Here are the 2011 stats and 2010 for comparison - 2011 17 Homes Sold (May=12, so an increase of 5) Lowest price: $30,000 (May=$48,000) Highest price: $975,000 (May=$535,000) Shortest Days on Market: 1 (May=0) Longest Days on Market: 245 (May=260)   2010 16 homes sold (May=18) Lowest price: $25,000 (May=$38,000) Highest price: $740,000 (May=$835,000) Shortest Days on Market: 2 (May=0) Longest Days on Market: 426 (May=449) This market report does not seem quite as rosy as Jacksonville & Neptune Beach, but there is still good news: for the second month in a row, the lowest priced home sold is up year over year by $5,000, indicating we are approaching greater market stability; just like Jacksonville and Neptune Beach, the highest priced home sold is up year over year and month over month, i... 07/08/2011

Yes. With a 203K Streamline Loan, the unit must be owner-occupied. Not Eligible for Full FHA/HUD 203K Loan. Owner/occupant and qualified non-profit borrowers only; no investors; Rehabilitation is limited only to the interior of the unit. Mortgage proceeds are not to be used for the rehabilitation of exteriors or other areas which are the responsibility of the condominium association, except for the installation of firewalls in the attic for the unit. For individual units in condominium projects that have been approved by FHA. Charles H Gaulden WWW.NorthFloridaShortSales.com       07/04/2011

FHA/HUD 203k Streamline and Full 203 K Wood Floor Requirements When I'm Inspecting the interior of Short Sales, Bank Foreclosures or a HUD Homes I have to make should the Wood floor covering is in line with FHA/HUD General Acceptability Criteria according to FHA/HUD 203K streamline program.  FHA/HUD Condition Requiring Repair to Wood floors worn through the finish need to be refinished. This type FHA/HUD noncompliance will affect the Marketability of your home For Sale and is a sure turn down by a New Home Buyer. FHA Requirements   "A wood floor whose finish has been worn off to expose the bare wood must be Sanded and refinished; but a wood floor which has darkened with age but has an acceptable finish dose not need polishing or refinishing.    Charles H Gaulden FHA/HUD 203K Consultant ... 06/18/2011

FHA 203k Streamline and Full 203K on Peeling Paint on the Exterior and Interior Walls   Is this a familiar sight on some homes That are Short Sales or Foreclosure the you see on the market For sale...... We I'm Inspecting the Exterior Walls on a FHA 203K Loan I look for signs of peeling paint and Water damaged wood siding areas along the top, middle and bottom edges of a Wood frame house and the same for masonry walls. Now if the house is Pre-1978 and I see Peeling Paint on the Exterior Walls or Interior Wall I must recommend it Testing by an EPA Certified Lead Renovator. Most New Realtors run for cover up when I mention The "L" word. In the Florida State of Florida All Certified Contractors is licensed to handle this process. The FHA 203 K Streamline Loans Productswill cover these repa... 06/17/2011

  Here are the 2011 stats and 2010 for comparison - 2011 12 Homes Sold Lowest price: $48,000 Highest price: $535,000 Shortest Days on Market: 0 Longest Days on Market: 260 2010 18 homes sold Lowest price: $38,000 Highest price: $835,000 Shortest Days on Market: 0 Longest Days on Market: 449 While the volume of homes sold is down by 6 year over year (or 33% decrease) this is one of the first months in a very long time I’ve seen the lowest priced home sold has INCREASED. And great news it is, as this could indicate some market stability. The great thing about Atlantic Beach, when compared to Jacksonville &; Neptune Beach is that Atlantic Beach has many different, affordable options for housing.   Days on market has decreased as well, which is another indicator of proper pricing. Properly ... 06/12/2011

This Saturday is our annual Dancing In The Streets festival, at the intersection of A1A and the ocean.  Streets will be closed off to permit for artists, jewelers, and others to show their wares, as well as to allow for people to stroll through the area enjoying the weather, the music (two stages, live music for about 8 hours) and the food. If you happen to be in the area, I'll  be working the beer tent closest to One Ocean from 1-3pm - stop by and say hi!   Music Lineup: Ocean Stage 12:00 Fourplay 1:00 BayStreet 2:00 Str8 Up 3:00 Whyte Python 4:00 Retro Kats 5:00 The Mosquitos 5:30 (Hokey Pokey) 6:20 Boogie Freaks 7:30 Lucky Stiff with Friends 8:30 Fusebox Funk Orange St. Stage 11:30 Governors Club 12:30 Chroma 1:30 The Great State 2:30 Something Distant 3:30 Blistur 4:30 Glass Camels ... 05/20/2011

