SUMMER IS HERE! TIME TO MONKEY AROUND.

Banana Daquiri + Hot Fun = Summertime

For two weeks Wayne has been talking about this bunch of bananas growing on a sad looking banana tree that is growing on a sad 5 acre property that has recently been foreclosed on and sits vacant. He passes by on the road coveting his ex-neighbor's bananas! Until last Thursday that is. On that thunderstormy day I was at my office when I heard my phone bling and when I looked, there in all their glory was the stalk of bananas. NOT still stuck to the tree but sitting in my Husband's hands! He pinched them! Bad. Boy.

(He says that he saw a bird pecking at them and he wasn't going to let the birds have HIS bananas) And so when I got home that night I fired up the Magic Bullet. It really enjoyed a break from soy milk and protein powder.  ...oh and the foreclosed property? It has been purchased for a song...I hope one by Harry Belafonte.

SIX FOOT, SEVEN FOOT, EIGHT FOOT, BUNCH!

Supreme Banana Daquiri

(serves 2)

 3 ripe bananas (no green)

6 ounces of white rum

juice of a lime

2 Tbsp. sugar (raw if you have it)

2 ounces coconut milk 

2 ounces water

ice cubes

Order of operations: Bananas first, add sugar, add all liquids, fill to top with ice (if using a Bullet) or half fill the blender with cubes.

Blend or Bulletize. Pour into 2 martini glasses. 

Open Pandora, click Miami Sound Machine channel

Dance, dance dance

SUNSETS OVER THE WIDE SAINT LUCIE - NEWLY LISTED

2150 PLUMBAGO TRAIL

OPEN SUNDAY JUNE 10TH FROM 1-4:00PM

THE ESTUARY, Stuart, Florida

I AM PLEASED TO PRESENT THIS NEW PROPERTY SITUATED ON THE SAINT LUCIE RIVER. WITH TWO MASTER SUITES WITH SPA BATHS ON TWO LEVELS, THE LUXURIOUS VIBE AND AMAZING VIEWS CAN BE ENJOYED BY FAMILY AND GUESTS WHO LIKE PRIVACY...AND BEAUTY. 

2327 SQ. FT. OF KEY WEST STYLE LIVING IN THIS SOLIDLY BUILT CUSTOM CBS HOME ARE JUST THE BEGINNING OF WHAT LIES WITHIN THESE WALLS. I MENTIONED THE 2 MASTER SUITES, NOW ADD ANOTHER GUEST BEDROOM WITH A PRIVATE BATH, TALL CEILINGS WITH CROWN MOLDINGS AND A WHOLE HOUSE AUDIO SYSTEM. ADD A CHEF'S KITCHEN THAT YOU CAN COOK IN, ENTERTAIN IN AND GAZE OUT TO THAT WIDE WATER VIEW. JUST OUTSIDE IS THE WALKWAY TO THE ESTUARY PRIVATE MARINA...THIS PROPERTY COMES WITH A SLIP WITH A 20K LB. LIFT. THE DOCK HAS POWER, WATER AND A PRIVATE DOCK BOX FOR YOUR BOATING NECESSITIES. THIS HOME/BOAT SET-UP IS A DREAM COME TRUE.  SNOWBIRDS AND SUNBIRDS ALIKE NEED TO SEE THIS ONE.  COME SEE ME THERE ON SUNDAY, JUNE 10TH FROM 1 -  4 PM.  FOR A COMPREHENSIVE BROCHURE OR VIDEO TOUR LINK, KINDLY CONTACT ME AT: 772-286-0579.

PLUMBAGO TRAIL PHOTO COLLAGE

Sewall's Point Beauty! 100 Hillcrest is Open NOW until 4:00.

Old Florida meets Downton Abbey.
A simply gorgeous 3 bedroom pool home with crown moldings, marble floors and a chic feel to it. But at 2400 sf., one will hardly get lost. A spot on price of $569,700. Bring only toothbrush and crystal brandy snifter
perhaps?

LAKESIDE TRAIL IN NORTH RIVER SHORES IS OPEN TODAY

1470 NW LAKESIDE TRAIL

NORTH RIVER SHORES

Open today from 1:00 - 4:00pm

Built CBS solid and upgraded throughout.

