TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL MOVE!

·      Plan ahead: Start about 6 weeks before the move with a file and calendar handy.  Keep details for utility turn ons, copy of contract, lease or mortgage, and other important papers.

·      Get organized: Start with boxes and mark on the outsides which room the items will go to.  List furniture and which room they will go to.  Share with movers.

·      Don't crack under pressure: Keep plates in one piece by stacking Styrofoam plates between each one. Protect glasses by putting them inside pairs of clean socks.

·      Vacuum seal out-of-season clothing: Save space, and put into a storage shelf in your new home.

·      Think of the little things: Keep sandwich bags handy to hold small items that must be taken apart, such as screws for a mounted flat-screen television or a bed frame, and tape the bag to the back of the object. Label bags in case they get separated.

·      Sweet dreams: If it's time to replace an item, do so during the move to avoid extra packing. It might be a good time, for example, to replace an older mattress, pillows and sheets.

·      Green thumb: Transport plants delicately by using a plastic bag to keep all of the appendages safe and prevent snapping.

·      Survival kit: Pack an overnight kit to take and use your first day in the new home.  Put in night clothes, a change of clothes for the next day, toiletries and towels.  Include moving staples, such as a box cutter, paper towels, trash bags and power strips.  Be sure to pack pet’s necessities and a few cans or bags of pet food along with their favorite toys.

APPARENTLY I'VE BEEN DOING IT WRONG ALL THESE YEARS...

http://cdnapi.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/openGraph/wid/0_u0r71mg5

WHAT IS LOCK BUMPING AND WHY SHOULD YOU KNOW ABOUT IT

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr23tpWX8lM

 



from the AUGUST 19TH ISSUE OF THE PALM BEACH POST

Palm Beach County single-family home sales ended June with a median price of $295,000, six percent higher than the same time in 2013, but whether that kind of growth will continue remains to be seen.

The July housing report from the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches, and the Florida Realtors, is expected Thursday, with breakdowns of sales volume, cash sales and condominium sales.

Condo prices in Palm Beach County were up to $138,000 in June, an increase of 20 percent from 2013.

Those kinds of double-digit increases were the norm for single-family home sales last year, but the growth has since slowed as prices stabilize.

EXCERPTS OF REPORT FROM THE REAL DEAL

Question: When will we start seeing some new condo projects get started in Downtown West Palm Beach? What is the buyer pool for that market?

Answer: Downtown West Palm Beach is finally showing signs of reviving some seven years after the South Florida condo market crashed in 2007. For the last three years, prices of condo and townhouse resales and rentals have been steadily recovering, prompting some developers to consider launching – but not yet constructing – new projects once again in Downtown West Palm Beach.

During the last South Florida real estate cycle that began in 2003, developers created 17 new condo towers with nearly 3,400 units in the Downtown West Palm Beach area. As of the first quarter of 2014, less than 100 units remained unsold from the previous boom, according to an analysis of Palm Beach County records.

As of Aug. 14, developers have proposed building a dozen new condo towers with nearly 2,125 units in the Downtown West Palm Beach area, according to the preconstruction condo projects website CraneSpotters.com. (For disclosure, my firm operates the website.) This total number of announced units – which has been bolstered by a new six-tower project with more than 1,050 condos proposed by a joint venture involving the Related Group – makes West Palm Beach the third most active South Florida preconstruction market behind only Greater Downtown Miami.

Unlike other parts of South Florida where condo construction is underway, the developers in West Palm Beach have focused their time on planning projects but not necessarily building new units. To date, no new condo towers have launched construction in the Downtown West Palm Beach area. This current phase of developers announcing projects but hesitating to start construction could be ending soon based on improving condo market conditions in West Palm Beach.

Currently, about 210 condo and townhouse units are on the resale market in Downtown West Palm Beach at an average asking price of about $270 per square foot as of Aug. 14, according to the Southeast Florida MLXchange. In the first seven months of 2014, buyers acquired more than 160 units at an average asking price of about $241 per square foot. The current pricing represents an 18 percent increase over the average resale price of $204 per square foot in the same seven-month period in 2013. The current average resale price for a Downtown West Palm Beach condo represents a 55 percent increase from the first seven months of 2011 – the bottom of this market – when units traded for $155 per square foot.

It is worth noting, the average resale price of a condo unit in Downtown West Palm Beach is still 19 percent below the average price of $298 per square foot at the peak of the South Florida real estate market in 2006, according to the data. A combination of rising rental rates and shrinking levels of available inventory are also contributing to the expectation that the West Palm Beach area could be getting some new condo unit inventory in the near future.

