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Palm Beach County offers the best of both worlds, with the sparkling blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean to the east, graceful ponies running out west of town and everything in between.  Here you will find your niche – golf, tennis, boating, polo, country club living.  Anything you desire is available in Palm Beach County, even a residential community where you can land your personal aircraft at your own home!  South Florida is not just about the sparkling blue water and sandy beaches, this area has some of the most prized farms and ranches on the coast.

What started as the “world’s largest strawberry patch” in the 1950’s has evolved into a renowned equestrian community.  Wellington is located just 20 minutes from world class shopping and dining on Worth…

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The Palm Beaches gets "its party on" early with parades, bagpipes, green beer and traditional Irish fare. The festivities begin Friday.

Saint Patrick’s Day Festival 2014, Martin Health System Village Square, Port St Lucie, Friday, March 14.  Brought to you by the “Friendly Sons and Daughters of Ireland.  Music and Food Booths.  Anticipated 10,000 attendees. Visit www.festival.net.com for more information.
 
Saint Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival, Flagler Park, Saturday, Stuart, March 15 @ 10:00am.  There will be ice cold beer, hot corned beef and cabbage, traditional bagpipes, lively Celtic music , Irish dancers, plenty of quality vendors and a kid’s area at this fulfilled family event.  Parade starts at 2pm sharp!  8,000 attendees expected.  Visit…

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Do you live in one of the most dynamic cities of 2014?  Only seven of the top 20 cities were from the United States.
 
MSNBC Real Estate reported on a study that ranked 111 global cities looking for specific hallmarks of lively and progressive areas.  Using three main categories – commercial real estate, socio-economic momentum and high-value incubators representing “the quality of a city’s infrastructure, its innovation capability and the strength of its technology sector.”
 
California harbored two - San Francisco and San Jose, thanks to their high tech Silicone Valley contributions.  An ability to foster new and creative businesses, adapt and innovate quickly and new building construction were some of the criteria for the cities.

The top ten upwardly…

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Now more than ever the Jupiter area has been attracting professional golfers and golfing enthusiasts for its exclusive golfing communities and secluded atmosphere.  Palm Beach County is known as the “Golf Capital of the World”.

The Town of Jupiter is just minutes from pristine white sand beaches, excellent restaurants, and high end shopping.  If you happen to be interested in fantastic bill fishing, this is also the area for you…just north of Jupiter is the Town of Stuart, known as the “Billfish Capital of the World”.

Within the area, luxury country club communities such as Admiral’s Cove, BallenIsles, Bear’s Club, Old Palm Golf Club, and Trump National Golf Club to name a few, are drawing golfers south.  With private golf courses designed by the greats…

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According to data provided by the National Association of Realtors, a lack of houses for sale continues to lift the prices of homes for sale in much of the country, and our area.  This in turn has pushed down the number of existing homes sold in January.

The torrential weather has not helped either. NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said, “Disruptive and prolonged winter weather patterns across the country are impacting a wide range of economic activity, and housing is no exception.   Some housing activity will be delayed until spring.”

The National Association of Realtors noted some significant changes among the population of homebuyers.

1.     First time homebuyers accounted for 26% of purchases in January 2014. That is the lowest market share for first…

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South Florida saw the biggest gain in a monthly measure of national home prices replicating a slow but steady, continued upswing momentum in real estate market for Palm Beach County.   


Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties experienced an increase in single-family home prices according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Index.  According to the most recently released Index, single-family home prices have increased 0.09 percent from the previous month.


Last Tuesday’s report from Standard & Poor, as well as others, point to a slight deceleration in home prices as a normal beginning of the upturn cycle at the end of February. Winter shows no signs of cooling home prices according to the Standard & Poor/Case-Shiller home price indices.  They are…

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Last week the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published tips intended to assist consumers protect themselves from fraud and help them in the event they encounter a problem.

"Phishing" is the activity of defrauding an online account holder of financial information by posing as a legitimate company by criminals.

Almost anyone who uses credit or debit cards has the threat of their credit or personal data being compromised.  A number of major companies over the recent months have reported breaches of data security.  Target, a national retailer, experienced a recent breach of data that could impact tens of millions of consumers, protect yourself!

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recommends these four steps:

1).   Checking your accounts…

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Yes, you read that correctly, Edward Snowden, who worked as a contract employee at the U.S. National Security Agency in Hong Kong and leaked documents that damaged the security interests of several nations, has been nominated for the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize! 

Anyone can be nominated for the prestigious award.  Two Socialist lawmakers Baard Vegard Solhjell, a former environmental minister, and Snorre Valen, both from Norway, jointly nominated the former National Security Agency contractor, stating his disclosures have contributed to making a more peaceful world.

In their nomination letter, the Norwegian politicians stated, “We do not necessarily condone or support all of his disclosures.  We are, however, convinced that the public debate and…

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As Managing Partner of one of the most successful luxury real estate companies in the Southeast United States, Rob Thomson has mastered many things.  One key strategy is to identify unique marketing opportunities, and secondly, network with the best!

Thomson will be attending the 2014 Luxury Real Estate International Symposium held in Monte Carlo, Monaco this year.  LRE is one of the world’s leading international networks of real estate professionals, and Waterfront Properties and Club Communities is one of the organizations longstanding and respected members.  Thomson is a member of Board of Regents and an exclusive, and youngest, member of the Billionaires Club (for real estate professionals who have sold over $1 billion).

This symposium will welcome the…

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Seattle based Zillow, an online real estate database known and respected in the industry for its housing precisions, has released its 2014 list of TOP 10 Hottest Home Markets For 2014.  Our area is right in middle of the list!

The Seattle based group report; released on December 5, 2013, has South Florida in Fifth Place!   Zillow reports, “The list is intended to give an early view into the housing markets that are likely to experience a heavy demand for homes, as well as increasing home values."

Four bold housing predictions by Zillow for 2014 include:

  1.  U.S. Home values will increase by 3 percent.
  2. Mortgage rates will reach 5 percent by the end of the year.
  3. It will be easier for borrowers to get a mortgage in 2014.
  4. Homeownership rates…

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