Let me start by saying that I am all FOR adequately funding our government-run school districts. As long as the State of Florida keeps its current system in place where you either send your kid to the government run public school or you pay out of pocket to send them to a non-government private school, the government schools have to be reasonably funded in order to operate. And granted Seminole County does have some of the best quality government-run schools in the State of Florida.
However on the same note, the government schools have had a big run up on budgets over the last few years and the current budgets are still very bloated compared to the decreasing student population. Assessed values went way up from 2001-2006 and property taxes went way up along with them. At the same time school budgets skyrocketed to incredibly bloated levels. Now property taxes have gone down somewhat and the schools are still crying for more. Typical government.
Here is a link to the 2004-2005 Seminole County schools budget. On page 8 you can see towards the middle right-hand side that the total expenditures are $667,369,217.
I've looked repeatedly on the school's website but cannot find the proposed budget for 2009-10, but according to an Orlando Sentinel article from yesterday the budget is $751 million. To me that is a total crock. Student populations are down, everyone is hurting financially at least a little, and yet the school board has a budget $84 million higher than it was at the peak of the economy. And they want to raise property taxes yet again - they already get an extra penny sales tax and the joke of the Florida lottery.
So my question to the school board is why do they need that extra $84 million in their budget when student population has been decreasing over the last several years? Nobody wants to give that answer.
After all it is "for the children".
Remember all the controversy about leaders like Seminole County Superintendent Bill Vogel abusing the state's retirement fund by double dipping - St Pete Times article. Guess what, Dr. Vogel is still abusing it.
Remember the Lake Mary High school article last year. They used 3 times more water in a year than did Sea World and several large apartment complexes. Still no good explanation from the principal on that one.
Stop by your local school next Sunday afternoon (and remember school is out during the summer). See how many air-conditioners are running full blast. Multiply that by 100 or so schools in the county. Then keep in mind that utility rates just went up around 20% due to increased fuel costs.
There is still plenty of room for budget cuts. The school board still has 1 more vote on this issue before they finalize the budget. Make sure to make your opinion known. You can contact the Seminole County school board here.
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(Copyright © 2009. Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor ® in Orlando and Central Florida.
407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com We Buy Houses Florida
We sell foreclosure, short sale, and bank owned REO house home throughout Central Florida, metro Orlando, and the Space Coast. We sell and list Central Florida real estate and Orlando real estate. Free list of foreclosure and short sale houses available. Our firm also provides flat fee MLS listings, For Sale By Owner, and menu-based services in most parts of Florida.
Can I make changes to my Florida flat fee mls listing once it has been inputted into the MLS? Yes. We allow unlimited changes to your MLS listing during the first 14 days. After that we allow 1 change per week with a maximum of 20 changes during the life of the listing. We are quite liberal with allowing changes as long as we feel we are not being taken advantage of. All changes will need to be in writing and submitted on a Status Change Form.
Can I use my own For Sale By Owner sign on my flat fee mls listing? We recommend that you use our company For Sale sign. Other Realtors often get confused or nervous about not getting paid their commission if they do not see the Listing Realtor's sign in the yard. If you do want to use your own sign, we recommend that you write the MLS # on the sign along with the words "Brokers Protected." That should make other Realtors feel more comfortable in showing your property. If you are attempting to rent your property, we recommend inputting your property on Rentals.com either through our firm or on your own and using their sign with your contact information on it.
How much commission should I offer to a buyer's agent? You are free to offer whatever commission you want to other Realtors. Our standard listing agreement has 3% pre-printed on the form, but you are welcome to cross that out and change it. However, we recommend that for properties priced under $500,000 that you offer no less than 2.5% to them. For properties priced above $500,000, we recommend that you offer no less than 2%. When the market is slow, we recommend that you instead offer a higher commission or a bonus (some people offer as high as 5%-10% commissions) to entice Realtors to show your property to their buyers. With properties listed For Rent, we recommend offering no less than 50% of the first month's rent to other Realtors as a commission incentive to bring a tenant.
Is my listing going to appear any different in the MLS and the internet than a listing by a full service Realtor? Your listing will appear in the MLS and the internet exactly the same as any other listing. The only exception is that the MLS will contain a note in the "Realtor Remarks" section that this is a limited service listing and that other Realtors should contact you in order to show the property or negotiate an offer. Other than that, there is no difference.
