Oktoberfest is a beer festival that runs in Munich, Germany and goes on for a little over two weeks, from late Sept until the first weekend in October. While you might think that to celebrate the world's most famous beer festival that you'd have to travel to Bavaria, you can in fact celebrate right here in Florida!

While the official festival is taking place this year from Sept 17 - Oct 3, Florida's communities are celebrating on a much smaller scale. Some locations are having a one day event, while many others are providing a weekend-long celebration.

Where in Central FL can you go to celebrate Oktoberfest?

Orlando Brewing - 5th Annual Oktoberfest: Sept 24th & Oct 22nd (opening & closing)

  • Food & beer
  • Commemorative beer steins
  • Games

…

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For anyone considering relocating to an area closer to work, the recent news that Florida will be increasing all of the tolls on state-owned roads by June 30th 2012 might just be the nudge that sends you out looking for a REALTOR® to cut down on your daily commuting costs.

Tolls will be increasing by 25¢ on most of Florida’s roads before the start of next summer.

As always, SunPass rates will remain at about 1.5¢ cheaper per mile than cash tolls, making this a great option for anyone looking to avoid paying much of an increase. SunPasses can be purchased in two forms, a mini-sticker transponder that you affix to the windshield of your vehicle or a portable transponder that you can move from one vehicle to another. Both types of transponder use a radio…

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real_estate_news_168There's continued good news for those who want to invest in the Orlando real estate market for the purposes of owning rental property. Real estate experts Marcus and Millichap predict that rents will rise in Orlando this year.

It's expected that the vacancy rates among Orlando rental properties will drop down to 7.1% this year, which is down from 7.9% earlier this year.

This is great news for those who own investment property in Orlando and for those who plan to own Orlando investment property in the near future.

The inventory of condos for sale is still quite high, making it easy to find an Orlando property that's perfect for renting. Whether you plan to rent your property weekly for vacationers, or by the month for long-term renters, you can…

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commercial_real_estateMost of the news we’ve read about the real estate market in recent years has been pretty depressing. But, the news is actually quite exciting for Central Florida when it comes to commercial real estate.

Did you know recent reports have ranked Central Florida at 9th in the USA for new commercial real estate construction? It may seem surprising, but it’s a reality.  In addition, occupancy rates in the downtown area of Orlando, the largest metro area in Central Florida, increased in quarter four of 2010 as compared to 2009. So, while the vacancy rate still remains in the high teens for the central Florida, the occupancy numbers keep increasing, which means over time there be more competition for the office space that is available.

Central Florida has…

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for-sale-sign_279Fixed mortgage rates have dipped for the second week straight as Treasury bond yields fall again. The Orlando area real estate market is finding that its housing inventory low pricing is being met with great finance opportunities for those that are ready to invest in a Central Florida housing. The market is seeing some of the lowest prices in terms of inflation adjust dollars.

Freddie Mac stated the average rate on the 30-year mortgage dropped to 4.71 percent this week from 4.77 percent the previous week. It hit a 40-year low of 4.17 percent in November.

The average rate on the 15-year loan dropped to 4.08 percent from 4.13 percent. It reached 3.57 percent in November, the lowest level on records starting in 1991.

Treasury yields dropped after the…

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