Parkland Parrot

Archive for April, 2011

Amazing Turnout At Parkland Egg Hunt Sponsored By Parkland Parrot Real Estate Team

April 23, 2011 City of Parkland Egg Hunt

Amazing turnout at this year’s City of Parkland Egg Hunt event this past Saturday at Terramar Park.  The Parkland Parrot Real Estate Team was again proud to sponsor this event for the second year in a row.  Along with our friends, Dr. Joseph Bogart and Dr. Nina Hersh of Parkside Health & Wellness Center we a great time interacting with the residents of the City of Parkland.

In fact, there were over 450 children that pre-registered for this exciting event.  Over 15,000 eggs were given out to all the kids.  There were bounce houses, rock climbing, games, and even the Parkland Bunny made a guest appearance to take pictures with all of kids.

We even hired Liz of the Painted Phoenix that gave free air brush tattoos to all attendees.  If you are interested in hiring Liz for your party or special event,  we highly recommend her!  Please contact her directly at 561-670-6597 or via email at: bodyart@paintedphoenix.com The kids had fun and loved showing off their new (temporary) tattoos!  We would like to again thank the City of Parkland and specifically Colleen O’Dea for giving us the opportunity to sponsor this event for a second year.

Our Parkland Real Estate Team enjoys sponsoring many of the city events in order to give back to our community and meet our neighbors.  We also look forward to continuing our partnership with the City of Parkland in the future.

We know the numbers, we analyze the market, our clients make better decisions. If you are interested in selling or buying a home in Parkland or South Florida and are looking for experienced local Realtors, please do not hesitate to contact the Squawk at 954-609-0591 or send us a message here.

To stay updated with all Parkland real estate information, receive our blog posts via email by subscribing here. After registering, you must activate the subscription in a follow-up email.

Consequences Of Walking Away From Your Parkland Home Mortgage?

With approximately 11 million current homeowners underwater on their mortgages, not many of these individuals understand the consequences of their actions if they “walk away” from paying their mortgages.  The popular term called strategic default is when a person walks away from paying their mortgage payments, which usually results in a short sale or foreclosure.

In general, if you are considering walking away from your mortgage, the major consequences of your actions are as follows:

• Impaired credit Deficiency risks
• Deficiency Risk
• Tax consequences
• Moving costs
• Professional implications

Impaired Credit: Most people are unaware how their credit will be affected if they default on their mortgage payments.  If you instead work with your bank and do a short sale, you may be able to qualify for a new home purchase in as little as 3 years.  If you instead choose to walk away and have your home foreclosed on by the bank, your credit score will be significantly impacted for 7 to 10 years, or more.  Also, by defaulting on your mortgage, you will cause your credit card companies to possibly cancel or lower your credit limits.  As a result, you will have difficulty obtaining financing for large items such as automobiles, furniture, and of course, houses.

Deficiency Risks: If you default on your mortgage, your lender may come after you for the difference between what you owe on your mortgage and and what your short sale or foreclosure proceeds were along with legal fees and interest incurred during the process.  In the State of Florida, there is no anti-deficiency protection laws from banks or lending institutions pursuing the difference between what borrowers owe and what the home sells for in foreclosure. If you are concerned about a deficiency judgment, then it is imperative to consult with a real estate lawyer, who can provide you with the necessary legal advice for your unique situation.  Please do not consult with your neighbor or friend that just sold their home through the short sale process.  Each bank and situation is different, so please hire a real estate attorney, or ask us to refer you to one.

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Tainted Chinese Drywall Builder WCI Gets Approval To Build Parkland Heron Bay Homes

WCI Communities Gets Parkland City Approval To Finish Building In Heron Bay

The Parkland City Commission voted last Thursday night by a 3-1 vote to permit Bonita Springs-based builder, WCI, to commence building 196 homes on the land that it owns in Parkland’s Heron Bay community

Our team was present during these council meetings and could definitely feel the frustration in the air.  In particular, a former Heron Bay homeowner, John Willis, led the charge in making a valiant claim to deny WCI the right to build.  Mr. Willis, and other concerned homeowners, presented evidence that WCI executives were aware about the tainted Chinese Drywall that was being put in their homes, but instead decided not to inform buyers in order to sell more houses.

But, WCI came prepared with their attorneys and argued that the City of Parkland did not have the legal right to deny them the bid to build the 196 homes because of Chinese Drywall issues.  The city commissioners heard other disgruntled residents state their claims.  But, in the end, the city approved WCI’s bid, because they did not want to be sued by WCI.  Parkland Mayor Michael Udine was quoted in the Sun Sentinel recently as saying, “I’m in agreement with how they (the Parkland residents) feel. Our hands were completely tied. We had to do this by law.”

