Relocating can be tough, but one thing to help ease your way through the process is the thought of making a life in your beautiful, comfortable new Atlanta luxury home at Leisure Ridge.

This Traton Homes community is located in Dunwoody with close access to the heart of Atlanta living. This includes fabulous shopping, dining, recreation and schools. Leisure Ridge currently offers a variety of new home designs that consist of both two-story and master-on-the-main plans.

For buyers that are moving to Atlanta from a different city, Leisure Ridge gives the perfect opportunity to find a new house that will quickly make Atlanta a true home. Exterior features in the close-knit 20-home community include four-sides brick, cedar shake and/or stone, architectural roof shingles, three-car garages and sodded lawns, while the interior provides even more luxury. Interior features include gourmet kitchens with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops, hardwood floors, ceilings that span 9 to 10 feet, media rooms, a luxurious owner’s suite and more.

This community is also the perfect place to raise your family. Your children can play outside in the amazing front lawns along the elegant streetscape and have the excellent opportunity of attending Kingsley Elementary, Peachtree Middle, Dunwoody High School or any of the acclaimed private schools nearby.

For more information on visiting or purchasing a home in Leisure Ridge when you move to Atlanta, please contact new home specialist, Mike Riley, at 404-944-9619 or visit the Traton Homes website.

Check out a Braves game: Baseball season is officially here, and what better way to celebrate than to grab your Cracker Jacks and peanuts and head town to Turner Field?

Visit Zoo Atlanta: Located in historic Grant Park, Zoo Atlanta is an inexpensive way to spend an afternoon with the family. You can even pack a picnic and make a whole day of it.

Play tourist: Once you move to Atlanta, you’ll no longer be a tourist but that doesn’t mean you can’t check out all the touristy things that the city has to offer. Some of these activities include the Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca-Cola and Medieval Times. Also, you may want to check out the Georgia Renaissance Festival while it’s in town.

For more than 40 years, Traton Homes has been building new homes near all of the fun activities that Atlanta has to offer. Currently, the builder has many move-in ready homes, perfect for families who need to relocate to Atlanta quickly and don’t have time to wait on new home construction.

For more information about Traton Homes’ communities, visit http://www.TratonHomes.com.

Highland Homes is excited to announce that it is adding two communities of Tampa new homes to its expansive new home offerings: Tower Grove Estates in Plant City and Southwind in Gibsonton, Fla. Both communities offer beautiful new homes priced from the low-$100,000s.

“Twenty-twelve has been a great year for Highland Homes, and we’re excited to introduce two new communities in the Tampa area,” said Kathie McDaniel, vice president of sales and marketing for Highland Homes. “Both Tower Grove Estates and Southwind offer exceptional value, with quality new homes priced from the low-$100,000s and convenient locations.”

Tower Grove Estates is an intimate enclave of 28 spacious home sites ranging from half an acre to full acre lots, and Highland Homes recently purchased 24 of those sites. The community will offer ranch and two-story homes with three to five bedrooms, two to three bathrooms and up to 3,000 square feet. Highland Homes will soon start construction on the community’s model home featuring the Williamson II home design.

Located near major thoroughfares, residents have easy access to CR 39 and SR 60 for an easy commute to Tampa. Additionally, Tower Grove Estates is located a few blocks east of Trapnell Ridge, the Plant City community where the builder acquired homesites in late 2011 and have  already sold all but one home site. For more information about Tower Grove Estates, visit http://www.highlandhomes.org/community.php?cid=99.

Highland Homes’ other new community, Southwind, is located off Interstate 75 and Gibsonton Drive, offering convenient commutes north, south and to downtown Tampa. Southwind is just minutes from Alafia River, Hillsborough Bay and Brandon Town Square Mall, as well as other shopping destinations and conveniences. The community features three to five bedroom homes with a variety of home plans and features. In addition to spacious new homes, Southwind boasts premium lakefront home sites. For more information about Southwind, visit http://www.highlandhomes.org/community.php?cid=98.

As always, Highland Homes offers Florida new homes for just $99 out-of-pocket for qualified buyers.

“We are so excited about the launch of the new Locate It page on the Highland Homes website,” said Kathie McDaniel, vice president of sales and marketing for Highland Homes. “This new search option makes it simple for new home shoppers to find where our communities are located. They simply click on the area where they want to live, and gain easy access to all the information they need.”

