This one day festival is a family friendly event held in the Beaches Town Center at the ocean end of Atlantic Blvd. A KIDS ZONE, sponsored by 200 FIRST STREET and several local schools, will offer lots of activities, games, rides and snacks in an alcohol-free area. An art show will feature local and regional artists with talents in painting, jewelry, handcrafted glass, pottery, wood cravings and more. Music starts at noon on the Ocean Stage. Local restaurants will have food booths set up for your enjoyment. Pets, skateboards, bikes and coolers will not be allowed in the festival area. For more information contact Patsy Bishop at 246-9133. Carol Zingone is a Broker Associate with a 100% Customer Satisfaction Rating in Jacksonville Beach, FL with Prudential Network Realty.  She helps buy... 04/18/2009

Recycling Community Waste to Make a Community That's Safe  The City of Jacksonville will have mobile household hazardous waste vehicles at the Atlantic Beach City Hall parking lot (next to Russell Park), 800 Seminole Road on Saturday, April 25th  from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm. Many materials used in the home and gardens are considered hazardous waste and must NOT be thrown into household trash.  These materials can cause serious safety and health problems.  Check the list below for types of products to take to the household hazardous waste collection on April 25th.   WILL BE ACCEPTED:   Paint, paint thinners & strippers                               Fertilizer                                       Computer monitors Rechargeable batteries                                Acids                   ... 04/18/2009

Here are the March 2009 stats and March 2008 for comparison - 2009 11 Homes Sold Lowest price: $48,000 Highest price: $920,000 Shortest Days on Market: 5 Longest Days on Market: 164   2008 9 homes sold Lowest price: $120,000 Highest price: $4,200,000 Shortest Days on Market: 33 Longest Days on Market: 429 The number of homes sold year to year has increased 2 homes, or 22%, which mirrors the activity we are seeing, hearing and feeling in the market. The overall days on market has decreased impressively - this points somewhat to pricing, as a properly priced and property presented properties generate showings, which in turn, bring in offers. If you are not getting showings, you are not priced correctly.  It's that simple. If you are ready to list your home, call me for a comparable market... 04/08/2009

 Enjoy nationally recognized blues music in Jacksonville Beach this weekend - at the SeaWalk Pavilion starting Friday 5pm, and running until 8pm Sunday. Food, BBQ, and seafood, as well as kids activities, arts and crafts.   For more information, visit the website at http://www.springingtheblues.com  Carol Zingone is a Broker Associate with a 100% Customer Satisfaction Rating in Jacksonville Beach, FL with Prudential Network Realty.  She helps buyers and sellers throughout the Beaches, Intracoastal West and Greater Jacksonville, FL areas. She can be reached at 904/993-9048 or via email at carolzingone@clearwire.net 04/02/2009

The Great Atlantic Seafood Festival is this weekend at the SeaWalk Pavilion in Jax Beach. 12 noon to 10pm, this festival features  Florida's finest seafood, fried, boiled, grilled or blackened. Music for everyone. Arts & crafts, rides and games for the whole family.  For more information, call 904/249-3972.   Carol Zingone is a Broker Associate with a 100% Customer Satisfaction Rating in Jacksonville Beach, FL with Prudential Network Realty.  She helps buyers and sellers throughout the Beaches, Intracoastal West and Greater Jacksonville, FL areas. She can be reached at 904/993-9048 or via email at carolzingone@clearwire.net 03/17/2009

Songwriters' Concert Sunday, March 8, 6-8 pm at the Adele Grage Theatre716 Ocean Blvd at 7th StreetAs usual, the event will be held inside the theater--and there is no admission charge. Doors open at 5:45 p.m. This event is brought to you by the Atlantic Beach Cultural Arts and Recreation Advisory Committee. Performers, please email or call Mike Shakelford at (904)610-7461. Prepare 2 original songs of 7-8 minutes combined maximum. Our intimate event is a wonderful way for artists to meet and for everyone to enjoy playing and listening to truly awesome talent.  Whether you write, sing, play or simply enjoy good music, plan on being with us. Our musical host, Mike Shackelford and his fellow talented performers from our region will once again transform the Atlantic Beach Theater into a mag... 03/06/2009

Heritage Bank in Ponte Vedra is sponsoring a free shred day on 3/16/09 at their office.  Anyone can bring their paper documents, x-rays, CD's, DVD's, computer hard drives and back up tapes . All documents and materials will be collected in locked secure bins. The bins will be transported to the Shred For Good's secure facility in Green Cove Springs where it it wll be shredded, baled and recycled. This is a great opportunity to dispose correctly of the above items.  Shred For Good is a secure document destruction business that employs people with disabilities. For additional information, please call 904/280-5655.   Carol Zingone is a Broker Associate with a 100% Customer Satisfaction Rating in Jacksonville Beach, FL with Prudential Network Realty.  She helps buyers and sellers throughout... 03/06/2009

