Happy Mardi Gras !

Industry in transition

Sales down,,, median price up"""

Monday, February 27, 2006
**********************************************************

NEW HOME SALES

Sales of new homes fell for the second time in three months in
January -- by 5 percent -- which is more than analysts expected.
Despite the fall in sales, the median price of a new home was
up in January to $238,100, compared with $229,000 in December.

Toast of the Coast

Got the blues because the Big Dog bought the $9.150 million dollar
house in the Retreat ?

Well now you can get even. $9.995 Million, 15,000 Sq. Ft. of Gulf-Front Grandeur

Walton County Population Boom

By 2030, Walton County Florida is expected to double in population.

And they say that like it's a good thing.

Now if we could just get about 20,000 of these folks to move here 10 years early we could get some of this excess property off the market.
How about free cable and internet for a year?

The Road to Heaven?

or to Hell?
Here's what their cooking up down in South (north) Florida.


Fort Lauderdale to provide housing aid for families making up to $70,000 a year

By Brittany Wallman
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted February 22 2006

FORT LAUDERDALE -- People making moderate incomes -- up to $69,720 a year -- might soon join the ranks of the city's poor in being eligible for housing welfare.

City commissioners agreed Tuesday to pursue a variety of housing measures that would expand subsidy programs to the middle class and would make Fort Lauderdale the first city in Broward County to enact affordability laws.

"Guys, this is a proud moment in the city of Fort Lauderdale's history," said Commissioner Carlton Moore. "It really is. It really is."

The prices of homes and apartments have grown too expensive for middle-income families, causing a growing crisis in the city and countywide.

Public hearings and final votes on a menu of new programs or laws are expected to begin April 4.

The county is demanding the city address affordable housing before allowing construction of more homes and condos downtown.

Last year, county commissioners denied Fort Lauderdale's request to allow 13,000 new homes or condos downtown, agreeing to only 3,000. The county says the city cannot start approving new development proposals from that pool of 3,000 until a housing program is in place.

City commissioners have tentatively endorsed requiring future residential developers to offer at "affordable" prices at least 15 percent of homes or condos, or to pay an "in-lieu of" fee of up to $100,000 for every affordable unit not built. The money would be used to help buyers afford new homes.

Commissioners said developers would not bear all the cost of the new programs. Dollars also might come from all future property purchasers, the state or taxpayers.

Money would pour into a housing trust fund that would be similar to city housing programs using federal dollars for lower-income people. The new trust fund would be open to people making anywhere from 20 percent less than the median income, to 20 percent more.

If developers opt to pay fees rather than build affordable housing, the city could use the resulting trust fund to give buyers second mortgages. The money could also be used to make down payments, help landowners fix up rental properties or buy land to help subsidize entire projects.

The median household income in Fort Lauderdale is $58,100. Those with total household incomes from $46,480 to $69,720 would be eligible.

For a person making the median income of $58,100, "affordable" would be a house or condo that costs about $238,000, assuming a 6 percent interest rate on a loan. The median cost of a Fort Lauderdale house or condominium apartment is the same at $339,000.

At the city, jobs in the moderate-income range include legal secretaries, an assistant city attorney, a code enforcement supervisor, building inspectors and firefighters.

The eventual law or laws will apply citywide, commissioners said, and even in small projects starting at six units.

Developers at Tuesday's meeting said they don't want programs and a bureaucracy that do little to address the problem.

"We want to come up with a solution," said Alan Hooper, chairman of the Downtown Development Authority. "We don't just want to come up with a program that may or may not work."

Moore, who has pushed the city for affordable housing laws for more than a year, was elated with the quick consensus among commissioners and developers. He jumped up from his chair and shook developers' hands in the audience.

"I never thought we'd be here so quickly," he said. "This is great. I love it."

Mayor Jim Naugle, however, said he didn't think the city should intervene in the housing market, adding that he's only doing so because of Broward County's demands.

"I'd rather leave the decisions up to the marketplace," said Naugle.

A study of Fort Lauderdale's workforce housing needs is available on the city's home page, at www.fort lauderdale.gov.

Brittany Wallman can be reached at bwallman@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4541.








E



Copyright © 2006,

Turtles, Mice and everything Nice

Like Plovers, a Bird that needs your help as well.