Here are the 2011 stats and 2010 for comparison - 2011 22 Homes Sold Lowest price: $44,000 Highest price: $2,285,000 Shortest Days on Market: 1 Longest Days on Market: 461 2010 13 homes sold Lowest price: $64,000 Highest price: $1,100,000 Shortest Days on Market: 7 Longest Days on Market: 527 This market report completely is in line with the increase we are experiencing all over the market!  Year to year, sales are up 12 homes which is 69% increase! The great thing about Atlantic Beach, when compared to Jacksonville & Neptune Beach is that Atlantic Beach has many different, affordable options for housing.   Days on market has decreased as well, which is another indicator of proper pricing. Properly priced and properly presented properties are STILL selling - currently, the Jacksonville ... 05/17/2011

 Here are the 2011 stats and 2010 for comparison - 2011 32  Homes Sold Lowest price: $29,500 Highest price: $950,000   Shortest Days on Market: 0 Longest Days on Market: 500 2010 47 homes sold Lowest price: $48,000 Highest price: $3,200,000 Shortest Days on Market: 0 Longest Days on Market: 952 So, year to year, things appear to be moving in a negative direction for Atlantic Beach, with a decrease in homes sold from 47 to 32, which is 31% (and very similar to Neptune Beach).  I don't have the same positive news on the pricing front as I did in Neptune Beach, and the year over year increase isn't the same as Jacksonville Beach, but we do still have a reduction in days on market, which is a good indicator. Properly priced and properly presented properties are STILL selling - currently, th... 04/29/2011

If you have been reading my blogs lately, you know I managed to get a flat-fee listing under contract with agreeable terms to all, and today was our home inspection.  When I arrived, there was a group confab in the driveway, which is never a good sign, and the home inspector was very close to walking and rescheduling the inspection for another time. In the vein of seeing the light inside the darkness we often encounter when things go not precisely as planned, I'm writing this fable for everyone to enjoy! Once upon a time, there was a very happy, motivated seller princess who had lovingly maintained her home for many years. She truly loved this home and had built it in the hopes it would be her very last home. Alas, her life involved another move to a different state and the happy homeow... 03/28/2011

If you have followed my posts recently, I was covering for a co-worker who was skiing in Italy....a bit jealous, but I don't ski, so it's all good. His buyer wanted to see several homes in one specific community, and I attempted to set up an appointment for Monday at 5:30pm, had to settle for Thursday at 5:30pm, and this WAS THE HOUSE, or so the buyer thought. He wanted to tie up the house, if possible until next weekend, when his significant other was scheduled to visit; part of my recommendation was to see if there was ANY way possible she could make it THIS weekend, rather than next, so we would know if they wanted to move forward with this house. So, I scheduled a 5pm appointment for last night, Sunday night, a day I normally take off, but, his significant other had shifted her sche... 03/14/2011

As you may recall from a prior blog post, I had some trouble earlier this week gaining access to a house a buyer wanted to see. We managed to see the house today, and my heart just dropped as the door opened, and I realized, the homeowner would not only be present, but would also be showing the property. Gulp - as we all know, sometimes this is the kiss of a failed showing, as the homeowner may focus on what is most important to them, and lose the buyer if the buyer is focusing on something else. She designed the house based on her extensive moving experience (this was house #30), and had visited the construction site every day (her husband was a road warrior at the time), and had taken some serious time with design and functionality. A few of the key features, that honestly were better... 03/10/2011

I'm working with a bevy of motivated qualified buyers (my favorite kind!), and two of the houses one buyer wanted to see last night were listed with a limited service brokerage, the type where the listing agent simply put a price tag on the time and energy it takes him to input the data into the MLS, and that is what he charges for. He does not represent the seller, he is not the contact, he does not negotiate on behalf of the seller.   The seller is who you call to set up showings, the seller is who you negotiate with. Now, I understand the need and demand for different levels of representation, but I'm not 100% certain the SELLERS understand the full difference. One seller proceeded to interview me as to whether the buyer had seen the house on line, seen the flyer on line, driven by i... 03/08/2011

This blog dovetails on my post yesterday about Neptune Beach, and I had previously posted about Jacksonville Beach months of inventory. Atlantic Beach is a larger market than Neptune Beach, and has a mix of condos, townhomes and single family homes (Neptune Beach does not have any condo inventory, and a much smaller density of townhomes). I've bolded the months with the lowest inventory levels, and again, this is a micro market snapshot, as Atlantic Beach is a 20 minute drive to Jacksonville, FL, and many commute into Jacksonville to work.   Month/Year          Months                                        Listings                          Inventory                      Active         New         Sold Feb-09 21.78 196 39 9 Mar-09 19 209 45 11 Apr-09 18.82 207 19 11 May-09 11.69 187 23 1... 02/20/2011

