Tis’ The Season for Holiday Events in the Gainesville Area. So, here’s our post for a HOLIDAY EVENT CALENDAR for Gainesville!   Go ahead, get your calendar out and start writing the dates down! If I have left an event off of my list below, and you want it added here,  just let me know and I will get it added! Enjoy your Holiday Season!   Dec.3 24th Annual Pond Lighting North Florida Regional Medical Center Duck Pond 5:30 p.m. – 7:30p.m. www.nfrmc.com     Dec.6 Santa Crawl Downtown Gainesville 5:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. www.Pledge5.org     Dec.7 th & 8th Craft Festival at the O’Dome Stephen C. O’Connell Center at UF 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. http://oconnellcenter.ufl.edu/eventprofile.asp?eventid=2316     Dec.12  Holiday Tree Lighting Celebration  The Street Photographs of Helen Levitt & Friends... 12/05/2013

It’s a Holiday tradition in Gainesville FL !   The Annual Pond Lighting of the Duckpond at North Florida Regional Medical Center.   This year with be their 24th Annual event. The employees, volunteers and family members of NFRMC  are the dedicated Pond Lighting Team.  Each year they want you to join them for the annual lighting of the Duck Pond at North Florida Regional Medical Center. **Photo Courtesy of NFRMC It’s a fantastic family event, and once all the beautiful lights come on, it’s a great way to feel the Holiday Spirit in Gainesville!   There will be plenty of Santa’s helpers walking around too.  Look for the Reindeer that will be handing out candy canes, and Frosty the Snowman will be there too. You can also DONATE to the TOYS FOR TOTS Program. Our local U.S. Marines will be th... 12/04/2013

Gainesville Florida real estate market report for Condominiums & Townhomes SOLD for October 2013  This chart reflects the stats for August, September and October of 2013.    We are now reporting “New Active Listings”,  Pending Sales, and Closed Sales. This data is compiled from the Gainesville Multiple Listing Service & Florida Realtors®.   We are now incorporating the research and statistical reports from Florida Realtors® Associationeach month, and find that some interesting stats are worth sharing here. Cash Sales percentage of total sales has become a significant issue.  In the two displays below, you can see the large percentage of cash sales in our local Condo & Townhome market.  There were 38 total sales for October and 33 of those sales were Cash Buyers.  The tables below shows ... 11/26/2013

Gainesville Florida Real Estate Market Report for Single Family Homes Sold – OCTOBER 2013.  Here are the statistics for Gainesville Florida single family homes real estate market for August, September & October of 2013. Here is our new format to compile these statistics and this will allow consistency with how we report the data.   Previously I was manually pulling the stats from the Gainesville MLS, but thanks to the Florida Realtors® Statistics Department, I now have more confirmed data on our Gainesville Area. This chart shows the number of NEW LISTINGS that came on the market for the month of August, the currently PENDING SALES, and the CLOSED SALES for the month of OCTOBER 2013. The Gainesville-Alachua County Association of Realtors® provides their statistics to the Florida Realtor... 11/22/2013

Our Local Smart Traffic Cameras in Gainesville are cool!  It’s call an Advanced Traffic Management System.  This provides public access to traffic issues here, and I am amazed at how nice this system is.   I will admit that I learned about this via Facebook, and just had to do more research and share it here! Our Gainesville/Alachua County Smartraffic is operated by the City’s Traffic Management Center, which is jointly funded by the City of Gainesville, Alachua County, U of F and the FDOT. Check out their main web site.  You will see the main Map on the home page.  You can Zoom in or Zoom out.    You’ll see icons of cameras.  Click on each camera ICON and a live photo opens for that camera at that intersection, and click again and the photo get bigger.   If you see a yellow exclamation... 11/21/2013

Our local Board of Realtors® has a program called Realtors® Reaching Out.   We have an agreement that our association provides and serves one meal each month at St. Francis House in downtown Gainesville.  And the member brokerages, take turns on which office volunteers each month!   St. Francis House is a local organization to provide shelter and food to homeless families that are in transition.     On Tuesday night, it was our turn!   REMAX in Gainesville FL  (my office) made plans for this.  We did this last year, and I eagerly voluteered this year too.   Thanks for Gary Thomas, our broker owner for arranging for all the food.  We just showed up and helped prepare and serve the families.  There were lots of smiling faces.  A plenty of Thank-you's too.   Volunteering your time is price... 11/20/2013