Many of you have asked me how you can help. Some of you have asked "what can one person do" ?

Well did you know that if you live anywhere in the state of Florida you can make your voice heard by letting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service know that you want these endangered species protected. Walton County is very critical to the continued existence of these creatures.

let the Walton Sun and the Destin log how you feel.

Don't think "someone will take care of them".

You are that someone.

Trickle Down effect?

Let's hope so.

A few days ago a $9 + million dollar Gulf front home sold in the Retreat , a 90 Acre, 90 lot Gulf front community along Highway 30-A in Blue Mt. Beach.

Let's hope that the confidence of this Corporate Titan trickles down through the rest of the market and helps create some push in the right direction....

The Senator is Right

Plan to allow 25 percent insurance rate hike without state OK draws fire

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Feb. 21, 2006 -- Several weeks ago, Florida House Republicans announced legislation aimed at improving the insurance market in Florida, with one provision aimed at allowing insurance companies to raise premiums by up to 25 percent on average without regulatory approval -- which supporters say would help make up for unrealistically low rates currently being charged and would encourage more insurers to do business in the state.



But at least one lawmaker, state Sen. Ron Klein (D-Boca Raton), is taking issue with the idea of enabling insurers to raise rates without state approval, calling the proposal "outrageous."



Klein said, "Until the Legislature and governor focus on the homeowner's interest, versus giving insurance everything they want, there will not be any price stabilization or availability of any new insurance policies in Florida."



The proposal also includes provisions dealing with Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state's insurer of last resort and currently one of the largest insurers in the state, as it offers coverage to Florida residents that cannot obtain hurricane property insurance privately. For example, the bill would prevent Citizens from covering houses worth $1 million or more to help reduce the insurer's losses. Those homeowners would have to find coverage from high-risk insurance companies or go without insurance.



Source: Boca Raton News, John Johnston, Feb. 20, 2006


© 2006 FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS

Real Estate Blog of the week

A Real Estate Technology Blog for all you Real Estate nerds out there.

Real Estate Technology

Eminent Domain update

States Curbing Right to Seize Private Homes



Article Tools Sponsored By
By JOHN M. BRODER
Published: February 21, 2006

In a rare display of unanimity that cuts across partisan and geographic lines, lawmakers in virtually every statehouse across the country are advancing bills and constitutional amendments to limit use of the government's power of eminent domain to seize private property for economic development purposes.

The measures are in direct response to the United States Supreme Court's 5-to-4 decision last June in a landmark property rights case from Connecticut, upholding the authority of the City of New London to condemn homes in an aging neighborhood to make way for a private development of offices, condominiums and a hotel. It was a decision that one justice, who had written for the majority, later all but apologized for.

Profound

There was a man who became profound
And as He did He left the ground
With all the people standing around

Some people said that " You cant't believe it until you see it"
Other people said " You can't believe it even when you see it"
Then He said "You can't see it Until you believe it"
And that was profound

Causing Him to leave the ground
With all the people standing around
Like lillies of the field
Firmly planted in the ground


Profound copyright © 2006 Shawn O'Neal All Rights Reserved.

A good market indeed

No Market can survive moving in only one direction , up or down.
It is the Movement, the change, that creates opportunity.

Embrace Change. It is the path to success.

Pay Attention

Cause I'm only going to say this once.

prices are getting real attractive around here if you are not over extended and gorged on property.
Sure you could wait and see if it gets better.
I say start buying now because you can cherry pick the market right now.
If you wait till the mob starts buying again you will have less to choose from.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Das Snowbirds undt Immigrants

SOURCE: MSN.COM

Seasoned workers snag flex jobs

A trend emerges toward seasonal jobs for older snowbirds, younger parents and college students as workplaces bend to keep valued employees.

By Christian Science Monitor

Six months of the year, John Johns works as a CVS pharmacist in Sea Isle City, N.J., continuing a career there that spans nearly 30 years. Every November, he bids his co-workers goodbye and heads to Cocoa Beach, Fla., where he and his wife, Pat, enjoy winter in the sun.

But three days a week, while other snowbirds relax on the beach or the golf course, Johns works. He logs 30 hours a week at CVS pharmacies in the area. That still gives the couple time to enjoy their 18-foot boat and other leisure activities. "They allow me to come down here and work and go up there (to New Jersey) to work," Johns says. "They accommodate me, and I'm very flexible for them. It's a real good marriage."

