US Housing starts posted the biggest increase in more than two years in April. According to the Associated Press, the Commerce Department reported Friday that housing construction rose by 8.2 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.03 million units. Most of the growth came from a big jump in apartment construction (apartment building is defined as two or more units), which rose by 36 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 340,000 units.
Applications for building permits, considered a good sign of future activity, also recorded an increase in April, rising by 4.9 percent to 978,000 units. It was the first gain in permits in five months.
By region of the U.S., construction posted the largest gain in the Midwest, an increase of 24.4 percent when compared to March. Construction rose 18.5 percent in the West and was up 3.6 percent in the South. However, construction fell by 12.7 percent in the Northeast.
Now the interesting thing for me is why haven't we seen any of this? Oh yes - sorry - it's good news!
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(Copyright © 2008 By Simon L Conway All Rights Reserved.)
Please give me a call if you have questions about the Central Florida real estate market. You can reach me on 407 876 8200. Also visit my web site at www.simonconway.net or www.move2orlando.net
Tune in to Simon on The Simon Conway Radio Experience on am1520 WHIM. The show airs in Central Florida at 4pm Eastern and is also available worldwide at http://www.1520whim.com/
Regular readers of my blog will know that apart from anything else I do, I coach the Dr Phillips High School Ladies Tennis Team.
Very shortly I will be leaving for the Banquet and Awards ceremony and also to say goodbye and good luck to our two retiring seniors who each gave four years service to the team.
Let me start with our season. 11-2 regular season record. 14 points, a trophy and progression to the regional semi-finals at our District Tournament. Two girls in the State Championship who both progressed to the semi-finals - or if you prefer, the final four. The best season in ten years.
More importantly, my team did everything with class. They were polite and welcoming to the point where opposition coaches congratulated me. They supported their team mates at every opportunity and they made me extremely proud.
Today we will kick back and share some stories and hand out some awards. There will be laughter and I know there will be tears from our two seniors and probably other members of the team as well.
This has been a tremendous three months and I will miss these ladies. Somehow I feel that this year's team will hold reunions and I know I will be there.
Finally - if you get the opportunity to give back to your community, I strongly urge you to consider coaching anything in High School. This brings me incredible joy and I just wish there was money in it because if there was, I would do nothing else!
GO PANTHERS!
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(Copyright © 2008 By Simon L Conway All Rights Reserved.)
Please give me a call if you have questions about the Central Florida real estate market. You can reach me on 407 876 8200. Also visit my web site at http://www.simonconway.net/ or http://www.move2orlando.net/
Tune in to Simon on The Home Team Radio Show at our new home on 660 WORL and syndicated on am1520 WHIM. The show airs in Central Florida at 3pm Eastern and is also available worldwide at http://www.worl660.com/ or at http://www.1520whim.com/
Yes I had a bit of a rant on my radio show today - this time about Open Houses. You see we all know (Realtors tha is) that less than 1% of all buyers find their homes through an open house. And so the question has always been, "why hold one?"
The answers have been many and varied but come down to the following.
The seller wants one
I might pick up new buyer clients
I might pick up new seller clients
I might raise my profile in a neighborhood I am interested in working.
I have had many heated discussions about this topic and now this week, Realtor Magazine comes out with a story called "Secret Formula for Open Houses".
Essentially there are five "secrets" in holding one if you believe the magazine (one of the five includes "advertising" and another says "yard signs - I actually had to check it was no longer April 1!). Nowhere does it mention actually selling the subject house. It does however say the following:
In other words, USE your seller to market yourself. EXPOSE your seller to strangers walking around their home who may steal something or do damage. It's enough now. It should stop.
I have deliberately made this post public because I want consumers to see what Realtor Magazine had to say.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(Copyright © 2008 By Simon L Conway All Rights Reserved.)
Please give me a call if you have questions about the Central Florida real estate market. You can reach me on 407 876 8200. Also visit my web site at http://www.simonconway.net/ or http://www.move2orlando.net/
Tune in to Simon on The Home Team Radio Show at our new home on 660 WORL and syndicated on am1520 WHIM. The show airs in Central Florida at 3pm Eastern and is also available worldwide at http://www.worl660.com/ or at http://www.1520whim.com/
This week saw the District tournament for high school tennis in Orange county. Regular readers of my blog will know I am the coach of the Dr Phillips High School ladies team and we entered this tournament with two objectives - to advance to the regional play offs and to win a trophy. We achieved both.
In fact of the seven finals that took place last week, my girls appeared in six of them. Two of my girls can bypass the Regionals because they have qualified for the State Championship. Yes I will be coaching at State this year!
The most important thing to me however is that my team performed with class. The ladies represented their school and themselves very well indeed. And in a week where high school girls have been seen on our television screens beating up a "friend", I thought I would bring this moment of positivity to you all.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend and GO PANTHERS!
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(Copyright © 2008 By Simon L Conway All Rights Reserved.)
Please give me a call if you have questions about the Central Florida real estate market. You can reach me on 407 876 8200. Also visit my web site at http://www.simonconway.net/ or http://www.move2orlando.net/
Tune in to Simon on The Home Team Radio Show at our new home on 660 WORL and syndicated on am1520 WHIM. The show airs in Central Florida at 3pm Eastern and is also available worldwide at http://www.worl660.com/ or at http://www.1520whim.com/
It is reasonable to suggest that Disney knows a good thing when it sees it. And this is particularly good news for Florida, because Disney sees profit in home building!
The Orlando Sentinel is reporting as follows: "If you'd like to live in a luxury house next door to Mickey Mouse, Florida's Disney World is about to make your dream come true.
The proposed property will be built on the banks of Walt Disney World canals. The project could encompass as many as 373 single-family homes, 200 multifamily homes, and 60 time-share units."
Some of these houses will be multi-million Dollar homes and I am sure Disney is looking to Britain and Europe for some of the takers as the weak Dollar continues to make property acquisition here in Florida almost fire sale pricing.
The Sentinel again: "A Four-Seasons Hotel is expected to anchor the resort. Marilyn Waters, spokeswoman for Walt Disney Imagineering, the Disney office that handles real-estate development, compared this proposed resort to the Four Seasons-anchored Aviara community in San Diego, a high-end vacation community for people rich enough to have multimillion-dollar second or third homes."
If you would like more information on this or other Central Florida or Disney area real estate then call me - Simon Conway - on 407 876 8200 or check out my website at http://www.simonconway.net/ or http://www.move2orlando.net/
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(Copyright © 2008 By Simon L Conway All Rights Reserved.)
Please give me a call if you have questions about the Central Florida real estate market. You can reach me on 407 876 8200. Also visit my web site at http://www.simonconway.net/ or http://www.move2orlando.net/
Tune in to Simon on The Home Team Radio Show at our new home on 660 WORL and syndicated on am1520 WHIM. The show airs in Central Florida at 3pm Eastern and is also available worldwide at http://www.worl660.com/ or at http://www.1520whim.com/
I am successful because I genuinely believe that exceptional customer service is an absolute right for people who are entrusting what is often the biggest financial outlay they will ever make - to me.
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