Florida Real Estate

Pipers Landing Yacht And Country Club Offers Luxury Amenities To Home Buyers

Piper’s Landing Yacht & Country Club is located along the historic St. Lucie Waterway in Palm City, Florida. This gated community offers a equity share structure along with many benefits and luxury amenities not found in other communities. Here is a brief overview of a few of these amenities.

With 24/7 security, this gated community is secure and safe. The officers that protect the community, routinely patrol the 600 acres and are trained to respond to medical emergencies. All the officers undergo annual First Aid training, are certified in CPR and are trained to operate defibrillators. In addition the security officers check on vacant homes and allow service professionals to work on homes in the owners absence.

The championship caliber golf course was redesigned in 2007 to offer a better overall golf experience. The architect of the renovation was Gene Bates who won the 2005 Course Architect of the Year award. The local assistant golf professional is Mike Eye. This Florida State alum graduated with honors and completed his PGA Class A Certification in an amazing 18 months.

For tennis lovers, Pipers Landing offers 5 Har-Tru surface courts, with 1 of the courts lighted to allow residents to play at night. The communities Head Tennis Professional is Cullen DeWindt. DeWindt is a winner of the USPTA Clay Court Doubles National Championship in 2007 and a USPTA certified teaching professional.

The community clubhouse offers a golf pro shop stocked with all the latest gear and apparel, men’s and women’s locker rooms, and both casual and formal dining options. The community also offers a full range of activities and social entertainment options which are available for viewing online.

Boaters will find that the Sheltered Harbor and Marina provides easy access to both the St. Lucie Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean. This deep water marina can accommodate yachts that are up to 100 feet long. Whether you are looking to go deep sea fishing or just cruise the waterway, you’ll enjoy all the marina has to offer.

In Closing

These are just some of the luxury amenities at the Piper’s Landing Yacht & Country Club. Next time you are visiting Palm City you may find that you too will want to call Piper’s Landing home.

Hubert Miles is the founder of Gated Communities USA which features the best Gated Communities in the USA and Internationally. Find information on Florida Communities.

categories: gated communities,private communities,florida real estate,florida communities,florida,real estate,home,house,property,land,golf,tennis,business,finance

Florida Real Estate

What To Know About Florida Foreclosures And Their Implications

Nowadays, almost no observer of the Florida state real estate market would dispute that Florida foreclosures and short sales have been building in many markets within the Sunshine State. Florida is a very populous state, and a great deal of home buying and investing has gone on for quite a while. In late 2008, unfortunately, the bubble burst and foreclosures began to occur at ever increasing rates.

Reasons for this sad state of affairs down in Florida are varied, of course. Like much of the country, many people were investing in short-term turnarounds where a property would be bought (and either improved or sat on for several months) and then sold for a tidy profit. In many cases, these investors were taking the property and obtaining loans on it to invest in another property, which is known as leveraging.

Much of what went on in Florida was known as flipping, which is a colloquial term for buying a property, sitting on it a short while and then trying to unload it at a nice profit. However, when the market began its deep dive many of these flippers were caught out sitting on properties that they now cannot afford for many reasons, including loss of their own income in this deep recession.

It was inevitable that the housing and real estate booms would eventually come to an end, as all boom-and-bust cycles do, but many were still surprised by the intensity of the bust. A lot of folks ended up in homes on interest-only or adjustable rate mortgages that resulted in monthly payments going through the roof after they adjusted upwards. Of course, banks began to foreclose on these bad notes.

Many homeowners and flippers have begun looking at trying to get out of these properties through a process known as a short sale, which can actually be a viable alternative to a foreclosure, if the lender is willing to allow it. If successful, they can avoid a very hard hit to their credit scores, and lenders will at least get some money out of the property rather than none if it’s foreclosed upon.

A short sale, basically, can allow a homeowner or even an investor (as long as the lenders allow it) to sell a home or property on the market for whatever the market is willing to pay. The lender usually ends up forgiving the difference (though there are tax consequences to a short sale), which it might be willing to do considering the median home value in many Florida markets is down by about 40%.

The rate at which Florida foreclosures have been building of late has been climbing upwards as it also has been doing elsewhere around the country. Many homes in the Florida inventory are currently facing foreclosure or are on the market for short sale prices, most especially around the very large cities. A smart investor on the lookout for property might be able to actually do well, though, in this kind of market.

What to know about FL foreclosures and short sales can come in handy in these difficult and fiscally-challenging times. We’ve got the ultimate inside info on fl foreclosure properties.

Florida Real Estate

Should You Purchase Stock Plans – Here Are The Pros And Cons

If you are considering purchasing stock plans from an internet site or from a book, make sure you are aware of what you are getting and its value to your project.