The new Locate It page is divided into five general areas: Orlando, Tampa, North Lakeland and East Polk. Website visitors can select an area of interest by clicking on the map or choosing from the list of locations. Once an area is selected, shoppers will see all of the communities in that category instantly with information about price, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, square footage and contact information.

To try out the new interactive page for yourself, visit the Highland Homes website.

mRELEVANCE, LLC creates relevant marketing and communication efforts that reach audiences with focused and strategic messages. The firm weaves together technology with creative content to craft messages that encourage customer interaction and action. For more information about mRELEVANCE, visit the website.

The following communities represent the types of incentives that Traton is offering new home buyers:

The metro Atlanta builder has reduced pricing by up to $91,100 on three popular floor plans including the Foster, Providence and Inglewood at Westminister Place in Milton. Homes offer five bedrooms and basement floor plans on one-acre home sites, so they are big enough to accommodate any family’s needs. Interiors feature elegant finishes such as fireplaces, formal dining rooms, hardwood floors and iron balusters.

In Cobb County, Traton Homes is offering a $10,000 design options bonus and a $2,500 closing cost bonus on the Glenstone home design at Oakwood Creek. Boasting a fabulous Kennesaw location, this home is priced at $306,900 and offers four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a media room and bonus room with a closet. Additionally, the home offers hardwood floors, family room with fireplace and gourmet kitchen for your family’s amateur chef.

Other inventory homes will be available soon for a May/June move-in date, so visit the Traton Homes website at http://www.TratonHomes.com for more information.

Central Florida home builder, Highland Homes, honored the top selling agents and other valuable employees at its Annual Sales Awards Banquet on March 7 at the Lone Palm Country Club in Lakeland. In addition to recognizing outstanding employees, the festivities also included guest speaker JP Peterson, the president and founder of Tampa Bay Sports Central and host of popular Florida sports radio show, “Happy Hour with JP.”

“From our agents and design studio consultants to our lenders and everyone in between, we are so proud of our wonderful employees who work hard to make Highland Homes a successful home builder,” said Kathie McDaniel, Highland Homes’ vice president of sales and marketing. “We are excited to honor and recognize those who help to make the Highland Homes experience a positive one for our home buyers.”

Awards banquet honors include:

Top Three Sales Agents with the Highest Net Dollar Volume

• Gene Kucher at Imperial Lakes with 39 homes sold totaling $6,275,550
• Cheryl Gonzalez at The Greens and Ten Oaks with 30 homes sold totaling $5,129,505
• Jennifer Maul at Stonewood and Blackwater Creek with 22 homes sold totaling $4,220,342

Top Three Sales Agents with the Most Florida Real Estate Closed

• Gene Kucher at Imperial Lakes with 29 homes
• Ed Velasquez at Winchester Estates with 17 homes
• Doug Pike at Wind Meadows with 14 homes

Top Three Sales Agents for Highest Closing Dollar Volume

• Gene Kucher at Imperial Lakes with $4,779,868
• Ed Velasquez at Winchester Estates with $2,810,537
• Doug Pike at Wind Meadows with $$2,249,823

Highest GB Shelter Mortgage (Highland Homes’ Preferred Lender Partner) Capture Rates

• Roger Santos at Andover and Mystery Ridge, with 100 percent
• Doug Pike at Wind Meadows, with 79 percent
• Denise Abercrombie at Mandolin II, with 70 percent

The company also awarded the following for their achievements:

• 2011 Rookie of the Year: Randi Golemme at St. James Crossing
• 2011 Sales Counselors of the Year: Stacey Pouliot and Carmen Arbizu
• 2011 Design Studio Manager of the Year: Stacey Antonakos-Perez
• 2011 Studio Designer of the Year: Linda Samhoury

The Highland Homes team was honored by guest speaker, JP Peterson, who spoke about his experiences with championship sports organizations and the importance of having a strong team to be successful in a competitive and challenging environment, such as home building. JP knows a bit about being an award-winner himself, as the recipient of two prestigious Edward R. Murrow awards and a Southeast Regional Emmy. He has more than 25 years of sports reporting experience and has had the honor of reporting for the Buccaneers Preseason Broadcasts, the Super Bowl, Stanley Cup Finals, two Final Fours and three NCAA National Football Championship Games.

