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Simple Changes to your Solivita Home

Looking to change-up the style of your home. Small changes can make a big impact. Add a new statement rug to your dining room, living room or den. Neutral rugs are great, but how about a statement rug that can function as artwork for your floor. Buy a rug in colors that work in your room and create a warm welcoming space.   

If a statement rug seems too bold, how about statement lighting.  A new Table Lamp with lots of style, saturated color, or an interesting finish.  I have been seeing lamps with pleated linen shades, ceramic shades and shades in bold colors.  Friends just added two Art Deco Lamps with beautiful art glass backgrounds to their living room and in the evening when lit they add a lovely glow to their space.    

Add some color to your neutral furniture with the addition of throw pillows, today’s trend is to use sets of threes, two pillows on one side of the couch plus one on the other. The addition of a bit of color and pattern can add a sense of style, a touch of whimsy and interest to your otherwise neutral furniture.  

No need for new furniture, a few simple changes can really change the look of a tired room and pep up you and your space for the upcoming fall weather.  Fall – The weather we wait for.  Enjoy the rest of the summer.

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Solivita Activities

Our Activity Team has been quite busy planning fun gatherings, Wine Parties, Ladies Nights, Concerts, Chef Cooking Classes, Pub Crawls, Pool Parties, and in September we see that the beautiful event JAZZ in the Garden is in the plans.   It is hard to keep up with the creative team heading the activities and now it is easy to get tickets for events.  No need to rise at dawn, get on line, and wait for tickets, like we did for Dead Concerts, now go to solivitahoa.com home page and purchase tickets for your events as they go on sale.

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Sales In Solivita

It is a Summer slowdown in Real Estate, the summer slowdown is compounded by high interest rates and Very Hot Weather.  Homes are selling but they are remaining on the market for an average of 150 plus days.  Remember, Interest rates do not only affect the seller’s ability in Solivita to sell a home to a client but affect the buyer’s ability to sell their primary residence.  It is a domino effect.  My recommendation is to be patient, homes are selling, they are just taking a bit longer to move off the market.  We were all a bit spoiled by the crazy market of a 18 months ago when inventory was tight, and homes were selling in days.  These are the days for sellers to enjoy every Solivita Amenity, go to the pool, the gym, play golf, pickleball, visit with friends, enjoy the activities, and soon enough the perfect buyer will be at your doorstep with an offer.

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Sales in Solivita

Sales are steady, although existing home sale prices edged a bit lower year over year in May.  This is a promising sign for home shoppers, and experts do not expect nationwide price declines anytime soon.  In May, although prices elevated in the North and Midwest, prices did fall slightly in the South and West.  The Good news for Solivita homeowners and buyers, is housing prices in Solivita have remained steady.  

Thanks to an uptick in mortgage rates and elevated home pricing mixed with the housing affordability crisis, bank sector volatility, inflation, and the debt ceiling drama there is a strain on the housing market.  Homes remain on the market for more days than most seller’s desire but are selling, even with interest rates sticking between 6% and 7%.  Housing supply is holding steady despite the explosion of new homes being built, therefore the market is being sustained by low supply and a high pent-up demand.  

Single family home construction starts rose for the 3rd consecutive month indicating builder confidence is steady.  A good sign.  New home construction is taking on an increased role in the marketplace because many homeowners with loans well below current mortgage rates are electing to stay put, keeping the supply of existing homes for sale at a low level.  Best news, if you do not need a mortgage, now is still a great time to buy.

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Solivita Activities

Just want to say thank you to the Activities Staff at Solivita.  We are all having a ball at the Great Events you sponsor.  The Wine Down Concerts, the Movie Nights, the Innovative Ideas, the Shows, and all The Special Holiday Parties you throw.  Each Month when Reflections arrives it is a pleasure to look through the future events, make plans, and share memories of the events we all attended earlier.  Your team is Creative and a Great Enhancement to Living life in Solivita Style.

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Sales in Solivita

Sales are starting to perk again, let’s just hope, America “does not fall off the cliff” with any bad decisions that may be made in Washington for us and our economy. Last month 31 homes sold in Solivita and housing price adjustments were minimal. Again, houses are moving off the market from listed to sold at a good clip. Bella Verde Realty closed 14 homes and remains the “leader of the pack” in Solivita. If you are looking to buy or sell a home, summer is the perfect time. As we near the Presidential Race and all the concern on both sides that comes with political uncertainty, sales in the housing market tend to slow down. So, if you are ready to buy or sell, don’t wait. Now is the time to jump in and choose the home of your dreams. Visit Our website to see every home in Solivita for sale. If you want to view any homes, we can set up an appointment for a remote showing, or we invite you to come down and take a look around with us. Call any of our realtors, they will be happy to provide you with a community tour and show you Homes in Central Florida and the many benefits of living in the Award Winning Community of Solivita.

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The Economy

The Interest Rates, The Banks, The Job Market, The Housing Market, What to do and Where to Live in retirement.  Lots of these concerns are age old worries, some like the bank worry and the interest rate concern, are old worries that have recently re-emerged.  However, you view the state of our economy, with lots of luck, eventually we will all retire and seek a new place to call home.  If you decide Life in Solivita is for you I can alleviate some of your fears.  Since the bubble burst in 2008, Our homes have elevated in prices and our local economy is stable.  If you choose to work part time or full time, there are lots of jobs around.  If you choose to retire, Solivita has lots of activities, keep busy or not, it is your choice.  Recently we heard this comment from friends, “Living in Solivita is like Living on a Docked Cruise ship”, a good comparison. Solivita is an Award-Winning Community and as pretty and as active today as it was 20 years ago when the first homes were being built.   New Construction is outside our gates, shopping centers and restaurants are popping up close to our neighborhood and life remains good here.  Within our gates peace and contentment reign.  We grew up in NY and NJ and both of us feel blessed to have found a lovely haven to call home.  Not a bad way to live.  Come on down and see for yourself.  After all, you gotta live somewhere, you might as well choose to live somewhere good.

