Even More Indispensable

As part of our ongoing effort to make Orlando Homebuyer an absolutely indispensable resource for people who buy and sell homes, I'm pleased to announce that our company has purchased a highly regarded publication called Choices.

If you're a reader looking for home buying information, you may not be familiar with Choices. But if you're in the real estate business, you've almost certainly used Choices as an important resource when dealing with your clients.

Choices was founded in 1992 by Frank Attwood, a fixture in Orlando real estate circles for more than 25 years. Frank at first used the publication for his own clients, but it soon became so popular that real estate offices throughout the region adopted it.

Beginning with this issue, Choices will be merged into Orlando Homebuyer, appearing as a supplement to the magazine every quarter. That way, real estate professionals and readers alike can get the in-depth school data they need alongside the other invaluable content that distinguishes Orlando Homebuyer-comprehensive community listings, interior design trends and entertaining neighborhood profiles.

As for Frank, we're please to announce that he'll act as a consultant to Orlando Homebuyer on ways to further strengthen the magazine's relationships in the real estate community.

Also in this issue, we'll look at the New Southern Home, a showhouse built in conjunction with the Southeast Builders Conference. The home is every bit as spectacular as you'd expect-but the story behind the story is just as fascinating. The three companies collaborating on this Old Florida-style charmer-the builder, the architect and the interior designer-each consist of parent-sibling teams with deep Orlando roots.

The parents are Roy Dye, founder of Bel-Aire Homes; Don Evans, founder of The Evans Group; and Betsy Godfrey, founder of Godfrey Design Consultants. This legendary trio came to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s, helping to shape what would become Central Florida's most important industry-tourism notwithstanding.

Today, all three are still going strong. But their children are now actively involved in the businesses their parents started. As president and chief executive officer, Rick Dye has reinvented Bel-Aire as a leading builder of fine custom homes; as vice president and director of marketing, Dawn Michelle Evans has kept the Evans name at the forefront of leading-edge residential design; and as senior designer, Lauri Godfrey has introduced the Godfrey style to a new generation of discerning homeowners.

All this and much more is waiting for you on the following pages. Welcome and enjoy!

Randy Noles

Publisher