Effective 3/8/09, Atlantic Beach will have new irrigation rules.  As always, there is no watering permitted between 10a-4p any day of the week. This is simply because watering during those hours are the least effective and the most wasteful. Here are the new points: During Daylight Savings Time, (Spring & Summer) water only two days per week. Wednesday and Saturday are for odd numbered addresses or no addresses.  Thursday and Sunday are for even numbered addresses. Tuesday and Friday are for non-residential addresses.   During Eastern Standard Time (Fall & Winter) limit water to one day per week. Saturday is for odd numbered addresses or no address.  Sunday is for even numbered addresses. Tuesday is for non-residential or commercial addresses.  For more information, you can visit the At... 02/27/2009

  The event is being organized by The Nature Conservancy as part of the 10th Annual National Invasive Weed Awareness Week. The purpose of the event is to collect as many Air Potato (Dioscorea bulbifera) tubers as possible to prevent new vines from establishing and to increase the awareness of the threat invasive species pose to natural areas and biodiversity. The volunteer who collects the largest tuber (of the Roundup sites throughout NE Florida) will win a grand prize. All ages welcome. The City will supply water and garbage bags, but requests volunteers bring their own gloves. Instructions and information will be provided at the event. Come join in the fun and help preserve our conservation lands. For more information call the Public Works Department at 247-5834.   Carol Zingone is ... 02/23/2009

I know we all talk about how to price homes in the current market.  I myself check multiple avenues to ensure I'm helping my sellers to price their homes correctly.  Of course, this research takes into account the motivation of the sellers, and their timeframe, both of which are crucial components. How do you know if you are, in fact, priced correctly? One easy way is to see how many showings you are getting in the first few weeks of the listing being active.  If you have none, the unfortunate answer is your home is NOT priced correctly for the condition, age, and location of the home. If you have less than 1-2 showings per week, you are not priced correctly also. I am currently working with a seller who has had 8 showings in the first 18 days of a listing - this confirms the home is pr... 02/22/2009

Here is information about this wonderful event that comes to the Jacksonville area on an annual basis: Friday, February 27 Writers' Workshops - FREE 8:30 a.m. Registration/9 a.m. Workshop Best-selling author Steve Berry will host the day long opportunity to talk directly with authors about the basic elements of writing. Book Brunch and Young Writers Awards with David Baldacci 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. $50 (signed copy of book included) Best-selling novelist David Baldacci will host a brunch to discuss his career and current novel Divine Justice, and will present The Young Writers Awards. Saturday, February 28 Book Festival - FREE 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. • National best-selling authors • Book sales and signings • Author panel discussions Children's Chapter - FREE 9 a.m. - Noon • Celebrity readings an... 02/20/2009

I don't konw if you were able to watch part or all of the race today, or if you were one of the many who raced - if so, I' applaud all of you! I watched near the half-way point, up Seminole Road, and was amazed at how many people I saw not just running or walking but supporting this fabulous cause and event. Many of us have a family member, or dear friend who has been diagnosed with breast cancer, and raced in their honor. The weather today was about near-perfect for the race, and we saw many smiles and happy racers. For official results, or to check your time, go here: http://www.jacksonville.com/2009-02-15/story/262_with_donna Carol Zingone is a Broker Associate with a 100% Customer Satisfaction Rating in Jacksonville Beach, FL with Prudential Network Realty.  She helps buyers and sel... 02/15/2009

Have you noticed how when you yawn, you prompt others to yawn? Or, how you are induced to yawn when you see another person yawn? We know yawns are an involuntary respiratory reflex, which regulates the carbon dioxide and oxygen levels in the blood. Therefore, yawns are, essentially, contagious. My theory on the new "yawn" is the smart phone/PDA addiction. I've noticed when I see someone check their smart phone/PDA for email, or voice mail or to text, I feel absolutely compelled to do so - hence, the new yawn. What do you observe about your own behaviors in this arena, or your coworkers?  You might be curious....   Carol Zingone is a Broker Associate with a 100% Customer Satisfaction Rating in Jacksonville Beach, FL with Prudential Network Realty.  She helps buyers and sellers throughout... 02/15/2009

