Villages of Royal Palm in Port Orange reports sales of new homes in April at $1.5 million

Port Orange, Fla. --- The Villages of Royal Palm in Port Orange reported that sales of luxury homes in the community topped the $1.5 million mark in April. Jamie Allen Adley, president of Villages of Royal Palm and co-owner of Winston-James Development, the developer of the Villages of Royal Palm, said the award-winning community sold five new homes during the month totaling close to $1.5 million. Adley said only 45 new home sites remain for sale at the Villages of Royal Palm, priced from the high $100s to $300,000.

First Response Disaster Team Doubles Staff and Moves into Larger Quarters

EDGEWATER, FL – First Response Disaster Team – a three-year-old emergency response company that extracts water, removes mold and restores damage from smoke – recently hired several employees and moved into a 1,000-square-foot facility at 2220 Hibiscus Drive in Edgewater. A member of the University of Central Florida Business Incubator at Daytona Beach International Airport, First Response doubled its staff to include four full-time technicians, an administrative assistant, and four part-time employees, says Anne-Marie Poulin√, who co-owns the business with husband Ken Poulin. “We’ve been able to grow quickly in part because of the help we’ve received from Connie Bernal√, the incubator’s site manager,” Anne-Marie Poulin said. “We also wanted to be closer to Interstate 95 so that we’d be within 60 minutes to most Central Florida locations, including Orlando, Flagler County and Brevard County.” The incubator–a partnership between UCF, Volusia County and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council –helps start-up companies as well as established businesses. Incubator clients can either lease space at the Daytona Beach International Airport incubator site or, as First Response Disaster Team does, participate as “off site” clients to receive access to mentoring and coaching opportunities; educational programs; marketing and public relations specialists; access to seminars; networking with peers; as well as office equipment and support services. Those who opt to locate at the incubator also benefit from affordable office space with a flexible lease. The First Response staff – which occasionally drives box trucks or tows a 26-foot trailer out of state to assist with damage caused by disasters such as hurricanes and major storms – is led by Ken Poulin, a Certified General Contractor and a Certified Mold Remediator. Having worked together for more than 20 years, the couple views their new venture as being recession proof. “No matter what; there will always be floods, fires and natural disasters,” Anne-Marie Poulin said.

Centex to host grand opening June 15 at Magnolia Park in Riverview to showcase three new town home designs

TAMPA, Fla. --- Centex will host a grand opening Saturday, June 15 to showcase three new town home designs priced from the $130s at Magnolia Park, located off Falkenburg Rd., west of U.S. 301 in Riverview. Sean C. Strickler, vice president of sales for Centex in the North Florida region, said lunch and entertainment will be provided from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. along with tours of the new two-bedroom Fraser model town home, which offers 1,548 square feet of living space with two-and-a-half baths, priced from $142,990. All three new town home designs — the Evergreen, priced from $134,990 with 1,451 square feet, the 1,818 square foot Ashe town home priced from $164,990 and the Fraser -- feature one to two-car garages. Pond and conservation home sites are available as well, Strickler said. Magnolia Park is a gated community that features a community cabana, swimming pool and a playground. The Magnolia Park community features a mix of single family homes and town homes.

DiVosta Homes opens new three bedroom Cambridge model home at IslandWalk at the West Villages in Venice

VENICE, Fla. -- DiVosta Homes has high hopes for its newly completed three-bedroom, three-bath Cambridge model home at IslandWalk at the West Villages, a gated community located on US 41 between Jacaranda Blvd. and River Road in Venice. Scott Mairn, vice president of sales and marketing for the South Florida Division of DiVosta Homes, said wide open spaces in the Cambridge model are very popular at DiVosta communities in Florida and he thinks the single story Cambridge will prove just as popular in this gated luxury community. Priced from $281,990, the Cambridge features an island kitchen, great room and dining area that totals more than 700 square feet and opens onto a screened and covered lanai that can become an optional extended patio. Mairn said the Cambridge is packed with energy-efficient features including Lennox central air-conditioning and heating with a programmable thermostat, an energy-efficient water heater, R-30 ceiling insulation, double-pane insulated, low-E screened windows, and insulated fiberglass entry door. The Cambridge comes in four distinctive elevations.

Pulte and DiVosta Homes join forces to host summer sales events in 20 Florida Communities

Fort Myers/Naples, Fla. --- Pulte Homes and DiVosta Homes have joined forces to host summer sales events from Memorial Day Monday, May 27, through Sunday, June 9. Scott Mairn, vice president of sales and marketing for the firms’ parent company, said home buyers at 20 communities in Florida where either Pulte or DiVosta are building can save up to $10,000 by taking advantage of 20 percent off special design options such as cabinets, tile and wood flooring, granite countertops and more. Summer sales events are being hosted at the Pulte Homes communities of Bridgetown and The Plantation in Fort Myers, The Preserve at Corkscrew in Estero, The Quarry in Naples and Emerson Park in Ave Maria as well as the DiVosta communities of VillageWalk of Bonita Springs and VeronaWalk in Naples, Oak Haven in Lake Worth, Heron Bay in Palm Bay, Provence Bay in Vero Beach, and Copperleaf in Palm City as well as the DiVosta communities of Windsor Park at Abacoa in Jupiter, Castellina in Wellington, Waterway Village in Vero Beach, IslandWalk at the West Villages in Venice and The Isles on Palmer Ranch in Sarasota. Pulte and DiVosta Homes in these communities range from the mid $100s to the $600s. “With these discounted high-end design options every homeowner can get tremendous value and choice on a brand new DiVosta or Pulte home in their price range and live in a first-class community,” Mairn said.

