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Archive for the 'Weston Real Estate' Category
This time of year is so beautiful with the blooming trees in Weston, Florida. Check out the State of Florida Official tree - The Royal Poinciana
For several weeks in spring and summer it is covered with exuberant clusters of flame-red flowers, 4-5 in (1.2-12.7 cm) across. Even up close the individual flowers are striking: they have four spoon shaped spreading orange-red petals about 3 in (7.6 cm) long, and one upright slightly larger petal (the standard) which is marked with yellow and white. Royal poinciana gets 30-40 ft (9.1-12.2 m) tall, but its elegant wide-spreading umbrella-like canopy can be wider than its height. Royal poinciana is a semi-evergreen tree.
When buying a home one should also consider the size of the community / neighborhood to see where you and your family may feel most comfortable. Another consideration is how close to the community pool do you want your home. Some of the communities in Weston with pools are larger than others.
Larger communities with pools are: The Ridges at Weston Pond, The Isles At Weston and Savanna. Don’t forget the Bonaventure portion of Weston that has a membership included with residency to The Bonaventure Town Center Club. There are 2 pools, a Jacuzzi, tennis courts, basketball courts, roller skating, bowling, billiards and more amenities at this club.
Mid-sized communities with pools include; The Meadows, The Falls, North Lakes, The Lakes and Laguna Springs.
Smaller communities with pools include; Patio Homes, Village Homes, Country Isles Garden Homes, Hibiscus Island, Bermuda Springs, Emerald Isles, Coral Harbour and Opal Creek & Emerald Estates.
Some of the communities with pools are a mixture of single family homes and townhomes or are townhomes only. These include; San Mateo, San Messina, San Sebastian, San Remo, San Simeon, San Michele and The Courtyard at The Grove.
As you can see, most neighborhoods in Weston have a community pool. You will have a great time meeting new friends at your community pool all year round. Contact me if I may be of service to assist you with you home purchase in Weston.
The single most common question I am asked is, “What is happening with my homes value”? This is not always an easy question to answer because there are so many variables from home to home. There is good news for you if you live in the Broward County, area.
Courtney Silverman Real Estate Group has developed a new internet system that will give you complete information on what is taking place with the market around your home. This program gives complete details on homes listed, sold and value trends. The program offers the numbers in easy to view graph form and it is very detailed and specific to your home and neighborhood. You will even see a Google Earth view of your home and surrounding neighborhood. The best part is that this analysis is sent to you by e-mail and the updated for your monthly. You can take advatage of this great new system by visiting our web site at http://www.courtneysilverman.com/PageManager/Default.aspx/PageID=1628494.
“There are diamonds in this current real estate market – you just have to dig for them” says Mike Pappas, President/CEO of The Keyes Company a large South Florida based full service real estate firm.
Sales Units are up:
“Palm Beach strengthened its unit sales earlier in this cycle and Dade and Broward are gaining momentum” observed Mike Pappas.
Dade County is up 32% in units closed January 2009 compared to January of 2008. The six months ending December 2008 saw a 24% increase over the same 2007 numbers for Dade.
Broward had the highest increase at 38% in January 2009 over January of 2008. The 2nd half of 2008 saw close to a 10% increase over 2007 in Broward.
Palm Beach County closed out January with an 11% increase. Palm Beach’s 3rd and 4th quarter of 2008 was 15% greater than the same period of 2007.
“The combination of incredibly low interest rates and aggressive price reductions are pushing the affordability factor to its highest level in decades. Our internet views on Keyes.com, Realtor.com and all our real estate portals along with property showings are up 50% for January”.
Inventory is down:
‘We are seeing motivated sellers stay in the market and those that don’t need to sell today taking their property off of the market”.
Palm Beach residential inventory has dropped from a high of 44 months in July 2007 and is now at a 17 month supply. Broward is down from December 2007 with a 42 months supply and now stands at 15 months. Dade peaked at a whopping 68 month supply in December 2007 and has dropped to a 24 month supply.
“100’s of our Keyes associates are now Distress Sale Certified and speaking the same language with the banks”.
Prices are at 2003 levels:
Palm Beach single family medium home prices dropped 33% to $225,000 in January 2009, down from $340,000 last year.
Broward single family medium prices closed out at $195,000 down from $316,000.
Dade County also broke the $200,000 mark at $185,000 dropping from $345,000.
The Condominium market had similar trends. Palm Beach condominium median sales were at $107,000 down from $165,000. Broward with its great quantity of suburban condos dropped to $81,000 from $150,000 and Dade County saw a $150,000 medium sales price for Condos from last years $275,000.
“All sellers, distressed and non-distressed are realizing to sell their property it has to be priced where the market will buy - basic economics being demonstrated on a daily basis.”
We have 589 homes for sale in Weston FL as of today. Sellers are asking from $13,500,000 to $109,000.
