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 ... 02/18/2009

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 differe... 02/18/2009

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 dictat... 02/16/2009

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... 02/16/2009

Lakeland's spring training baseball season kicks off  Thursday, February 19th with the "Tiger BBQ." The menu for the barbeque consists of roast corn, shrimp, bbq ribs, char-broiled steaks, itilian sausage, & baked beans. The location will be at Joker Marchant Stadium & the gates will open at 6 p.m.The cost of admission will be $50 & children 12 & under can eat for $25. See you there! Don't forget to visit Central Florida's premier real estate website at www.GateArty.com for all your real estate needs! 02/13/2009

The Kiwanis Club of Lakeland is hosting its 51st annual Pancake Festival this Saturday, February 14th. The event begins at 7 a.m. & you can chow down until 7 p.m. Tickets cost $5 & that entitles you to all the pancakes & sausages you can eat. Children's tickets are only $2. To avoid the crowds, you may want to go around lunch time or after. It's really crowded in the morning. See you at Hanger #2 at Tiger Town . . . adjacent to Joker Marchant Stadium. Don't forget to visit Central Florida's premier real estate website at www.GateArty.com for all your real estate needs! 02/13/2009

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 11th, 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 ... 02/11/2009

Everywhere is going to be better for some.  Unfortunately, if unemployment continues to rise, it will force more foreclosures.  No job, no mortgage payment, right?  If foreclosures continue, the pressure on home values has to continue downward.  I am optimistic, but logical too.  I think there are patches of good sprinkled everywhere and I'm focusing on those patches.  Will things bounce back in 2009?  I sure hope so, but I also believe it will be the tail end of 2009 not any time soon.  Obama is correct to look to create jobs, but his first two ideas don't seem like they will yield many jobs.  His first idea is to help kids go to college.  How does that create jobs?  Secondly, put medical records on-line.  Not many jobs here either.  Public works jobs make sense, but we have plenty of ... 02/10/2009

Lakeland Florida Local Event - First Friday "Open Mic Night" - February 6, 2009 American Idol in Lakeland?  Well, I do know for fact that Lakeland has some great local amateur talents. As it is with every First Friday of the month, the Downtown Lakeland Partnership hosts this special free event at Munn Park. February's theme is "Open Mic Night"; local amateur musicians of all ages are encouraged to take part in this celebration on February 6th, 2009 to see, who will be voted the next "American Idol in Lakeland". You, the public can purchase tickets for only 25¢ each Downtown Lakeland at a designated area.  Voting for your favorite artist is really simple. All you have to do is put as many tickets you have or want to give in the musician's tip jar, while listening to their favorite tunes... 02/04/2009

Lakeland Florida Homes for Sale - Weekly Update on New Listings 01/25/09 - 01/31/09 Weekly information for newly listed homes for sale in Lakeland!  The numbers of homes newly marketed showed a decline from the previous week of 70 homes to 67 homes listed with area Realtors®. The total amount of current inventory as of Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 declined to 2,242 homes listed for sale from the previous week. 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.   Types of homes newly listed: 3 mobile homes listed with an average sales price of $82,600 9 townhomes/villas listed with an average sales price of $124,773 55 single family homes with an average price of $243,596 Remember there is a home for ev... 02/03/2009

Just a quick note to intoduce myself.  My name is Jeni Lamberto. I'm a Re/Max Agent out of Lakeland, Florida.  I look forward to having some great discussions with all of you!     -Jeni realestateincentralflorida.com   01/30/2009

Highland Homes is still excited about the tremendous success they had in December 2008. The Florida home builder sold 56 homes in December, making it their 2nd most successful month in 2008. As real estate industry professionals, you know it is completely unusual to have December be one of your top earning months for the year. So, what did Highland Homes do differently in December? They implemented a Social Media Marketing Campaign in November and decreased their advertising budget. Those are the only two things that changed with the company. It seems to be a proven point that promoting your brand online works wonders for increasing on-site traffic and online traffic. While the social media marketing campaign helped, it was still the Highland Homes' quality product that did all the sel... 01/30/2009

Lakeland Florida - Harrison School for the Arts – Winter Dance Concert   With all performances that Harrison School for the Arts has to offer, the upcoming performance of the Winter Dance Concert brings out the Best for Harrison Dance Department. Guest artists such as Peter Pucci, who is the Artistic Director of PucciPlus and was principal in Pilobolus and David Sutherland, who performed with the Stuttgart Ballet joined faculty members Susan Olson and Gloria Haigler to bring their works on the main stage of the Lois Cowles Harrison Center for the Visual and Performing Arts. Credit - Flickr Photo by Innerglow In addition some wonderful choreographed movements and dances, a performance of Concerto 622 by Lar Lubovitch will be presented by the junior repertory class. Did you know that Harr... 01/29/2009

Lakeland Florida Homes Newly Listed - Weekly Update for 01/18/09 Weekly information for newly listed homes!  The numbers of homes newly marketed had an upwards trend from the previous week of 62 homes to 70 homes listed with area Realtors®. The total amount of current inventory held steady to 2,300 homes listed for sale. The average sales price is $214,506 and with an average size of a home is 1,853 square feet, which calculates to $115.76 per square foot.   Types of homes newly listed: 2 Duplex listed at an average price of $79,900 3 condos with an average price of $237,666 2 mobile homes listed with an average sales price of $71,400 1 townhome/villa listed with sales price of $115,000 62 single family homes with an average price of $207,497 Remember there is a home for every buyer!  T... 01/26/2009

Lakeland Florida - Annual Pig Fest at Joker Marchant Stadium Where in the world around this time of the year would you find the best barbeque?  Ready for food, entertainment for the whole family to enjoy! Then look no further and come' on down to the 2009 Lakeland Pig Festival on January 30th - 31st,   2009. A tad bit of history lesson! It started all in 1994 when a small group of local businessmen attended the Blue Ridge Mountain town of Tyron, N.C. to watch a barbeque championship. From then on, a festival committee was established and Lakeland's Pig Festival welcomed its first barbeque competitors in 1997. Since then, professional teams and backyard teams travel great distances to compete separate in now five different categories in Ribs (loin and spare), Pork (shoulder and butt), Ch... 01/24/2009

Lakeland Florida Homes New on Market - Weekly Update for 01/11/09 My weekly update in a flash!  The numbers of homes recently listed decreased from the previous week of 74 homes to 62 homes listed with area Realtors®. The total amount of current inventory also seen a decrease from the previous week to 2,304 homes listed for sale. The average sales price is $214,540 and with an average size of a home is 1,853 square feet, which calculates to $115.78 per square foot.   Types of homes newly listed: 3 condos with an average price of $164,933 7 mobile homes listed with an average sales price of $111,114 2 townhomes/villas with an average sales price of $202,450 50 single family homes with an average price of $202,450 Let' break down the weekly update of Lakeland homes newly listed.  The top ... 01/21/2009

Lakeland Florida - Review of December 2008 Real Estate Market Well folks, care for the numbers of Lakeland's average sold prices. Prices kept on falling at its lowest in December significantly falling to $134,365, a 30% stumble from the previous year. This is the lowest I've seen so far for 2008 closing out this eventful year of foreclosure crisis, wall street and main street crisis, mortgage mess and bail outs.   The average square foot of the sold homes for December was $76.03 per sq. ft., compared to the listing price of $81.36 per sq. ft. in Lakeland which is within the approximate numbers of our neighboring cities of Lakeland, such as Winter Haven, Auburndale, Bartow, Mulberry, and Polk City. Although real estate agents have a tendency to say that December is one of the slowest mon... 01/20/2009

With the current economy and glut of homes on the market, it is not the best of times to be selling your home.  However, if you must due to foreclosure or a pending move, there are things that you can do to make your home more marketable and give you a seller's edge.  With today's environment a seller cannot afford to have a home that does not show its best features.    Reality is, if the buyer does not see what they like, they can go down the street and find many more to choose from.  How you decorate to live in your home and how you decorate to sell are very different.  Whatever degree of staging you do can make a significant difference in how quickly and for how much your home sells.  Listed below are ten tips on staging your home to sell. 1)       Curb Appeal - Flower beds and scrub... 01/18/2009

Twitter Local - Lakeland Florida Tweetup Meet How did I found out about Tweetup meet? Twitter - Chuck Welch sent out a tweet and wrote a blog about this meeting. The day of the meeting I noticed that there was also an article in the local newspaper. Granted, we're not the folks in Silicon Valley where Twitter predominantly rules the social media micro blogging.... but we sure were a fine group of about 30 people attending the local "Tweetup Meet" at the Black & Brew in Lakeland. Organized by a local blogger group in Lakeland Florida, Chuck Welch, who by the way creates the local maps included in my market reports, organized and spearheaded this great meeting. People from a variety background such as, news reporters, freelance writers and bloggers, social media marketing experts, clergy,... 01/16/2009

For the first time ever, contemporary art images from "The Best of Beijing: Contemporary Chinese Art" collection will be seen in the United State, and Florida Southern College's Melvin Art Gallery is the site chosen to host the event. The "Best of Beijing" exhibition consists of 34 works by 30 artists, many of them large-scale paintings and photographs. The works were assembled by two galleries, Red Gate Gallery in Beijing and the Byron Cohen Gallery in Kansas City, Mo., and brought to Miami Beach for the Art Basel festival last month. James Rogers, chairman of the Division of Fine, Applied and Performing Arts at FSC, had seen some of the works on a trip to Beijing in 2004 and realized it would be affordable to bring them to Lakeland from Miami. The Byron Cohen collection wi... 01/14/2009