Earlier this month, I wrote an article that received a lot of attention from our readers entitled, Should Builder WCI Be Allowed To Finish Parkland Heron Bay Community? Remember, WCI filed bankruptcy in 2008 and has never fixed any homes with Chinese Drywall.  Unlike WCI, builder Toll Brothers, who recently bought and took over the Parkland Golf & Country Club project from WCI, has already purchased dozens of homes in the community with Chinese Drywall and is totally re-mediating them to resell.  Many upset homeowners are angered how WCI has turned a blind eye towards their handling, or lack of handling, of homes with Chinese Drywall in Heron Bay, Parkland Golf & Country Club, and other Florida communities.

These homes must be built.  Having them stay vacant will only hurt Heron Bay and the overall Parkland real estate market in the long run.  But, it will be difficult to break the stigma that is associated with WCI as being a Chinese Drywall builder that cares more about money and their business than their residents.  How as real estate professionals am I supposed to sell the great features and benefits of Heron Bay to new perspective homeowners without being honest to my own personal concerns of how WCI has publically and privately handled the Chinese Drywall issues in Parkland?  I really hope that actions speak louder than words and that WCI builds 196 amazing homes in Heron Bay and goes above and beyond the call of duty for all residents to be 100% satisifed before, during, and after the building process!

We know the numbers, we analyze the market, our clients make better decisions. If you are interested in buying in Parkland or South Florida and are looking for experienced local Realtors, please do not hesitate to contact the Squawk at 954-609-0591 or send us a message here.

To stay updated with all Parkland real estate information, receive our blog posts via email by subscribing here. After registering, you must activate the subscription in a follow-up email.

Parkland Parrot Team Sponsors Annual Egg Hunt Event This Saturday

Calling All Parkland Residents – This Saturday Annual City’s Egg Hunt Event

The City of Parkland invites all its Parkland residents to their annual Egg Hunt Event held at the Terramar Park this Saturday April 23rd The event starts at 9:00 A.M. and ends at 12:00 PM. The Parkland Parrot Real Estate Team is proud to sponsor this special event two years in a row. Even though the registration for the egg hunt is already closed, attendees may still enjoy many other activities offered by the city and the sponsors.

This year we are going to have Free Air Brush Tattoos for attendees as well as gift baskets which will be raffled at the end of the event. The city will be providing egg bags for kids to participate in the Egg Hunt. There is already 450 kids registered for the event, and there will be over 15,000 eggs available for participants who are already registered with the city for the event. Bring your kids! There will be many other activities like bounce houses, a petting zoo and a picture area for those who want a picture with the Parkland Bunny.

We would like to again thank the City of Parkland and specifically Colleen O’Dea for allowing us to sponsor the event this year along with our friends from Parkside Health & Wellness Center. We look forward to sponsoring more upcoming Parkland city events and continuing our support and involvement in the Parkland community.

We know the numbers, we analyze the market, our clients make better decisions. If you are interested in selling or buying a home in Parkland or South Florida and are looking for experienced local Realtors, please do not hesitate to contact the Squawk at 954-609-0591 or send us a message here.

To stay updated with all Parkland real estate information, receive our blog posts via email by subscribing here. After registering, you must activate the subscription in a follow-up email.

Hooray For Parkland and Broward Real Estate Home Sale Increases

March Home Sales and Prices Increase

March, 2010 was a hot local real estate market, as prices saw two consecutive month increases!  But, does this mean that the real estate market is turning around?  Have we reached the bottom?  According to the Florida Realtor Association,  existing homes sales for last month was 1,169, which was up 8 percent from this time last year.

Yesterday’s Sun-Sentinel article: Broward home sales, prices rise in March showed how many real estate companies are claiming that the overall market is showing signs of life, as we have entered into the traditional spring and summer selling seasons.  Other real estate professionals point to how the market has improved as unemployment is declining.  Also, buyers are starting to get off the real estate fence more, as they see that the bottom of the market may be very near.

Another great indicator that the market is starting to stabilize is the current home inventory.  The current available real estate home inventory int eh Broward Metro area fell by approximately 12 percent in February from January of this year.  According to Move Inc, this drop in inventory was the largest in the nation.  Of course, we know that different cities and neighborhoods are more stable than others in the county.

Bank foreclosures have been down in recent months.  But, will the shadow inventory now be released by the banks as they see the overall inventory dropping in Broward County?  If so, how will this affect the market for the coming months?  Like many of my real estate colleagues, we are ecstatic to see the market picking up in sales activity and decreases in overall available home inventory.  We hope these trends will continue in the next few months.  With mortgage interest rates still hanging around 5%, NOW is the time to buy a home.  Our Parkland real estate market is on fire, as more and more sales are taking place in our great city.  What more could you ask for than a stable Parkland real estate market, great school district, over 7 parks and recreational activities, living in a safe community, and much more?  Buy Buy Buy!

We know the numbers, we analyze the market, our clients make better decisions. If you are interested in selling or buying a home in Parkland or South Florida and are looking for experienced local Realtors, please do not hesitate to contact the Squawk at 954-609-0591 or send us a message here.

To stay updated with all Parkland real estate information, receive our blog posts via email by subscribing here. After registering, you must activate the subscription in a follow-up email.