SEEK MOVE NEST: One time coming in third is preferred in Florida.

SEEK MOVE NEST: One time coming in third is preferred in Florida.: FORECLOSURE DAYZ IN FLORIDA http://www.realtytrac.com/content/news-and-opinion/third-quarter-2011-top-state-foreclosure-timelines-6892?a...

One time coming in third is preferred in Florida.

 FORECLOSURE DAYZ IN FLORIDA

http://www.realtytrac.com/content/news-and-opinion/third-quarter-2011-top-state-foreclosure-timelines-6892?a=b&accnt=305786

Reading these numbers for the third quarter of this year takes my mind in several directions.
My Realtor brain wonders what the real impact of all these yet-to-be-foreclosed properties will have
on our inventory and absorption rate for the next few y-e-a-r-s. Will they trickle or flood onto the market?
The Personal part of my brain feels relief for friends and friends of friends who though living with a gavel over their heads, can stay in their homes for over two years while they figure out what they are going to do and where they are going to go from here.
None of it is good for the spirit or the bottom line of us collectively and individually.

It's time for...Monday Morning Metaphor

With the start of the 2-F's, Fall and football... let's revisit this incredible
display of human skill and agility. Inspiring.
 Pick me!

Lemons, lemons everywhere...and quite a drop to drink.

LIMONCELLO.  Liquid sunshine in a glass.  The Italians, with their vast knowledge of all things delicious, had a hands down hit with this one. Is there a better place to make anything citrus than beautiful Florida? That's right. Just think, you toil this weekend and in a few short weeks...you crack open your first bottle of handcrafted Limoncello, sit back and watch your team destroy their opponenent and then toast to sweet victory.  Hhhmmmm, lemon tree, very pretty...
The citrus choices are interesting too...I'm thinking Key Limoncello might be my next batch,

MAKE IT.

*First thought: double or triple this recipe...if you are going to do it anyway might as well
make several quarts. Christmas is coming.

1 quart vodka  (Skye, Svedka, Fris are all good for this as they are obsessively distilled.)
Whole peel of 6 large lemons  (the big and fleshy ones and don't include the pith!)
2 cups drinking water (specificity applies here, it IS Florida)
3/4 cup sugar
A pretty glass bottle that holds one liter of liquid (for the finished product)
A glass container/jar with a tight fitting lid that holds a liter of liquid (for steeping)

DO THIS.
Mix the vodka and lemon peelings in the glass container, cover and store in a cool place or the fridge.
Forget it is there for 7-14 days.
In a medium saucepan, stir the cold water with the sugar and heat at a medium temperature
until the sugar dissovles. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Let it cool.
Unearth your vodka/lemon infusion and strain it through a sieve into the pretty and sterilized
bottles. When the syrup is cool, add it to the bottle as well.
Cap or cork it up and store in the fridge, When you are ready to serve it, stash the bottle in the freezer at least 6 hours prior. Makes 1 liter.

TIP:  For a party or a wedding Save waxed paper 1/2 gallon milk containers. Wash them out and open the tops completely.  Place your bottle of Citrus Heaven in the center of the milk container, add flower petals, sprigs of rosemary, whole kumquats, whatever you fancy and then fill the milk container 3/4 quarter full of water. Freeze solid.
Just before the party, peel the waxed paper away and you will behold a frozen block with a bottle of Limoncello contained inside. Wrap and tie a lovely napkin around the block and set on a saucer by your bar service.

Rented Thoughts. Wise words from my Broker.