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Life In Solivita

Solivita is a beautiful place to live.  Lee and I have lived in Solivita for over 20 years, and we still feel lucky and joyful to live in the Paradise that is Solivita.  We are “pioneers” as we built our first home when Solivita was in the planning stages.  We invite and welcome you all to come visit and see for yourself how lovely our community is.  In addition to our beautiful blue lakes, ponds, conservation, and natural beauty there is always fun to be had in Solivita.  In Solivita you can enjoy entertainment, swim, fish, play tennis, play pickleball, work out, play golf, garden in the community garden, play softball, picnic in the park, play bocce ball, or horseshoes, and shoot hoops.  We are a golf cart community, safe, guarded and gated, near shopping, houses of worship and restaurants.  Solivita downtown has everything you could want, a hometown pharmacy/convenience store, a pro shop, restaurants, and activities.  Join any of over 200 clubs, meet friends and share in the fun of life in a peaceful community.  

Lots of days we find No Need to Leave the Neighborhood.  Just this month, Lee and I saw two shows in Solivita, enjoyed dinner in Mosaics, attended the St. Patrick’s Day Party, and shared an afternoon lecture in the Gator Room.  After our weekly game of golf, we enjoy drinks and snacks or lunch at  Stonegate Grille.  Last night, I was too tired to cook, solution, we called the Bistro in Solivita and picked up Pizza and a salad to go.  All of these activities are within our gates and only a golf cart ride away from our home.  Fun, Easy and Enjoyable.  We can hop on our golf carts, enjoy the ride, and have a great afternoon or evening without the stress of traffic, the worry of parking, and the expense of gas.  Solivita provides an “Award Winning” way to live an easy, good life in the company of wonderful friends and neighbors.

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Current Housing Market

Good News for Seller’s – We are Still in a Seller’s Market and Home prices are holding near record highs, but sales have slowed slightly. Nationwide, Redfin Reports that roughly 60,000 home purchase agreements fell through in June or about 14.9% of homes that went under contract in June. In our brokerage we have been fortunate and only had one contract cancel recently but this could be an indicator of things to come. Redfin reports this number of cancelled contracts is the highest percentage since March and April 2020 when Covid 19 ground the housing market to a halt.

There are a number of reasons that contracts fall through, inspection issues, a life event, and now the main reason, rising mortgage rates are forcing some buyers out of the market. If rates were at 5% when an offer was made but reached 5.8% by the time the deal was set to close, the buyer may no longer be in a position that allows them to qualify for a loan.Since the housing market has cooled in recent weeks, as the Federal Reserve has boosted interest rates to quell inflation, house hunters have a bit more freedom to seek concessions from sellers, but higher rates also make housing less affordable.

Bottom Line, if you find a house you love, make an offer, and joyfully enjoy your new address. Historically home values hold and if you remain in a home for over 5 years, and you love living in it, you cannot go wrong. 

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Beat the Heat by Visiting one of the below Indoor Venues

MOAS – Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach

A Wonderful Museum for all.  Do you love paintings, sculpture, ceramics, furniture, and other works of art?  If so you have come to the right museum, the Dow Gallery covers several eras of American History from the Pilgrim Century the 18th Century and the American Victorian Period. 

Do you love history?  If so, you have come to the right museum, tour the Root Family Collection which includes the largest Coca-Cola Memorabilia collection in the world.  Lots to experience and enjoy.

Do you love the sky? Visit the Planetarium and explore the galaxy while comfortably seated under a 40’ diameter dome structure with an amazing sound system and digital projector.   Explore all MOAS in one day or enjoy an exhibit, hit the beach, and return another day to visit again.  This museum has lots to offer with a wide range of permanent collections plus there are always several temporary exhibits on display.  

Would you rather search for treasure?

The McLarty Treasure Museum on A1A in Vero Beach may satisfy your craving.  Of course, you can’t take any treasure home with you, but I think you may enjoy a walk-through Florida History.  The museum occupies part of the former site of the Survivors’ and Salvagers’ Camp and exhibits the history of the 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet’s failed mission. This famous fleet, a group of 11 ships, set sale from Havana to bring a massive haul of gold and silver coins to Spain when a hurricane struck off the Florida Coast.    A wonderful and informative movie is shown telling of the fleet’s attempt to return to Spain. In fact, treasure hunters still come to the town’s beaches to search for washed up coins from sunken ships. McLarty’s Treasure Museum is a mile north of Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Or Enjoy a Solivita Activity 

You can always Stay within the gates of Solivita and enjoy any of our 14 pools, our hot tubs with the heat turned down in the summer months, a picnic at the park, a game of golf or tennis, a ride on your golf cart, lunch or dinner at the Bistro or Stonegate Grill or an evening at Mosaics.  Sign Up and Enjoy any one of the many activities Solivita Offers.  Attend a concert, a softball game, a tasting demo, a murder mystery dinner, a live performance, or one of the Wine Down Evenings Solivita is sponsoring.  There is always something to do in our own community.  I have been reading the July Reflections and see lots of planned activities for August and September too.  Looks like it is Time to get out and have some fun.   After all, living in Solivita means you don’t have to travel far to have fun and enjoy the laid-back lifestyle and beauty of Central Florida.