New Tampa Arts Festival

The first New Tampa Arts Festival is scheduled for this fall at the Palm Lake Office Building, under the oaks at 15310 Amberly Drive on November 18, & 19. This new festival will be displaying and selling works of up to 100 artists. So, mark your calendars and remember to take your check books with you!

S. Pasco / Wesley Chapel County Road Widenings

The widening of County Line Road from Bruce B. Downs to the Trout Creek bridge is now planned to begin in April of 2007. The Trout Creek bridge is between the communities of Northwood and The Lakes. Included in this planned widening is an additional left turn lane from County Line Road to North on Bruce B. Downs.

The $38 million widening of Bruce B. Downs from County Line Road to S.R. 54 is now under review by the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

Once completed these road widenings for those of us living in South Pasco will have easier access to I-75 at S.R. 56.

www.myrealtorintampa.com

Three NEW Area Malls Update

The Cypress Creek Town Center shown to the left, a planned 1.3 million square ft. Regional Mall continues to plod forward.
The location of the planned mall is at I-75 & S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel. Next step is a September 26th appointment with the board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District. (Swiftmud).




The proposed Shops at Wiregrass mall located at Bruce B. Downs and S.R. 56, is just a few miles east of the Cypress Creek Town Center. After the construction of JC Penney, the mall has been slow to get approvals for the proposed construction of the rest of the mall. Total square footage for this mall is reported to be 800,000.



Lastly, the planned mall at C.R. 54 & I-75, also in Wesley Chapel, has a planned 800,000 square feet. Demolition of some previous structures at the location has begun.






All three malls will look to attracting customers from the prestigious community of New Tampa. I believe at one point all three proposed malls had planned opening dates of 2007. In my opinion that is unlikely.

Real Estate Humor

With property tax bills coming out shortly, I thought it appropriate to provide the following link for a show containing some REAL ESTATE HUMOR! (Click on the red link to the left.)

To forward this as a link to your friends, click on the white arrow below:

Enjoy! Compliments of Russ Perlowski, Exit KG Realty, www.MyRealtorInTampa.com

July Tampa Home Prices

The Greater Tampa Association of Realtors released the following AVERAGE home sales by neighborhood for homes sold in July, 2006:

New Tampa: $421,810.
Pasco County: $364,393.
Lutz: $455,654.
Carrollwood: $338,754.

Average Days on the Market for these neighborhoods ranged from 57-65.
Thinking about Selling or Buying a home? Contact Russ Perlowski, Exit KG Realty, (813) 494-2124.

www.MyRealtorInTampa.com

New Tampa Skate Park at Tampa Palms

The New Tampa Community Park, located off of Commerce Park Boulevard in Tampa Palms will include a skateboard facility. Plans are to complete the skate park over the next year and it will also include BMX bike riding.

I-75 & Bruce B Downs Flyover Ramp In New Tampa

Construction on the Southbound FLYOVER ramp over Bruce B. Downs & Interstate 75 should begin in 2007. Recently, bids were received from $39 million to $47.5 million. When originally approved, the project had an estimated cost of only $29 million.

This flyover ramp will allow commuters traveling southbound on Bruce B. Downs to access I-75 Southbound without stopping at a light. This should make access much easier for New Tampa home owners.

Construction is estimated to take two years.

Russ Perlowski, Exit KG Realty (813) 494-2124

New Tampa Sports Complex at Live Oak

The New Tampa Sports Complex, under construction at Live Oak is a joint project of Hillsborough County schools and the parks department. The complex will have four ball fields, a football field, track and other facilities. In a recent meeting it was announced that the ball fields were scheduled to be completed for Spring of 2007, but a representative from the New Tampa Little League asked if the fields could be ready in February. The county parks department indicated that they would try to open the fields sooner than planned.

Russ Perlowski, Exit KG Realty, (813) 494-2124 www.MyRealtorInTampa.com

Virtual Tour of New Tampa

Click on VIRTUAL TOUR for a brief tour of New Tampa.

Advance Voting for September 5, 2006 Election

Advance voting for the September 5, 2006 Election runs from August 21 to September 2.

Here are several locations in the New Tampa area that will be open:

Hillsborough County: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Lutz Branch Library, 101 W. Lutz-Lake Fern Road
New Tampa Regional Library, 10001 Cross Creek Blvd.