For more information about the recent award ceremony or other news visit http://www.highlandhomes.org/news/ or call the Highland Homes office at 863-619-7103.

The two factors that are driving the residential Florida real estate market’s recovery are explained in the article- the historic decrease in new construction and the decline in housing prices. Although the slump led Americans to stay away from buying homes and made rentals more attractive, the drop in prices of homes has now made them more affordable. This has slowly begun and will continue to entice buyers back to the residential market. In turn, the increased number of home buyers will bring about a rise in home prices that may be seen before the calendar year is out.

The Prudential Real Estate Outlook Survey is also reporting that Americans are returning to the housing market. Recently, the survey found that 58 percent of potential American home buyers are in the market to purchase residential real estate and 45 percent are looking to trade up. Another 49 percent are reported to be looking to invest in a nicer house.

Tell us what you think. Are you as positive about the recovery as other Americans? Are you among those looking to enter the market soon?

Highland Homes announces the purchase of 28 additional home sites at Deer Creek. Before the purchase, the home builder had only two lots remaining at this highly sought-after, successful community of Orlando new homes.

“Deer Creek is one of our most popular communities due to its convenient location near Orlando and affordable new homes,” said Kathie McDaniel, vice president of sales and marketing for Highland Homes. “We’re excited to be able to offer more new home opportunities to buyers interested in this amazing community.”

Located in the St. Cloud area, Deer Creek features new homes priced from the $130,000s. Floor plans boast three to five bedrooms, two to three bathrooms and 1,210 to 2,827 square feet. The community features playgrounds and walking paths as well as easy access to Orlando, nearby golf courses, theme parks, lakes and parks.

In addition to Deer Creek, Highland Homes is close to selling out at Andover in Davenport. The Orlando home builder has other land prospects for a new community in that area as well to accommodate the needs of homebuyers.

For more information about Deer Creek, visit http://www.HighlandHomes.org or call the sales center at 407-593-2115.

Highland Homes has been Central Florida’s value leader for more than a decade. When it comes to building your new home, you can trust the Highland Homes team to deliver the best in new home choice, quality, value and satisfaction. Highland Homes has new home communities throughout Central Florida, including the cities of Bartow, Dade City, Davenport, Ellenton, Lakeland, Leesburg, Mulberry, Plant City, St. Cloud, Winter Haven and Zephyrhills. For a complete list of new home communities and more information, visit the Highland Homes website at http://www.highlandhomes.org or call 863-619-7103.

As if this wasn’t enticing enough, Traton Homes is making it easy for families to move to this amazing community by offering new price reductions up to $75,900 plus $5,000 in closing cost bonuses on three of its move-in ready homes at Westminister Place.

Westminister Place is an intimate enclave of only 14 home sites. Priced from the $500,000s, all homes boast basements and sit on full-acre sites. The three move-in ready homes include the Inglewood, Providence and Lexington designs and offer hardwoods, gourmet kitchens, granite countertops, three-car garages and more. However, you’re not limited to these three designs. Buyers may also choose a Traton plan and build at the community with new presale pricing.

Make 2012 your year of change: go ahead and visit http://www.TratonHomes.com for more information about Westminister Place as well as all of Traton’s wonderful communities.

There is some great news for the American housing market as it continues to recover! Homeownership is still considered the American Dream by 78 percent of respondents in Trulia.com’s American Dream Survey. The American public’s optimistic attitude toward homeownership and newfound eagerness to enter the market will undoubtedly be key to its full recovery.

Prudential Real Estate is also reporting the positive trend in American perceptions of the market. In terms of when the recovery will come, about 68 percent of America’s potential home buyers expect that the market will be recovered in the next year according to a recent survey.

The Prudential Real Estate Outlook Survey also reports that 58 percent of its respondents are currently interested in purchasing real estate and that 45 percent are considering trading up.  These developments indicate that Orlando new homes will continue to see high demand.

Orlando Real Estate forum will continue to provide news and insights about the housing market’s recovery in the area and the country.

Are your feelings on the housing market’s recovery positive? Do you have plans to invest in a new home in the coming months?