Rob Arnold, metro Orlando full service, investor friendly & foreclosure Realtor

Way back in 2002, the Orange County Public Schools in Florida ran a campaign to raise the sales tax by a half penny and in return they would roll back millage rates on property taxes. Part of the sales tax campaign was a long detailed list of all the schools that would be built and remodeled.

I didn't live in Orange County at that time, but I thought this was a ridiculous proposition from the get go. Why?? Because even though the school board rolls back millage rates, the property appraiser simply jacks up assessed values and the taxes get raised anyway. Flash forward 6 years and guess what, assessed values have nearly doubled (and yes the school's property tax revenue has nearly doubled) and the school board still complains how broke they are. (And let's not even talk about all the lottery money they get.) What a joke!

Last week the Home Builders Association of Metro Orlando said enough is enough and filed a lawsuit against the school board for mis-appropriating some $825 million in revenues. See Orlando Sentinel article. In my opinion, there is no question that the school board has been reckless and basically unaccountable for the bottomless pit of money that has been paid to them by tax payers. The school board refuses to allow on the ballot a measure to allow voters to decide if the school superintendent is elected or appointed. This is the epitome of arrogance, and all school board members who voted against this need to be fired in the next election. I feel bad for the many wonderful teachers and school employees that have to work under the guidance of this bunch of yahoos.

The Orange County Public Schools need to do some major housecleaning and Superintendent Ronald Blocker's job needs to be at the top of the list. Something has to be done to restore the public's faith in the Orange County Public School system. The school district is one of the largest in the nation (#12 to be exact), so I can understand the complexity the superintendent faces. However year after year Blocker has done little to solve the situation with all the failing and low grade schools. If Blocker is doing such a great job, then let the voters decide whether they want to have his job as an appointed position or an elected position.

Hopefully this lawsuit will be the straw that breaks the camel's back. It is too bad Orange County can't learn at least a few ideas from one of the best school districts in the country just one county north of them in Seminole County FL.

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(Copyright © 2008. Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Rob Arnold, ABR, CPL, CRB, GRI, Managing real estate broker, Licensed mortgage broker, Notary Public

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com/ www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com/

Your full service and investor friendly Realtor in Orlando. Learn to invest in Central Florida real estate and Orlando real estate. Investor mentoring and counseling available. I also provide flat fee MLS listings, For Sale By Owner, and menu-based services in most parts of Central & South Florida, the Space Coast, and the Treasure Coast including Orlando, Winter Park, Maitland, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Apopka, Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Longwood, Winter Springs, Oviedo, Lake Mary, Sanford, Deltona, Debary, Deland, Mount Dora, Eustis, Clermont, Kissimmee, Winter Haven, Lakeland, Tampa, Sarasota, Bradenton, Miami-Dade, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Port Saint Lucie, Melbourne, Daytona Beach, Ocala, Gainesville, Volusia, Brevard, and more.

We buy houses cash, sell properties, and list properties throughout Central Florida and the metro Orlando area.

The City of Deltona made a public announcement last month that for anyone filing a lawsuit against them, the city would seek to recover their attorneys fees from the person filing the lawsuit if the city wins. This has always seemed like the fair thing to me. If you sue me and you lose, then you should be required to pay my attorneys fees. Why should I be required to pay the fees when you were the one that generated the expense???

It may sound crazy, but in most states including Florida unless there is a specific statute or it says so in the contract, everybody pays their own attorney fees whether they win or lose. The "ambulance chasing" law firms that advertise on TV and radio hate this idea of loser pays for both sides' fees. Why? Because it discourages lawsuits from being filed. These law firms want to force people and entities with deep pockets to settle out of court and fork over thousands in legal fees.

I have a friend of mine a few years ago who got arrested and had his truck impounded on suspicion that he had committed a robbery on a convenience store. He spent about $2000 on lawyers to defend him and eventually it ended up being a case of mistaken identity with the charges getting dropped. Did he get reimbursed for his $2000 lawyer bill? Nope, not a dime. To me that is totally unfair.

The Orlando Sentinel has come out against Deltona's stance stating that it discourages lawsuits. Well, duh, that is exactly the idea. Why should the city not get reimbursed for their legal fees on a frivolous lawsuit???

