Call the Orlando Avenue Top Team today for expert advice…First Time Home Buying?

Ready to buy your first home? It can be a scary time and the process can be intimidating. First you have to decide how much you can afford, then you need to decide on the location you want to live.  There are hundreds of decisions that can make even the most experienced buyer buckle under the pressure.  It doesn’t have to be intimidating.  Working with an experienced expert is the best thing that you can do. 

• Help you understand the tax advantages of buying over renting
• Give you resources to help you make informed decisions
• Help you decide how much can you really afford, explain how to qualify for a mortgage
• Explain how to get approved for financing, down payments and reccomend financing options available to you
• Explain why it is not a good idea to purchase a new car, change banks or jobs during this process
• Guide you through the process of finding a home

We are ready to help you in every aspect of your first home search, just call us today to start working with one of our experts!  Remember that there are no dumb questions!

Star Wars Tango sparks an important question… When exactly is the upcoming Star Wars Weekends?

Public Transportation Options in the Greater Orlando Area

There are many public transportation in the Greater Orlando area when you arrive at the Orlando International Airport.  Being one of the most popular vacation destinations with almost 500 hotels with 113,000 plus guest rooms, there are 26,000 vacation homes available for rent and there are 16,000 vacation ownership units, there are many places to stay here. 

If you are staying in the area of the parks and you are not renting a car, you can use the buses or taxis, for the latest information click here.  For more information about the Public Transportation — LYNX for the latest schedules and public transportation option in the Greater Orlando, Florida area.  If you come into the area and heading out of town, there are many providers of shuttles to other Florida areas, click here for more information on the out of town shuttle providers.

june 28-29, 2007 at the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport

• Henry Cisneros, Chairman, CityView
• Consuelo Castillo Kickbush, President, Educational Achievement Services
• Mark B. Rosenberg, Ph.D., Chancellor, State University System of Florida
• Marisa Rivera-Albert, President, National Hispana Leadership Institute
• Meg Crofton, President, Walt Disney World
• Emilio Gonzalez, Ph.D., Director, United States Immigration and Naturalization Services
• Juan Hernández, Ph.D., President, Organization for Hispanic Advancement
• Robert I. Lufrano, M.D., Chairman Of The Board And Chief Executive Officer, Blue Cross And Blue Shield Of Florida, Inc.

Ferrari Club to Host 4th Annual Celebration Exotic Car Festival

April 20-22, 2007 in Celebration will feature a show of 200 exotic cars.  Some of the manufactures will be Bugatti, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Bently, Rolls Royce, Maserati, Lotus among many others…

There is a welcome dinner on the 20th at Columbia Restaurant, the concource will be on Saturday followed by an annual dinner at the Atlantic Dance Hall on Disney’s Boardwalk with a private concert by Tone Loc, John Cafferty and Loverboy.  On Sunday there will be a competitive fun road rally capped off by a gourmet lunch at Cafe’ D’Antonio’s.

Great American Pie Festival

The Great American Pie Festival will be held in Celebration Florida this year!  What is your favorite pie?  Is it chocolate pie?  How about Key Lime Pie?  Strawberry or is it the classic apple pie?  One of our favorites is ice cream pie — especially in the heat of the summer!  Whatever your favorite is — we bet you will find it here! 

This exciting two day event will have every pie imaginable!  General admission to this festival is free, there will be a buffet of award-winning pies and the cost to partake in that is $8 Adults, $6 Seniors (over 65) and $4 for chidren ages 5-10. 

Lectures held in the second floor Max & Buddy Room

One great benefit to having Florida Hospital Celebration Health are the lectures that are held here.  Loated at 400 Celebration Place at the time mentioned with light refreshments being served.  To reserve your space, please call (407) 303-4452.

Here is a handly list of Golf Courses in the Greater Orlando Area…

Golf.  A favorite past time of many. Many people come to Orlando to go to one of the many Amusement Parks that dot the landscape.  But there is another reason to come here — to play Golf of course! 

1. Enjoy the wildlife but keep your distance from alligators.  If your ball ends up anywhere near an alligator you are entitled to a free drop…
2. Play target golf – many courses make up for short yardage with interesting hazards!
3. Do not replace your divots — instead fill with sand.  The grass grows differently and will die.
4. The white sand in the bunkers is softer, so put a little more on the blast shot out of the trap!
5. One that living in the Greater Orlando area gives you many options to play this popular sport…

• Celebration Golf Club – just next to Disney, designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr and Jr., first class service, pro shop and 18 holes of championship golf.
• Champions Gate – 36 holes of Greg Norman designed golf.
• Grand Cypress
• To book any of these Orange County National Courses visit their on-line booking
  • Panther Lake – Get this there are no homes on this Golf Course!  18 Holes of Golf available check out the Course Layout and the Panther Lake Scorecard for yourself!
  • Tooth Short
  • Crocked Cat – another wonderful course to test your golfing skills Crocked Cat’s Scorecare and Course Layout for you to check out before booking your tee time!

Check out this resource before leaving home….

The Internet, how did we ever live without it?  The Orlando Avenue Top Team utilizes Broadband technology from Sprint to keep connected to the Internet.  We decided that this was the best way to stay connected — always available, always on.  You never know when you are out looking at property when you might just need to do a search on a property!  But before that we had a list of free WiFi Hot Spots around town that we could connect to the Internet when needed.

Now you don’t have to suffer like we have in the past via trial and error and keeping our hidden little list of places that we could connect to the Internet when in a pinch.   CNet has a handy resource to find hotspots on their site!  You may search the greater Orlando Florida area or anywhere for that matter!

