Florida Population Factors

As the aging of the U.S. population continues, migration to sunny Florida continues to expand the state’s population. Florida’s population increased from approximately 15.9 million people in 2000 to almost 19 million in 2010. Florida ranks first in the nation’s number of residents aged 65 and older and fourth in terms of total population.

Orlando, Florida, the state’s fifth largest city, increased from approximately 185,000 in 2000 to about 238,000 people according to the 2010 US Census. The greater Orlando metro area reflected more than 2.1 million people during the same period.

Orlando/Disney Area Tourism

Continued population expansion of the Orlando metropolitan area and perennially popular tourist attractions, such as Walt Disney World Resort, Universal Orlando Resort (combining Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure), Sea World, Wet ‘n Wild Water Park, and Gatorland attract millions of visitors to Orlando, nicknamed the City Beautiful.

Buying Orlando/Disney area real estate

There’s a natural reason for many people to explore a real estate purchase in the Orlando/Disney area. Young families to retired folks enjoy visiting the Orlando area. There’s always something new to experience.

The Orlando metro area is ideally designed for tourists, too. Plentiful restaurants, hotels, myriad tours and travel deals attract many vacationers to the Disney area.

Deciding to purchase real estate in any location is a major financial decision. Some Disney area real estate buyers decide to relocate and live in metro Orlando. Others decide to own real estate because of the attractive fundamentals: Orlando/Disney area real estate is likely to appreciate as a long-term investment.

FLAStay: buys, sells, and renovates Disney area homes

Knowledgeable real estate professionals assist interested buyers and sellers in achieving their goals. According to “Real Estate Investment” by John P. Wiedemer, Joseph E. Goeters, and J. Edward Graham (2011), identifying an established, reliable real estate agent is crucial to buying an attractive property at the right price in Florida.

A new buyer of Disney area real estate should understand the variety of neighborhoods and properties available. A seller in the Orlando/Disney area requires a professional real estate agency with consistent, high customer flows.

Buying the right Orlando/Disney real estate investment property is possible with the right connections. Contact FLAStay today—we’re established, reliable Disney area vacation home experts!
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Located 2 miles from Disney’s Main Gate, just north of Mystic Dunes Golf Course, and near the communities of Celebration and Reunion;this 4 bedroom/bathroom ranch is located in the beautiful Windsor Hills Reserve gated community. This exquisitely decorated home sleeps up to 8 people, and boasts an in-ground pool and spa. The community amenities include a 10,000 sq. ft. clubhouse, heated lagoon-style pool with water slide, dancing fountains, jacuzzi, 40-seat surround sound movie theater, arcade, fitness room, billiards, ping pong, putting green, sand volleyball, basketball, tennis, children’s adventure playground, and jogging trail around the entire community and lake. There’s even a sundry shop for those items you may have forgotten.This community has something for everyone!

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Modern gets the thumbs up.  

Spa-like and eco-sensitive, the  “New American Home 2012” being unveiled in Orlando this week by the National Association of Home Builders in conjunction with the International Builders’ Show, is a warmer take on the classic “White Box” of mid-20th century modern design.

“A lot of people want a spa feeling and a spa look that’s very analogous to modern,” said Luis Juaregui, a Texas-based American Institute of Architects accredited architect. The 4,200 square foot, $3.5 million gray stone and glass home has free flowing entertaining spaces,  floor to ceiling sliding glass doors, a stone staircase with open risers, clear glass balustrades and clean geometric lines, tempered by dark wood cabinets, area rugs and soft furnishings.


Still, to fit into more traditional looking neighborhoods, architects are increasingly going hybrid, mixing distinctly modern, techno-savvy interiors with colonial details, Tudor-style roofs or Craftsman-inspired touches on the exterior.

A home to call one’s own has long been part of the American Dream. But as tastes, technologies and regional preferences change, propelled by demographics and the socio-economic climate, the style, scale and comforts of that coveted real estate evolve.

During the bigger- is-better 1980s and 1990s, homes ballooned in size.  Compact single story ranch and cape cod styles gave way to ever grander two-story neo-colonials. When the economic bubble burst, they retrenched. These days, downsizing is cool; supersized McMansions towering over smaller homes are not.



Stephen Melman, director of economic services at the National Association of Home Builders said that houses shrank about 10 percent from their 2,500 square foot peak in 2007, and are expected “to get smaller and more efficient” with open floor plans, master bedrooms on the first floor and dining rooms distinguished only by a chandelier or architectural detail.

One-story ranch homes, post World War II suburbia’s signature easy style, are slowly regaining favor, thanks to first time buyers with tiny tots and aging baby boomers seeking accessibility.

Craftsman style homes, popular before World War II, are also enjoying a revival, said Gary D. Cannella, an architect in Bohemia, N.Y.  “It’s the style not the size.” Adaptable to sizable abodes or small bungalows, these one or one and a half story homes boast  low-pitched rooflines, tapered columns, oversized eaves, gables and the front porches “that everyone wants and no one sits on.”

The split level, a hallmark of suburbia in the Brady Bunch era, is nearly obsolete. Despite the aerobic benefits of tri-level living, “all you do is walk up and down stairs all day long,” Cannella says. “You can’t go anywhere without steps.”

