Tomorrow is the big race day here in Jacksonville & the beaches - it's the annual 26.2 with Donna End Breast Cancer half and full marathons!

There will be road closures, and detours, and everyone is prepared; watching the preparations is interesting: there are cars from the auto sponser dotting one main course, J. Turner Butler (which us locals call JTB), and portable faciliites set up.

The race starts at 6:30am and everyone should be in from the course by 2pm.  Here's the link to the race route, so you can plan appropriately.

Congrats to all the runners, and dress warm; we are going to have cold temps in the AM!

Here are the 2011 stats and 2010 for comparison -

2011

• 27 Homes Sold (November=11)
• Lowest price: $88,900 (November =$78,000)
• Highest price: $835,000 (November =$360,100)
• Shortest Days on Market:6 (November =0)
• Longest Days on Market: 554 (November =618)

2010

• 17 homes sold (November =11)
• Lowest price: $80,000(November =$50,000)
• Highest price: $575,000 (November =$2,375,000 )
• Shortest Days on Market: 8 (November =36)
• Longest Days on Market: 502 (November =1999)

Once again, great news that we are not hearing from the local media!  Home sales are up year over year and month over month (impressively, I add!); prices are up (modestly, but still up and days on market are down.

 The great thing about Jacksonville Beach, however, when compared to Atlantic & Neptune Beach is that we are the largest of the beaches communities, with more public parking than our northern neighbors.

 Properly priced and properly presented properties are STILL selling – currently, the Jacksonville area has about 7.75 months of inventory (single family homes only)right now and homes can and do sell in very few days on market.  Jacksonville Beach is currently at 5.19 months of homes for sale.

 If you are ready to list your condo, call me for a comparable market analysis to see what price range you should list in, and to learn more about what sets myself and Prudential Network Realty apart from the competition.   Our sales in our Atlantic Beach office are up 16% this year so far, so we know how to sell condos.

If you or someone you know is considering a short sale, please have them contact me for a no-obligation confidential interview about their current situation and how best for them to move forward. I hold the Certified Distressed Property Expert, and am one of a mere 18,000 who do so – I can help salvage their credit, and their financial future.

Here are the 2011 stats and 2010 for comparison -

2011

• 7 Homes Sold (November=6)
• Lowest price: $69,000 (November =$168,000)
• Highest price: $620,000 (November =$445,000)
• Shortest Days on Market:2 (November =18)
• Longest Days on Market: 431 (November 811)

2010

• 7 homes sold (November =7)
• Lowest price: $193,000 (November =$59,900 )
• Highest price: $1,850,000 (November =$1,335,000)
• Shortest Days on Market: 10 (November =3)
• Longest Days on Market:620 (November =408)

Sales are flat month over month, as well as year over year. Pricing looks like a ping pong ball, mainly due to Neptune Beach being the smallest of the beaches communities, and having greater pricing stability. Days on market reflects slight improvement at the lower price point.  And, being the smallest community, there is obviously less oceanfront inventory.

Properly priced and properly presented properties are STILL selling – currently, the Jacksonville area has 7.75 months of inventory (single family housing supply), which is not the highest figure of the year. Neptune Beach has 6.57 (down from 24.5 in October 2011) months of inventory as I write this post. This is really due to the decrease in sales, and most likely nothing more than that (as in, don’t worry).

If you are ready to list your home, call me for a comparable market analysis to see what price range you should list in, and to learn more about what sets myself and Prudential Network Realty apart from the competition.   Our home sales in our Atlantic Beach office are up 26% comparing 2010 to 2009, so we know how to sell homes.

If you or someone you know is considering a short sale, please have them contact me for a no-obligation confidential interview about their current situation and how best for them to move forward. I hold the Certified Distressed Property Expert, and am one of a mere 18,000 who do so – I can help salvage their credit, and their financial future.

Here are the 2011 stats and 2010 for comparison -

2011

• 16 Homes Sold (November=7)
• Lowest price: $48,000 (November =$60,250)
• Highest price: $585,000 (November =$940,000)
• Shortest Days on Market:6 (November =27)
• Longest Days on Market: 215 (November =332)

2010

• 10 homes sold (November =16)
• Lowest price: $71,100 (November =$39,900)
• Highest price: $2,400,000 (November =$2,850,000)
• Shortest Days on Market: 2 (November =3)
• Longest Days on Market: 214 (November =537)

Sales are up impressively, consistent with Jacksonville Beach.  Pricing does not show much positive variation, but Atlantic Beach has quite a bit of difference between home locations, and the lower price points are most likely in less desirable areas. Days on market is fairly flat; I’m impressed with the decrease in the longest days on market.

 Atlantic Beach is the northernmost of our beaches communities here in the Jacksonville Beaches area, and many residents enjoy the pedestrian feel of the town, with Town Center’s restaurants and shops so close by.

 Properly priced and properly presented properties are STILL selling – currently, the Jacksonville area has 7.75 months of inventory (housing supply), right now and homes can and do sell in very few days on market.  Atlantic Beach has 6.65 months of inventory as I write this post.