57 buyers got their contracts accepted. The prices the sellers were asking ranged between $599,000 and 209,900 when they received their offers. 20% of those contracts were written to purchase bank owned properties and 29% are going to negotiate the purchase with the seller and the seller’s lender(s) as a short sale.
25 properties were sold in Weston. They were priced between $865,000 and $224,900. This tells us there is over a 23 month supply of homes for sale in Weston as of February 2009, assuming no more homes are put on the market over that period of time.
Contact Courtney Silverman Real Estate Group to leverage your dollar in this market as a seller and as a buyer!
There have been some upgrades to the Broward County Property Appraiser’s website. Effective October 1st, the site will show:
- Building permits are online
- Click on millage to see your city rates
- Explanations on Homestead
- The ability to search on sub-division sales
Concerning sub-division sales, only arms length transactions are included here. That means foreclosures are disqualified for comparables. “D” means dis-qualified and “Q” means qualified. Another update is that a short sale is now considered a qualified (at arm’s length) transaction.
Also added were more functionality on aerial views. Click on View Map. To the right by Details, you’ll see Pictometry. Click on it and you’ll see 45 degree aerial views of the property from north, south, east and west.
In early August property owners will receive a TRIM notice from Broward County. This notice will show what your property is worth (assessed value) according to the property appraiser. It also shows what your taxes will be for 2008.
Note the market value, the assessed value, just value and the Save Our Homes value. What do these mean? The 
market value is a meaningless number on homesteaded property. Just value is 85% of market value taken one year in arrears. The Save Our Homes Value will reflect the amount that your tax is based on if you have been in the homes for a few years and it is your homestead.
The assessed value is important to you. Ask yourself, “Could I sell the property for the assessed value?” If not, you will be paying too much tax!! What to do? File a petition with the Value Adjustment Board by September 19, 2008. This will give you the right to have a hearing. In the hearing you will have to prove your case. Show sales in your area that have closed prior to Jan 1, 2008. Sales should be similar in size, features and location to your home.The special master (appraiser hired by the County) will hear and consider your evidence. If you have had an appraisal done in 2007 for other purposes (estate, divorce, or mortgage) it can be used to support your case. Also, an agent, such as my business associate, Tom, can be hired to represent you at the hearing. Typically these agents work on a contingent fee basis (40 to 50% of the tax saving). This is a one time fee. If you need help or have questions please call: Thomas R. Wachtstetter ASA IFA, Certified General Appraiser RZ #451
MTV Reality Show, The Paper, was pre-released in a sneak peak premiere on March 26th at Muvico Paradise 24 Theatre in 
Davie, FL. MTV spent over 5 months filming at Cypress Bay High School in Weston, Florida to create these 8 episodes. The show follows editors of The Circuit, the high school paper of Cypress Bay High School in Weston, Florida, as they produce a 32-page color issue every month, while balancing school work, family, and the typical drama of teenage life. It is continuously FCAT rated as an “A+” school. The Race Distribution is Asian: 4%, Black: 5%, Hispanic: 41%, Native American: 0%, and White/Other: 49%. Cypress Bay High School is located at 18600 Vista Park Blvd, Weston, FL 33332.
The Feds made another drop in short terms rates yesterday. The Fed is desperately working to turn the nations economy around. The threat of recession continues to be driven by the poor national housing market.
Here in the Broward County markets of Fort Lauderdale, Weston, Davie and Plantation areas, we continue to have one of the best housing markets in the country. It is not the market that we enjoyed 2 years ago, but homes are still selling that are priced properly in the market. The average time on the market here is about 115 days. Courtney Silverman’s inventory are on the market less than 68 days before receiving a contract. There is around 18 months of total home inventory in the Fort Lauderdale, Weston, Davie and Plantation areas. Home price are sliding slowly.
Now is a great time to buy residential real estate.
If you would like to get an idea on what your homes value currently is, visit the web site www.CourtneySilverman.com. This site will allow you to enter in information on your home and then receive a market value analysis by e-mail. It’s always a good idea to get an estimate of your homes value, whether you are planning to sell or not.
Have An Awesome Week!
Courtney Silverman
The Rotary Club of Weston teams up with the City to put on this annual rock event. Last year I went with my family and we had a blast listening to the music with our friends after we enjoyed our picnic dinner.
This year the line-up includes current and former lead singers from 70s and 80s bands such as:
Felix Cavaliere- Rascals
Larry Hoppen –Orleans
Jimi Jamison – Survivor
Alex Ligertwood- Santana
Ronnie Hammond- Atlanta Rhythm Section
Rick Derringer
Plus Charlie Morgan on drums, Lane & Lance Hoppen, Jerry Riggs, & Barry Dunaway.
This year’s concert begins on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at the Weston Regional Park - 20200 Saddle Cub Road, Weston.
If you like what you see, while you are visiting Weston, Florida, call Courtney Silverman 954-292-0743 or email her to request information about the great neighborhoods, homes and the Weston lifestyle the residents seek and found here.