Lakeland Real Estate Blog by Petra

First-Time Homebuyers - Claim your $8000 Tax Credit on your 2008 Tax Return

First-Time Homebuyers listen up! It is now the best time to buy homes in Lakeland, Bartow, Winter Haven, and all the surrounding cities in Polk County, Florida.

1.  Prices for Homes in Lakeland, Florida and throughout Polk County have dropped to 2004 level.
2.  Interest rates are at an all time low, lingering around 5%
3.  Housing Inventory have reached it’s highest level
4.  Now, you can deduct $8,000 when buying your first Lakeland home.

Also, check out the "newsflash" from the IRS!

The Internal Revenue Service announced today that an expanded tax break is available for eligible First-Time Homebuyers. You don’t have to wait until next year to receive your $8,000 tax credit and the best news of it all you don’t have to pay it back, according to IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman.

Lakeland Florida has an abundance of homes available for sale with home prices falling back to 2004 level. Low interest rates and great available mortgage programs such as VA, FHA and USDA you don’t want to miss out on this great opportunity to own your first home.

Copyright © 2009 http://www.petranorris.com| All Rights Reserved

First-Time Homebuyers - Claim your $8000 Tax Credit on your 2008 Tax Return

Petra Norris - Realtor®

Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker

CDV TransAtlantic, Inc.

P.O. Box 92050 - Lakeland, FL 33804-2050 Telephone (863) 618-6919

Lakeland Florida Homes for Sale - Weekly Update 02/15-02/21/09

Hi folks! Here are the numbers of my weekly update. The numbers of homes newly marketed have decreased from the previous week of 94 homes to 51 homes listed with area Realtors®. The average sales price for the newly listed homes is $184,268 or $91.35 per square foot.

Currently, Lakeland’s total inventory as of Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 continued to decline modestly to 2,199 homes listed for sale. The average sales price is $215,633 and with an average size of a home is 1,863 square feet, which calculates to $115.75 per square foot.

1 condominium listed at a sales price of $177,000

3 mobile homes listed with an average sales price of $54,900

47 single family homes with an average price of $192,680

Lakeland has seen a steady increase of its numbers for distress properties on the market. Such properties are found in every price range and this is the case with our priciest home newly listed. A 2007 custom built pool home by Mark Brown located in the Grasslands Golf Club Community; it features 4 bedrooms and 4 ½ baths with over 4,500 square feet of living space currently offered for $995,000. On the contrary, the cheapest home on the market newly on the market is a bank-owned 2 bedroom 1 bath home which is listed for $24,500 - $39.26 per square foot.

For more information, please read the rest of this article here!

Lear, Inc. - Theater Performance Presented by Harrison School for the Arts in Lakeland Florida

There are folks that call Shakespeare’s “King Lear:” his greatest work; some folks call it the darkest, most compelling tragedy ever written. D. A. Ward’s contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic saga of pride and greed has been cast at Harrison School for the Arts. This biting tale renamed “Lear Inc.” is set amid the sleek, high-tech world of a military defense contractor’s corrupt corporate family clan. ”Lear, Inc.” unveils a workplace of treachery, lust, fraud, avarice, and . . . murder!

Vice Principal for Harrison School for the Arts Daryl Ward and author of this contemporary adaptation said, “Shakespeare’s work is meant to be acted, so you need to see it played out in front of you,” ”In ‘Lear, Inc.’ I tried to consciously create scenes that work on a physical level, but also on a mental and emotional level - you have to experience the work as if you are a part of it.”

For more information and pictures from the dress rehearsal, please click here and continue to read

Photo credit and permission of Andy Glogower

A Place to Relax - Lake Morton in Lakeland Florida

Lake Morton named after John P. Morton of Louisville, Kentucky is the center of Lakeland’s historic Lake Morton District areas, which extends from Florida Southern College encompassed by tree-lined brick streets showcasing recently renovated many astonishing fine historic Victorian homes, brick homes, older bungalows, cottages and Mediterranean style homes that were constructed in the early 1920’s stretching to downtown Lakeland.