If you are ready to list your home, call me for a comparable market analysis to see what price range you should list in, and to learn more about what sets myself and Prudential Network Realty apart from the competition.   Our home sales in our Atlantic Beach office are up 26% comparing 2010 to 2009, so we know how to sell homes.

If you or someone you know is considering a short sale, please have them contact me for a no-obligation confidential interview about their current situation and how best for them to move forward. I hold the Certified Distressed Property Expert, and am one of a mere 18,000 who do so – I can help salvage their credit, and their financial future.

I am in a hotel room in Cary, NC (more on that in a future post) watching CNN this morning, and they are at the Beach Hut Cafe in Jacksonville Beach, FL! This fabulous place is close to where I live, and is a great locals kind of place....

The primary debate was at UNF last night, and I'm sure the whole town is just buzzing with excitement - hope everyone got a chance to watch, but of course, you can certainly google it at your leisure!

I honestly don't particularly care for the negative tone of this headline (tell me if you agree or disagree), there is some helpful information in this article.

For example, there are phone numbers here to report overgrown, trashy yards as well as phone numbers for boarded up and/or structural problems with properties, which can help homeowners report these issues to the proper people.

The graph at the top shows how many properties are in foreclosure and how many are bank owned on a county-by-county basis.....and could be a bit misleading, as it does not put those stats in context.  The source of the statistics is listed as RealtyTrac, not our local association.  I have first hand seen the mis-statement of homes in foreclosure with RealtyTrac's stats. 

These stats, from what I recall (and I have not been active with RealtyTrac for a few years) include all Lis Pendens (first official document recorded pertaining to foreclosure) which includes: association placed LP's, 2nd mortgage LP's.  These can be, in many cases, easily made up as they are much smaller figures than the primary mortgage, so it is my belief this figures can be inflated.

I wonder why the local reporter of the local newspaper chose to go with RealtyTrac's numbers vs. the local organization?

I went to the symphony with friends last night, and we had dinner at a fabulous restaurant, Orsay.

They have been open for a few years, but are located on the other side of town from where I live at the beach (aka "over the ditch"), and even though I drive by it every 2 months or so, they are not open for lunch.

Fabulous ambiance, incredible menu, impeccable service - it was a terrific night with good friends.

Rustic French bistro is my executive summary, with an innovative approach.  These are not the standard, heavy French dishes with similar price tags.  There is a Raw Bar menu with oysters, Charcuterie platters, cassoulet, locally rasied meats (last night included an in-house dry aged ribeye), steaks with pomme frittes - I'm getting hungry again as I type this!

I had the Lobster Pot Pie, because I've never seen it on a menu before, and it was so good I wanted to lick the bowl it came in. Whole poached Maine lobster, mushrooms, peas & carrots, biscuit crust, in a roasted lobster reduction.

If you have the chance next time you come to Jacksonville, make time for dinner here.  Dinner menu here.

Full website here.

It's nice to read positive news about a local (well, 2nd location) recently opened restaurant. Poe's Tavern opened right around Halloween (I think) and has had an immediate impact on the Town Center restaurant scene.

Based on Edgar Allen Poe (obviously) the menu has all sorts of offerings with Poe titles.  The ladys' room is wallpapered in pages from Poe books (can't tell you about the mens' room, haven't been in there - yet!)

It's a cool inside/outside floorplan, with an open deck area, then a high top table area that is covered, but has roll up garage doors to let the excellent Florida weather in.

You can check out their menu and read the Times Union's review here. My original photo is below.

I have friends who have done this every year, and they love it. I, being from NJ originally, hold firmly to the theory that you should only go into the Atlantic Ocean between Memorial Day & Labor Day, and New Year's Day CLEARLY does not fall into that window.

I may consider it as a way to welcome 2013; let's face it, at least our water temps are still in the 60's down here, compared to the northern states!

Jacksonville Beach Polar Plunge

We have an incredible local Housing Partnership, and a strong relationship between our local Realtor Board and the Housing Partnership.

They stated a goal, in early December, to build 10 ramps by the end of the year; a tough time of year, although the weather this time of year is MUCH better to accomplish this task than, say, August.

A group of 7 of us made the drive from the Beaches to Hastings, FL (a bit west of the beach) yesterday morning.  We arrived at 8:45am, and the Housing Partnership had done some of the prep work for us the day before (a huge help!).

We cut all the deck boards, the railings, the pickets, and excavated the dirt at the base so it would end flush with the driveway.

Thanks to the prep work done the prior day, we finished up by about 2pm, which was 1.5 hours sooner than we had projected.

If you haven't built a wheelchair ramp, it's a great opportunity to learn how to use cool power tools and give back.

Here's a pic of the ramp we finished yesterday, along with the WoodChicks pix (yes, we run the power saw!)

Here is the volunteer team (minus the Housing Partnership honcho, Cody, who we could not have lived without!)

Here is the completed ramp, with the homeowner taking her first walk down it!

And, yes, the WoodChicks! We ROCK the table saw!

And one more WoodChicks shot, for posterity: