THE WHITE HOUSE LOST MARKET VALUE TOO…      

The Palm Beach Post Real Estate News page reports that,  “you and your neighbors are not alone.  The place the president and his family call home was worth 5.1% less last year, one analyst says.”

Zillow “zestimates” 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington DC (The White House) at $288,494,000.  The residence has 16 bedrooms, 35 baths and is 55,000 sq ft.  They further estimate a monthly mortgage payment would be $1,216,562.

START COLLECTING YOUR WARES FOR SALE NOW AND GET A BOOTH ($25) AT DELRAY BEACH’S TRASH & TREASURE YARD SALE FEBRUARY 6^TH

Turn your wares into cash by renting a 10x10 area at the TRASH AND TREASURE YARD SALE.  $25 fee must be paid by February 6^th at Administrative Office, Crest Theatre Building, open  Mon/Fri 9 am to 5 pm.  Load in between 6 and 8 am Friday, Feb 6th – yard s le is under BIG tent Entertainment Pavilion from 8 am to 1 pm.  NO Dealers and NO flea market items. Sale is for the general public.  A Goodwill truck will be on site after the sale to take any remaining items for donation.  Old School Square is at 51 North Swinton Avenue (off Atlantic Avenue) in Delray Beach.  For more information call 561-243-7922.

AZURA BOUGHT OUT OF FORECLOSURE BY TOLL BROS.

Located on the east side of Jog Road, just south of Polo Club, an affiliate of homebuilding giant Toll Bros. has taken title to the unfinished 37-acre Azura estate home project in Boca Raton.  It was planned for 92 homes ranging in price from $1.6MM - $3MM and touted as one of the premier developments in Boca Raton.  .  Most lots are vacant, only 7 were sold for a total of $19MM.

Initial sale and assumption agreement were signed in October.  Regions Bank won a $43.1MM foreclosure judgment against developers Polo Field Estates and Gordon Homes in early December and the bank sold the mortgage to Toll FL X.L.P. on December 23^rd.

At the foreclosure sale on January 11^th, Toll FL X won title to Azura after submitting a $5.1MM bid, based on the $43.1MM foreclosure judgment it acquired when it bought the mortgage.

SAVE MONEY AT MOST POPULAR ONLINE COUPON WEBSITES

The numbers are unique December 2009 traffic amounts.  Before you buy, take a look at each appropriate site and save yourself money, whether buying online or in a store.  There are now thousands of coupon sites, and the sites listed here are offering really good deals.  Today more than ever consumers are looking to save money.  Try store specific sites such as Target and Amazon.  Check out these sites! Copy URL above to return to this site or left click in white space, right click, click BACK.

Coupons.Com (14.6MM). $300MM worth of coupons printed in 2009.  163 coupons for supermarket and drugstore items to print today. Enter your zip code for local deals. Call your store and be sure they accept these coupons. 

RetailMeNot.com (9.9MM).   Discounts at 40,000 online stores for toys, clothes, travel, electronics and more. Subscribe to weekly newsletter for Monday best deals.  Refreshes three times a day.  You can be alerted when new codes are posted for your favorite retailers.

CouponCabin.com (3.4MM).  Save up to 30%. Subscribe to newsletter. Many stores featured.

FatWallet.com  (2.1MM) Coupons and cash back from over 2500 merchants.

DealCatcher.com (1.3MM)  Technology and electronics-oriented and consumer products including groceries. 

CouponMom.com  (2MM members)  Get $25 Restaurant Gift Certificates for $10 at 13,000 restaurants nationwide.  Grocery and drug store items.

Let us know which sites worked best for you for which items. 

SNAKES AS INTERNATIONAL SYMBOLS

Serpents such as the snake have been symbols through eternity of fertility, immortality, eternal love, wisdom and much more.  At the Bruce Kodner Gallery Auction today, two exquisite reptile bangles will be sold.  One is a Victorian 22kt yellow gold 3 ct diamond snake bangle and the other is a 1970’s 18 kt yellow gold diamond and enamel snake bangle which appears menacing. The serpent looks on the alert, head raised, tongue out, and like it is hissing. 

Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs are pictured wearing sacred serpent pendants.  Aesculapius, the God of Medicine in ancient Greece, had a household snake wrapped around his staff, and even today that remains as the symbol of the medical profession.  Ancient Greeks and Romans revered the snake as a guardian spirit and symbol of wisdom.

Queen Victoria liked snakes and felt they were emblems of eternal love.  Her betrothal ring was an emerald-set serpent with its tail in its mouth.  The circular cold represented eternity and everlasting love.  She made snake jewelry fashionable in the 1890s, on rings, bracelets and necklaces.  From 1910 through 1930, Cartier’s sketchbooks pictured drawings of snake rings and bracelets and snake items are still popular at Cartier.  Lalique, the French glass and jewelry designer (1860-1945) was obsessed with snake and insect motifs and made such jewelry for Sarah Bernhardt.