According to Bondi, most of the money will go to current homeowners who are underwater – who owe more on a mortgage than their home’s current worth – in the form of principal reductions and/or converting their mortgage interest rate to lower levels. About $170 million will go to homeowners who lost their home in foreclosure.

The settlement applies to clients or past clients of five of the nation’s biggest banks: Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Ally Financial. Other banks may also sign on, though they have not been named.

Negotiations are ongoing. The settlement does not apply to loans held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Settlement details

Relief won’t be immediate. While the agreement calls for immediate principal reductions for first and second liens, it will take up to two months for negotiators to select an administrator to handle the logistics, up to nine months to identify eligible homeowners and contact them by mail, and up to three years to complete the process.

Underwater homeowners get relief. The agreement calls for Floridians to receive $7.6 billion from banks to pay for refinancing relief, including principal reductions; borrowers with higher interest rates will also be able to refinance at 5.25 percent. While banks will handle the disbursements, state Attorneys General will oversee the process.

Foreclosed owners get cash. Ex-homeowners who lost a home within the past three years will receive about $2,000 each even if their foreclosure did not involve allegations of robo-signing. Critics, however, say that amount is far too low to compensate for their suffering.

Foreclosures could increase. “The immediate results are not going to be all that pleasant,” predicts Mark Vitner, an economist with Wells Fargo. “The amount of foreclosures will actually increase and there will be some additional downward pressure on home prices.” Some homeowners have lived in a home over two years as the foreclosure process crawls through Florida’s legal system. Analysts, such as Vitner, believe the just-announced settlement brings clarity to the process and banks will proceed more quickly to take back homes.

Florida oversight grows stronger. The state will collect $350 million from the settlement to pay for foreclosure prevention programs and to protect consumers.

A new website includes settlement documents, a set of frequently asked questions, breaking information, and addresses for the banks involved in the settlement. It also includes links to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac so homeowners can find out if their mortgage is included in the settlement. For more information, go to NationalMortageSettlement.com.

WASHINGTON – Jan. 26, 2011 – Consumers and businesses can brace for another two years of exceptionally low interest rates after the Federal Reserve said Wednesday it is likely to keep its rates below 1 percent until late 2014 because of the economy’s continued weakness.                                                                                                                                                                                                                

The decision means the era of historically low rates on loans – and savings – that the Fed kicked off at the peak of the financial crisis in late 2008 will run longer unless the economy improves faster than Fed policymakers predict.

The Fed said unemployment would stay near its 8.5 percent level through the end of this year and could still be in the range of 6.7 percent to 7.6 percent at the end of 2014. Housing remains depressed while growth in business investment has slowed, it said.

Meanwhile, inflation is staying below 2 percent.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke left open the possibility that the Fed could do more to fight joblessness, even at the short-term risk of inflation above the bank’s 2 percent annual target.

“There has been some encouraging news recently,” Bernanke said at a press conference. “There are positive signs, no doubt. At the same time, there are mixed signals,” as indicators such as retail sales growth have been disappointing, he said. Policymakers are also worried about Europe’s financial crisis, he said.

The Fed’s moves, and especially its decision to discuss its thinking about rate policy much more publicly than it has in the past, are laden with consequences for savers, borrowers and consumers, said PNC Financial chief economist Stuart Hoffman.

“It means that if you own certificates of deposit and you’ve bemoaned low rates, bad news – you’re going to get that this year, next year and the year after,” Hoffman said. “If you’re a borrower, very low mortgage rates are going to be here for a while. Some people may delay making decisions, but other people will plan for the future” and prepare either to buy or renovate homes, he said.

Bernanke acknowledged that savers are hurt by the low rates. “We realize that low interest rates impose a cost,” he said. “The savers in the economy are dependent on a good economy to get a good return.”

Wall Street reacted favorably to the news, pushing stocks higher and interest rates lower. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 83 points to 12,759.

The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries, which closed at 2.06 percent Tuesday, dropped as low as 1.91 percent before settling at 1.99 percent.

Most Fed governors think the economy will grow by 2.2 percent to 2.7 percent this year, with unemployment at 8.2 percent to 8.5 percent and core inflation at 1.5 percent to 1.8 percent, the Fed said.

NOT a short sale or REO. Enjoy remarkable Florida sunrises from our penthouse level screen lanai.This impeccably furnished and appointed 3 bed condo is ideally situated at the westerly edge of the complex. Highly sought after Windsor Palms Resort is near the restaurants and shops of Rt 192 and just 3 miles from Disney! Your Windsor Palms condo is just a short walk to the resort’s many amenities — heated Olympic size community pool, hot tub, kiddie pool, tennis and basketball courts plus clubhouse w/ fitness center, movie theatre, game room, pool tables, business center w/computers and internet access and so much more. Resort living in a beautiful place and an ideal location. Combine that with a gated community for security and office staff for assistance and you have found the recipe for resort living that is both luxurious and affordable. This unit is NOT a stripped and abandoned foreclosure or short sale — come see for yourself. Winter here or stay year round!

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Don’t miss this opportunity to own this spacious ground floor condo. Features include 3 bedrooms, 2 bath, over 1200 sq/ft, kitchen has breakfast counter and overlooks the dining and lounge area, Master and 2nd bedroom offers a walkin closet, Easy access to schools, shopping, restaurants, Disney attractions,Outstanding second home or vaction rental unit.

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