Each week I post a piece or article to ponder on real estate. This week my focus is on renting. Is anybody contemplating acquiring investment properties now? Some Things to Consider Before Renting a Home You Can’t Sell. In a difficult housing market, more and more homeowners are considering renting their house instead of adjusting the price. We strongly believe that residential real estate is a great investment and therefore can understand this thinking. However, if you have no desire to actually become an educated investor in this sector, you may be headed for more trouble than you were looking for. Before renting your home, you should take the following steps to make sure this is the right course of action for you and your family. Set a consultation appointment with an eviction attorney People rent out their homes assuming that every tenant will pay the rent every month. We must realize, because of the current economy, there are millions of people not paying their mortgage. There is a chance you may rent to someone who at some point can’t (or simply won’t) pay you the rent. Understand what the legal challenges of eviction could potentially be before deciding to rent your home Interview property managers If you are not a full-time investor, hire a professional to handle the property. You need someone to find a qualified tenant, collect the rent and manage the problems. You don’t want to have to make collection calls. What would you say if a tenant told you that they had enough money to either buy food for their children or pay you your rent but not both? You need a person experienced with these situations to help. You also don’t want to receive calls at all hours of the day and night regarding maintenance issues or challenges a neighbor may be creating for your tenant. Create an honest budget Sure, you will receive revenue in the form of rent. However, don’t forget you will also have expenses. Some of the expenses you should consider: Mortgage Payment (unless there is no mortgage on the home you will rent out) Property Taxes Maintenance Expenses such as repairing or replacing: roof, heating/air conditioning unit, appliances, etc. Insurance – Check with your insurance company who may suggest or demand that you increase your liability coverage. Bottom Line Again, renting out residential real estate historically is a great investment. However, it is not without its challenges. Make sure you have decided that you want to rent the house because you want to be an investor, not because it looks like an easier way out than selling the house.  Stephen Bohner   President www.PremierRealtyGroup.com            Premier Realty Group, Inc.  • 2 N. Sewall's Point Road • Stuart, Florida  34996   

d'ete d'adieu!

Summer 2011 is over and I am excited for all that Fall brings with it. Great food, an adundance of flowers and veggies, cool nights and focused sellers and buyers of the many glorious homes available here in Martin County.

All in the Family-The next wave of Floridians

FHA Writes Record Number of Multi-Family Home Loans The saying, "blood is thicker than water" has never meant more to so many faced with the challenges that our new economy has brought forth. People of retirement age who find themselves with depleted retirement reserves find themselves needing to stay in the workforce for the foreseeable future but are at a loss for securing a new position "at their age." Dreams of moving to Florida full time are met with concern with outliving one's income and gray collar jobs often don't add enough to the income stream to warrant the time spent (the infamous Walmart greeter scenario), and as we have more years to look forward to than our ancestors, their is the concern of outliving our savings. Then there are the adult children and newly college graduated children of this group.  For years, corporate jobs have taken younger Baby Boomers and Generation X-ers around the country and even the globe creating familial distances that are not always welcomed.  But these jobs have dwindled and made competition  for the existing ones unpalatable and even unattainable for many. Add to that the hard cold fact that many wide eyed (or already discouraged) legions of freshly graduated or soon to be graduated Generation Y-ers are coming into a job market that promises fierce competition for less than inspiring positions. Note: "interning" is NOT a job but a brilliant idea made up by cash strapped companies to get eager and bright kids to work for free.  So how does this effect the Florida economy and the housing market here?
For quite some time now, major and mid-sized corporations have realized and utilized the concept of working in teams for maximum effectiveness and efficiency.  While most of us do not work on the family farm any longer (if we ever did) we instinctively band together in hard times. Families are uniting in these difficult and uncertain economic times tending to want to be closer to one another and there appears to be a growing trend of multi-generational families wanting to live and work together and this trend is coinciding with the rise in demand and renovation of multi-unit housing here in Florida. The idea is this, cash in what is left of your home equity in the northern states and buy not a smaller, snowbird-esque home but rather a larger home ideally set up with two master bedrooms and rooms for the kids/grandkids or a multi-unit home that everyone can live in, share the costs of and maintain together. Then, buy or lease one of the many vacant commercial spaces that are everywhere these days and work together as a family building dreams, memories and wealth. Many are making a family business of buying and renovating other multi-family properties for steady rental income at a time when rentals are increasing in demand. This is a win/win situation for the families that are making this scenario a reality and a win/win for the Florida economy.
In the near future look for new construction trending towards homes designed for the multi-generational household and a thriving residential rental market.

