I always like to update you on the weather as I know I have a lot of Northern readers!! This weekend we were in the mid 50's at night (freezing to me!) but warming up beautifully, high 70's, low 80's in the middle of the day! This week, however, its only supposed to get in the mid 60's during the day and mid 40's at night!! Yikes---takes me a while to get used to those COLD temps!!!!
This time of year, though, it changes weekly----could be back up in the 80's the following week! (I'm hoping!).
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Don't forget to turn your clocks BACK this coming Sunday, November 2.
I understand the rationale---school kids waiting for the bus in the dark-----but, man-0-man, I don't like it when it gets dark at 5:00 in the afternoon!!! I'm the type of person who requires a lot of sunlight! I think its time to go to bed when it gets dark!!!
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As for real estate:
It seems that for the first time in 3 years, existing home sales in Florida rose 24% in September!!!! Of course, this is due to the declining prices. Florida's median sales price is $175,1,00, a year ago it was $224,700. The interesting thing is that in Sept of 2003, the median sale price was $158,800---meaning there has been a 10.3% INCREASE in that 5 year period. Proving my point that real estate is a LONG TERM INVESTMENT!!!! That being said, that is the case in a normal market. The year when we hit this "abnormal" high, selling old mobile homes for $300,000+ might be different. I'm not sure that you will have a normal rate of appreciation in 5 years in that case, maybe 10 years???
I will have more stats on the local real estate sales in my newsletter which I will be sending out next week. I can tell you that we are pretty much in line with the state wide stats though.
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The Appalachicola Seafood Festival is this weekend. www.floridaseafoodfestival.com
Port St. Joe has its downtown trick or treating this Friday. It's sooooo much fun to see all the kids in their costumes!
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I pray everyone has a wonderful week. Don't forget to vote November 2nd!
Mary
Monday, October 27, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Perfect Weather in Mexico Beach
Wow! Fall hit this weekend! Rather chilly (high 50's) at night and warming up to high 70's in the afternoon! I love it when I can turn that AC off and open up my windows!!!!
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Chip had a great fishing weekend. Caught his limit of snapper very quickly and not far off shore at all! A grouper and kingfish here and there! Snapper are off limits the end of this month though!
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The Art and Wine Festival was a success this past Saturday! Lots of gorgeous artwork displayed! The setting of the Driftwood right on the beach is wonderful and the weather was beautiful! Good wine, good food, great people and great artwork! The auction is always fun to watch, better yet if you participate though! The proceeds go to the fireworks fund for the 4th of July----always a huge event!!!!
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As for real estate: A couple of properties went under contract in the past few days!! It's the SELLING prices that make me think we are at the bottom or very close to the bottom. The list prices are still all over the place, but its those brave souls with CASH or ready to go financing, that are getting some good deals!
I don't post specifics on my blog, I do that in my newsletters.
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DON'T FORGET TO VOTE NOVEMBER 4!!!!
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Have a great week and don't hesitate to call or email me if you have any questions about buying or selling anywhere from Mexico Beach to Port St Joe to Wewahitchka!
Mary
_________________________________________________
Chip had a great fishing weekend. Caught his limit of snapper very quickly and not far off shore at all! A grouper and kingfish here and there! Snapper are off limits the end of this month though!
__________________________________________________
The Art and Wine Festival was a success this past Saturday! Lots of gorgeous artwork displayed! The setting of the Driftwood right on the beach is wonderful and the weather was beautiful! Good wine, good food, great people and great artwork! The auction is always fun to watch, better yet if you participate though! The proceeds go to the fireworks fund for the 4th of July----always a huge event!!!!
____________________________________________________
As for real estate: A couple of properties went under contract in the past few days!! It's the SELLING prices that make me think we are at the bottom or very close to the bottom. The list prices are still all over the place, but its those brave souls with CASH or ready to go financing, that are getting some good deals!
I don't post specifics on my blog, I do that in my newsletters.
______________________________________________________
DON'T FORGET TO VOTE NOVEMBER 4!!!!
___________________________________________________
Have a great week and don't hesitate to call or email me if you have any questions about buying or selling anywhere from Mexico Beach to Port St Joe to Wewahitchka!
Mary
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
October 15 Mexico Beach Fl
Unbelievably we are already nearing the end of 2008! Where did the year go! I don't quite understand why "time flies" the older you get! (not that I'm implying that I'm old or anything!)
I just received an email from a friend of mine who is spending the next 6 months in HAWAII!!
She said Hawaii is not like it used to be, said it was loud, which she was having trouble with after living in Mexico Beach the last couple of years!!! I thought that was interesting!
