NewsBriefs

Party at Your Condo?

Condominium developers from Destin to Panama City Beach to Las Vegas where a surplus of new condominiums are hitting the market are doing everything they can to attract real estate buyers.

Developers and their associated real estate brokers are holding parties to attract new buyers to their developments. The parties are an attempt to gain interest in their large condominium developments, which have been hard hit by the slowing real estate market. Some are offering gifts to just attend the party.

The condo pre-construction real estate market has seen five years of record sales in Florida amid rising pre-construction prices set by the developers.

Will Freeport Boom or Bust?

Builders and developers have flocked to Freeport, a community 15 miles north of Destin buying up large parcels of property for future developments, including a brother of one of the area’s most prestigious developments.

The Freeport boom looked like a sure thing until the local real estate market slowed. One major developer still has more than 5,000 homes planned for the area.

Developer Larry Davis half brother Robert Davis developed Seaside 25 years ago.

Larry envisions a village-style development much like Seaside to be built in Freeport in the future. Freeport may still be a bit of a boomtown mainly because of a marketing campaign aimed at real estate investors who want to purchase properties in the area without the hassles of possible hurricane threats.

The Walton County Chamber of Commerce is giving Freeport it’s full support, announcing the new name of "Coastal Inland Heights" for the area. The new name will be the way marketeers’ sell the area to investors, builders and developers from outside the area.

There’s a new boss in Florida real estate. Gov. Jeb Bush has appointed Danille Carroll of Tallahassee as the state's new condominium ombudsman.

Carroll was the general counsel of Florida’s Department of Health. The ombudsman's job is to help private condo owners understand their legal rights, monitor disputes and act as a neutral party in relationship to condo owners, associations and board members.

Carroll’s main job may soon turn into assisting condominium associations with their hurricane insurance, which is expected to make substantial rate hikes in the near future.