      Lender Mediated Avg Sales Price   Traditional Avg Sales Price     1/09-12/09 1/10-12/10 Variance 1/09-12/09 1/10-12/10 Variance Area                           Jax Beach NE $310,000 $320,000 3.20% $392,000 $340,000 -13.30%               Jax Beach SE $332,450 $215,000 -35.30% $475,000 $259,000 -45.50%               Jax Beach NW $187,500 $170,000 -9.30% $204,500 $200,000 -2.20%               Jax Beach SW $190,000 $102,500 -46.10% $250,000 $229,000 -8.40%               Neptune Beach East $362,000 $301,125 -16.80% $487,500 $391,000 -19.80%               Neptune Beach West $237,000 $215,000 -9.30% $239,500 $247,450 3.30%               Atlantic Beach East $282,500 $199,900 -29.20% $396,000 $312,500 -21.10%               Atlantic Beach West/Mayport $62,500 $77,250 23.60% $132,500 $125,000... 02/12/2011

Here are the 2011 stats and 2010 for comparison - 2011 9  Homes Sold Lowest price: $44,000 ($25,000– 2010 Year In Full) Highest price: $715,000 ($3,200,000– Year In Full) Shortest Days on Market: 9 (0 – 2010 Year In Full) Longest Days on Market: 264 (952 – 2010 Year In Full)   2010 11 homes sold Lowest price: $48,900 ($44,900– 2009 Year In Full) Highest price: $1,560,000 ($2,650,000– 2009 Year In Full) Shortest Days on Market: 0 (0 – 2009 Year In Full) Longest Days on Market: 952 (1247 – 2009 Year In Full) Now, when I posted Jacksonville Beach data, I started with a WOO HOO!  When I posted Neptune Beach, I could not state the same when it came to a sales increase year over year. BUT, Atlantic Beach is demonstrating price increases year over year, as well as some amazing consistency on t... 02/12/2011

  Atlantic Beach,  2010 Statistics   Here are the 2010 stats and 2009 for comparison - 2010   197 Homes Sold Lowest price: $25,000 Highest price: $3,200,000         Shortest Days on Market: 0 Longest Days on Market: 952   2009   182  homes sold Lowest price: $44,900 Highest price: $2,650,000 Shortest Days on Market: 0 Longest Days on Market: 1247   Sales are UP year over year by 8%, which, while not a huge number, is definitely more positive than what the major media outlets are reporting. Sales prices are down on the low end, again not surprising, given the number of short sales and foreclosures in our area.  The decrease LOOKS significant, but I would caution any reader to not take this as an absolute on every property in Atlantic Beach.  When you take 2009 low price and subtract 2010... 01/08/2011

This is my third in the series of how to create new habits; links to the other blogs are at the bottom. Most people are somewhat disorganized, as am I, and the one of the best times to get organized is NOW! Choose the most un-organized area of your home/life/office, and make a step-by-step plan to get it organized. If you have magazines archived, you may need to buy magazine holders to organize them in, or you may need to decide if you really have a need for the physical magazine in the first place. I recently cleaned out my home office and my space at the office, in Jacksonville Beach and Atlantic Beach, respectively and it was so refreshing to just get rid of the paperwork I no longer needed. At home it was more of a production: I had 3 piles of recycle, shred, and deal with. The "Dea... 01/07/2011

This is the last of my holiday photos for this year.  The Town Center area of Atlantic/Neptune Beach is a very pedestrian friendly area, with shops and restaurants. I've posed several pictures of the are already this year, but had not gotten a good shot of the strings of lights on the palm trees lining both sides of the street. This is how we roll here in Atlantic & Neptune Beach, FL ! 12/29/2010

We had an EPIC battle a few years ago here in the Beaches of Jacksonville, with Wal-Mart threatening to open their big box retail in an area mainly serviced by small, locally owned businesses. Atlantic Beach didn't want Wal-Mart in their beach community; Neptune Beach, which has less commercial space, and could have benefited greatly from the tax base Wal-Mart would bring, was considering allowing them in Neptune Beach. The public outcry indicated the beaches population, for the most part, didn't want a Wal-Mart in their community -we are all perfectly fine to drive the additional 10 minutes to get to one. Which does mean driving over the "ditch" (local slang for the ICW). Which leads me to wonder: WHY would Wal-Mart want to threaten/bully/use heavy-handed tactics to put a store in that... 12/26/2010

I'm sure you've noticed the "Re-Blog" tab at the top of many posts, it's right next to the "Suggest" tab. Why Re-Blog? Isn't that being lazy, and un-creative, and kind of like watching a re-run? It's really not. I re-blog when I see content that is fresh and relevant.  Let's face it, we all blog at different hours of the day; I'm primarily an early morning blogger and you, dear reader and blogger, may be a late night blogger. Hence, if others in the AR community didn't hit that re blog tab, I may never ever see YOUR original blog post. Don't be shy! Don't be afraid! It's completely to re-blog, and to allow others to re-blog your posts too! 12/14/2010