“Stock Plans” are construction plans which you can order from magazines, catalogs or the internet. Some builders also offer stock plans. These kinds of plans are not custom but can still be an excellent way to start off your construction project.

However, given the time and expense of building a home many would not consider anything but custom plans designed uniquely for or by them. The home building process is custom by its nature and to many this begs for a custom set of plans. However, stock plans can certainly be enticing and have definite value.

Let’s consider some of the pros and cons of purchasing stock plans:

Pros:

- Stock plans can be inexpensive, at least for the initial plans. Prices will run about a thousand bucks – and even less. The plans are shown in the catalog, or on the website and you can see the look, the layout and the prices for the plans. Choosing is as easy as clicking and buying. You simply choose the form of the drawing (like an original, or blueprints, or sepia) and the quantity of copies that you want.

- Purchasing a stock plan can save time. You simply review the existing designs and choose. The plans are displayed as floor plans and exterior elevations. Sometimes you will see multiple views to better understand the design. Purchasing these plans is, basically, a mail-order solution – a time tested and successful way to purchase products. It has been part of our culture for ages: from mail-order brides, to mail order kit-houses from Sears.

- You get to review a variety of design viewpoints when looking at stock plans. Besides being stimulating it can cause you to consider “new” ideas that you likely have not considered before.

- Stock plans catalogs can kick-start your imagination. They can get the creative juices flowing. Stock plans can truly be a valuable launching point to explore new ideas.

Cons:

- Stock plans are usually not ready for permitting. If submitted for permits without additional actions they will likely be rejected.

- It is quite common today that building departments will require that the plans be sealed by an Engineer or Architect. It is a good idea that you check with your local building department to see what the requirements are. The process of getting plans stamped is not an easy one. Professional Engineers and Registered Architects go through years of college, internships and testing to acquire their licenses and are expected to take responsibility for the plans being up to Code and sufficient. Many, if not most, will require a re-draw or, at a minimum, several revisions and additions to bring the plans up to standards. Their fees will depend upon what they do for you, but it can run quite a bit more than the original plans. This will also add time to the process thus reducing the time advantage of stock plans.

- It is the rare buyer of a custom home that will not want to change, at least, a few things – especially when using a set of predesigned, stock home plans. This will take time and money. Some of the stock plan companies offer this service however it is expensive and time consuming – thus loosing most of the original advantages of buying the plans in the first place. You may have to hire a Engineer or Architect to make these changes.

- Stock-Plans are reused plans which have been built numerous times before. To some, this is a negative factor.

- Stock plan are designed for mass-appeal similar to cars and other consumer goods. This is beneficial for factory created items because it keeps the prices down. But since home building is always custom, some consider a home designed for mass-market appeal to be a waste of opportunity. It would be like custom building a car and ending up with a Ford Taurus. What’s the point?

- Homes in our country have a wide variety of needs specific to the area. Stock plans try to adapt themselves to all these area. Areas of the country have snow requirements, basements, high winds, earthquakes, cold and hot temperatures as well as many other factors that are unique to each. Also certain types of building systems will be prominent in certain areas. Generic plans can’t cover all the possibilities. You will also find that the local tradesmen can easily identify the stock plans and sometimes ready themselves for problems – though increasing their prices.

Stock plans by a local builder, however, can side step many of these problems. They will generally be ready for permits, will be recognized locally and, if the builder can made provisions for changes, these can be a very good value.

So, stock plans are valuable in their own way. They are excellent for study and education and can be an excellent source of new ideas. But the savings of time and money may not be what is advertised. And, more importantly, the wasted opportunity of not using a custom design may be something that you regret in the long run.

There is, quite frankly, nothing like having a professional working with you to develop a perfect custom design based upon your ideas, your notions, the various clippings from your past and even from stock plan catalogs. Combine that with the designer’s experienced creativity and you will take full advantage the truly custom nature of building a home.

Home building is the last industry where the products (homes) are truly custom. Consider that a custom design is the best way to take full advantage of this great opportunity.

Find out, today, about the exciting world of Custom Luxury Home Design. For more information visit Ken Risley at the Engineer Designer website.

categories: architecture,home design,engineering,home construction,contractors,the house,home,florida real estate,family life

Florida Real Estate

The Up-To-Date News In Florida Foreclosures For The Present

The South part of the U. S. Is having economic problems, as is the rest of the country, and in fact the world. And it seems that there will be a lot more fl foreclosures before it is all over. In this part of country, where the humidity is high just as a tropical paradise, the beaches are gorgeous, and the temperature is often just right, people continue to lose their houses at a staggering rate. They seek a light at the end of the tunnel.