This terrific event is next weekend, 2/15/09, in the Beaches areas.   For more information, visit the official website here: http://www.breastcancermarathon.com/ The national breast cancer marathon and half-marathon will begin near the Mayo Clinic Campus in Jacksonville, Florida and follows the course through the unique beach communities of Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach and Atlantic Beach. The course will detour onto 2.5 miles of beautiful hard-packed sand on the Florida coastline, which is perfect for running See the full marathon map here; http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=251513 You can join the general public in cheering on all the participants - have fun, and plan for some traffic delays along the course schedule. Carol Zingone is a Broker Associate with a 100% Customer ... 02/08/2009

Here are the January 2009 stats and January 2008 for comparison - these are single family home sales, only, no condos. 2009 9 Homes Sold Lowest price: $132,000 Highest price: $2,650,000 Shortest Days on Market:23 Longest Days on Market: 236 2008 5 homes sold Lowest price: $40,000 Highest price: $657,000 Shortest Days on Market:12 Longest Days on Market: 163 Based on this data, we can clearly see an increase in pricing year to year, and a SIGNIFICANT increase in homes sold year to year;this mathematically illustrates an 80% increase in homes sold year to year. If you are ready to list your home, call me for a comparable market analysis to see what price range you should list in, and to learn more about how what sets myself and Prudential Network Realty apart from the competition.    Caro... 02/03/2009

Welcome to 2009! Many Realtors I've talked to over the past few weeks have commented how busy their offices are, how showing appointments are up and buyers are writing offers. I ran a quick search in the local MLS, it has confirmed what we've been feeling: SALES ARE UP!  In the beach towns of Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Jacksonville Beach, closed homes are up 33% from 2007 to 2008. This is a great start to the new year and I'm looking forward to a wonderful year!   Carol Zingone is a Broker Associate with a 100% Customer Satisfaction Rating in Jacksonville Beach, FL with Vanguard GMAC.  She helps buyers and sellers throughout the Beaches, Intracoastal West and Greater Jacksonville, FL areas. She can be reached at 904/993-9048 or via email at carolzingone@clearwire.net (Data is compil... 01/15/2009

Sunday, February 8, 6-8 pm at the Adele Grage Theatre716 Ocean Blvd at 7th StreetAs usual, the event will be held inside the theater--and there is no admission charge. Doors open at 5:45 p.m. This event is brought to you by the Atlantic Beach Cultural Arts and Recreation Advisory Committee. Performers, please emailor call Mike Shackelford at (904)710-0397. Prepare 2 original songs of 7-8 minutes combined maximum. Our intimate event is a wonderful way for artists to meet and for everyone to enjoy playing and listening to truly awesome talent.  Whether you write, sing, play or simply enjoy good music, plan on being with us. Our musical host, Mike Shackelford and his fellow talented performers from our region will once again transform the Atlantic Beach Theater into a magical space for two... 01/12/2009

 This only happens once or twice a year, so PLAN NOW and save yourself the long drive over the ditch! Saturday, April 25th, 2009, between the hours of 8:30 am and 3:00 pm representatives from the City of Jacksonville will have a mobile hazardous waste vehicle at Atlantic Beach City Hall (located at 800 Seminole Road, Atlantic Beach, Florida) to collect hazardous waste items such as: paint, paint thinners, rechargeable batteries, photographic chemicals, antifreeze, lawn & garden chemicals, pool chemicals, aerosol cans, pesticides, small propane (lp) tanks, fire extinguishers, thermometers and thermostats, fertilizer, acids, car care chemicals, drain cleaners, varnish/shellac, ammunition, used oil, flares, pc monitors, terminals, cpu's, keyboards, TV's/VCR's, printers/scanners, stereo eq... 01/12/2009

  Here are the numbers of active property listings, those under contract, and sold properties for Single Family Homes in Atlantic Beach, FL for  2008: Active               669 active listings for Single Family Homes (no condos) Pending               147 pending  (inspections & financing have been done) Sold                      140 sold New Listings       470 Active listings have decreased by 5% year to year, which indicates unmotivated sellers pulling their listings off the market, which is a good thing. New listings are down almost 10% year to year, which confirms the homes for sale we are currently seeing are motivated sellers. The pending listings are up 4% year to year, which is basically flat. The sold listings are also basically flat - indicating the media over-hyping the bad rea... 01/11/2009

Here are the numbers of active property listings, those under contract, and sold properties for Single Family Homes in Atlantic Beach, FL for the month of December 2008: Active             220 active listings for Single Family Homes (no condos) Pending                 8 pending  (inspections & financing have been done) Sold                   9 sold New Listings       29 Active listings have decreased by 7% year to year, which indicates unmotivated sellers pulling their listings off the market, which is a good thing. The pending listings are flat this month, down one listing from 2007. The sold listings are down by  25%.  New listings on the market are flat year to year. Here are the December 2007 numbers for comparison: Active              237 active listings for Single Family Homes (no... 01/02/2009