Pasco County: 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. M-F; 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday

Land O Lakes Professional Center, 4111 Land O lakes Blvd., Suite 105
Wesley Chapel Office, 5325 Village Market

Check with your Supervisor of Elections office for other locations.

Tampa Real Estate Blog

Interested in knowing more about the Tampa Real Estate Market? New homes? Resales?

Give me a call:

Russ Perlowski , Exit KG Realty www.myrealtorintampa.com r_perlowski@msn.com




Technorati Profile

Bruce B. Downs Road Widening

The Hillsborough County widening of Bruce B. Downs in New Tampa to 8 lanes, is scheduled for construction in 2008. Phase I will be from Palm Springs Boulevard (Tampa Palms) to Pebble Creek Drive.

In part, due to area bicyclists concerns, a 3 foot shoulder has been added. Of course, with the current price of gas we may all be riding bicycles on Bruce B. Downs by 2008!

Russ Perlowski Exit KG Realty

www.MyRealtorInTampa.com (813) 494-2124

New Schools in New Tampa / Wesley Chapel

The newest Middle School, located in Wiregrass Ranch at Meadow Pointe is scheduled to open this week. The second photo is of the Wiregrass High School also located in the same location with a scheduled opening of Jan. 2007

Tampa Neighborhood Home Sales Values for June 2006

The Greater Tampa Association of Realtors, recently posted the following information on the June AVERAGE sales prices for homes by neighborhood:

• New Tampa: $454,801.
• S.Tampa/Davis Islands: $643,167.
• Pasco (Including Wesley Chapel) $258,624.
• Town & Country $266,023.
• Carrollwood $342,725.
• Lutz/North West $470,314.
• Temple Terrace $234,006.
• Brandon $291,961.

This data is provided for informational purposes only and should be verified prior to entering into a contract.

Russ Perlowski: Exit KG Realty. www.MyRealtorInTampa.com

New Tampa Homes Photo tours

Interested in seeing some photos of new homes currently on the market? I have created two links:

While visiting the local builders to take the photos for the following virtual tours, these two local residents stopped by to greet me! I might say that they were a very friendly couple and very accomodating with posing for my camera!

www.realestateshows.com/81697

and

www.realestateshows.com/81700

Hillsborough County Raises Impact Fees

The long anticipated increase in impact fees on new home construction was approved by Hillsborough County commissioners. After 20 years of no increase, the impact fees will be increased from the ridiculously low figure of $196 for a 3 bedroom home.

The new impact fees for schools wil increase to $2,000. on a home between 2,000 and 2,499 effective November 1, and will double to $4,000. on August 1, 2007. After full implementation, the fee is expected to raise $43 million per year.

In contract, the Tampa Tribune quotes Keven Robles of McCar Homes, who stated that: "his company pays $12,000. in impact fees for every home it builds in Pasco County. Of that, $4,300 goes toward new school construction,......up from $1,900 last year.

Of course, we all anticipate that these fees will be passed on by the builders to the future new home buyers.

Pasco Property Tax Cut Update

Yesterday, Pasco County commissioners voted to trim some $6 million from the proposed $1.1 billion budget. If they achieve this reduction, this will mean even lower property taxes than previously proposed and posted on this blog.

The current rate is $6.68 per $1,000. of valuation and the latest proposed reduction will lower that rate to $5.99. The budget will be approved in September, so we will have to wait until then to know the final figure.

Russ Perlowski Exit KG Realty www.MyRealtorInTampa.com

Hillsborough County Property Tax Rate Proposal

Hillsborough County's estimated budget for this coming year is a record $4 billion. With some $30 million in additional revenue from higher property assessments and new construction, proposals to cut the property tax rate fell on deaf ears with county commissioners.

Commissioner Blair proposed a 1 mill cut (equaling a $100.00 reduction per $100,000 of assessed home value.). Blair's plea included the comment: "It's the people's money"! Blair then proposed a half mill cut stating: "That's the rock bottom I can sleep with tonight".

Clearly no other commissioner was concerned about sleeping well that evening as no second to his motion was made. Previously commissioners agreed to cut the rate by 2/10ths of a mill. I guess that's their opinion of what is "the people's money.

The tax rate will be set this Thursday, and I doubt that there will be a run on no-doze by county commisioners between now and that meeting.

