Florida Real Estate, Tourism and Immigration News

The ride isn’t going to be open for some time yet and the movie is not yet in theatres yet costumed charaters of Homer, Marge and the rest of the gang have already been out in full force at Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida.

Not just characters, the closure of Back to the Future and the fencing off left no signs of what was to come, however…now the barrier is emblazoned with Simpson’s characters and "el Barto" graffiti to spice it up a little! The ride is scheduled to open next spring.

However thats not all!! 7-Eleven, the great chain of convenience store/gas station combos is converting a dozen of its stores to the fictional "Kwik-E-Mart" which will stock along with most of its 6000 stores in the US, Krusty-O’s, Buzz Cola, Homer’s infamous Pink Iced Donut and Apu’s Squishee! and more! These previously fictional items have now come to life!

One of the 7-Elevens on route 535 (Vineland Road) in Orlando has one of these Kwik-E-Marts…We shall have to go and check it out! Check out the link to the 7-Eleven website below and see more!

Orlando Area Home Sales may have slowed but the median price is on the up again! The median price for existing home sales in the area is up 1.61% on June 2006. This is great news, however inventory is at a historic high topping 25,000 homes – inventory has risen by 41% this year alone! Now it would take 18 months to clear inventory when 2 years ago there was only 2 months of inventory.

This is great news, home values are stable and on a slight increase fueled by international buyers and wealthy buyers purchasing second homes. All taking advantage of the huge selection of home. A true buyer market.

From an international buyers perspective – especially a Brits – the exchange rate is at its best, with the dollar the weakest in over quarter of a century.

The time to buy is now!

BREAKING NEWS!

As I write this blog post the dollar is currently trading at $2.0346 to £1.00 this is historic and makes it the perfect time to buy a Florida property, an opportunity like this is not to be missed!

Call today to refinance/look at purchasing a property in Florida.

Don’t Delay!

The Peabody Hotel on International Drive has long planned to expand its room number due to its proximity to the Orange County Convention Center, The plans which have been in the pipeline for around a decade include building a 32 story tower with just short of 1000 more rooms, which will overshadow the exisiting 27 story tower. More parking and facilities are planned including a walkway ‘skybridge’ over International Drive to the Convention Center on the other side.

This is great news as development of International Drive Continues more convention quality hotel rooms are sought. The recent Real Estate Boom coupled with the downturn in travel after Sept. 11th, meant that the plans were put on hold until they were more viable.

This development will be watched closely as this luxurious hotel expands!

Epcot purists are rejoicing that the Mickey Mouse hand and Wand along with the stylised lettering ‘Epcot’ are to be removed. The silver sphere will revert to its oringinal shape as Epcot purists state that the 50 ton hand and wand structure which was put in place for the Disney millenium celebrations in 2000 has served its purpose was not part of Epcots true design and image.

Epcot will be celebrating its 25th – Silver! – Annivesary this coming October so it is felt that the timing is right, especially as it co-incides with the refurbishment of the Spaceship Earth attraction contained within the sphere.

As reported by the Orlando Sentinel

An unheard of technology in the UK due to radio wave broadcasting/licensing restrictions is a hit in the USA. Despite FCC regulations in the US on the usage of radio waves a company ‘ActRadio’ has developed – and been using for many years – a value added real estate marketing tool which works within these restrictions.

Their ‘Talking House’ application uses a transmitter which is no larger than a common household VCR that broadcasts audio over AM radio over just a few dozen yards in a continuous loop for buyers who are driving by a property to tune in to hear more about the homes features.

You will know that the property has this technology by an additional sign to the usual ‘For Sale’ garb, a sign with ‘Talking House’ or words to that effect will state a AM band frequency to tune into..once you turn on your radio and tune in you can hear valuable – and most importantly, memorable – information on the property.

The technology broadcasts on the ‘AM’ band due to FCC regulations and can broadcast on most frequencies in that band providing it does not interfere with local radio stations. This allows homes side by side to use these units on separate frequencies without conflict.

From a Brit’s perspective the first time you see and hear this technology in action it is pretty neat. It is such a unique selling tool – it stops those ‘drive by viewing’ question, where you ask.. "I wonder how many bedroom sit has?".."I wonder if it has a pool?" and so on!

Of course the technology has other uses but this is one of its largest applications. Check out www.ActRadio.com for more information on the technology and www.talkinghouse.com for more information on its usage as a real estate technology.

There are tons of websites on Florida, however this one is written by Brits living in the UK who are absolutely mad on Disney and all things Florida. It is a great resource for information on Florida, they have their own blog, discussion group and information on tickets to the theme parks as well as Florida news and events.