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The Art and Wine Festival is this Saturday and if you haven't been----you need to come! The artwork is really great and the atomsphere is wonderful. 2:00-9:00 central time at the Driftwood Inn.
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Snapper fishing is closed the end of this month. Chip loves to fish in October, its much cooler and the fishing is great! He's been catching limits of Snapper, and even quite a few grouper on 6 and 8 hour trips!
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Just an update on the new Sacred Heart Hospital being built in Port St. Joe.
http://www.sacred-heart.org/WhatsNew_Tree/article.asp?NID=846
They have started construction and it is still proposed to be open in the fall of 2009.
We are all looking forward to this as it will not only provide much needed services in the area but also provide some new jobs!
The new hospital will be a community hospital with private rooms, an 24-hour emergency department and operating rooms
A full complement of diagnostic and laboratory services
A medical office building with space for primary care and specialty physicians, as well as various outpatient services
A helipad to be used by Sacred Heart's AirHeart helicopter, providing rapid transport for trauma patients and other critically-ill patients
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Wow! Those gas prices! We are at $2.99 for regular here in Mexico Beach. I know folks in Georgia were having distribution problems as well as high prices.
However, we never had problems getting fuel down here.
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As for real estate: Six properties have been put under contract in the last couple of weeks!! Please remember I'm talking about Mexico Beach and St. Joe Beach only, a really small area, so that's not bad! Of course there are over 250 active residential properties on the market, that's not so good! My point is that there are people buying! There are a lot looking to buy!
We all thought 2007 was slow, but looking at the sales for 2007---there were 91 residential sales Jan-September in 2007. We only have 58 residential sales thus far in 2008. YUCK!
The average sale price in September 2007 was 229,683!!! The average sale price this September was $172,333!!!
My November newsletter will give some more comparative stats!
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As for the credit crunch.........We haven't had any experience down here with buyers having difficulty getting financing. Yes, they may be requiring 10-20% down and perhaps they are requiring a good credit score, and hopefully they are verifying income a little more---------but isn't that the way it is supposed to be??? My point is, if you can afford to buy, you can get financing!
_____________________________________________________
Well, I hope everyone is enjoying the cooler weather! As always, don't hesitate to call me if you are interested in buying or selling down here! My website has, not only my listings, but all properties on the market under property search---I can help you with any of them!
Go to church this Sunday and Have a great weekend!
Mary
850-896-5222
www.maryblackburn.com
I just received an email from a friend of mine who is spending the next 6 months in HAWAII!!
She said Hawaii is not like it used to be, said it was loud, which she was having trouble with after living in Mexico Beach the last couple of years!!! I thought that was interesting!
______________________________________________________
The Art and Wine Festival is this Saturday and if you haven't been----you need to come! The artwork is really great and the atomsphere is wonderful. 2:00-9:00 central time at the Driftwood Inn.
______________________________________________________
Snapper fishing is closed the end of this month. Chip loves to fish in October, its much cooler and the fishing is great! He's been catching limits of Snapper, and even quite a few grouper on 6 and 8 hour trips!
________________________________________________________
Just an update on the new Sacred Heart Hospital being built in Port St. Joe.
http://www.sacred-heart.org/WhatsNew_Tree/article.asp?NID=846
They have started construction and it is still proposed to be open in the fall of 2009.
We are all looking forward to this as it will not only provide much needed services in the area but also provide some new jobs!
The new hospital will be a community hospital with private rooms, an 24-hour emergency department and operating rooms
A full complement of diagnostic and laboratory services
A medical office building with space for primary care and specialty physicians, as well as various outpatient services
A helipad to be used by Sacred Heart's AirHeart helicopter, providing rapid transport for trauma patients and other critically-ill patients
_____________________________________________________
Wow! Those gas prices! We are at $2.99 for regular here in Mexico Beach. I know folks in Georgia were having distribution problems as well as high prices.
However, we never had problems getting fuel down here.
_____________________________________________________
As for real estate: Six properties have been put under contract in the last couple of weeks!! Please remember I'm talking about Mexico Beach and St. Joe Beach only, a really small area, so that's not bad! Of course there are over 250 active residential properties on the market, that's not so good! My point is that there are people buying! There are a lot looking to buy!
We all thought 2007 was slow, but looking at the sales for 2007---there were 91 residential sales Jan-September in 2007. We only have 58 residential sales thus far in 2008. YUCK!
The average sale price in September 2007 was 229,683!!! The average sale price this September was $172,333!!!
My November newsletter will give some more comparative stats!
_________________________________________________________
As for the credit crunch.........We haven't had any experience down here with buyers having difficulty getting financing. Yes, they may be requiring 10-20% down and perhaps they are requiring a good credit score, and hopefully they are verifying income a little more---------but isn't that the way it is supposed to be??? My point is, if you can afford to buy, you can get financing!
