Cheesecake for $1.50 at the Cheesecake Factory!

Visit the Winter Park or Millenia locations to celebrate the Cheesecake Factory’s 30th Anniversary.
For today only, Wednesday July 30th, cheesecake will be on sale for $1.50!

Time to Buy before October 1st in East Orlando

Buyers take notice- Bush has signed the ‘Housing Rescue Bill.’ This bill eliminates home sellers option to pay (gift) your downpayment. From October 1st on, you will be responsible for paying the required 3.5% downpayment on your FHA loan. If you are looking to buy, now is the time!

Free Search of Homes for Sale in Orlando

If you have not been prequalified by a lender, please email me for a list of recommended loan consultants who specialize in FHA loans.

Do your towels have a bit of mildew smell to them?

I couldn’t understand why my towels weren’t smelling their freshest. I wasn’t reusing them and I was letting them thoroughly dry. I tried all sorts of ways to clean them (vinegar, baking soda, bleach, etc) to no avail.

Then I discovered the real culprit… my front load washing machine. I wasn’t cleaning it properly and couldn’t because the fungus/mildew was beyond me and my bleach’s reach.

One wash with this fabulous product called SmellyWash saved the day. I do not have any affiliation with this company. I am just so happy I do not have to replace all my towels or keep doing vinegar washes! I just wanted to pass the word- Try it today!

www.smellywasher.com

Thank You Senator Jim DeMint for Trying to Stand Up for US!

Can someone send me a link of any speeches on this important issue by Senator Martinez, Senator Nelson, or Representative Feeney? Thanks in advance!

The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008

For days I have been trying to write about the new housing rescue bill, but my blood pressure goes off the charts each time.

Looks like we have another win for the lobbyists and another loss for the American taxpayer.

Here is a link to the 7 bills rolled into what is being called Housing Rescue Reform:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/thomas
UPDATE- I can not directly link to it, so start here http://thomas.loc.gov/ and do a search for HR 3221.

Highlight:
As of October 1st, all your credit card transactions will be reported to the IRS

Avalon Lakes Homes for Sale

5 Bedrooms/2.5 Baths
2,790 Square Feet

$222,300

 

6 Bedrooms/3 Baths
2,832 Square Feet

$234,000

 

5 Bedrooms/4.5 Baths
2,840 Square Feet

$240,000

 

4 Bedrooms/3 Baths
2,793 Square Feet

$249,000

 

Email your East Orlando Realtor to see any one of these Avalon Lakes, Orlando Florida homes today!

Innovation Way / Alafaya Trail East Orlando Update (Version 2.4)

First, lets get some background  on what Innovation Way is according to Orange County, FL:
Innovation Way I
Background & Purpose The purpose of this project is to enhance the public transportation network and provide safe and efficient flow of vehicular traffic within the East Orange County area.
This project will include the construction of a 4-lane urban roadway on new alignment from a location approximately 1,000 feet north of the Beachline Expressway ( SR 528 ) to the intersection of Alafaya Trail and Avalon Park Boulevard.
This new urban road will also feature sidewalks, on-road bike paths and a closed drainage system.Project Limits
This project extends from north of the Beachline Expressway ( SR 528 ) to Avalon Park Boulevard, a distance of approximately 4.81 miles.
Estimated Project Costs
Roadway: $22,805,325.75
Utilities:    $7,293,627.50

Now that we have a bit of background… lets examine what this $30 million is going to do for us East Orlando Residents:
1. Enhance public transportation- What is this??? A bus that picks up no one and takes them to Waterford Lakes Town Center or a bus that picks up shoppers and takes them to a dead end?
2. Provide efficient flow of traffic- hmm… this is a dead end road that stops somewhere short of SR 528. Although this dead end road has bike lanes (I do love these!) and sidewalks, to my knowledge, drivers, bicyclists, and walkers are possibly going to get great views of power lines, a power plant, and perhaps even a jail.

Now you are probably saying- Dawn, that’s not fair of you. Of course, there is the interchange being built to connect Innovation Way/Alafaya Trail traffic onto SR 528- or at least a service road that will connect our new dead end to an existing interchange!
Or is there??? There is nothing of the sort within the Orange County Government site. So I decided to write to some officials.

1. District 4 Commissioner Linda Stewart- Remember the quote last year: “Orange County has spent $26 million to expand Alafaya Trail and we’re not going to have it go down the drain to a dead end.” “… soon after March or April of 2008, we will be able to drive down Alafaya to the Beachline.”  Well I remember that ( not that I particularly care to drive down a dead end to nowhere road by April 2008 ) and wrote to her anyway. She quickly deferred me to the transportation dept. (to whom I had already written and told her of that fact in my letter). Thanks for that help!

2. Several members of the Public Transportation Department- I found two of these officials to be quite helpful with my enquiry: Mr. Brian Sanders and Mr. Jim Harrison.

And now, drum roll please…   Version 2.4 Update is:
“The proposed completion date for the new interchange at Alafaya Trail/Innovation Way is May 2010.  Of course, it is a complex project, and the schedule may change over time.
We are currently working with the property owner to have a connection to the existing interchange at Dallas open sooner, but we haven’t completed negotiations on that so we can’t provide any proposed completion date.”

And there you have it.

Links to previous versions of Innovation Way Updates:
Innovation Way – East Orlando’s Longest Dead End Road
East Orlando’s Innovation Way (Alafaya Trail) Update
Alafaya Trail Extension Innovation Way Update January 2008
Have You Read the East Orlando Sun Today?

Waterford Lakes Town Center’s Summer Sidewalk Sale

Waterford Lakes Town Center’s Summer Sidewalk Sale is currently underway and will continue until Sunday, July 20th.

UPDATE (Friday 3:00): Just returned from lunch at Waterford and this is the WORST sale I have ever seen. Maybe 3 stores had some sort of sidewalk display.

Foreclosures in East Orlando

One of the many bank-owned properties available

For a complete listing of bank-owned single family homes available in East Orlando’s 32828 postal code, please email me and type ‘Foreclosure List Wanted’ in the subject line.

Timber Creek High Student Receives Perfect SAT Score

 Congratulations to Santhosh Balasubramanian for acing the SATs!

Mr. Balasubramanian will be a senior this upcoming school year at East Orlando’s Timber Creek High School and hopes to attend Stanford the following year.