One of a kind—-Loggerhead Park

Loggerhead Park besides being in great location with easy beach access, its home to the only turtle rescue int the area.  The Loggerhead Marinelife Center is completely unique,  its open to the public, it rescues, nurses and returns turtles back to the wild if possible.  They have tons of activities and education for kids of all ages, I especially like the rescue tank area.  You can view all their “visitors”, some hatch-ling turtles, juveniles and there always seems to be a turtle or two recuperating  from a boat strike.  Its a great way to view turtles up close and get a bit of education and conservation sprinkled in.

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Jupiter Beach, Jupiter and truly dog friendly beach

Jupiter Beach one of the the truly dog friendly beaches in the area.  Starting just to the north of the the Juno Beach Pier stretching past Jupiter Ocean and Racquet Club.  A couple things that make this special is that it is dog friendly all year round, many other beaches allow dogs for a couple months of the year, but here you will always be welcome.  Second, there is nearly unlimited  parking, a couple big lots right at Marcinski and A1A, and then street parking on both sides of A1A for over a mile.

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Busch Wildlife Sanctuary Jupiter a great escape

A special place place in Jupiter, indeed.  Busch Wildlife Sanctuary is a very neat place to bring your kids or just have lunch.  It is located just south of Indiantown Rd off Central Blvd and Jupiter Park Drive.  Pull into the parking area and leave the hustle and bustle behind for a couple hours.  Admission is free, but I highly suggest you make a donation and support the facility.  Walk down the meandering trails and check out the wildlife, I myself can’t help but to spend some time in from of the otters,  I can’t seem to get enough of them.  The Sanctuary has a wide variety of animals on site, bear, deer, bobcats, alligators, turkeys, hawks and more.  Brochure

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One of my favorite 55+ communities The Grove in Boynton Beach

Not sure I can point to one thing that people like about The Grove, or if its a series of little things.  The western part of Boynton Beach has the greatest concentration of 55+ communities in the area.  They really make up the full spectrum, unlike many typical 55+ communities instead of condo they are single family homes and villas.  These communities offer an extremely wide variety of amenities and facilities, truly something for everyone.  In general your hoa dues will follow along with the amount of amenities offered and the size and features offered in the clubhouse.  Many of these communities are manned gated, most maintain all the landscaping, some even paint all the houses every 5 to 10 years.  But the one thing that seems to tie them all together is the open and active the residents are with the myriad of clubs run out of the clubhouse, most seem to have a club for every possible activity. Tennis, cards, knitting, yoga, golf, dinner, you name it and there is a club for you.

The Grove seems to be a community that appeals to most everyone, the clubhouse is large, but not a Taj Mahal,  the residents are active all year round, the community is nicely landscaped and is made up of both Estate homes and Villas.

Some other great communities are  Venetian Isle, Valencia Reserve, Valencia Pointe, Tivoli Lakes and Reserve, Tuscany, Mizner Falls, Indian Springs, there are many more and I would be happy to help answer your questions.

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Hurricane Season is upon us, Get prepared

There are the basics to being prepared for a hurricane, stock up on water, non-perishable food, batteries, first aid kit, radio.  I want to focus on on the things you learn form going through a few of these before. First, have plenty of cash, many places after a hurricane will be open but no power, so no way to use your debit or credit cards.  Second, get a cooler and load up on dry ice. Dry ice is sold in Publix, WalMart and at the Ice Suppliers Like Cassidy Ice, its not expensive and it lasts days longer than ice.  Third, repair equipment, have a tarp and a cordless drill with a few batteries all charged up.  Fourth, get an inverter for your car, this will allow you to charge up your cell phone, your laptop so you can stay in touch with loved ones.  Fifth, gasoline make sure before the storm arrives you fill up your cars and a couple extra containers, gas lines can be unbearable.  Sixth,  have a camera, if your home is damaged take lots of pictures before you start making temporary repairs, this can save you big headaches down the road with insurance carriers.  Seventh,  get a waterproof lock box for all your important papers.  Eighth,  re-fill your prescriptions, could be weeks before the pharmacies open back up.  Ninth, if you like a nightcap make sure sure you stock up on your favorite beer or wine, because Florida typically forbids these sales after a disaster.  Lastly, Gas or charcoal for your grill, you will most likely be cooking things as quick as possible so you don’t loss everything to spoilage.

Hope that this misses all of you, but it never hurts to be prepared.

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Today’s featured community—-Abacoa

Currently the most asked about community in the Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens area is Abacoa.  Its the most unique neighborhood in the area,  home of the Florida Marlins and St Louis Cardinals spring training facilities and their minor league affiliates the Jupiter Hammerheads and Palm Beach Cardinals, all playing at Roger Dean Stadium.  It is also home to a Florida Atlantic University campus, two affiliated research facilities Max Planck and Scripps.  Abacoa also has a fabulous downtown, with many cute shops and restaurants.  The downtown hosts many festivals year round its amphitheater, like Artigras, Jupiter Seafood festival, South Florida Music festival and more. The Abacoa neighborhoods have the look and feel of a gated community but its is completely open to the public.  Abacoa is also one of the very few places in our difficult real estate market that has been breaking new ground and building and selling new homes. Abacoa Site Map   Abacoa Community Website

Interested in homes for sale or rent in the individual communities?

Somerset, Canterbury Place, Valencia, NewHaven, Antigua, Martinique, Mallory Creek, Cambridge, Dakota, Tuscany, Greenwich, Osceola Woods, San Palermo, Island at Abacoa, Village at Abacoa,  New construction in Windsor Park and Allegro

 

 

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10 Helpful hints to sell your home

Its the little things that make the biggest difference in selling your home.  You may only get one impression to get a potential buyer to come with a strong offer.  Number 1 by a mile is clean, clean clean and then clean some more.  Dirt and clutter turn of a buyer faster than anything else.  No one wants to walk into a listing and immediately get hit with the it factor and have the buyer ask you “how could  anyone live like this?”.  Number 2  Let the sunshine in, brighten up your home it feels bigger.  Number 3 closets, I don’t care if you need to fill your trunk of your car up with your stuff, I want half empty closets.  Maybe it time to bring some of your clothes to Goodwill or pack some clothes in your suitcases, but nobody wants to see all your stuff spilling out into the room.  Number 4 Pictures and art.  Buyers don’t care that you love your kids, they are trying to picture their stuff on the walls and furniture, You may love you shrine to children’s art on the refrigerator but your buyer will not.  Number 5 Straighten up your yard, mow and trim it every few days,  remove the low hanging branches that keep buyers from seeing your house from the road. Curb appeal is very important.  Number 6 Finish all the minor issues on your honey-do list.  Have a bunch of broken switch and outlet covers, fix them.  Have not finished painting the trim or doing the cut in work around the trim and ceiling, finish it.  This all gives the buyers the impression that you have not maintained your home very well.  Number 7  Animals, I love my dog but the buyers may not,  a keeping your dogs in a crate in a spare bed room or the garage for showings will help put the buyers at ease in you house.  As for cats, put them in one room, leave a sign on the door “don’t let cats out and please”, please clean the litter box.  Smell makes a huge impression, and in this case a bad one.  Number 8  Carpets, if they are not new, have them professionally cleaned, nothing dates a house like dirty carpet, if they are beyond cleaning replace with low end neutral carpet.  Number 9  Reduce the amount of furniture, you want you house to flow, don’t think of it as what works for you and your family, think of a group of people trying to comfortably walk around and picture their couch and big screen.  Number 10  Almost as important as number one, easy to show.  The more buyers who can see your house, the faster you receive an offer, the greater chance of a strong offer.  So If you are still living in the home request a supra lock box, and a courtesy call before showing.  If you are already out, you want to be a show and go,  I will say it most agents are lazy and will show the easy homes first.  Your goal is to be one of those easy ones.

Couple quick tips,  remove all your medicine from the house.  Some buyers will walk off with you prescriptions.  Lock away all guns, ammo, jewelry, collectibles

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Running around South Florida

The other day I was asked “how do I find the events that I run in?”  I have to admit that I do a bit of searching because many of these races are held at the same places.  The two most popular locations I have run into are John Prince Park in Lake Worth, and Downtown West Palm Beach running up and back Flagler.  Luckily, there are hundreds of races and fun runs around.   The biggest site is http://www.active.com/, you can pretty much find a race within driving distance every week. In the winter you may have a choice of 4 or 5 each weekend. Another one to try is http://www.roadracerunner.com/, it is set up to search races through out Florida.  More locally there are running clubs that you can join or just search their sites http://palmbeachroadrunners.com/ and in Stuart http://www.sailfishstriders.com/.  These clubs also offer a number of fun runs.   Get out there enjoy, get fit and help out charities while doing it.

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Riverbend Park—–a hidden gem in Jupiter

Riverbend Park is located just to the west of the Turnpike and I95 on Indiantown Rd in Jupiter, it is truly one of the most astounding parks we have in the area.  It sprawls out along the Loxahatchee River and to the est and north it connects with Jonathan Dickinson State Park.  It has equestrian trails, biking and hiking trails, pavilions and picnic areas.  But to me what makes this park extra special is the ability to canoe or kayak back in time.  Bring your own or rent your canoe or kayak from the on-site vendor Canoe Outfitters, their site http://www.canoeoutfittersofflorida.com/. My suggestion is you come early and make a day out of it, head down river and shortly after passing under the highway bridges you enter Old Florida.  Something most of us have never seen, the Loxahatchee River meanders through a  massive and ancient cypress forest, and yes you may see some alligators.  It is an impressive beauty that I have seen no where else, if you are a nature lover and have not been here before you are missing out.  To finish my suggestion, come early pack a lunch, head down river, stop along the way at the mini dams and picnic, or keep heading down river and you will end up at Jonathan Dickinson State Park, but head back early because it will take you twice as long going back as it did getting there and Riverbend Park closes at sunset.  Their website http://www.pbcgov.com/parks/riverbend/index.htm

On a side note, early in the year the park hosts a 5K race that is one of the prettiest run through the woods and along the river ever.  Here is the host site for the 5K http://jerfsapartnership.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=80&Itemid=62  Hope to see you there next year.

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Four Point Home Inspection

After talking with Joel Perez of Allied Home Inspections today I hope to provide you with all the answer to your questions.  First what is a Four Point Home Inspection?  Basically is is an inspection of all the big ticket items,  The roof, the plumbing, the electrical system, and the HVAC.  Why is this important to the home buyer and home seller?  I will start with the buyer, this report is what your insurance underwriter uses to determine your home owners insurance rate and wind storm premium.  So it is highly recommended that you complete this before the purchase of the new home.  Now for the seller, if the seller has done any major updates without permits, inspections or with unlicensed contractors none of those improvements will be allowed on the inspection and may require hiring a licensed to pull permits, inspect and sign off on improvements.  For Citizens Insurance people as of 9/1/12 any home over 30 years old will be required to have a four point inspection.  So if your buyer can’t get insurance, you are looking at cash buyers paying a big discount on your lovely home

If you have additional questions you can contact Joel at 561-967-0680 website http://www.alliedinspectionsonline.com/ and emai alliedhomeinspection@yahoo.com

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