Today’s rental rates in Downtown West Palm Beach are up nearly 50 percent from 2010 when the median price per square foot for a lease was less than $1.20 monthly, according to the data. Downtown West Palm Beach currently has nearly 130 units available for lease on the rental market at a median asking price of $1.75 per square foot monthly. In the first seven months of 2014, tenants leased an average of 60 units per month at a median price of $1.75 per square foot. The current lease price represents a 22 percent increase compared to 2013 when the median monthly rental price for a Downtown West Palm Beach unit was $1.44 per square foot.

The unanswered question going forward is whether developers in the Downtown West Palm Beach preconstruction condo market will be able to expand beyond their historical market of domestic buyers and begin to tap into the strong pool of foreign buyers who are actively purchasing presale units in Miami-Dade and to a lesser extent Broward.

HISTORIC... INDEED... WITH ORIGINAL DETAILS OF AN UPGRADED 1926 HOME WITH COTTAGE

Palm Beach County is known for its historic homes

 

Who's footsteps will you be walking in?

This property has been occupied by prominent locals

including a former Mayor of Palm Beach
Built in 1926 by the Anthony stores family

 

 Historic Home plus two apartments to rent out in separate cottage
* NOW UNDER CONTRACT *
Let Marilyn Find You a HISTORIC HOME!

 

El Cid Lafayette Park Neighborhood between Antique Row
and the Intracoastal Waterway
UPGRADES GALORE
Double Lot - 30'x15' pool - sizeable Yard

Front of house with Chicago Brick Pavers (all around grounds)

arched windows, pecky cypress arched wood door, arched French Doors

Side of house with Chicago Brick Pavers, luxurious "fauna"

 

Guest House has two entrances, kitchen, 2 apartments

 

Living Room - 20'x14' with working fireplace

 

Dining Room with French Doors to outside yard, pool, cottage

 

Upstairs Master Bedroom - 21'x15'

ith updated gorgeous Master Bath

and Walk-In Closet with WINDOWS!

 

Two more upstairs bedrooms, two downstairs dens

3880 living sq ft - High Privacy Hedges in Front and Sides

Beautiful, Tranquil, Serene Views from All Windows

 

GREAT house for entertaining and/or family fun

 

May I give you a tour?

Call Marilyn at 561-302-3388

 

GREAT HOME FOR A HISTORY BUFF

 

$999,000

 

 

 

 

FREE MEMORY SCREENING

FREE MEMORY SCREENING

Friday, June 20^th, 2014

9 am – 3 pm

 

 

Call for an appointment

Or information

561-968-2933

 

JEM RESEARCH INSTITUTE

130 JFK Drive, Suite 203

Atlantis FL 33462

 

CONSERVATION EXPERT TO SPEAK AT PALM BEACH ZOO ON FLORIDA PANTHER HABITAT CONSERVATION AND CONNECTIVITY

 

Conservation biologist Richard A. Hilsenbeck, Ph.D., says that “Panthers depend for their lives on the same basic natural resources that sustain our own livelihoods,….conserving lands for the Florida panther is important for protecting our own best interest.”  He further says that, “This is because having large natural areas and working lands, like cattle ranches, stay in productive agriculture is not only important for our food prosecution, but also vitally important to protecting the water supplies of Florida’s citizens.”

 

Dr. Hilsenbeck will be speaking on Thursday, June 12, and after guests have enjoyed cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and Zoo animal views from 6-6:30 pm. he will present the third Conservation Leadership Lecture of 2014.

Dr. Hilsenbeck, currently Director of Conservation Projects for the TNC Florida Chapter, has had 35+ years of experience in conservation biology, including about 23 years with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and is considered an expert in conservation easements, ecological assessments and descriptive ecology of Florida’s natural communities.

He has had statewide responsibilities for project initiation, design and implementation and has authored or co-authored 60+ projects, many focused on conservation of Florida’s ranch and timberlands, including Preservation 2000, Save Our Rivers and Florida Forever.   His is the primary responsibility within TNC for land acquisition issues, successfully guiding scores of projects through the State of Florida’s initial land acquisition process.  Thirty plus peer-reviewed articles of his have been published in scientific journals,  he has written chapters in several books and many technical reports, provided to private, state and federal agencies.

 

Seating is limited; tickets are $20 per person.  You can purchase tickets online at www.palmbeachzoo.org or call 561-547-WILD, ext 285.

 

Photo below of my own active, tame, smart Bengal cat, Purrfect Posh, descended from a baby leopard:

 

If you are interested in rescuing a Bengal cat, email me at marilynfjacobs@gmail.com and I will tell you where to look online.





THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO

THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO

When asked to identify the base from which they flew, President Franklin Roosevelt replied, "Shangri-La." Recently, in Fort Walton Beach , Florida , the surviving Doolittle Raiders gathered publicly for the last time.  They were among the most universally admired and revered men in the United States. There were 80 Raiders who, in April of 1942, just four months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, embarked on one of the most courageous and heart-stirring military operations in this nation's history. The mere mention of their unit's name, in those years, would bring tears to the eyes of grateful Americans.   After Japan 's sneak attack on Hawaii , with the United States still licking its wounds, something dramatic was needed to turn the war effort around.  Even though there were no friendly airfields close enough to Japan for the United States to retaliate, a daring plan was devised. Sixteen North American B-25s, twin-engine "Billy Mitchells," were modified so that they could take off from the deck of an aircraft carrier. This had never before been tried -- sending Army Air Corps medium bombers from the deck of a ship at sea. The 16 five-man crews, under the command of then Lt. Col. James Doolittle, (he retired as a brigadier general) who himself flew the lead plane off USS Hornet, knew that they would not be able to return to the carrier. They would have to hit Japan and then hope to make it to China for a safe landing.  On the day of the raid, the Japanese military caught wind of the plan. The Raiders were told that they would have to take off from much farther out in the Pacific Ocean (more than 600 miles) than they had counted on. They were told that because of this they would not have enough fuel to make it to safety. They went anyway.  They bombed Tokyo, then flew as far as they could. Four planes crash-landed in China ; 11 crews bailed out, and three Raiders died. Eight more were captured; three were executed.  Another died of starvation in a Japanese prison camp. One crew made it to Russia.  The Doolittle Raid sent a message from the United States to its enemies, and to the rest of the world: We will fight. And, no matter what it takes, we will win.  Of the 80 Raiders, 62 survived the war. They were celebrated as national heroes, models of bravery. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer produced a motion picture based on the raid. "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo ," starring Spencer Tracy and Van Johnson, was a patriotic and emotional box-office hit, and the phrase became part of the national lexicon. In the movie-theater previews for the film, MGM proclaimed that it was presenting the story "with supreme pride." Beginning in 1946, the surviving Raiders have held a reunion each April, to commemorate the mission. The reunion is in a different city each year. In 1959, the city of Tucson, Arizona, as a gesture of respect and gratitude, presented the Doolittle Raiders with a set of 80 silver goblets. Each goblet was engraved with the name of a Raider.  Every year, a wooden display case bearing all 80 goblets is transported to the reunion city. Each time a Raider passes away, his goblet is turned upside down in the case at the next reunion, as his old friends bear solemn witness.  Also in the wooden case is a bottle of 1896 Hennessy Very Special cognac. The year is not happenstance: It was Jimmy Doolittle's birth year. There has always been a plan: When there are only two surviving Raiders, they would open the bottle, at last drink from it, and toast their comrades who preceded them in death.  As 2013 began, there were five living Raiders.  Then, in February, Tom Griffin passed away at age 96.  What a man he was. After bailing out of his plane over a mountainous Chinese forest, he became ill with malaria and almost died. When he recovered, he was sent to Europe to fly more combat missions. He was shot down, captured, and spent 22 months in a German prisoner of war camp.  Out of the original 80, only four Raiders remain: Dick Cole (Doolittle's co-pilot on the raid), Robert Hite, Edward Saylor, and David Thatcher. All are in their 90s. They have decided that there are too few of them for the public reunions to continue. The men have decided that after this final public reunion they will wait until a later date -- sometime this year -- to get together once more, informally and in absolute privacy. That is when they will open the bottle of brandy. The years are flowing by too swiftly now; they are not going to wait until there are only two of them. They will fill the four remaining upturned goblets, and raise them in a toast to those who are gone. I received this historic footnote in an email... source unknown... it is worth passing on to my Readership.  MARILYN

SELLING YOUR HOME? HERE IS SOME FOOD FOR THOUGHT....

FISCAL CONDITION OF THE 50 STATES

Note that Florida came in #6, near the 

top of the list for fiscal conditions for all 50 states.

NOW is the time to buy in Florida

before prices rise again

FLORIDA REAL ESTATE MARKET IS 

IN RECOVERY MODE....

HOW MUCH ARE HOME SALES UP?

Florida Realtors News reports single family 
home sale closings are up 8.6% compared to 
Dec 2012.  National Association of Realtors 
says prices and sales are strongest in 7 years.  

The number of listings is increasing. 
Statewide consecutive gains began 
over two years ago. 

