Real Estate Information

Miami FL real estate sales soared 72 percent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the first quarter of 2008, according to Realtors' statistics. For major metro markets, Miami was the hottest in the state with Ft. Lauderdale next at 46 percent.

First-time Miami FL home buyers are now buying in record numbers. They are taking advantage of the $8,000 tax credit and some FANTASTIC grant programs currently available through Broward County, Palm Beach County & various cities, some offering up to $100,000 and you don’t have to be a first time home buyer to qualify.

If you or someone you know is a first-time Miami FL home buyer, give us a call so we can show you how you can take advantage of this FREE government money!

To get free listings of properties as they come on the market visit: www.NewSouthFloridaListings.com.

Pending home sales rose with many first-time buyers taking advantage of historically good housing affordability conditions, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

Let’s take a look at the Miami sales statistics for April compared to April 2008 to see how the South Florida real estate market is looking:

Condo/Coop/Townhouse/Villa Sales in Miami

April 2009 market statistics for condo/townhouses etc. in Miami showed an increase in sales with sold listings up by 60 percent compared to 2008. New listings decreased by 38.5 percent. The average sales price dropped 47.7 percent to $163,107 and the year-to-date sales price dropped 45.6 percent to $175,480.

Statistics provided by the Realtor Association of Miami-Dade County and are deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.  

If you want to learn more about South Florida real estate, please contact us at 888-SFL-TEAM or visit HomeInSouthFlorida.com. 

To begin searching for South Florida real estate and homes for sale, please use our complimentary MLS search.  

The City of Hollywood, CRA Downtown District is having: 

Funtastic Fridays for Kids in Downtown Hollywood every Friday!

This family-friendly event is scheduled every Friday from 5:00pm-9:00pm.  Looking for something free and fun?  Bring your kids to the best FREE family social event in town featuring Mama Clown and Friends, an outdoor movie, a bounce house, face painters, balloon twisters, magic and more!

Arts and Crafts

Kids eat free on fridays at many downtown restaurants including Cafe Italia, Huang's Mandarin House, A La Turca, Dolce Vita, Sage Oyster Bar. Restrictions may apply.

As a native Chicagoan who moved to South Florida 18 years ago, I am always amazed at the abundance of outdoor activities available to Floridians year round.  So gather the kids and head out to Hollywood’s newest family event, Funtastic Fridays. Hollywood is conveniently located between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale.  

Interested in what the South Florida housing market is doing?  For a free EMAIL HOME SEARCH, a FREE Automated daily Email system that provides you details on all homes for sale in MLS as they hit the market, including FORECLOSURES, visit www.NewSouthFloridaListings.com

Ellen Bithell, CRS, CREO
SELLING SOUTH FLORIDA
www.downtownhollywood.com

SAVE MONEY ON YOUR HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE

This is a post that I originally published on 8/22/08, but with the economic challenges that many are facing, I thought this was a great money saving idea that could be helpful, it was to me!

I was dismayed at how much money I was spending on my homeowners insurance, as I am sure many others are as well. Recently I read about insurance mitigation. This is something I had never heard about, so I looked into it a bit. Basically, many of us are paying way too much for our insurance and just don’t know it, as I was.

If your roof was put on after 1994, you qualify for a discount. If you have adequate hurricane shutters you qualify for a discount. There are many other factors that qualify you for a substantial discount as well.

Recently, I hired Jay Schwartz, President of Coast To Coast Home Services, Inc. to perform a Mitigation Inspection on three of my properties located in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale areas. The inspection cost $150.00 per property, and Jay guarantees that if you do not get a minimum $150.00 reduction in your insurance premium he will refund you your fee, so there is no risk.

All three of my properties qualified. I simply emailed the report to my insurance agent, who then forwarded it to my insurance company. Within approximately 60 days, I got checks from all three companies. Each check was for an amount between $500.00 and $600.00. The savings is even greater than that because the premium will now be that much less annually, saving me literally thousands of dollars over the time I will own the properties.

I found Jay’s company to be very reliable. They showed up at the appointed meeting time (rare these days), and were professional and easy to work with.

If you have own a property, I would encourage you to contact Jay to see if he can help you. After all, what have you got to lose?

Jay Schwartz, President of Coast To Coast Home Services, Inc

Corporate Office: 954.673.3479 Fax 954.212.0311

Naples Office: 239.298.4396

www.CoastToCoastHomeServices.com

ELLEN BITHELL, CRS, CREO, SSS (Short Sale Specialist)

Email Author

SELLING SOUTH FLORIDA

p.s. to find out what homes are selling for visit: www.checkitnow.org

DID YOU KNOW THAT IN BROWARD COUNTY, FL YOU CAN GET EXTERIOR PAINT FOR YOUR HOUSE FOR FREE?