That accommodation comes through an unusual snowbird program, which lets employees shuttle between two locations on a seasonal basis. This winter about 300 CVS workers are joining a small but growing group of snowbirds who eagerly answer to alarm clocks and time clocks, even on vacation. They like the structure, sense of purpose, and monetary rewards a job brings.

Related news and commentary on MSN Money
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"A lot of older people are working because they really enjoy the work," Johns says. "I enjoy the money, too, but the money is not the primary factor."

Watch for trend to spread
So far, retailers and healthcare providers account for most of those hiring snowbirds. But workplace specialists expect the trend to spread as labor shortages loom and baby boomers age.
Do you need
life insurance?
Get a quote.


"If you have highly trained people who are already in the family of the company, it can be a pretty seamless way for employers to meet what can be unpredictable staffing needs," says Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, director of Boston College's Center on Aging and Work

Hiring snowbirds, she adds, "stretches people's imagination about what is possible when you think about flexibility. Flexibility is not limited to only a daily basis or a weekly basis. It opens up the conversation of flexibility over a year and over the course of a whole career."

An AARP study about working in retirement found that a strong majority of respondents wanted flexible work arrangements. Emily Allen, director of workforce programs at AARP, calls sharing employees an "interesting, promising practice."

Employers emphasize that they are not simply doing snowbirds a favor by hiring them.

"People ask me, 'Why are you doing this?'" says Steve Wing, director of government programs for CVS. "This is really business. It's not a community involvement thing. They have the work ethic we're looking for. They're very good at customer service. Older customers like to come in and see people their same age."

In the early 1990s, less than 7 percent of CVS workers were over age 50. By 2005 that figure had risen to 17 percent. "Some need to work," Wing says. "Some just need to be surrounded by other people."

The company's snowbirds are not entry-level employees. "We're not just using them to pull in carts," Wing says. They include greeting-card specialists, cosmetic consultants, photo supervisors, and managers.

Not all employees who head south for the winter want to work. "Sometimes they just need three or four months off," Wing says. "They can go to Florida, and then we'll rehire them."

Snowbird

Snowbird snowbird on the beach
30A is within your reach
Sell your home and your extra car
An interest only mortgage can take you far

Live like a local
Like your here cause you wanne be
Tell the folks back home
That your not who you used to be

Snowbird snowbird
come build your nest
Your claim to happiness
Is as good as the rest

Snowbird by Shawn O'Copyright © 2006 All Rights Reserved

Who let the Dogs out.....

Who.. Who Who
Who Let the Dogs out
Who.. Who Who

Housing Kicks up a Notch

MARTIN CRUTSINGER
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON

Construction of new homes and apartments, defying forecasts of a housing slowdown, shot up in January at the fastest pace in more than three decades.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that building activity was up 14.5 percent last month when compared to December, pushing construction to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.276 million units.

A 33 YEAR HIGH >

ALSO: Permits for future construction, an indicator of builder confidence, posted an unexpected increase, up 6.8 percent to a 2.217 million unit rate. Economists had expected permits to decline to a 2.062 million unit pace.

Toast of the Coast

Your Majesty,

$8.5 Million
4,650 Sq. Ft.
GULF FRONT

Happy V Day

From Mr. And Mrs. Sockmonkey

$$$ = Happy ?

Money really doesn't buy happiness, study finds
Feb 13

Money doesn't buy happiness, and now there's a study to prove it. Australian researchers found that people in well-off Sydney are among the most miserable in the country, while those in some of the poorest areas are much more satisfied with their lives.

"Only at very, very high levels does money actually have any impact to act as a buffer," said Deakin University researcher Liz Eckerman.

"Money doesn't actually buy happiness and that's what was shown very clearly for the nearly 23,000 people we've interviewed so far," she told ABC radio.

The findings, collated since 2001, show that while there are no extremes of well-being in Australia, the happiest areas had a lower population, more people aged 55 or over, more women, more married people and less income inequality.

The survey assessed a person's satisfaction with their standard of living, health, relationships, life achievement, safety, community connection and future security.

Robert Cummins, a professor of psychology at Deakin who compiled the survey's scorecard, put the difference down to the higher cost of housing and high population density in cities.