Here you can find Condominiums and Townhomes for Sale throughout the Gainesville Florida area.   Gainesville is home to the University of Florida, and three large hospital networks. If you are coming to Gainesville Florida as a Student you will want to become familiar with the condominium complexes that surround the University area, you will be able to find it here.  If you are moving to Gainesville as part of your medical career, then you will want to find out which complexes are convenient to where you will be working. This is a way to explore the styles and price ranges of the condos for sale in the Gainesville area. Here is our work in progress of different condominium associations and town-home communities throughout the Gainesville Area – By Community NAME! If you know the name of... 11/15/2013

This is the BIG ONE in Gainesville !!   The 32nd Downtown Festival & Art Show is this weekend.  This festival is expected to draw a crowd of over 100,000 people. Get ready for Saturday & Sunday - November 16 & 17.   It's gonna be great fun for everyone! Presented by the City of Gainesville Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, the festival celebrates its 32nd anniversary.  Visitors can leisurely stroll through historic downtown and marvel at works from more than 250 of the nation’s most talented artists, who display their original oils and acrylics, vibrant watercolors, captivating sculptures, dazzling jewelry, decorative ceramics and vivid photography. The Downtown Festival & Art Show is a great way to purchase one-of-a-kind art for you or a friend on your holiday shopp... 11/13/2013

This is a warning for anyone moving to Gainesville.  Orange & Blue will grow on you.   With the University of Florida's Homecoming in full swing today, you will get a feel of "community".  The hotels are full, and you'll have to wait for a table at any restaurant in town.  But this is GAME DAY!  And Homecoming! Yesterday was the UF Homecoming Parade, and last night was the Gator Growl.  Today it's Football. The weather is wonderful and the exellent Gainesville/Alachua County SmartTraffic Camera's give us some great shots to see during the Gator Walk as our Team comes to the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium! The University of Florida's Fightin' Gator Marching Band will be receiving a very prestigious award during halftime today.  The  Sudler Trophy is being awarded to our Pride of Gator Marching... 11/09/2013

GatorNation celebrates the UF Homecoming starting TODAY!  Go Gators! This year marks the 90th Annual Homecoming and Gator Growl.   This year’s theme is ” Footprints in the Swamp”.  The weather looks good, and schools are closed TODAY for the Homecoming Festivities. The Homecoming Parade runs along University Avenue from Gale Lemerand Drive to Main Street.   Roads are closed at 10:30am and crowds will line the streets.  Get there early to claim your space!  Expected attendance is 70,000! The Gator Gallop is a two mile run that starts before the parade.  Meet up at the Percy Beard Track for the run.   The floats & bands are lining up and the parade starts after the Gallop probably around 11:30am this morning. We’ve got a VERY “family friendly” Gator Growl this year.   General Admission ag... 11/07/2013

We’ve got so many wonderful neighborhoods & subdivisions throughout the Gainesville area. Gainesville Neighborhoods & Communities in Southwest Gainesville.   This search below will provide you will current listing data on Single Family homes in the Southwest Gainesville areas that are WEST of I-75 and on the south side of Newberry Road. We’ve built specific Gainesville neighborhood searches that you can bookmark and save to your browser.   If you are curious about certain neighborhoods, this is a great way to keep up with the neighborhood. If you know the name of a subdivision, this search will allow you to select specific subdivisions by name. Click neighborhood links below to search homes for sale in each particular community that is WEST of I-75 area and on the South side of  Newberr... 11/07/2013

We’ve got so many different neighborhoods & subdivisions throughout the Gainesville area. Gainesville Neighborhoods & Communities West of I-75  This search below will provide you will current listing data on Single Family homes in the Northwest Gainesville areas that are WEST of I-75 . We’ve built specific Gainesville neighborhood searches that you can bookmark and save to your browser.   If you are curious about certain neighborhoods, this is a great way to keep up with the neighborhood. If you know the name of a subdivision, this search will allow you to select specific subdivisions by name. Click neighborhood links below to search homes for sale in each particular community that is WEST of I-75 area.  If you’d like to see other homes in the Gainesville area, please notify us and we’r... 11/05/2013

We’ve got so many different neighborhoods & subdivisions throughout the Gainesville area. This post is an introduction to neighborhoods in Northwest Gainesville (East of I-75). We’ve built specific Gainesville neighborhood searches that you can bookmark and save to your browser.   If you are curious about certain neighborhoods, this is a great way to keep up with the neighborhood.  Gainesville addresses are divided by the four quadrants NW, SW, NE, SE. The axis point for this is University Avenue and Main Street.   This search below will provide you will current listing data on Single Family homes in the Northwest Gainesville areas that are EAST of I-75 . If you know the name of a subdivision, this search will allow you to select specific subdivisions by name. Click neighborhood links b... 11/02/2013