Being a real estate investor, I have been involved in several lawsuits over the years - evictions, quiet title actions, vandals, I may even have to file foreclosure against a deadbeat very shortly. Luckily for me all my lease and mortgage documents allow me to seek attorneys fees from the losing party, but even so I probably will not end up collecting on them.

About 10 years ago, I came across a book called the Privacy Plan. It really opened my eyes to the liability that is out there. It is definitely a must read for any business owner or person with assets.

Be careful, it's a jungle out there.

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(Copyright © 2008. Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Rob Arnold, ABR, CPL, CRB, GRI, Managing real estate broker, Licensed mortgage broker, Notary Public

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com/ www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com/

Your full service and investor friendly Realtor in Orlando. Learn to invest in Central Florida real estate and Orlando real estate. Investor mentoring and counseling available. I also provide flat fee MLS listings, For Sale By Owner, and menu-based services in most parts of Central & South Florida, the Space Coast, and the Treasure Coast including Orlando, Tampa, Sarasota, Bradenton, Miami-Dade, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Port Saint Lucie, Ocala, Gainesville, Volusia, and Brevard.

We buy houses cash, sell properties, and list properties in Central Florida including Orlando, Winter Park, Maitland, College Park, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Apopka, Pine Hills, Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Longwood, Winter Springs, Oviedo, Lake Mary, Sanford, Deltona, Debary, Deland, Daytona Beach, Melbourne, Mount Dora, Eustis, Leesburg, Clermont, Kissimmee, Saint Cloud, Davenport, Winter Haven, Lakeland, and more.

I remember growing up in Orlando with Church Street Station as a local hotspot. In the 1970's the skywriting planes would fly out every weekend and write "Rosies" in the sky (for Rosie O'Grady's club) to invite everyone down to the establishment.

In the 1980's the Church Street Market opened up with lots of restaurants, stores, and attractions. Horse carriage rides were common throughout downtown Orlando. You could see the beacon lights shining up in the clouds from Church Street all over town. I remember in high school going down to Church Street many times on weekends. Downtown Orlando even became a cruising spot to drive around on Saturday nights. The place became a real destination for both locals and tourists.

In the 1990's they had carnival style street shows, valet parking for their clubs, and the Terror on Church Street haunted attraction. Downtown Orlando really had a great night life to it. You can read a whole chronology on Wikipedia.

Then sometime in the early 2000's the whole thing kind of imploded and shut down. Lou Pearlman creator of boy bands like N'Sync and the Backstreet Boys took over the thing and sort of ran it into the ground. Mr. Pearlman is now in bankruptcy court and headed for a long prison term for fraud.

Last year Orlando super-developer Cameron Kuhn bought the place at the bankruptcy auction. The city of Orlando promised lots of big incentives for the re-development. Some good things have happened at Church Street since then. But now this week, Mr. Kuhn announces that he is basically broke and drowning in his properties. This puts Church Street Station back into limbo again even though Mr. Kuhn says he is still focusing on the project.

I have a lot of fond memories of the whole Church Street complex and sure hope that somebody can bring its status back to its glory days.

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(Copyright © 2008. Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Rob Arnold, ABR, CPL, CRB, GRI, Managing real estate broker, Licensed mortgage broker, Notary Public

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com/ www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com/

Your full service and investor friendly Realtor in Orlando. Learn to invest in Central Florida real estate and Orlando real estate. Investor mentoring and counseling available. I also provide flat fee MLS listings, For Sale By Owner, and menu-based services in most parts of Central & South Florida, the Space Coast, and the Treasure Coast including Orlando, Tampa, Sarasota, Bradenton, Miami-Dade, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Port Saint Lucie, Ocala, Gainesville, Volusia, and Brevard.

We buy houses cash, sell properties, and list properties in Central Florida including Orlando, Winter Park, Maitland, College Park, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Apopka, Pine Hills, Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Longwood, Winter Springs, Oviedo, Lake Mary, Sanford, Deltona, Debary, Deland, Daytona Beach, Melbourne, Mount Dora, Eustis, Leesburg, Clermont, Kissimmee, Saint Cloud, Davenport, Winter Haven, Lakeland, and more.