The immaculate spherical 40-acre Lake Morton is just a short distance away from downtown, a selection of its 1 mile shoreline was recently restored with rock material to prevent erosion and plants for aquatic vegetation planted along the shoreline. Lake Morton serves as a bird sanctuary and is the home of the world-famous swans along with birds, ducks, geese, white pelicans, and other species. So please remember, while driving around Lake Morton, keep in mind that swans, geese and ducks do have the right of way.

Lake Morton is the setting of the annual Mayfaire-by-the-Lake festival, which is held generally the weekend of Mother’s Day. The neighborhood is surrounded by historic homes, businesses, Lakeland Chamber of Commerce, Lakeland Public Library, and Polk Museum of Art, churches, senior assisted living and apartments.

Although no fishing and boating allowed. Lake Morton with its picturesque setting gives you tranquility and a feel of relaxation. Next time when you are in Lakeland Florida, head on to Lake Morton – bring your family, take a walk, and feed the birds and a have a picnic, too. It’s a perfect place to spend quality time with your family and don’t forget the camera - you might just get a glimpse of a white ibis or a flock of white pelicans.

Look! - The bird is hanging out with the turtle

Grey Herons are part of Lake Morton in Lakeland Florida

It's bird gathering time on Lake Morton

Lakeland Florida is surely a great place to live!

Copyright © 2009 http://www.petranorris.com| All Rights Reserved |

A Place to Relax - Lake Morton in Lakeland Florida

Petra Norris – Realtor®

Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker

CDV TransAtlantic, Inc.

P.O. Box 92050 – Lakeland, FL 33804-2050 Telephone (863) 618-6919

Have You Been Hugged Lately - To hug or not to hug? 

Getting hugs from my children, husband, and especially my grandkids makes my day and I love every minute of it.

When I grew up, I really can't remember my parents, my siblings and I were huggers. Even when we visited our aunts, uncles and cousins we greeted with a handshake but that doesn't mean that we didn't love each other. Come to think of it now, when visiting with friends or hanging together there were no hugs either - strange? Not really, that doesn't make me unapproachable or untouchable - I'm quiet and reserved, however I am a people person and very outgoing.

Time has changed - I have changed.... The social scene has changed... friends running into each other share hugs, you hug someone when you run into them, you hug when visiting, you hug when friends come visit, you hug when they leave, you hug before going to the bathroom...maybe not. Full frontal hugs, Total body hugs, and Heartfelt hugs... which is your type?

I've noticed there is a lot more hugging going on these days. More notable in politics, especially since 9/11 when former President Bush comfort those by giving hugs which was needed amongst the ones who seeked his comfort and just recently, when President Obama spoke during a town hall meeting in Ft. Myers, FL by reaching out to a lady by hugging and kissing her cheek when she asked for his help.  In the entertainment world, hosts hug the contestants after being critiqued by the judges.

Has your style of greeting changed? How do you greet your client at first contact and is the greeting different i.e., after a signed listing agreement or giving your seller or buyer a bear hug after a closing?

Is hugging appropriate in the real estate business?

At first contact, I do greet my client with a friendly smile and a handshake. Meeting with business associates is done with a smile and a handshake. When meeting with a client after first contact, I will never be the first one to initiate a hug that doesn't mean that I don't hug in return. To me, timing is everything, it must be appropriate and both huggers must be comfortable with it. 

Copyright © 2009 http://www.petranorris.com| All Rights Reserved | 

Have You Been Hugged Lately - To hug or not to hug? 

Petra Norris - Realtor®

 Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker

CDV TransAtlantic, Inc.

P.O. Box 92050 - Lakeland, FL 33804-2050 

Telephone (863) 618-6919

Helping Florida Homeowners - President's Homeowner and Stability Plan 

The $789 billion economic stimulus plan was signed on February 17th, 2009 by President Obama during his visit to Denver, CO.

Help for Homeowners across America, especially in states such as Florida, Arizona and California is on its way as it was announced today. While visiting Phoenix, AZ President Obama announced the $75 billion in mortgage relief plan to help approximately 9 million homeowners from loosing their homes. This plan is designed to help folks, who owe more than their current home value with refinancing and reorganizing their current loan to avoid foreclosure.

