It’s hard to juggle, work, school, and children, right? Palm Coast has come up with a way to help!
The City of Palm Coast’s Parks and Recreation Division has joined up with the Flagler County School system to create “My Zone”. “My Zone”, located at the Indian Trails Middle School, is a safe place where kids can go after school, on holiday breaks, and “Teacher Work Days” and participate in supervised activities. Parents can be at peace knowing their children are in a safe and structured environment and out of trouble or harms way while they are at work! Students will be able to go directly to “MyZone” after school.
Kids will have use of the classrooms, cafeteria, gyms, and playground to take part in numerous activities which will include:
Basketball, Soccer, Volleyball, tennis, and flag football
Students can also learn leadership skills, social skills, and life skills
Other services will include career preperation, homework assistance, and computer skills training
Specialty Programs
Hip-Hop Dance
Tae-Kwon Do
Oil Painting (Additional fees may apply.)
For $33/week*, it sounds like a deal to me for parents who don’t have the luxury of working the same ours as their children go to school. Visit the City’s website for more info or to register your family.
First time home buyers closing on their homes between April 9th, 2008 - July 1st, 2009 will have the opportunity to take advantage of an up to $7500 tax credit. Here is a brief overview:
The tax credit is available for first-time home buyers only.
The maximum credit amount is $7,500.
The credit is available for homes purchased on or after April 9, 2008 and before
July 1, 2009.
Single taxpayers with incomes up to $75,000 and married couples with incomes up to $150,000 qualify for the full tax credit.
This was enacted to help prevent foreclosures, reinvigorate the housing market and strengthen the nation’s economy.
Please visit the National Association of Home Builders website dedicated to providing more info on this topic.
Yesterday marked the Grand Opening of the new Target in the Palm Coast Landing section of the Palm Coast Town Center. It was one of 43 new Target stores which opened their doors yesterday.
The new PetSmart and McDonalds are also now open! It’s been long awaited but the Town Center is finally coming together. I am sure plenty of Palm Coast’s residents will be very happy with their new stores.
# SFR listings as of 7/11/08 (not including shortsales) : 1117
Avg Price: $306,764
Low: $652,900
High : $1,599,000
Volume: $342,655,767
Closing after 5/1/08: 116
Avg list price: $209,938
Avg sold price: $195,193
Low list: $84,900
Low sold: $80,000
High list: $807,759
High sold: $660,000
Price Differential Sold to list: 92.98%
Avg DOM: 146
# SFR Short Sales currently on market: 411
Closing on or after 6/1/08: 14
Average list price: $159,800
Avg. sale price: $152.557
Lowest list price: $110,000
Lowest sale price: $100,000
High list price: $279,900
High Sale price: $245,000
# Lender Owned on the market: 32
This information was gathered from the Flagler County MLS and is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
Termites are a type of insect that eat wood fiber, thereby destroying the structure of wood. They are all over the southeastern United States, and have become somewhat of a problem for homeowners. Termites don’t descriminate between eating a dead tree in the forest, or the wall studs and floor joists in your home.
Home builders are required by building code to pre-treat a new home against termites. There are a few different methods of prevention: The soil under the slab of a new home can be pre-treated; Bora-Care - the first few feet of all wooden studs in a new construction; and/ or pest tube installation.
The property then receives a termite bond which is good for 1 year usually. It is the owners responsibility to hire a termite prevention and treatment company to come out every year, inspect for termites, treat the premesis, and renew the bond. It essentially is “insurance” against termite damage.
I just read a great blog post by Toby Tobin a local Realtor, real estate commentator, and publisher of GoToby.com, and I felt I had to share it with my readers. He brings up some really great points on the selling market, and things that sellers need to realize and come to terms with in order to get their house sold.
The main point is that the Flagler County housing market (along with much of the rest of the country) isn’t what it was 2 1/2 years ago, and there are sellers out there still holding on to the idea that they can and will get what their house might have sold for 2 1/2 years ago. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t sell, or that it is impossible to sell you home, but you can’t expect to get what you could have gotten back then, now.
It is a hard time right now to be a seller. With your neighbor selling at rock bottom prices to avoid foreclosure, or the bank selling a home at a fraction of its worth to get it out of inventory, it is very hard to compete! In order for most folks to afford to sell their home, they must have quite a bit of equity in their home.
Here are some bulleted points Toby made in his post titled “Are You Trying to Sell Your Property or Just List it?”…and I have to agree with him:
1. Buyers don’t care what you paid for your property.
2. Buyers don’t care about how much you need to break even
3. Buyers don’t care how your listing price compares to other homes listing prices…they care about how it compares to comparable solds!
The houses that are selling are the ones that are competitively priced. There is a lot of competition out there!
If you would like to read his entire post you can visit:
Avg Price: $305,569
Low: $82,900
High : $1,800,000
Volume: $366,683,160
Closing after 5/1/08: 132
Avg list price: 216,386
Avg sold price: $200,162
Low list: $69,900
Low sold: $59,000
High list: $899,900
High sold: $800,000
Price Differential Sold to list: 92.5%
Avg DOM: 148
# SFR Short Sales: 410
Closing on or after 5/1/08: 16
Average list price: 169,969
Avg. sale price: 153,281
Lowest list price: 115,000
Lowest sale price: $113,000
High list price: $279,900
High Sale price: $245,000
# Lender Owned: 92
In searching the Palm Coast residential building permit records on the Palm Coast City website I found that 16 new construction permits were pulled between 5/11/08 and 6/11/08. The average value listed was $210,039 and the average size 2242 sf living.
An article dated May 16, 2008 in the Orlando Business Journal stated that Commercial Alliance Group purchased 31 condominiums from Centex homes for $9.9 million. Commercial Alliance Group is a Sanford, FL based real estate development and financial services firm. To read the article click here.