Generally, properties are closing faster with 
median days on market 50 days for 
single family homes and 51 days 
for townhouses and condos.  
Translation: 50% of homes on the Florida 
market sell in less than two months.  

While inventories are rising, cash sales are 
declining and there are fewer 
distressed properties on the market.  
Investor activity is lower.

FABULOUS CENTRAL PARK TOWNHOME

This 1887 six-level Central Park West and 85^th Street NYC townhouse is unusual!  Originally listed last May for $37MM, price has since been lowered to $32.5MM.  There are 12,000 living sq ft.  

A glass and steel staircase looks like a stairway to the stars.

Included are an indoor 60’ lap fresh water pool and home gym.  It is one of very few townhouses still on the Park.

The townhome has 5 bedrooms, 6 full and 2 half baths, an elevator and finished lower level with the pool and gym.  The parlor floor and living area boast double-height ceilings and gallery sized walls.   

Natural light floods the great room from a dome-shaped skylight.  There are professional fitness/massage areas, 2 offices, bow-front window seat in the master suite with panoramic Park views.  

The chef’s kitchen is fit for grand dining, is next to the dining room and zen-bamboo garden for outdoor dining.

A theatre is included.

Interested?  Ask Marilyn for more details.

METICULOUSLY RENOVALED WEST PALM BEACH 1920’S HOUSE SOLD

Appealing historic home with all new-wiring, plumbing, roof, impact windows and doors, sound system, landscaping in West Palm Beach’s Lafayette Park section has now sold after 191 days on the market.  

The Via Reclinata property has 4 bedrooms with 3 in the main house and one bedroom and bath in the guest house.  There is a pool; 4012 living sq ft.  Location is east of Dixie, below Bevedere,  two houses west of South Flagler Drive.  Sale price was $1,951,412.

WHERE DOES OUR COUNTY’S PROPERTY TAX MONEY COME FROM?

West Palm Beach has the highest 2013 tax bill, 69.7mm with Boca Raton next at $59.1MM), Delray Beach at $47.3MM and Palm Beach Gardens at $47MM.  Palm Beach’s property tax bill of $41MM makes it 5^th highest in the county.

Largest tax bill goes to Florida Power & Light ($76.3MM), the Breakers is one of the top 10 taxpayers with the highest tax bill on the island, and includes properties in West Palm Beach.  

Other high tax payers include Boca Raton Town Center’s trust, Bell South Communications, U.S. Sugar Corp and the owner of the Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens, Comcast, Boca Raton Resort & Club, and Wellington Green mall owners.

·       686,556 property tax bills are mailed out by the tax collector

·       Total tax revenue is $3,025 BB.

Tax Collector is Anne Gannon, whose name you know if you pay property taxes.

WHEN YOU DONATE TO A CHARITY DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR MONEY GOES?

PAP CORPS: CHAMPIONS FOR

CANCER RESEARCH

PALM BEACH COUNTY SHOPPING HAPPENINGS

If you have headed north from Okeechobee recently, you have seen large cleared areas in the Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard region, right side of I-95. 

A 900,000 sq ft development is under construction at this $200MM project.  The area covers 80-acres.  Palm Beach Outlets in West Palm Beach, scheduled to open on Valentine’s Day, will have more than 100 retail stores, including DKNY Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5^th and Kenneth Cole Outlet.  These renderings will give you an idea of how nice it will look... and lure you to come and shop here once it opens.

This was the site of the former Palm Beach Mall.  An adjacent retail center whose opening is planned for next fall will include Whole Foods Market and a Nordstrom Rack.  Other shops at the Mall will include Steve Madden shoes, Justice, Wet Seal, Osh Kosh B'Gosh, Samsonite, Subway and Haggar. Dining venues will be included. 

The City of West Palm Beach anticipates about $1MM annually in property taxes from this development.  About 1500 full-time and part-time jobs will be created.  Stay tuned at Facebook.com/Palm Beach Outlet.

NEWEST ZOO RESIDENT IS BEAUTIFUL FLORIDA PANTHER, MIRASOL

Next month, after “Mira” is out of quarantine, visitors can see this beautiful jungle cat, who is 12 years old.  Her elderly owner, founder of the South Florida Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Homestead, has a terminal illness and he contacted state wildlife officials to help him find homes for his animals.

The Palm Beach Zoo and Conservation Society at Dreher Park is excited about their new resident and they say she is very affectionate with humans, and appears to have been well loved and cared for in her last home.  Yet, panthers are known to be solitary animals.  About 80 to 100 panthers remain in Florida, and they are now one of the most rare and endangered mammals in the world.  The Panther National Wildlife Refuges is east of Naples, Florida.  Panthers are at great risk of extinction.