This new plan will not help every Lakeland Florida homeowner, this program is limited to loans held or secured by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. This plan will not help you if you did not live in the home, it will not help if you were taking risk such a flipping homes, or if you knew you could not afford the home

Now, I'm sure you are thinking right now "How I can get help?"

There are rules of course and details are scheduled to be announced by March 4th, 2009 - Mark your calendar!

In the meantime, there are Frequently Asked Questions posted you may want to read about:

I'm current on my mortgage  payments, but the value of my Florida home decreased - can I get help?

Am I elgible to refinance Lakeland Florida home?

Can I still qualify to refinance my home, if I have a first and second mortgage under this plan? 

Copyright © 2009 http://www.petranorris.com| All Rights Reserved 

Helping Florida Homeowners - President's Homeowner and Stability Plan

Petra Norris - Realtor®

 Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker

CDV TransAtlantic, Inc.

P.O. Box 92050 - Lakeland, FL 33804-2050  

Telephone (863) 618-6919

Hi folks! Here are the numbers of my weekly update. The numbers of homes newly marketed have increased from the previous week of 61 homes to 94 homes listed with area Realtors®. The average sales price for the newly listed homes is $157,516 or $92.30 per square foot.

Currently, Lakeland’s total inventory as of Wednesday, February 18th, 2009 declined to 2,204 homes listed for sale. The average sales price is $214,417 and with an average size of a home is 1,861 square feet, which calculates to $115.22 per square foot.

4 condominiums listed at an average sales price of $136,425

8 mobile homes listed with an average sales price of $106,137

2 townhomes/villas with an average sales price of $109,400

80 single family homes with an average price of $164,911

Now, you always find homes in different price ranges and it would be too extensive to list them all here. Therefore, without further ordure the priciest home that came newly on the market is a 2001 custom built pool home located in the Eaglebrooke Golf Club Community; featuring 4 bedrooms and 2 ½ baths with over 3,000 square feet of living space currently offered for $549,000. On the contrary, the second cheapest home on the market in all of Lakeland is a bank-owned 3 bedroom 1 bath home which is listed for $12,500 - $14.14 per square foot.

For more information, please read the rest of this article here!

Lakeland Florida Housing Report for January 2009 - Buyer Opportunities - Selle Challenges

The news is out about the Lakeland Florida Real Estate Market, buyer opportunities will flourish with continuously decreasing prices! Lakeland's average sold prices have fallen to $131,335 ($65.60 per sq.ft.); although only a slight drop of 2 ¼% from the previous month, it is a significant stumble of 24% for the month of January of the previous year. The amount of 113 sold Lakeland homes has also taken a dive of about 16% from the previous month of December 2008.

Sellers still facing challenges by chasing the market to pricing the home accordingly of what has been sold. Moreover, competition of the evolving market of distressed homes, more importantly the bank-owned (REO) properties that are dictating the real estate market here in Lakeland with 51 properties sold in January. With over 2500 properties currently for sale and pending, we are experiencing a 24 month of supply for the regular homes and distressed homes.

Let's break it down for you to see the supply and demand for common properties for sale versus the distressed market.

Common properties only - Inventory active and pending 1892 homes resulting in 39 month of supply.

Distressed properties - Inventory active and pending 618 homes resulting in an 11 month supply.

Take a look at my spreadsheet below. I've separated the report by zip code instead of school zones; it gives you a more accurate report in my opinion. The data for this report was obtained from the Mid-Florida Regional MLS, it is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. This report does not include "For Sale By Owner". The numbers highlighted in pink represents the zip codes where average sold prices have exceeded.

Distressed properties are homes in pre-foreclosure, foreclosure, bank-owned, as well as short sales - Of the 113 homes sold last month in Lakeland, 60 distressed homes were sold with an average sales price of $110,930 ($60.07 per sq.ft.) compared to only 15 homes that were sold the previous year, due to Short Sales and/or Foreclosures. Interestingly to note that 51 out of 60 properties were bank-owned (REO) and these homes make up 53% in total sales in Lakeland, Florida.