Last year while attending Hollywood’s Code Academy I learned about a wonderful program called “Paint it Broward”.  This program began in 1999 and more then 30,000 gallons of paint have been given away since its inception.   Last year in the City of Hollywood alone 750 properties were painted using the paint from this program!

Where do they get the paint?  All of the latex paint collected at Broward County’s Household Hazardous Waste Disposal Program is re-blended and recycled into new, high-quality exterior paint which is available to residents at no cost!

Visit http://www.broward.org/waste/iwi04100.htm to see more about the paint recycling program including a list of participating cities including Hollywood, Ft. Lauderdale, Pembroke Pines, Plantation and Sunrise, just to name a few.

After you pick up the pain you have 60 days to use it.  Someone from the city then comes out to inspect.  The program is intended for single-family homes only; no commercial properties or multi family dwellings are included.

So no more excuses; get out there and improve the appearance of our neighborhoods.  Paint it Broward!!

Ellen Bithell, CRS, CREO, SSS (short sale specialist)

SELLING SOUTH FLORIDA

Email Author                         Share on Facebook

p.s. just a reminder that I will be teaching a home buyers seminar on 5/30/09, some of the topics include: free government money, $8,000 tax credit, purchasing HUD homes, foreclosures & more!

I have always loved to entertain and have had the fun of hosting many parties at my home.  This year though, with the economy being what it is, I wanted to host an engagement party for my good friend Ali and her soon to be husband John and keep the expenses manageable.

The party was to be held at my home and, due to the wonderful weather in South Florida, it was to be an indoor/outdoor affair.  Looking around my backyard I realized that the outdoor furniture was not in party perfect condition; in fact, it had quite a bit of rust and discoloration from wear and the weather.  Previously I would have replaced it but I figured there had to be a more economical solution than that.  Thankfully there was! I had all of the furniture sanded and repainted with Rustoleum, making it all look as good as new!  We pressure cleaned and sealed the deck and filled up the hanging baskets with some pretty impatiens.  My husband replaced the motor in our non-flowing fountain for $40.00 and it looked and sounded lovely!  The outside now looked like paradise and it was time to spruce up the inside as well.

Previously I would have the doors and baseboards repainted to remove the scuffs and other marks from a busy home with two children who have lots of friends over all of the time and two rambunctious boxers.  This year Phil did all of the touch up work for me; it came out great and cost nothing as we had the paint in the garage.  Ditto for the towel bar that had come off the wall in the hallway bathroom about a month ago.  Phil was able to reglue the bracket to the wall and it was new again.

My areas of expertise as well as enjoyment are the invitations and the food.  I purchased 50 invitations at Office Depot for $35.00 and printed them from home, adding a sweet bow that came with the package after the invitations had cleared the printer.  They looked as if they had been professionally printed at a fraction of the cost.

I visited my friend, Sally Grant, at Dream Dinners in Sunrise, FL and we prepared a menu.  If you have never been to Dream Dinners it is a wonderful service that you have to experience for yourself: www.dreamdinners.com.  I prepped a quiche, bbq beef and chicken enchiladas for appetizers and chicken marsala and beef Bolognese for entrees.   My friends also contributed two more entrees, rolls, salad & two amazing desserts.  Had I had the party catered I would have spent 2-3 times what I did (and I don’t think it would have been nearly as good!).  For drinks I had a large drink dispenser which I filled with 1 sliced cucumber and equal amounts of sliced strawberries, ice and water (a trick I learned from a Royal Caribbean Cruise).  The cost is almost nil, it is lovely and everyone enjoys it! 

I took loads of photos with my camera and updated them to facebook for everyone to enjoy!  The bride & groom to be could not have been happier or more appreciative and I have been receiving calls and emails all day with rave reviews about the celebration.

So my message is to get out there and enjoy the summer, have friends over and be creative about cutting costs.  At the end of the day you will have had a great time and so will your friends and/or family.

Wishing you many happy gatherings!

Ellen M Bithell, CRS, CREO, SSS (short sale specialist)

Selling South Florida 

P.S.  I was featured in a full page of Florida Realtor Magazine for the month of May; check out the link to see the story!

http://www.homeinsouthflorida.com/Buyer-Resources/Buyer-Suggested-Reading/Realtor-Magazine-May-2009 

HOW TO HAVE THE GOVERNMENT HELP YOU BUY A HOME 

Recently the Sun Sentinel published the attached article: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-grants-foreclosed-homes-b040sbapr09,0,6330758.story regarding Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funds to help buyers purchase foreclosed homes. Each Dade and Broward city sets up its own rules.  In some, the purchaser must be a first time home buyer; this includes anyone who has not owned a home in three years. In other cities, including Pembroke Pines, Miramar and Coral Springs, these funds are available not only to first time home buyers, but to any candidate planning to purchase a home priced up to $250,000.  These funds can help buyers take advantage of the current economic situation by enabling them to easily afford a nice home. Many potential home buyers who wouldn't have been able purchase because of the previous soaring home prices in Dade and Broward Counties can now buy a home with the NSP funds provided by many cities. This is now, more than ever, the time to have the government help you buy a home!  