A foreclosure occurs when a court terminates the mortgage of a homeowner due to late or non-existent payments. There are other lien holders that can foreclose on the property, as well for debts such as taxes that are overdue, association fees and contractors bills that have gone overdue. At completion of this process, the bank sells the property and keeps the proceeds to pay off the debt, plus any legal costs. With the economy in such shape as it is right now, along with the number of jobs being lost, the housing market is in bad shape.

People who have not experienced being unemployed in a very long time are facing this fact right now. They have had jobs their entire lives, and now they are being let go because of the economy. The have no where to turn, as they have never been in such a situation before. And what about the college student who has just graduated? They, too, are feeling the crunch and cannot seem to get placed either. It is presently unfortunate for all ages seeking work.

And it is not just Americans in America who are suffering from lack of roles in the work place. People from all over the world come to the United States to get work, start a family and a new life in what used to be a promising region of the world. Now it is on shaky ground.

There are still certain investors out there who have saved their money, and are now purchasing houses in Florida for a small price, in contrast to what they were selling for in recent years past. One can hope that these buyers can maintain and improve these homes in time for the economy to turn around. Perhaps in this way another can benefit from this investment in future times.

You can find foreclosure lists through real estate agents in an area, or on-line there are available lists of this troubled properties for sale. You may also be able to locate these through HUD (the Housing and Urban Development Department), and through banks in appropriate counties, as well, from a bankruptcy list. There are also auctions that allow persons to obtain these homes in a bidding process for a fraction of the value of the house.

The middle class is no longer able to purchase a house, for the most part. Even if they are working, and the houses are priced below market value, many are in trouble with debt, the banks are not lending, and some people just cannot earn the same salary they became accustomed to in order to be able to purchase a home in this market. Hence the fl foreclosures climate continues. The future may not look too bright, but things tend to improve with time and patience.

You can get a perfect home within your budget fast! Looking at the many FL foreclosures available today, you can get the best FL foreclosure for you today!

categories: Florida foreclosure,short sales,Florida property,Florida real estate,Florida real property,foreclosure,real property,real estate,legal,make money,investing

Florida Real Estate

Ocala Florida is the Horse Capital of the World

Ocala, Florida may appear like just another pleasant town at first glance. As the county seat of Marion County in central Florida, it has a comfortable population of roughly 50,000, though the surrounding area has more than 300,000 inhabitants. However, Ocala is much more than just another town. Ocala has the prestigious honor of being the Horse Capital of the World.

This unique reputation is well earned. From carriages to world-class competitions, if there is an equine activity, it exists in Ocala. It all originates with the horse farms, many of which are not only breed farms, but offer training as well, serving various purposes from racing, to jumping, to showmanship. These farms often offer various riding options, including guided lessons and trails for the public. The horses are also popular as a tourist attraction, often used in shows and parades.

Ocala is one of the a small number of towns in America that is substantially supported by one industry. Some sources estimate that there are in excess of 2,000 horse farms in the Ocala area, occupying nearly 77,000 acres. Due to this large number, there are around 44,000 jobs in and around Ocala that relate to this industry, including positions in breeding, training, and other equine support. Overall, a substantial percentage of the town thrives on the horses, whether in breeding and maintenance or finding ways to connect the industry to interested visitors.

It is possible to find almost any breed of horse in Ocala, either for viewing, riding, or purchase. Ocala is distinguished for its high quality thoroughbreds as well as its production of winning racehorses, including several Derby winners, such as Affirmed and Needles, who recently achieved a desirable Triple Crown. There are several stud farms, which can highlight beautiful breeds such as Gypsy Gold. From there, there are popular breeds such as Arabian, American Quarter Horse, Paso Fino, and even Warmbloods.

While some people travel to Ocala to purchase or train an animal for their own use, there are plenty of other options for individuals of all ages to get involved with the equine population in Ocala. For adults who do not own a farm , there are many supporting positions in grooming and care. From vets to jockeys to blacksmiths to organizers, there is a high need for adults to help make the equine industry continue to prosper in Ocala.

For the younger population, there are numerous opportunities to get involved, through 4-H, riding lessons, parades, or even competitions. The competitions can range greatly, from novice competitions to Olympic quality events, perfect for riders of all ages and ability levels. With so much of the economy invested in the equine industry, many children in Ocala become involved at a young age in order to support the future growth of the community.

Clearly, the equine industry is an significant part of Ocala, Florida, defining the town and its citizens. From professional breeders to novice riders, the Horse Capital of the World has much to offer people of all ages and from all walks of life.

Ocala Florida Real Estate The Ocala/Marion County area of central Florida offers welcoming people and rolling hills of horse farms. Joan Pletcher specializes in Ocala, Florida real estate for sale including homes, luxury estates, horse farms, and acreage. SEO 2.0 Services

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