Those cute little peppers...what to do?

They come in those colorful Florida shades of orange/yellow/red and are just so lovely to look at.
With Labor Day coming up and the Football season starting soon (go Gators).  It is a perfect time to stuff these babies and eat them up. Let me know what you think.


TORITOS WITH SHRIMP AND QUESO BLANCO

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp. butter
1/2 pound medium cooked shrimp (shelled and chopped)
1 dried chorizo link (optional)
1 C. queso blanco (shredded)
3 green onions (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (minced or pressed)
1 C. cooked basmati rice
1 two lb.. bag of sweet mini peppers

chopped cilantro
salt and ground pepper to taste

RECIPE    Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Dry fry the peppers in a cast iron skillet (alternatively grill until lightly charred). Do not overcook.
Set aside to cool.
Next. Melt butter in a skillet and add chopped green onion, garlic and chorizo. Saute until lightly golden brown and add chopped and cooked shrimp. Saute for 2 minutes more. Cool mixture and then add cooked rice, cheese and 2 tbsp. chopped cilantro. Mix lightly. Add salt and ground pepper to taste.
Make a slit down each pepper and using a small teaspoon (or your fingers) stuff the peppers with the mixture. Arrange in a baking dish lined with tin foil.  Note: dish may be refrigerated at this point and baked later in the day.
Bake mixture at 350 degrees until cheese is melted (about 13 minutes) if at room temperature.

Serve with guacamole, salsa  and yellow corn tortilla chips.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Our country has a long history with growth and change. In fact, the aforementioned actions are what propelled our United States into becoming a leader amongst the world's nations to begin with.
In these long, last few years, we have begun to "grow and change" in ways that we weren't aware we needed to. Change is tough. It is work. They say that we have to do something for at least 28 days before it becomes a habit. Many of us have had much longer than that to get used to all of the change that we have been experiencing in our daily lives as well as how it is going to be in the future. Life does not come easy these days and the choices we make now (of course they always did matter as much as they do now) will put us in a good place, in fact a great place, later on.
Digesting so much loss, whether it is of a cherished home or a financial investment, a crashed 401K or a tanked stock portfolio, creates a fear and a panic that is palpable. So much so that in these "worst of times" it is hard to feel good about ones next step. So we wait and watch and wonder.
The elements that came together to create the condition that we are faced with as a nation and the world as an economic whole were born from the opposite of the only financial advise I ever received from my Mama when she succinctly said: "Be careful not to spend more money than you make." Thanks Mom, but people don't have all the money they need to buy a house. They have to borrow it. So now I can hear her saying: "Pay attention to the sales and you can save what you would have overpaid for."
The elements that exist now in the real estate market follow the advise of my Mother. Money is on sale. In fact, it is at it's "lowest price of the year." Homes are on sale as well.
I picture myself sitting with Mom and watching Gone With the Wind, the perfect tale of "the worst of times" and I hear Gerald O' Hara, Scarlett's Father saying: "Do you mean to tell me, Katie Scarlett O'Hara, that Tara, that land doesn't mean anything to you? Why, land is the only thing in the world worth workin' for, worth fightin' for, worth dyin' for, because it's the only thing that lasts."

Run-gle in the Jungle

Who needs Bikram yoga? Running in the Florida summer helps one to FOCUS.
Beautiful out here.

The bright spot in a dim economy. Carpe Diem!

Mortgage Rates Hit Record Lows Amid Signs of Weakening Economy - Aug 4, 2011

Florida country life in Palm City Farms

Inland. Rugged and beautiful. Drinking coffee on my back lanai at dawn last week, I looked up when I heard a noise in the hammock. A Florida Panther went loping by. Thank God for sand and the tracks that he left behind. Wayne never would have believed me otherwise.

Debunking popular real estate myths

Debunking popular real estate myths