There are currently 462 homes facing foreclosure. 159 homes are in pending status waiting for bank or lender approval to close.

For more information on the location of these sold properties in Lakeland, price and size of the home click on map picture which leads you to the interactive Community Walk map created by Chuck Welch of Lakeland Local.

 Let's take a look at last month sold report for the surrounding cities in Polk County:

Winter Haven - 44 properties sold - average sold price $114,306 - average $68.30 per sq.ft.

Bartow - 7 properties sold - average sold price $78,921 average $50.83 per sq.ft.

Mulberry - 10 properties sold - average sold price $124,289 - average $71.29 per sq.ft.

Auburndale - 9 properties sold - average sold price $139,600 - average $59.22 per sq.ft.

Polk City - 1 property sold - average sold price $75,000 - $52.45 per sq.ft.

If you are interested in a specific area or neighborhood, feel free to contact me at petra@petranorris.com or click the search button below.

Copyright © 2009 http://www.petranorris.com| All Rights Reserved|

Lakeland Florida Housing Report for January 2009 - Buyer Opportunities - Selle Challenges

Petra Norris - CDV TransAtlantic, Inc. - Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker -

PO Box 92050 - Lakeland, FL 33804-2050 -

Telephone (863) 619-6918

Annual Pancake Festival - Kiwanis Club of Lakeland Florida 

Can you imagine having pancake for breakfast, lunch or dinner? Just this past Saturday, my daughter and I were invited by a good friend Maria Negron of North American Title, who provided us with tickets to have pancakes for breakfast, lunch or dinner at Tigertown in Lakeland Florida. We decided to go and beat the crowd, who mainly eat pancakes for breakfast. Well....we were in for a surprise, folks not only eat it for breakfast, it was busy at all times of the day.

The Kiwanis Club of Lakeland started early morning around 7:00 a.m. to serve over 25,000 pancakes along with 100 gallons of syrup, massive amounts of cups of coffee and juices to about 8,000 people here in Lakeland in just one day. As we made it through the reception table towards the tent where volunteers of the Kiwanis Club flipped pancakes, gallons and gallons of pancake batters were brought in to keep the grilles cooking to feed the people graving for pancakes such as myself. There were plenty of stations set up, so waiting for fresh pancakes did not take a long time and off we were to get our tasty sausages.    

Fresh coffee and juices were plentiful as well even at a time were closing time of 7:00 p.m. was near.

Check out the pictures I took if you missed the pancake festival - It sure was a great success and the pancakes and sausages were very good.

Copyright © 2009 http://www.petranorris.com| All Rights Reserved | 

Annual Pancake Festival - Kiwanis Club of Lakeland Florida

Petra Norris - Realtor® 

 Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker

CDV TransAtlantic, Inc.

P.O. Box 92050 - Lakeland, FL 33804-2050  

Telephone (863) 618-6919

It's time again for my weekly update on newly properties on market. The numbers of homes newly marketed continue to decline from the previous week of 67 homes to 61 homes listed with area Realtors®; carrying an average sales price of $184,743 or $99.31 per square foot. The total amount of current inventory as of Wednesday, February 11^th, 2009 declined to 2,214 homes listed for sale. The average sales price is $215,889 and with an average size of a home is 1,863 square feet, which calculates to $115.88 per square foot.  

1 duplex listed at $56,700

1 condo listed at $245,000

2 mobile homes listed with an average sales price of $97,250

3 townhomes/villas with an average sales price of $96,600

54 single family homes with an average price of $194,136

The priciest home that came newly on the market is a newly renovated 1980 Spanish Mediterranean pool home located in the Lone Palm Golf Club community; featuring 4 bedrooms and 4 baths with over 3,600 square feet of living space currently offered for $999,900.  On the contrary, the cheapest home newly on the market is a bank-owned 3 bedroom 1 bath home listed for $37,500 - $35.24 per square foot. The data for this report was obtained from the Mid-Florida Regional MLS, it is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. This report does not include "For Sale By Owner".  

For more information read the rest of this entry here.