Lennar unveils new Monte Carlo model home at Orange Blossom Ranch

NAPLES, Fla. --- Lennar Homes recently unveiled its new five-bedroom Monte Carlo model home at Orange Blossom Ranch, a new community located off Immokalee Rd. in Naples. Phillip Macon, new home consultant at Orange Blossom Ranch, said the two-story Monte Carlo model home offers three full baths in 3,200 square feet of living space with a massive family, living and social area that includes a huge open island kitchen, leisure, formal dining and living rooms and screened lanai. “The Monte Carlo model is one of the most dramatic executive homes Lennar builds,” Macon said. Lennar plans to build 10 new three, four, five and six bedroom single family homes at Orange Blossom Ranch that range in size from 1,577 square feet of living space to 3,231 square feet. Priced from the low $200s, new homes at Orange Blossom Ranch feature Lennar’s “Everything Included” pledge: extras such as granite kitchen countertops, wood cabinets, stainless steel appliances, crown molding and tile are all included in the Lennar price. Visit www.lennar.com.

Ryland Homes Opens Two New Single-Family Homes Communities in Riverview, new models ready for viewing in June

Tampa, Fla. --- Ryland Homes is opening two new single-family home communities in Riverview. New models will be ready for viewing in June. Mike Finley vice president of sales and marketing for Ryland Homes in the Tampa Bay region, said Ryland plans to build 43 new homes at the Enclave at Ramble Creek, located on Whistling Wind Drive off Ramble Creek Drive east of U.S. 301 between Symmes and Rhodine Roads. New three, four and five bedroom homes from Ryland’s popular Florida Series of new home designs at the Enclave at Ramble Creek will range in size from 1,679 square feet of living space to 2,984 square feet with two and three baths and two-car garages, Finley added. Ryland Homes plans to build 54 new three, four and five-bedroom homes in the first phase at WaterStone Lakes, located on Waterstone Drive in Riverview off Mathog Road and Gibsonton Drive just east of I-75. Finley said Ryland Homes is featuring its popular Florida Series homes at WaterStone Lakes as well as its Palm Series. New homes at WaterStone Lakes will range in size from 1,853 square feet of living space to 3,500 square feet with two, two-and-a-half and three baths and two and three-car garages. “Riverview is one of the most desirable areas in the Tampa Bay region and we expect sales to be very strong in both the Enclave at Ramble Creek and WaterStone Lakes,” Finley said. Ryland Homes already plans a second phase at WaterStone Lakes with 45 new home sites, according to Finley.

ICI Homes appoints Antonio (Tony) Hernandez New Home Sales Associate at Avilla in Kissimmee

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- ICI Homes, which is building 81 four and five bedroom luxury homes priced from the mid $300s at Avilla, a gated neighborhood near Walt Disney World in Kissimmee, has named Antonio (Tony) Hernandez new home sales associate. Rosemary Messina, vice president of sales and marketing for ICI Homes, said Hernandez is a former New Yorker who served as an equity and fixed income trader at global financial service giant UBS for close to two decades. He also was a Realtor in New York City working on a part time basis since the mid 1990s. Hernandez relocated to Florida four years ago and was most recently with Charles Rutenberg Realty.

Gravitational Marketing hosts over 120 auto executives at specialized marketing seminar in Orlando

ORLANDO, Fla. – Gravitational Marketing, the Avalon Park based company author entrepreneurs Jimmy Vee and Travis Miller launched three years ago to provide marketing expertise to small business owners, hosted more than 120 auto dealer executives at downtown Orlando’s Renaissance Hotel recently for a special seminar on marketing strategies. Vee and Miller recently published a book on Gravitational Marketing with a first printing of some 10,000 copies. John Wiley & Sons is the publisher. Vee, co-author of Gravitational Marketing, The Science of Attracting Customers said the seminar focused on successful, highly effective marketing strategies using video and social media and smart new approaches to offline strategies for newspapers, radio, TV and direct mail. “We offer a bold, contrarian view point and non-traditional ideas,” Vee explained. “Our seminar explains how to attract the right customers who pay more, stay longer and refer everyone they know,” he said. Miller, who likewise co-authored Gravitational Marketing, said the simple ideas, tools, strategies and tips that drive Gravitational Marketing attract customers and close sales naturally, without manual sales labor such as cold calling, prospecting and begging for business. Miller, who also co-authored the text, said Gravitational Marketing is based on a simple concept. “Gravitational Marketing is based on the principle that all bodies exhibit an inherent gravitational force that naturally attracts other bodies. Every business has a natural tendency, however large or small, to attract customers,” Miller explained. “We teach business owners how to increase their gravitational potential without corresponding marketing costs utilizing a wide range of smarter strategies and new technology,” Miller said. Vee and Miller launched Gravitational Marketing with a total budget of $200. Last year the firm reported revenues of more than $6 million.

Royal Oak Homes Names Sales Associate for Clermont community

CLERMONT, Fla. --- Royal Oak Homes, a third generation family home builder whose track record includes more than 14,000 new homes in Central Florida over the past 30 years, has appointed Tiffany Reis, sales associate for the home builder’s community of Vista Grand in Clermont. Matt Orosz, co-president at Royal Oak Homes, said Reis has more than 10 years of real estate experience. Royal Oak Homes, based in Baldwin Park, builds single-family homes in 10 Central Florida communities.