Celebration Home Values (Orlando: short sale, HOA fees, condo)

[mikeg453]

I was recently checking Celebration home values and was wondering if Celebration's drop in home values have been any worse than other areas of Orlando?

The reason I was asking is that I saw a three bedroom condo in the Sentinel listed for about $160,000 but it had a disclaimer that the stated the price might not reflect the total cost to acquire the property.

Is this another way of saying a short sale or does it imply that the property has a lien(s) against it beyond the bank's mortgage?

[annerk]

Celebration took HUGE drops. They were incredibly overpriced even back before the boom really got cooking--we first looked there around 2000 and they were ridiculous then, they got doubly ridiculous around 2004.

That statement might very well mean that there are further encumbrances.

[cfIfan]

Any neighbourhood which is a high priced area initially when the market falls will take a large hit in price. Realistically the prices are still high but the reason for this is you are buying in the community Disney built and you will always pay a premium for this in taxes, HOA, CDD and cost of home.

Any time you see a statement as you described, it is basically a SHORT sale and 9 times out of 10 there are additional liens attached to the property.

Good luck

[annerk]

A little more to add--when we looked in 2000 an 1800 s/f home on a postage stamp lot (zero lot line!) was selling for $400K. That same exact size home by the same builder on a 1/2 acre lot 20 miles away was selling in the $170K range. That is very telling. We looked at Celebration twice, but weren't so indoctrinated to believe that having the name "Disney" loosely attached to the home made it worth that much more.

[mikeg453]

Originally Posted by annerk

A little more to add--when we looked in 2000 an 1800 s/f home on a postage stamp lot (zero lot line!) was selling for $400K. That same exact size home by the same builder on a 1/2 acre lot 20 miles away was selling in the $170K range. That is very telling. We looked at Celebration twice, but weren't so indoctrinated to believe that having the name "Disney" loosely attached to the home made it worth that much more.

I wonder how much that same house with a zero lot line is now worth.

[annerk]

Originally Posted by mikeg453

I wonder how much that same house with a zero lot line is now worth.

They are listing for $350K and under. My guess is taht most are selling for $300K and under. The Kool-Aid is wearing off.

[Pumpkin Eater]

Well that's really not as much of a drop as other areas have experienced.

[mikeg453]

I have seen homes having $725 a month in HOA fees. I know that includes pool access and other development amenities. Does the HOA dues also handle landscaping maintenance for individual homes or is it for just common areas of the development?

[cfIfan]

In Celebration, if it is not a condo or townhome then it is not for your yard. Only common areas.

[annerk]

Originally Posted by Pumpkin Eater

Well that's really not as much of a drop as other areas have experienced.

I'm not talking about top of the market, I'm talking about homes we looked at in early 2000. That was before the bubble really began around here. On the neighborhood we ultimately bought in, homes built in 2000 were being sold for $165K. The least expensive resale now is still over $200K.

On that basis I think that Celebration was way overpriced to begin with. I also don't think they've quite hit bottom yet. Like I said, the Kool-Aid is wearing off.