Will other Realtors sell my house or will they avoid my listing because it is an flat fee MLS-only listing? Smart Realtors show their customers everything that is available for sale that meets their buyer's criteria. Every property is a little bit different, so by avoiding your property their buyer might end up buying nothing and then the Realtor loses out on getting paid any commission. There is always the chance that some Realtor may "blackball" a listing and not show it because it is a limited service agreement, a low commission amount offered to the buyer's agent, or any number of reasons. Typically Realtors who bring up these sort of scare tactics are just doing so becuase they are unsure of how else to justify charging you several thousand extra dollars for their own nearly identical services. The U.S. Department of Justice has already stated that anti-competitive practices like blackballing violate federal antitrust laws. In the future, flat fee MLS listings like so many internet-based services will more than likely be the norm rather than the exception.
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(Copyright © 2009. Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor ® in Orlando and Central Florida.
407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com We Buy Houses Florida
We sell foreclosure, short sale, and bank owned REO house home throughout Central Florida, metro Orlando, and the Space Coast. We sell and list Central Florida real estate and Orlando real estate. Free list of foreclosure and short sale houses available. Our firm also provides flat fee MLS listings, For Sale By Owner, and menu-based services in most parts of Florida.
Can I offer a property For Rent using the flat fee MLS listing service? Yes. Just like we can input a home for sale, we can also input a home for rent in the MLS. The procedures are basically the same as a home for sale. However the data input form and the commission/fee structure is slightly different. We can also do a 1-time input of your listing on Craigslist, Postlets, and Rentals.com for an additional small fee. Sorry we do not offer For Rent signs to our customers unless you use our additional service to post your property on Rentals.com .
If I sell or rent my house on my own, what happens? Many times our customers end up selling to a buyer that found the property on Realtor.com, the internet, or other marketing without involving another Realtor. If you happen to be fortunate enough to sell or rent your house on your own, then your savings are even greater. You do not owe us anything more than the upfront money already paid to us. Upon closing, we will need a copy of the signed HUD-1 settlement statement in order to close out the file. You can provide us the contact information for the title company or attorney handling the closing, and we will take care of obtaining the settlement statement. If you end up renting your property, we just need you to send in the completed Status Change Form so that we can close out your listing in the MLS.
What counties / areas do you service for the flat fee mls listing? We currently service the following 29 Florida counties. If you do not see your county, call us anyway because we still may be able to help you. Alachua County, Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Clay, DeSoto, Duval, Flagler, Hardee, Hillsborough, Lake, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Miami-Dade, Nassau, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, East & Central Pasco, Polk, Putnam, Sarasota, Seminole, Saint Lucie, Sumter, and Volusia County (West Volusia, Daytona area, and New Smyrna area). Properties in Flagler County will be loaded into the Daytona Beach area MLS. CLICK HERE FOR SERVICE AREA MAP
How long is my flat fee mls listing for? Our standard listing agreement is for 12 months. If you want to list for a shorter period of time, you are welcome to choose how long you want to list for. We typically do not list properties for longer than 12 months, but we will allow you to extend your listing indefinitely at no additional charge if it is close to expiring.
How much time does it take to get listed on the MLS and the internet sites? Typically we can get your listing loaded into the MLS within 1-2 business days of receiving all of the paperwork from you. Realtor.com and the other internet websites upload their data from the MLS. Listings often take 4-5 business days to show up on these websites.
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(Copyright © 2009. Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor ® in Orlando and Central Florida.
407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com We Buy Houses Florida
We sell foreclosure, short sale, and bank owned REO house home throughout Central Florida, metro Orlando, and the Space Coast. We sell and list Central Florida real estate and Orlando real estate. Free list of foreclosure and short sale houses available. Our firm also provides flat fee MLS listings, For Sale By Owner, and menu-based services in most parts of Florida.
We can provide you a free list of foreclosure, bank owned REO, short sale deals, handyman special, and great steal deals on homes and investment properties. The Central Florida real estate market is full of awesome foreclosure deals.
Sign up for our Central Florida free foreclosure list here.
If you are looking for a detailed list of the latest foreclosure properties in the Central Florida and metro Orlando area, you have found the right place. Our firm has been a Florida investor real estate company for well over a decade now. We have sold thousands of properties throughout Central Florida to buyers and investors looking for a fantastic deal. With the market the way it is right now, sellers and banks are extremely motivated to unload their inventory and sell you their foreclosure home for a fraction of what they are worth.