Gainesville Florida Real Estate Market Report for Single Family Homes Sold – September 2013.  Here are the statistics for Gainesville Florida single family homes real estate market for July, August and September of 2013. Here is our new format to compile these statistics and this will allow consistency with how we report the data.   Previously I was manually pulling the stats from the Gainesville MLS, but thanks to the Florida Realtors® Statistics Department, I now have more confirmed data on our Gainesville Area. This chart shows the number of NEW LISTINGS that came on the market for the month of August, the currently PENDING SALES, and the CLOSED SALES for the month of September 2013. The Gainesville-Alachua County Association of Realtors® provides their statistics to the Florida Real... 10/24/2013

It’s October….and that means things are gearing up for The Friends of The Library Fall Book Sale ! The Friends of the Library Fall Book Sale starts Saturday October 26th and runs through Wednesday October 30th, 2013. This is another great fall event in Beautiful Gainesville!  If you’ve never been to this book sale, make sure you go check it out.   Lots of treasures to find and all will benefit our Alachua County Library District.   Be Prepared !!!  Now you can know “where” each topic of book is located in the building and you can get a map !!  To download a floor plan of the sale area, click here. The money made during the book sales is used for budgeted library support, scholarships for library staff, special projects, and county literacy projects. Location is at The Friends of the Lib... 10/20/2013

The Builders Association of North Central Florida presents the Fall Parade of Homes ™ 2013. The Parade starts this weekend!  We will have two weekends in a row to see all the new homes on the fall parade.   It’s a self-guided tour.   You can start your parade at any location on the map. There will be Fall Parade of Homes programs at each location, and you can watch for the magazine in the Gainesville Sun too! Admission is Free DATES & TIMES  ***  October 12 & 13  from 1pm to 6pm  (Saturday & Sunday) ***  October 19 & 20 from 1pm to 6pm  (Saturday & Sunday) New construction homes by member builders all throughout Alachua County.  Please know that some builders will NOT allow cameras, and you may have to remove your shoes at some homes on the parade. Go ahead and make plans to see all of ... 10/10/2013

Here is a great list of Local Farmers Markets in the Gainesville area, includes others in surrounding communities.   I love getting to the farmers market for the canning I do each year.   This is a great way to keep track of where all the different Farmers Markets are located and what days they are open too.   It’s always great to get super fresh fruit and vegetables when they are “in-season”.   Local growers, farmers and vendors bring their products for us to see and buy. Fruits, Vegetables, Eggs, Milk, Nuts, Plants, Breads…..you name it.  If it grows here, you will find it at our local farmers markets. The best places to find what is fresh and ready for you!   Alachua County / 441 Farmers Market Location: 5920 NW 13th Street, Gainesville. Saturdays – Hours 8:30am to 1:00pm   Visit:www... 10/07/2013

Thanks to McGriff Williams Insurance for sending out a wonderful e-newsletter regarding the Flood Insurance Changes that will affect Gainesville and Alachua County.  You might want to keep track of insurance issues on their blog too! How flood insurance changes will affect Gainesville, FL (Alachua County)   In 2012, the U.S. Congress passed the Biggert Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (BW-12), which requires the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to raise rates to reflect true flood risk. These changes will only effect subsidized flood insurance policies; however, keep in mind most flood insurance policies do see minimal increases annually as the cost of living increases. What do these flood insurance changes mean for Gainesville / Alachua County? Of the 112,766 housing un... 10/05/2013

It's Fall Festival time !!   Here's the list of all our Gainesvile area FALL FESTIVALS for 2013 So mark your calendars with all of these great events &  THINGS TO DO in and around  beautiful GAINESVILLE, FL.  Here is  all the WHEN, WHERE, and WHAT on most of them and put them all into a great list for easy reference! So, Let’s get some “fall weather” and plan to attend all these great events in Gainesville, Alachua, High Springs, Williston, Micanopy, McIntosh and more.   Let me know if I am missing a festival and will add it here too.   October 5th, 2013  - the 24nd Annual Central Florida Peanut Festival in Williston -   A day filled with family fun, and over 90 vendor booths, live music, antique tractors. Location:Linear Park on Main Street in Williston  9:00 am to  5pm.   October 12 &... 09/30/2013

Gainesville Florida Real Estate Market Report for Single Family Homes Sold – August  2013.  Here are the statistics for Gainesville Florida single family homes real estate market for June, July and August of 2013. I have decided on a new format to compile these statistics and changed how we display the monthly data.   Previously I was manually pulling the stats from the Gainesville MLS, but thanks to the Florida Realtors® Statistics Department, I now have more confirmed data on our Gainesville Area. This chart shows the number of NEW LISTINGS that came on the market for the month of August, the currently PENDING SALES, and the CLOSED SALES for the Month of August. The Gainesville-Alachua County Association of Realtors® provides their statistics to the Florida Realtors® each month and th... 09/23/2013