"People in these rural electorates often have the advantage of additional disposable income since the cost of living, particularly housing, tends to be reduced outside the cities," he told The Australian newspaper.

Of the 150 national electorates surveyed, one of the nation's poorest, Wide Bay in rural Queensland, was among the happiest.

>>> Now I do believe, on the other hand that a gulf view does create happiness.
>>> Money isn't everything, but it sure beats what's second best.

Toast of the Coast

$5.4 m price range, 5000 sq. ft. size range 30A lifestyle .

Welcome to Salvation Sands

Welcome to Salvation Sands

Beach renourishment is not a religious movement even though you will hear the word Salvation or terms like "it's our only Salvation" or "our Eventual Salvation" used quite often. It lends the aura of a noble cause to the process. Salvation is also used along with the term beach restoration as well. Salvation can also mean to deliver one from harm in the secular sense as well although some experts equate going the sand renourishment path with taking on a heroin addiction. They say once you start renourishing you can't stop. Maybe that's why they call it OPM (other peoples money). Orrin Pikey Jr. of the Duke University school of the Enviornment and Earth Sciences says that " Renourishment can cost $2 Million Dollars per mile and it can Kill Wildlife and inhibit Sea Turtle Nesting"

And these costs will only go up if there is more competition for borrow sites for available qualifying sand which leads to a supply problem. There are only a handful of companies that do this type of renourishment work so getting around to every mile of beach in time can also become a politically charged issue.


BUT:
For Beach renourishment or restoration (read buying more sand to widen your beach) to begin.........
THE GOVERNMENT MUST ESTABLISH AN EROSION CONTROL LINE WHERE UPLAND (private)PROPERTY
ENDS AND STATE OWNED PROPERTY BEGINS. ANY WIDTH ADDED TO THE BEACH IS THEN *DEEMED TO BE PUBLIC PROPERTY BECAUSE IT IS PUBLICLY FUNDED.
*Deemed: To hold, consider or treat as if.


AND:
STATE FUNDING HINGES ON INCREASING PUBLIC ACCESS TO THE BEACH.

SO:
TAKING FEDERAL AND STATE $$$ = INCREASING PUBLIC ACCESS AND MORE PARKING.

Once public funds have been mixed into your beach through public funding The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has more control over your beach as well because other law takes effect through this same process. The beach mouse in particular benefits from this outcome.

There is a whole lot of TAX money flowing into Government from Tourism and Tourism needs a beach like a junkie needs a fix.

So....What can we do ???

Option 1. All homes are temporary. Beach homes are more temporary than most.
Move the construction line further inland and make people self insure if they want to live within the 30 year storm erosion zone freeing up more Federal and State money.
Give developers that have built under the existing laws tax credits and incentives to build new buildings further inland away from storm and flood zones. Fund a Government purchase of endangered gulf front condos for use by Federal, state and local agencies
until they are taken by the Gulf.

Option 2. Get that sand on the beach NOW! and keep the Salvation coming.
And if we need Dept. store sized parking lots for all the new people who will be using our beaches send some asphalt trucks too.
And if we need to create a new tax district to fund our share at the county level thats fine. Collect a toll on the 331 bridge to buy sand,not a problem.

The point of this little exercise is to stress how important it is for our leaders to make some bold moves to get us through the next 100 years.

We are behind the eight ball here folks and time and tide wait for no man or beach.

The 30 A MARKET AREA INVENTORY COUNT

AREA North and South of 30-A between the Beach and the Bay. 02/10/06


Condos for sale - 535

Single Family Homes for sale - 918

Residential Lots for sale - 1989

* does not include Destin,Sandestin area or Panama City Beach.

Busy 2006 Vacation Rental Season Ahead ?

Most of the folks I've been talking to in the last 10 days that have rental properties in this area are saying that bookings are fairly brisk.

I'm thinking with so much of the tourist industry along the Gulf Coast that was destroyed or badly damaged from New Orleans to The Alabama-Florida border we are now the closest beaches with the tourist shopping, good places to eat, etc.
At least for a good while.
Many merchants also expect this to be a very busy season ahead.

Good Luck Everyone.

California Nightmaring

Layne Marceau, president of the Northern California Division of Shea Homes and chairman of the California Building Industry Association recently offered the perspective of builders and developers in California, one of the most heavily regulated states in the country.