Here is a list of several resources that you might find useful in Orange County.

Orange County includes the following communities:  Apopka, Azalea Park, Bay Hill, Bay Lake (part of Walt Disney World), Bithlo, Belle Isle, Christmas, Conway, Doctor Phillips , Eatonville, Edgewood, Fairview Shores, Goldenrod, Gotha, Holden Heights, Hunters Creek, Lake Butler, Lake Buena Vista (part of Walt Disney World), Lake Hart, Lockhart, Meadow Woods, Maitland, Oakland, Ocoee, Orlando, Oak Ridge, Orlo Vista, Paradise Heights, Pine Castle, Plymouth, Sky Lake, South Apopka, Southchase, Taft, Tangelo Park, Tangerine, Tildenville, Union Park, University Park, Vineland, Wedgefield, Williamsburg, Windermere, Winter Garden, Winter Park, and Zellwood

• Orlando Regional Chamber – www.orlando.org
• Regional Information – www.myregion.org
• Orlando Downtown Development www.downtownorlando.com
• Convention & Visitors Bureau www.orlandoinfo.com 
• General Information 407-836-3111 www.orangecountyfl.com
• Orange County Health Department
• School Board 407-317-3200 www.ocos.k12.fl.us
• Electric Service
  • Progress Energy 407-629-1010 www.progress-energy.com
  • Orlando Utilities Commission 407-423-9018 www.ouc.com
• Cable Service Bright House Networks 407-291-2500 www.mybrighthouse.com
• Telephone Bell South 888-757-6500 www.bellsouth.com
• Automobile Registration 407-623-1102
• Voter Registration 407-836.2070
• Orange County Public Library

Don’t live in Orange County but one of the many other counties here in Central Florida?  Here
are the links to several
other counties information that you might find useful:

• Brevard County
  •  Brevard county communities include:  Barefoot Bay, Cape Canaveral, Canaveral Groves, Cocoa, Cocoa Beach, Cocoa West, Grant-Valkaria, Indialantic, Indian Harbour Beach, Malabar, Melbourne, Melbourne Beach, Melbourne Village, Merritt Island (formerly Merritt’s Island), Micco, Mims, Port St. John, Satalite Beach, Sharpes, South Patrick Shores, Suntree Palm Shores, Rockledge, Titusville, West Melbourne, June Park, Kennedy Space Center, and VieraPalm Bay (formerly Tillman)
• Lake County
  • Located in Central Florida the communities in Lake County include:  Astatula, Altoona, Astor, Citrus Ridge, Clermont, Eustis, Ferndale, Fruitland Park, Groveland , Howey-in-the-Hills, Lady Lake, Lake Kathryn, Lake Mack-Forest Hills, Lanier, Lisbon, Leesburg, Mascotte, Minneola, Montverde, Mount Dora,  Mount Plymouth, Okahumpka, Orange Bend, Paisley, Pine Lakes, Pittman, Silver Lake, Sorrento, Tavares, The Villages, Umatilla  and Yalaha.
• Oseola County
  • Oseola County communities include:  Buenaventura Lakes, Campbell, Celebration, Deer Park, Harmony, Holopaw, Kenansville, Kissimmee, Poinciana, St. Cloud and Yeehaw Junction.
• Polk County
  • Polk County is situated in the heart of Central Florida between Orlando and Tampa.  Communities in Polk County include:  Auburndale, Bartow, Davenport, Dundee, Eagle Lake, Fort Meade, Frostproof, Haines City, Highland Park, Hillcrest Heights, Lake Alfred, Lake Hamilton, Lakeland, Lake Wales, Mulberry, Poinciana, Polk City, and Winter Haven. 
• Seminole County

  • Seminole County includes the following communities:  Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Lake Mary, Longwood, Oviedo, Sanford, Winter Springs, Forest City, Heathrow, Tuskawilla, Chuluota, Fern Park, Geneva, Midway, Wekiva Springs and Winter Park. 

• Volusia County
  • Volusia County includes these communities:  Alamana ,Ariel, Bakerstown, Barberville, Benson Junction, Beresford, Bethune Beach, Blake, Blue Springs Landing, Bluffton, Boden, Cassadaga, Conner

    sville, Conrad, Cow Creek, DeLeon Springs, Cypress Lake Estates, Daisy lake, Daytona Highridge Estates, Daytona Park Estates, Deadman Landing, Deland Highlands, DeLand Southwest, DeLeon Springs, DeLeon Springs Heights, Daytona Beach Shores, Daytona Beach, DeBary, DeLand, Deltona, Edgewater, Edgewater Junction, Eldora, Eldridge, Ellinor Village, Emporia, Enterprise, Farmton, Fatio, Fort Florida, Glencoe, Glenwood, Halifax Estates, Harbor Oaks, Hucomer, Holly Hill, Isleboro, Kalamazoo, Lake Ashby Shores, Lemon Bluff, Lake Helen, Maytown, Mission City, Mound Grove, National Gardens, North DeLand, New Smyrna Beach, Oak Hill, Orange City, Ormond Beach,Orange City Hills, Ormond-By-The-Sea, Ortona, Osteen, Packwood Place, Pennichaw, Pierson, Ponce Inlet, Port Orange, Riverside, Samsula, Seabreeze, Senyah, Seville, Stone Island, Suger Mill Estates, South Daytona, Talahassee Yuch, Tomoka Estates, Valdez, Volusia, West DeLand and Wilbur By-The-Sea.