Whether it be a short sale, a foreclosure house, bank reposessed house, or just a great deal in your neighborhood, we can help you find a deal on the property you are looking for.
This is what we need from you in order to provide you a foreclosure list meeting your individual needs:
(1) The location of where you are looking to buy - city, county, or zip codes.
(2) The price range you are looking to spend in.
(3) The property type you want - single-family house, condo, multi-family, commercial, vacant land, etc.
(4) Your contact information - name, phone #, and email address.
That is it. Then we are ready to get started. Our office has been focusing on investment properties and great deals since 1996 when we started in business. Find out more about our investor friendly services here.
Give us a friendly call or an email, and we can get you started on your next great deal. Or sign up to our email "hot property" list above. Orlando home foreclosure deals are everywhere.
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(Copyright © 2009. Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor ® in Orlando and Central Florida.
407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com We Buy Houses Florida
We sell foreclosure, short sale, and bank owned REO house home throughout Central Florida, metro Orlando, and the Space Coast. We sell and list Central Florida real estate and Orlando real estate. Free list of foreclosure and short sale houses available. Our firm also provides flat fee MLS listings, For Sale By Owner, and menu-based services in most parts of Florida.
Wow, I am impressed. Well maybe just a little bit. Mayor Dyer's proposed 2009/2010 Orlando budget is actually about $50 million less than last year's. Finally a lightbulb went off in his head or maybe reality hit just a tad.
Last year at this time, myself along with a group of local real estate investor and Realtors were gearing up for a big tax protest at the City of Orlando's budget hearings. This year while they are apparently holding the millage rate the same, they did raise a ton of fees from permits, parking meters, utilities, etc. But at least they are actually reducing the budget for the first time ever since Buddy Dyer became the city's mayor. Back in 2008 I did send in An open letter to Orlando Mayor Dyer and all Orlando City Commissioners along with a tea party teabag. I never did get a response to that letter, but I do see that many of the cost cutting ideas I wrote in that letter are actually being implemented by the city. Even though the tax protest was not successful, maybe it was just enough to get the city a little bit back on track this year. The tea parties earlier this year probably helped a bunch too.
Now the city's 3 unions are of course fighting any spending cuts tooth & nail. Which is expected. City of Orlando employees have some of the best benefits anywhere in Central Florida (pension plans, fully funded healthcare, lots of vacation and holidays off, company cars, etc.) My big question is why does the city even allow their employees to be unionized? The unions only benefit the employees and are of no benefit whatsoever to the taxpayers. Just simply not renew their stinking contract when it comes due. And if they threaten to walk, then threaten them right back with a merger of services with Orange County and a massive layoff. That will get their attention big time.
One of my big pet peeves is the fact that many city police officers and other employees get a "company car" to drive back and forth from their homes even if they live far outside the city limits. Some employees drive as far away as Deland, Cocoa, and Kissimmee - all on the taxpayer's dime. For a mere $70-$90 per month the employees get full usage of a city owned vehicle including free car insurance, gas, wear & tear, etc. I read in the Orlando Sentinel just this morning that now the city is going to require the employees to pay full cost if they want a "company car." Good for them! Of course these union employees are sounding like a bunch of crybabies, but come on - what do they want next? For the taxpayers to go grocery shopping for them too? Give me a break!
The city still has plenty of cost cutting to be doing because the budget is still nearly double what it was when Mayor Dyer took office, but we should all encourage him to continue to cut costs and expenses out of the City of Orlando's bloated budget. And definitely lower all the crazy fees. Budget hearings are coming in September, so be ready to speak up.
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(Copyright © 2009. Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor ® in Orlando and Central Florida.
407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com We Buy Houses Florida
We sell foreclosure, short sale, and bank owned REO house home throughout Central Florida, metro Orlando, and the Space Coast. We sell and list Central Florida real estate and Orlando real estate. Free list of foreclosure and short sale houses available. Our firm also provides flat fee MLS listings, For Sale By Owner, and menu-based services in most parts of Florida.
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Full service and investor-friendly Realtor - Sand Dollar Realty Group. Serving Central Florida / metro Orlando for rentals, foreclosures, short sales, REO, wholesaling, creative finance & flat fee MLS
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