You might want to consider Wendy's situation to add concreteness to all this information. Wendy is a Broward County school teacher who applied to the City of Pembroke Pines for NSP funds and is expecting her approval letter in the mail any day now! She was awarded $100,000, the maximum NSP funding, including up to $50,000 in purchase assistance and up to another $50,000 in rehab funds if needed. If all this appeals to you and you are interested in learning more about the programs available in many cities who have NSP funds available including, but not limited to: Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Plantation, Coral Springs, Hallandale & Hollywood, you can find out more on www.CRAFLA.com.

You can also refer to me as an expert source or refer to other professional real estate agents familiar with all the programs. We can help your readers in finding which program best suits their needs and also help them take advantage of up to $100,000 in NSP funds. 

Ellen Bithell, CRS
954-862-2631
ellenbithell@remax.net

Let’s take a look at the Miami real estate sales statistics for March compared to March 2008 to see how the market is looking in South Florida:

Condo/Coop/Townhouse/Villa Sales in Miami

March 2008 market statistics for condo/townhouses etc. in Miami showed an increase in sales with sold listings up by 63.8 percent compared to 2008. New listings decreased by 31.5 percent. The average sales price dropped 50.9 percent to $177,683 and the year-to-date sales price dropped 45.9 percent to $176,990.

If you want to learn more about South Florida real estate, please contact us at 888-SFL-TEAM or visit HomeInSouthFlorida.com. To begin searching for South Florida homes, please use our complimentary MLS search. 

Statistics provided by the Realtor Association of Miami-Dade County and are deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.  

FREE GOVERNMENT MONEY AVAILABLE!!
Did the title get your attention, it sure get’s mine. I will be participating in two home buyer seminar’s this month, one on 4/18/09 (actually my partner, Agnes Stalmach, will be there as I will be on the west coast of FL with some friends) from 9 am – 5 pm at HOPE Human Resource Development, Inc. 2305 Sheridan Street - Hollywood, Florida 33020 and another on 4/24/09 from 11am – 3 pm at Regions Bank in Pembroke Pines. 

We will be going over the steps to home ownership, the $8,000 tax credit, the FANTASTIC grant programs currently available through Broward & Palm Beach County & various cities, some offering up to $100,000 and you don’t have to be a first time home buyer to qualify.
Check out: www.crafla.com for more information and read the attached link from a story that ran on April 13, 2009 in the Sun Sentinel:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-grants-foreclosed-homes-b040sbapr09,0,6330758.story
To get free listings of properties as they come on the market visit: www.NewSouthFloridaListings.com
And remember, it’s a great life!

Ellen M Bithell, CRS, CREO, SSS (short sale specialist)
SELLING SOUTH FLORIDA 
Email Author        Share on Facebook

SOUTH FLORIDA
HOT AIR BALLOON EVENT

The Bithell-Stalmach Team of RE/MAX Executive Realty hosted the signature RE/MAX Hot Air Balloon with its globally recognized red, white and blue colors at "Take Steps for Kids in Distress" held at Markham Park (16001 West State Road 84, Sunrise, FL) on April 4th.  After seeing the great job that they did, I look forward to participating again next year and getting more involved with the committee and the planning of this event.

I have visited Kids in Distress at their inspiring Fort Lauderdale campus and witnessed the wonderful work that they do in caring for abused and neglected children.  Most people who know me know that my husband and I were Broward County Foster Parents for 10+ years and raised our three nephews for 13+ years, so organizations like Kids in Distress are really very personal to me.

Participants in "Take Steps for Kids in Distress" competed on a USATF certified 5K course.  They registered either as part of a Team or as Individuals and chose to be designated as either runners or walkers. This was the perfect Employee Wellness activity for April which is Child Abuse Prevention month!  Everyone was included, from family and friends to favorite pets. Participants were able to discover the natural beauty of Markham Park and to join KID supporters (including 450 corporate team registrants) to help raise funds and awareness. The event was free and tickets for a tethered balloon ride in the RE/MAX Hot Air Balloon were sold to raise funds for Kids in Distress. Several hundred dollars were raised.

The RE/MAX Hot Air Balloon Fleet is one of the largest in the world, with over 120 balloons located on six continents.  The distinctive red, white and blue balloon, which represents the international RE/MAX real estate network, has become one of the most recognized corporate images in the world.

 RE/MAX EXECUTIVE REALTY- Each Office Independently Owned and Operated