"It has gotten to the point that more than 20% of the cost of new housing is regulatory costs," Marceau said. "Some of these are hidden regulatory costs and some are very direct costs."

Marceau pointed to an example of *NIMBY-ism and ill-conceived land-use regulation in Livermore, Calif., where impact fees and regulatory costs now add $120,000 to the cost of every new home built.

* NIMBY = NOT IN MY BACK YARD

And to complete the Trilogy

Of Our journey into Politics today we offer this article from one brilliant American:
Bogus rights

Look what Chirac said

A spokesman quoted France's Chirac as telling a government meeting.

"Anything that can hurt the convictions of someone else, in particular religious convictions, should be avoided. Freedom of expression should be exercised in a spirit of responsibility."

But the editor of the French Weekly Charlie Hebdo said:

"When extremists extract concessions from democracies on points of principle, either by blackmail or terror, democracies do not have long left," Charlie Hebdo editor Philippe Val wrote.

The average lifetime of a Democracy historically is about 200 years.
The U.S. is supposed to be a Republic not a Democracy (see pledge of allegiance), however, we have been heading toward democracy like a moth to a flame for about 60 years now so who knows what the future will bring...

Without Freedom there is no private property

This is not a "political Blog" by any stretch, however today we must make an exception.

The President of the United States said this today:

"We reject violence as a way to express discontent with what may be printed in a free press," the president said.

At the same time, Bush admonished the press that its freedom comes with "the responsibility to be thoughtful about others."

Read this again. Did you ever think you would hear that coming from the President ?

Since when has the press ever been Thoughtful ?
And who will define thoughtful ? Our enimies?

I am in mild shock to hear this statement by the Leader of the Free World.

Meanwhile, The Sakhorov Museum in Russia says they will exhibit all of the "Cartoons" that are causing "rage" to show that freedom won't Kowtow to religious Fanatics.
Yes you heard that right, RUSSIA.

BB&T Bank Refuses Eminent Domain Loans

Eminent Domain

If you sold a home in 2005

Washington-



Most sellers can cash in one of the biggest perks in the tax code. Couples can sell their home for a $500,000 profit without paying a cent of income tax. Single taxpayers can pocket $250,000.



To qualify, the house must be your principal home for two of the past five years -- and even then there's flexibility because those periods don't have to be continuous and there are numerous hardship exceptions.



If your gain is over the exclusion amount, hunt for expenses such as the cost of home improvements, real estate commissions and title insurance that can pad your "tax basis." Every $1,000 you track down will save nearly $250 in federal and state taxes.


Tax trap: The rules changed dramatically in mid-1997. Until then, homeowners could defer tax on their gain by rolling it into the purchase of a more expensive house. If you traded up before the rules changed, you must count that deferred gain against your $250,000 to $500,000 exclusion.



You can pluck the deferred gain from Form 2119, attached to your tax return for the year you sold the previous home. But it will be difficult to remember -- let along prove -- what costs you incurred in your current home if you don't save receipts and records.



In that case, "go back down memory lane and look at old photos," said Daniel D. Morris, a tax partner with Morris + D'Angelo in San Jose. The goal is to find evidence of kitchen remodeling, landscaping and other improvements

Men and Women Surfing Habits Differ

Check it out at:Houseblogger
The featured Real estate Blog of the week.

SUPERBOWL 40

STEELERS 21

SEAHAWKS 10



Search the local MLS free at: www.GREATREALESTATEON30A.com

2006 Real Estate Market Forecasts

I think it's a good idea to look at the markets where our buyers are coming from.

Price Forecasts

Eminent Domain

If you own a home and/or a business you need to understand this :

Eminent Domain

And so it begins...

The 2006 selling season is now fully underway with increases in listing activity in the last week. Sellers are trying to get their properties on the market as spring breaks at some schools start as early as late February this year.

We need a good year after the "Lost Season" we had last year due to the storms and the cooling off of this hyper heated market .

Home selling Tip

It's proven that smells influence moods.
Not everyone has the time to bake fresh bread before a home showing but you can take a bag of Buttered Popcorn toss it in the Microwave for 1.5 min and then put it in a bowl to place on the kitchen counter to create that welcome smell.