Pasco County Property Millage Tax Rates Proposed to Drop

With a $1.1 billion budget, the highest in Pasco County's history, county officials may be adopting a decrease in the tax rate. The proposed budget will take effect on October 1st and would be the 6th year in a row that Pasco homeowners will see a reduction in the property tax rate.

The proposed rax rate would drop to $6.24 oer $1,000. of property valuation which represents a 44 cent decrease from the current rate. Most Pasco residents also pay a municipal fire service tax and the proposed rate represents a 6 cent reduction per $1,000. of valuation.

The final budget should be approved in September.

Interested in buying or selling a home with all that money that you may be saving next year?

Contact: Russ Perlowski, Exit KG Realty. (813) 494-2124

www.MyRealtorInTampa.com

Tampa Condominiums in New Tampa

The condominium conversion rage in New Tampa continues. There are approximately 10 complexes that are selling condos and all are competing for Buyers. As a result they are offering a lot of incentives to buyers. I meet with Condo Sales Representatives on a regular basis.

Buying a condominium is a bit more complex in some ways compared to buying a single family detached home. It is important that your realtor be experienced in condominium sales and even better if the realtor has experience working for an owner/developer as a sales representative too. A lot more questions need to be asked when buying a condominium; especially a condo conversion than the price, and the HOA fees! For my photo tour of condos currently on the market, please click on:
http://www.realestateshows.com/79804 .
Also visit my website at www.MyRealtorInTampa.com, and click on the Tampa Condominiums For Sale Button!


Downtown Tampa continues with new proposals for construction of high rise condominiums. The most recent is a local development group proposing a 28 story building with over 400 residential units and parking. Prices have not been released for this proposed building yet, but another recent proposed building touted prices from $200,000 for a one bedroom unit.

New Tampa Community Council seeks Candidates for Board of Directors

Members of the NTCC ( New Tampa Community Council ) interested in becoming a Board member should contact Vince Heilman. Vince's e-mail is: vince@apexity.com and his telephone number is 787-4127.

There are only two requirements to be a candidate:

1. Be interested in the community and maintaining our quality of life in New Tampa
2. Be a member in good standing with the Council

The nominating committee will interview candidates and present a slate to the Board in august, with ballots to be mailed to all members in the beginning of September.

Northwood Residents seek control over Northwood Palms Blvd

Plans by the Spanos Corp. to build aprtments on S.R. 56, north of Northwood including the extension of Northwood Palms Boulevard are being opposed by many Northwood residents. A contingency of Northwood residents showed up this week at the Pasco County Commission's meeting to voice their opposition over fears of increased traffic and a possible decrease in their property values.

Some members of the Commission explained that they understood the concerns of the residents, but could only provide some traffic calming such as roundabouts, etc. The Commission further explained that the purpose of the topic at the meeting was strictly to discuss a height and buffer requirement for the proposed apartments.

Tampa Homes Sales

The Greater Tampa Association of Realtors (GTAR) published the following Tampa home sales data for the month of May: (This does not include data on Tampa New Home Sales.

New Tampa Home Sales in May: 77 Avg. Sales Price: $411,538 Avg. Days on Market: 49
Pasco County Home Sales " " 283 Avg. Sales Price: $256,891 Avg. Days on Market 55
(Includes Wesley Chapel)

Total Sales in the Month of May reported by GTAR: 1,613 Avg Sales Price: $283,856

Interested in Buying or Selling a Home? Contact Russ Perlowski, Exit KG Realty:

www.MyRealtorInTampa.com

(813) 494-2124

New Tampa / Wesley Chapel Tennis Stadium

Plans for a 5,000 seat, 24 acre Pasco County National Tennis Stadium in Wesley Chapel, next to Saddlebrook Resort are moving forward. According to the Tampa Tribune, the original cost of the project was $5.7 million and will be operated by the nonprofit Saddlebrook Sports foundation. The next step is for the Southwest Florida Water Management District to give its approval at the end of July.

Russ Perlowski: Exit KG Realty

www.MyRealtorInTampa.com

Granny-flats Property Tax Break for Pasco County Homes

Pasco County commissioners unanimously approved an ordinance allowing full time residents to apply for tax exemptions for "inlaw suites" built after January of 2003 for use by older relatives. A Florida State law passed in 2002 allows counties to offer exemptions up to 20%.

Prior to putting on that addition for Granny, check with the Pasco County Property Appraiser's office for specific details.