The City of Belle Isle, Florida recently passed a new rental licensing ordinance as of 3/3/08. The actual ordinance can be found online at this link.

The new ordinance # is 08-03. It is not nearly as painful as the one passed by Mount Dora recently, but it is still cumbersome. Basically what it requires is an annual $50 licensing fee. The property owner is required to make application with the city and provide information about the lease term, the tenants, contact info, and sign a statement acknowledging certain code requirements and fines to keep in compliance.

The idea is to protect the citizens from slumlords, unruly tenants, vacation rentals, etc. What the regulations and fees also do is raise the cost and burden of rental housing for landlords and indirectly their tenants. The people that get hit the hardest are of course the poorest of the population, the tenants.

I found out about this resolution on the afternoon of the hearing (last Monday) and the board of Realtors found out about it on the Wednesday after it passed. You should have heard some of the comments made in the committee meetings I attended. (One of the Belle Isle city commissioners was a member in the meeting and also a Realtor - lots of verbal tomatoes being thrown by colleagues at this person.)

As you can see, laws like this are happening more and more often in local cities and communities. This makes our jobs as Realtors and investors just that much more work.

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(Copyright © 2008. Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Rob Arnold, ABR, CPL, CRB, GRI, Managing real estate broker, Licensed mortgage broker, Notary Public

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com/ www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com/

Your full service and investor friendly Realtor in Orlando. Learn to invest in Central Florida real estate and Orlando real estate. Investor mentoring and counseling available. I also provide flat fee MLS listings, For Sale By Owner, and menu-based services in most parts of Central & South Florida, the Space Coast, and the Treasure Coast including Orlando, Tampa, Miami-Dade, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Ocala, Volusia, and Brevard.

We buy houses cash, sell properties, and list properties in Central Florida including Orlando, Winter Park, Maitland, College Park, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Apopka, Pine Hills, Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Longwood, Winter Springs, Oviedo, Lake Mary, Sanford, Deltona, Debary, Deland, Daytona Beach, Melbourne, Mount Dora, Eustis, Leesburg, Clermont, Kissimmee, Saint Cloud, Davenport, Winter Haven, Lakeland, and more.

The local governments are at it again. Trying to sneak around the property tax cuts with new fees and assessments. This time we turn the spotlight to the City of Winter Springs, Florida.

The city has proposed a new fire assessment fee. The average fee to homeowners would be between $216 and $256 per year. The real killer is for multi-family properties that would be assessed on a per unit basis. Imagine $216 times 100 units. Ouch! And tenants are typically the poorest people in the community.

Here are some articles from the Orlando Sentinel and the Seminole Chronicle about this new fee. The next city hearing about this proposal will be next Monday, March 10, 2008.

These local governments just don't get it. The reason the people of Florida voted for tax cuts is so that property owners can give less money to the government, not so the local governments can find new ways to fund their out of control spending sprees.

Every time the government adds a new fee onto your property, the cost of owning it goes higher and higher. Is it any wonder that so many people can't afford to buy a home?

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(Copyright © 2008. Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Rob Arnold, ABR, CPL, CRB, GRI, Managing real estate broker, Licensed mortgage broker, Notary Public

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com/ www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com/

Your full service and investor friendly Realtor in Orlando. Learn to invest in Central Florida real estate and Orlando real estate. Investor mentoring and counseling available. I also provide flat fee MLS listings, For Sale By Owner, and menu-based services in most parts of Central & South Florida, the Space Coast, and the Treasure Coast including Orlando, Tampa, Miami-Dade, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Ocala, Volusia, and Brevard.

We buy houses cash, sell properties, and list properties in Central Florida including Orlando, Winter Park, Maitland, College Park, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Apopka, Pine Hills, Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Longwood, Winter Springs, Oviedo, Lake Mary, Sanford, Deltona, Debary, Deland, Daytona Beach, Melbourne, Mount Dora, Eustis, Leesburg, Clermont, Kissimmee, Saint Cloud, Davenport, Winter Haven, Lakeland, and more.