• You can bring your boat(s) as this dock has room for not one but three boats and has a 7,000 pound lift.
• You can bring your extended family as this home also has an attached apartment with it's own kitchen.

3500 sq. feet     Heated pool   Central water and sewer   4 beds-4 baths  Great location

Price reduction to $610,000

Making Shorter Work of Short Sales

Every good thing (not to be confused with a sure thing) comes with a not so good thing. In the case of buying property that has been designated a "short sale" that not so good thing is the amount of time it can take from the signing of the offer to acceptance to dare we say it...The Closing. Why why why does it take so long when all one is trying to do after all is help the bank and the distressed property owner?
With a plethora of complaints from all over the country, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae finally agree. They agree so much in fact, that there are now new guidelines that will be implemented starting on June 15th. With Freddie Mac having completed an amazing 45,623 short sale transactions last year and more sadly expected well into next year, these new guidelines couldn't have come soon enough. Some highlights of these new guidelines are:

• Loan servicers (um...banks) must make a decision within 30 days of receiving an offer under Freddie Mac's short sale program and a completed Borrower Response Package (BRP) requesting consideration for a short sale under HAFA or Freddie Mac's traditional short sale program. 
• If the lender requires more than 30 days to respond, it must give the homeowner a status update on a weekly basis (or more), and decision must be made within 60 days.
• If the loan servicer counters an offer, the borrower must respond within 5 business days . The servicer/lender/bank then has another 10 days more to respond to the borrower/buyer. 

Even though this is still an inequitable negotiation, it is much better than it has historically been for borrowers and buyers who just want to move on with their lives.
Way to go Federal Housing Finance Agency for insisting on these guidelines that make short sales a viable alternative to adding more foreclosures to the real property for sale pipeline.

Welcome back Speed Racers. Let the Sailfish Regatta begin!

After a long hiatus, the Saildfish Regatta is coming back to Martin County and specifically the Indian River Lagoon this weekend, April 14th and 15th. Whether you plan to watch this 2 day event from the water or from the Stuart Causeway, it is truly going to be a thrill.  With speeds close to 150 miles per hour, the hydroplane hoats will be SERIOUSLY getting it on. Safety and marine awareness are crucial and a top priority at this event.
Please visit the website for detailed info (and VIP tickets).  http://stuartsatilfishregatta.org/

I will be aboard the Leilani all do Saturday, sipping mojitos and feasting on pulled pork with my Captain, Wayne almost-been-married-a -year Overton and friends watching the screaming wonders of water planing muscle, streak by. On Sunday you will find me NOT at an Open House, but volunteering for the Realtor Association of Martin County at the Regatta. I will be one of the ones in a sexy RAMC/Sailfish Regatta t-shirt meeting and greeting Regatta guests.

Come out for the day or for both days for racing, food, music and FUN FUN FUN!
Hope to see you there  :)))

STUART SAILFISH REGATTA - THIS WEEKEND, APRIL 14TH AND 15TH

OPEN TODAY: HARBOUR POINTE BEAUTY IN PALM CITY.

625 SW Lighthouse Drive

Harbour Pointe 1- 4 p.m. today

                                    OFFERED AT $370,000

 

Today I will be showing this beautiful 4 bedroom home.

Built in 2005 by the DiVosta Company, this 3000 square foot concrete

 construction home has it all...

With an oversized garage and infinite interior possibilities, 

this is the perfect family and/or extended family home.

Lake views and 8 foot doors throughout.

Oh. Did I mention the low HOA fees and Harbour Pointe's 

close proximity to Grade A schools and sublime living and 

living and boating amenities?

Hope to see you there!

 

Time to buy buy buy? Mr. Buffet agrees!

Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” recently that he’d “buy up a couple hundred thousand” single-family homes if it was practical.

Buffett said that’s because he believes purchasing a home with ultra-low mortgage rates and holding it for the long-term has become a better investment than stocks right now.

“Housing will come back, you can be sure of that,” Buffett wrote in his annual letter to shareholders recently.

Buffett forecasts an increase in household formations, as more people who moved in with their parents or family members during the recession look to move out and get their own home soon.

