Lisa Barton

Ocean’s Edge at Jacksonville Beach is an upscale condo community that features resort style living and 1, 2 and 3 bedroom units. During the summer, Ocean’s Edge is offering to pay all buyers closing costs including pre-paid escrow expenses. Ocean’s Edge of Jacksonville Beach was recently approved for FHA financing, making these condominiums very attractive to first-time home buyers. AND they’re really cute condos with terrific amenities!

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The town of Nocatee is growing! After just four years of home building, the 500th home was started last month. Nocatee’s new four-lane parkway is scheduled to open this summer--almost 10 years ahead of schedule! Neighborhoods in Nocatee include: Austin Park, Coastal Oaks, Riverwood, Tidewater, Willowcove, and the just opened, Kelly Pointe.

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Good news for first time home buyers who are trying to take advantage of the first time home buyers tax credit or the “move up” tax credit that is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2010. Right now, if the transaction doesn’t close by the deadline, buyers will lose the credit of $6,500 or $8,000. Even if the closing doesn’t occur because the lender couldn’t push through the loan in time. With many lenders facing a daunting bottleneck of these loans, Congress is quickly pushing through legislation to extend the deadline to close on credit-qualifying transactions through September 30th, 2010. Senate majority Leader Harry Reid(D-Nev), with the support of Johnny Isakson (R -Ga) and Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), sponsored a bi-partisan amendment to a pending job and tax bill which would extend the deadline, currently set to expire June 30th. The bill passed this week by a vote of 60-37. While, the bill must still be passed by the House and signed by the President before it becomes law, there is little rationale to deny its passage.

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Good news in the local Jacksonville real estate market. Here’s a great article from the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors that I want to share with you: 

Continue Reading “May 2010 Real Estate Housing Statistics for the Jacksonville & Northeast Florida area”

Well, it’s that time again...I’ve been reviewing the listings and sales for the Jacksonville Beaches communities: Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Jacksonville Beach and Ponte Vedra. In many respects the favorable real estate market trends I have been reporting persisted and gathered steam in the first quarter of 2010. The most marked improvement was in closed sales at the Beaches, which were up year-over-year by fully 49% (from fifty-one homes in 2009 to seventy-six in the first quarter of 2010). That is great news!!! Additionally, inventory of townhouse/condos and single family homes also dropped by over 20%, despite a modest uptick in new listings. 
Several basic market factors that make conditions favorable to buyers drove the improving results:

Continue Reading “First Quarter 2010 Beaches Market Report - Good News, Bad News”

Last week I attended a workshop sponsored by Realtor.com in St. Augustine, FL. The workshop was really quite interesting and the speaker, Joe Sesso, introduced a number of new and creative marketing techniques that I’m anxious to try with my current listings. An extra bonus for me was that I was awarded the “Real Estate Online Marketing Award of Excellence.” Joe Sesso’s description of this award: “The Award of Excellence recognizes top agents who consistently provide great marketing services on behalf of their buyers and sellers. There are always some real estate agents who distinguish themselves from other agents by doing a little more for their sellers. In particular, when the home they are selling is placed on well trafficked sites, even simple efforts like having more photos displayed, crafting better descriptions or adding a full motion video, can make a home stand out from competing properties.” It’s kind of cool to be recognized for something that I do regularly. Savvy buyers and sellers know that having good exposure for properties on the web is critical in today’s real estate market.

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Good news for first time home buyers who would like to purchase a new home at the Beach! Ocean’s Edge Condominium, located in Jacksonville Beach, recently won FHA financing approval. Ocean’s Edge is now one of less than 20 FHA approved condo communities in the Jacksonville area. FHA funding is attractive to first time home buyers because the down payment requirement is only 3.5%, and a portion of standard closing costs can be paid for by the seller. Because the majority of condo communities in Jacksonville are not approved for FHA funding, first time buyers have a limited selection of condos that they can purchase for a low down payment. In order to be approved for FHA financing, the community must demonstrate that the condo association is financially healthy through an independent audit of the association budget. Additionally, the community must be primarily comprised of owner-occupants and second homeowners rather than investors and the building construction must be up to FHA standards.

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I recently listed two ocean front condominiums and am astounded by how affordable beach front living has become in Ponte Vedra! The first condo is located in the Retreat of Ponte Vedra. This is a 2 bedroom 2 bath unit which was renovated 2 years ago. Conveniently situated on the first floor, the expansive views of the ocean are incredible and you can walk right out your back door and be on the sand dunes! Believe it or not, this unit sold for $725,000 in 2006...that was before the renovations were completed.

The second unit is in the Hallmark, which is an upscale condominium in Sawgrass Golf & Country Club. This completely renovated condo is quite large, with 4 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms (featuring almost 3000 square feet of living space). The views of the pool and beach are stunning, as is the preserve view off the west facing balcony. In 2004, this condo sold for $1,200,000. The current owner did extensive renovations including updating the kitchen and master bathroom as well as installing hardwood floors throughout the unit. It’s beautiful!

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The broker-manager at my new office, Jill Streit, just posted a blog that I thought was very well done and full of good information about positive aspects of the improving real estate market. Check out a PDF of her article!

Continue Reading “The Hidden Upside of a Down Real Estate Market”

We’ve all been watching our local real estate market with interest. The Jacksonville, Jacksonville Beaches and Ponte Vedra Beach markets suffered through 2009—which certainly was a difficult year. This summary is a year-end review of the Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Jacksonville Beach and Ponte Vedra Beach real estate markets.

Continue Reading “2009 Real Estate Market Report – the Good, the Bad & the Ugly”