Mira has a few health problems, including curvature of the spine, but otherwise is doing well. General curator Jan Steel says that having Mira, a “pure” Florida panther, is exciting and “It allows us to show the differences between the western cougar or puma and the Florida panther.

Three Malayan tiger brothers, Jaya, Bunga and Penari have left the Palm Beach Zoo for a new home at the Jacksonville Zoo.  Since 1900 the wild tiger population has decreased by more than 95% and there is a Tiger Conservation Campaign among zoos.  The Wildlife without Borders Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Fund funded 53 projects in 15 countries for these conservation project,  implemented by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a federal agency of the Department of the Interior.  Here is more information.  The tiger pictured above is at the Smithsonian Zoo in Washington DC.

The Zoo recently added “and Conservation Society” to its name to stress they provide care for endangered species, which has been part of their agenda for a long time.

WSJ: UNITED HEALTH DROPS THOUSANDS OF DOCTORS FROM INSURANCE PLANS

(Reuters) - UnitedHealth Group dropped thousands of doctors from its networks in recent weeks, leaving many elderly patients unsure whether they need to switch plans to continue seeing their doctors, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The insurer said in October that underfunding of Medicare Advantage plans for the elderly could not be fully offset by the company's other healthcare business. The company also reported spending more healthcare premiums on medical claims in the third quarter, due mainly to government cuts to payments for Medicare Advantage services.

The Journal report said that doctors in at least 10 states were notified of being laid off the plans, some citing "significant changes and pressures in the healthcare environment." According to the notices, the terminations can be appealed within 30 days.

Tyler Mason, a UnitedHealth spokesperson, was not immediately available for comment when reached by Reuters.

The insurer told the WSJ that its provider networks were always changing and that it expected its Medicare Advantage network to be 85 percent to 90 percent of its current size by the end of 2014.

UnitedHealth is participating in about a dozen new state insurance markets that launched on October 1 to offer subsidized health coverage under President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul.

The insurer said previously it planned to withdraw from some markets in 2014 because of the government funding cuts.

Another top health insurer, Aetna Inc , also warned in October that it expected slowing growth in 2014 in its Medicare Advantage plans.

To find the lowest priced Medicare Supplements, see http://www.naaip.org/insurewithMarilyn and you can sign up there or call 561-638-9818.

HOME PRICES ARE UP NATIONALLY BY DOUBLE DIGITS IN MANY METRO AREAS

The national median home price showed its strongest annual growth in nearly eight years during the third quarter of this year, according to data collected by the National Association of Realtors.

A whopping 144 of the 163 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) tracked by NAR showed gains between the third quarter of this year and the third quarter of last year. In 54 of those MSAs, the increases were in the double digits.

The national median existing single-family home price was $207,300 in the third quarter, up 12.5 percent from $184,300 in the third quarter of last year.

That's the strongest year-over-year increase since the fourth quarter of 2005 when the median home price jumped 13.6 percent.

Condominium and cooperative prices rose 15.1 percent to a median $205,400 in the third quarter.

One reason home prices are rising is that foreclosures and short sales are falling. Short sales are homes sold for less than what the owners owed on their mortgage.

Foreclosures and short-sale homes typically sell at a discount. That can lower the value of nearby homes because appraisers look at all recent sales when they determine a home's current value.

In the third quarter, only 14 percent of home sales were foreclosures or short sales. That's down from 24 percent a year ago.

Across the country, about 2.21 million homeowners had their properties for sale, modestly higher than the third quarter of 2012, when 2.17 million homes were on the market.

That's a 5-month supply of homes for sale, down from a 5.9-month supply in the third quarter of 2012.

UPDATE ON NEW TREND OF CREATING SPIRITUAL SPACE IN YOUR HOME

 Architects and builders are incorporating meditation gardens, yoga and tai chi studios and private chapels into home plans. 

Tea Houses with sparse furnishings are a newer addition to some homes.

Feng shui specialists are called upon to consult with about design principals or to conduct special ceremonies.  Outdoor elements are brought within vision.  Beautiful gardens with plantings and pebbles are featured.  Antique doors are popular.  Water features have become important, such as fountains and waterfalls.  Homeowners want natural materials and light colored woods such as maple, bamboo and oak. 

Asian influences prevail.  Handmade sliding screens and tatami mats are included as well as koi ponds and bonsai trees. 

Tea rooms are places for meditation and for snacks and dinners.  During the Colonial period, private prayer spaces were included within homes, but in the 1960’s, communal worship became more popular.