“People may postpone hitching up during uncertain times, but eventually hormones take over. And while ‘doubling-up” may be the initial reaction of some during a recession, living with in-laws can quickly lose its allure,” Buffett said.

Buffett said the recovery in the housing market could vary quite a bit among local housing markets, however. He did not provide a timeline of when he expected a full housing recovery, admitting that his prediction last year that a housing recovery will take shape within the year turned out to be “dead wrong.”

Source: “Housing Market Forecast Beyond 2012 From Warren Buffet,” International Business Times (Feb. 28, 2012) and “Warren Buffet on CNBC: I’d Buy Up ‘A Couple Hundred Thousand’ Single-Family Homes If I Could,” CNBC (Feb. 27, 2012)

Nowhere to go but up.

You can make that statement about so many things these days.
The economy, a living wage, the loaf of bread that you tried to bake last weekend.
But no truer statement was ever made about interest rates. Money is truly ON SALE.

The rate on 30-year FRM stays at record 3.87%

Mortgage Rate Trend Index

Two-thirds of mortgage rate experts (64%) say rates will stay the same over the short term, and 36% foresee an increase. No one predicted a decrease.

 

From Florida Realtors : WASHINGTON – Feb. 10, 2012 – The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage stayed at a record low this week, providing some added incentive for those looking to buy a home or refinance.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday the rate on the 30-year loan was unchanged at 3.87 percent. That’s the lowest level on records dating back to the 1950s.

The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage rose to 3.16 percent, up from last week’s record low of 3.14 percent.

To calculate the average rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country Monday through Wednesday of each week. The average rates don’t include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.

The average fee for the 30-year loan was unchanged at 0.8; the average on the 15-year fixed mortgage dipped to 0.7 from 0.8.

For the five-year adjustable loan, the average rate rose to 2.83 percent from 2.80 percent, and the average fee was unchanged at 0.7.

The average on the one-year adjustable loan rose to 2.78 percent from 2.76 percent, and the average fee was unchanged at 0.6.

Palm City Splendor - 8635 SW Keats Avenue will be Open this Sunday 1-4PM

WESTWOOD COUNTRY ESTATES

1/2 acre property

863 SW Keats Avenue, Palm City, FL

 OPEN ON FEBRUARY 12TH,  1-4pm

 Click here:  Keats Avenue Virtual Tour

$369,000                 ML# 3147634

Nestled into bucolic Palm City with room to move, this solidly built home, circa 2003 is waiting for you and your family. 3,673 square feet of total space with a 3 car garage. 

Custom house. Original owner.

Coastal Dream Condo Open Today 1-4

INDIAN RIVER PLANTATION, STUART

40 N. Plantation Road

Coastal Living Magazine would give this space an A rating!

I expect an early turn out today (just past 1 pm) due to football start time!
Please stop by and see this wonderful beach pad. With expansive lake, golf course and of course...intracoastal views as well. This 2 bedroom/2 bath condominium is on the top of the building at the end (there ARE elevators) and takes advantage of the beautiful vistas which abound in IRP.
All amenities are here and just waiting for you to partake...tennis, fitness center, full service marina, beach club, gorgeous pool, world class golf...whatever your heart desires.
Footloose and fancy free here in beautiful Indian River Plantation,

Click Here for a taste... 
Coastal Dream Condo

Hope to see you there! 

Wistful Thoughts of Gazumping

In the world of real estate, listings are king. We all work very hard and diligently to get them and harder still to tend and nurture them. We treat them with the same strategic care as any beauty pageant mother vying for first place. But it is the buyer that is really The Queen in the current marketplace.  Pre-qualified for a loan? Great. Got cash? Greater still.
As we begin what promises to be an interesting and hopefully pivotal year in real estate and the country at large, I am thinking of dreamy past sales, Realtor nirvana really, of bidding wars and multiple offers.
In England and Australia they have a term that is used when a seller accepts a verbal offer of full asking price and then subsequently accepts someone else's higher offer. If this happens, one can consider themselves "gazumped."  We don't use this term here in the States.  We're partial to written offers in these parts that when accepted (in writing), bind the seller. Inspection periods in purchase and sale contracts thankfully make gazumping a non issue here but still...a girl can dream of sales gone by and closes.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2002/apr/14/houseprices.uknews