity intact (same as Pre-Foreclosure).
• However, if the amount of your loan is more than the market val ue of your house, you’ll have to put your house on the market as a Short Sale. In this case, you won’t be able to walk away with any cash in your pocket (same as Pre-Foreclosure).
• If you sell your house as a Short Sale, you may not be able to get a conventional loan on new home purchase for approximately 18-36 months (same as Pre-Foreclosure).

Pre-Pre-Pre-Foreclosure

Provided you can quickly fix your financial situation or sell your house without taking a loss on equity ...

None!

The Sanctuary was developed by Crosswinds and Engineered Homes, who incorporated many upgraded features and distinctive architectural details into their houses, among them brick pavers, multi-faceted roofs, balconies, pillars, and dome and tray ceilings. Find in The Sanctuary a large community center complete with clubhouse, fitness center, meeting rooms, and pools. The Sanctuary is divided into two parts, one containing smaller homes and standard lots and the other boasting larger homes with premium lots. The two phases are separated by a daycare and a middle school. The Sanctuary also offers playgrounds, basketball and volleyball courts, a soccer field, and tennis facilities, making it one of the most popular communities in Oviedo.

The following graphs are intended to give you an easy-to-understand summary of what’s been happening in the Orlando real estate market over the past year.

# of Homes Sold Annually

As can be seen by the first graph, the last couple of years have been tough for Orlando-area homeowners trying to sell their houses. After seeing a high of nearly 27,000 houses sold in 2005, by the time 2008 came to an end, we experienced a sharp decrease to less than half this rate.

Though the full year of 2008 was down to the lowest levels we’ve seen in several years, not all is doom and gloom. Even if 2008 began at a low level, it progressively improved through mid-year.

From late summer into autumn, though, the market showed signs of weakening. By year-end, however, the trend was starting to look hopeful with a very strong uptick in December. The last month of 2008 improved 25% compared to prior month and a 24% compared to December 2007.

Foreclosure Sales

The percentage of homes sold due to foreclosure difficulties steadily increased from 12% in January 2008 to nearly half of all sales, or 48%, by December.

This indicates that buyers are definitely out there, but many are searching for ‘short sale’ or ‘bank-owned’ properties. These are homes whose prices have been slashed in order to relieve both financially troubled homeowners and overburdened mortgage lenders. Understandingly, this has put downward pressure on home prices across the board, as demonstrated in the following chart.

Average Price of Homes Sold

Full year 2008 saw a sharp 17.5% decrease in the average sales price. Most of this weakness occurred in the second half of the year, most likely the direct outcome of increased short sales.

If there is any good news to be drawn from this chart, it’s this. Anyone who purchased their home prior to mid-2005—provided they didn’t borrow against equity—are in a strong position to sell their house without being in an upside-down position, that is, owing more on their loan than their house is worth.

Inventory

The number of houses available for sale rose to an all-time high of over 20,000 in 2007. With less and less buyers out in the marketplace, more and more home sellers were forced to wait months and months, sometimes up to a year or more. However, the end of 2008 showed a strong improvement in the inventory level, which decreased by nearly 14% compared to a year ago.

Generally, when inventory levels rise, sale prices tend to stabilize or, as we’ve seen recently, drop. Conversely, when inventory levels shrink, prices tend to go up. Even so, given the hard economic times we’re currently experiencing, we may have to be content to merely see sale prices stabilize. This would be a good ... no great ... outcome.

Conclusion

If you’re a homeowner who has been in a wait-and-see mode — yet you really want to sell, either to move up to a bigger house, downsize to a smaller house, or relocate to another area — stop waiting. The real estate market here in Orlando isn’t about to recover overnight. And when you do sell, you’ll be in a terrific position to buy.

If you’re a renter or first-time homebuyer, this is a great time to take advantage of recent price drops. The worry, of course, is that prices will continue to erode. But if you go into the purchase with the idea that you intend to stay in your home for at least 5 years, then go ahead and make the plunge. With inventory finally decreasing, we may well have already, or will soon, see the bottom of this market.