In 2008 our local Palm Beach Zoo opened its 1000 sq ft Reptile House displaying a variety of venomous and non-venomous reptiles and amphibians found in the state of Florida.

PALM BEACH POETRY FESTIVAL

The Old School Square Cultural Arts Center in Delray Beach is the location for the 6^th Annual six days of readings, lectures and poetry workshops. from Monday, January 18^th through Saturday, January 23^rd.  Twelve award-winning international poets will be featured as fans from 25 different states listen to participating poets in readings, talks and panel discussions.  Nine of the events are ticket and there are two free poetry readings. 

The faculty includes critically acclaimed poets who teach in graduate and college level writing programs and include the New York Poet Laureate, winner of the National Book Awared and many other  staff have received outstanding awards and fellowships.

Tickets are available through the festival website and at the Crest Theatre Box Office at Old School Square, or by phone at 561-243-7922. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $8 for students. Special student group rates are available.

Visit http://www.palmbeachpoetryfestival.org/ for more information and a complete list of events.

KEY WEST TRUMAN LITTLE WHITE HOUSE-A GREAT PLACE TO VISIT!

From 1946 to 1952, The Harry S. Truman Little White House was the winter White House of America, and subsequently used by later Presidents.  Fourteen American Presidents have vacationed in the Florida Keys and Key West.  This was a relaxing and restoring environment when dealing with the threats of the Cold War. Opened in 1991 as the only Florida Presidential Museum, almost 90% of the furnishings are original to the site, giving an intimate view of Truman’s personal life.  Restoration is ongoing to bring the property even closer to its 1949 appearance.  Public donations are accepted by the Harry S.Truman foundation.

Tour Guides offer glimpses into the Cold War politics, personal views of Truman, and the Naval History of Key West.  The tours are occasional closed for government functions.  The home can be used for Private Events as well.  Your can host your own private state dinner for two or for one hundred and have an extraordinary dinner party.  Weddings are held here too.  From February 1 to April 1, 2010, “With Love, Harry” will celebrate Bess Truman’s 125^th birthday.  Included will be a display of the thousands of letters sent between Harry and Bess over 50 years. Botanical Gardens tours reveal an acre of tropical foliage and trees surrounded by the original 1890 wrought iron fence.

Christmas is a special time here, with “Harry’s Girls” decorating the house.  There is a Museum Gift Shop featuring White House Ornaments dating back to 1999.  Recently Truman’s 125^th birthday was celebrated at the Little White House representing three of his most important decisions: recognition of the state of Israel, the berlin Airlift and desegregation of the military.  The birthday cake was served by  “Harry’s Girls.”

Thirty-five percent of Americans polled by Washington Whispers picked the Key West Little White House as the place they most would like to visit, topping all other seasonal White House locations.  Click here for TOUR INFORMATION.  You can call 305-294-9501 for information.

REPORT ON THE ECONOMY

The Washington Post reports that:

"There has been zero net job creation since December 1999. No previous decade going back to the 1940s had job growth of less than 20 percent. Economic output rose at its slowest rate of any decade since the 1930s as well.

"Middle-income households made less in 2008, when adjusted for inflation, than they did in 1999 -- and the number is sure to have declined further during a difficult 2009. The Aughts were the first decade of falling median incomes since figures were first compiled in the 1960s.

"And the net worth of American households -- the value of their houses, retirement funds and other assets minus debts -- has also declined when adjusted for inflation, compared with sharp gains in every previous decade since data were initially collected in the 1950s." (See: "Aughts were a lost decade for U.S. economy, workers," Jan. 2, 2010)

Translation: The economy was downsized during the past decade.

We're just not going to have a better real estate market, or much of anything else, until demand for labor increases in terms of both jobs and real income.

BROKEN SOUND 2009 PROPERTY SALES

The most expensive house sold in Broken Sound in 2009 was originally listed for $1,595,000 and sold in March for $1,400,000 after 160 days on the market.  This lushly landscaped courtyard house with new stat-of-the-art kitchen has 4 bedrooms, 3 ½ baths, 4037 living sq ft.  It is in the Vintage Isles neighborhood.  Lot is .38 acre. Pool is 45’x20.

Least expensive home sold in 2009 in Broken Sound was a single family home in Laurel Point, with 3 bedrooms, 2 ½ baths 1912 living sq ft.  2-car garage.  Listed for $132,900 it sold in October after 69 days on the market for $124,000.

According to the MLS, 42 houses, townhomes and condos were sold in Broken Sound in 2009.