_____________________________________________________
Well, I hope everyone is enjoying the cooler weather! As always, don't hesitate to call me if you are interested in buying or selling down here! My website has, not only my listings, but all properties on the market under property search---I can help you with any of them!
Go to church this Sunday and Have a great weekend!
Mary
850-896-5222
www.maryblackburn.com
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Happy October
Happy October from Mexico Beach, Florida!
Our weather has been beautiful! Cooler in the evenings and warming up nicely in the afternoon!
I love this time of year! It's so pleasant to work in the yard and walk on the beach and not sweat the entire time!!!
______________________________________________
I just sent out my monthly newsletter with the real estate stats for the month of September, so I am not going to reiterate, other than to say, its been slow!!!
My take on the market though----ITS GOING TO GET BETTER! Don't know when, but its going to!!!
________________________________________________
Fishing is good! Chip had a good box of grouper and snapper just a few days ago! And its sooooooo much more pleasant when its not so blasted hot!!!
________________________________________________
My take on the economic bail out: www.daveramsey.com
He proposes a plan called THE COMMON SENSE FIX. Can you imagine the government doing anything that exhibits common sense???
Anyway, check out Dave's plan.
Basically and in my own words:
#1. Insure those subprime mortgages. The lenders must re-write the mortgages to have a fixed rate. Hopefully, this will allow those homeowners to hold on!
#2. NO GOLDEN PARACHUTE FOR ANYONE!
#3. Remove Mark to Market accounting for awhile.
#4. REMOVE CAPITAL GAINS
Dave, of course, explains each of these propositions.
He also asks that we send this plan out to our senators and representatives (which I've already done this morning!)
________________________________________________
Again, I am asking for donations for the alzheimer's fund---my sisters and I are doing a walk to raise fund for research for this horrible, horrible disease. My dad suffered from this for many years.
If you can contribute, I will forever be grateful!
Her website, where you can download a form or transact it on line is
https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=274342&lis=1&kntae274342=60DC390AC05848B3A0590EF42711B036&supId=232479789
________________________________________________
Lots of events going on in Mexico Beach and the surrounding areas for October. The Art and Wine Festival in Mexico Beach is October 18.
Golf tournament in Port st joe October 11, Octoberfest at Windmark Beach the same day.
Trick or treating downtown in PSJ on Halloween as well!!!
_________________________________________________
As always, go to church on Sunday, have a fabulous week and weekend and give me a call if I can be of any service to you!
Mary
Our weather has been beautiful! Cooler in the evenings and warming up nicely in the afternoon!
I love this time of year! It's so pleasant to work in the yard and walk on the beach and not sweat the entire time!!!
______________________________________________
I just sent out my monthly newsletter with the real estate stats for the month of September, so I am not going to reiterate, other than to say, its been slow!!!
My take on the market though----ITS GOING TO GET BETTER! Don't know when, but its going to!!!
________________________________________________
Fishing is good! Chip had a good box of grouper and snapper just a few days ago! And its sooooooo much more pleasant when its not so blasted hot!!!
________________________________________________
My take on the economic bail out: www.daveramsey.com
He proposes a plan called THE COMMON SENSE FIX. Can you imagine the government doing anything that exhibits common sense???
Anyway, check out Dave's plan.
Basically and in my own words:
#1. Insure those subprime mortgages. The lenders must re-write the mortgages to have a fixed rate. Hopefully, this will allow those homeowners to hold on!
#2. NO GOLDEN PARACHUTE FOR ANYONE!
#3. Remove Mark to Market accounting for awhile.
#4. REMOVE CAPITAL GAINS
Dave, of course, explains each of these propositions.
He also asks that we send this plan out to our senators and representatives (which I've already done this morning!)
________________________________________________
Again, I am asking for donations for the alzheimer's fund---my sisters and I are doing a walk to raise fund for research for this horrible, horrible disease. My dad suffered from this for many years.
If you can contribute, I will forever be grateful!
Her website, where you can download a form or transact it on line is
https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=274342&lis=1&kntae274342=60DC390AC05848B3A0590EF42711B036&supId=232479789
________________________________________________
Lots of events going on in Mexico Beach and the surrounding areas for October. The Art and Wine Festival in Mexico Beach is October 18.
Golf tournament in Port st joe October 11, Octoberfest at Windmark Beach the same day.
Trick or treating downtown in PSJ on Halloween as well!!!
_________________________________________________
As always, go to church on Sunday, have a fabulous week and weekend and give me a call if I can be of any service to you!
Mary
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