This week, Key West has been host to the enormous USS Peary, berthed at the Key West Naval Air Station's Truman Annex Mole Pier. I went by on Wednesday to take a look and get a photo, and was awed by its "presence". With a length of 678 feet and a beam of 100 feet, the Peary is one of the largest supply ships in the Fleet. The ship serves by delivering food, fuel , munitions, and other supplies to military ships at sea all over the world, with a crew that consists mostly of civilians.
Sights like this are among the things that make Key West such a deeply fascinating place!
Bruce Herndon-Your Florida Keys REALTOR
I just wanted to share a few photos I got when my wife and I were bicycling on a portion of the Old Seven Mile Bridge a few days ago. This bridge was originally built in the early 1900's for the Florida East Coast Railroad, then converted for automobile use in the 1930s. Terri tells not to write an "encyclopedia" when I blog, so this is a brief one!
The first photo is of stingrays gliding along the ocean bottom about 30 feet below the platform of the Bridge. It was a beautiful and unusual sight. The second photo shows the end of the abandoned portion of the Old Seven Mile Bridge emerging from a thick fog-kind of "ghostly" looking. Fog is a very rare condition here, and this one was caused by a cool air mass moving over our warm, tropical waters.
The two-mile eastern portion of the old Bridge that we were on runs from Marathon in a westerly direction to Pigeon Key, which was the location of the work camp for the railroad bridge. To have a look at historic Pigeon Key, please see the slide show on my website's homepage.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
The Key West Power Boat Races
I know I really should be writing about the real estate business in Key West (which is looking up!), but we can always talk about that. Today, I want to tell you about one of the most exciting events that happens once a year here in Key West.
Yesterday was the final day of the five-day 2008 Key West Power Boat Races. The weather was great-a typical "Chamber of Commerce Day", and the nearly deafening roar of the boat engines sent a tingle through me! The event is held annually at the "Outer Mole Pier" at the Key West Navy Station, where cruise ships normally dock while visiting Key West. Some 20 highly-specialized boats belonging to members of the U.S. Power Boat Association (kind of like NASCAR) were in competition yesterday for the best time. The boats competed in different heets, according to the category of Power Boat. There was a nice fellow beside me with an injured leg, who seemed to be quite knowledgible about the boats. Turned out he is Bob Oliver, the driver of the Hard Rock boat, shown in the photos below. Each Power Boat has a throttle operator and a separate driver. I was the first time in 16 years that he had not driven in the Races, which are held at various locations across the country(and in Europe) throughout the year. It was quite an education talking to Bob and his wife! I asked him if it was tough to be hurled across the water at speeds up to 120 MPH, and he replied that the only fun is when the race is over! With the substitute driver doing a great job, the Hard Rock boat finished first in its category. Grand prize was $8000, and Bob quipped that such a prize sure isn't much of a return on the $50,000+ investment involved in travelling and setting up for a race. It's all about the camaradie, he said, adding that the experience of sharing time with fellow Association members and competing with them is priceless.
The Hard Rock boat would cost around a half million to build today. It is powered by two "Sterling" engines putting out 1600 HP each! Here for the second time this year, were a few "Cats" (Catamaran Power Boats), powered by aircraft jet engines. These things are incredible! They can run 200 MPH and they sound just like a jet flying by-actually smoother and quieter sounding than the piston-engine boats.
Some experiences here in Key West are just hard to describe, but I wanted to give it a try here for everybody. Check out Power Boat racing at www.superboat.com.
Bruce Herndon, your FLORIDA KEYS REALTOR-www.BruceInTheKeys.com
Rats! I just realized that I cannot upload the photos. I'll work on this and get them posted sometime this evening or tororrow.
Early this month, I received a memo from a retired Navy Chief Buyer client to whom I recently sold a nice canal front home here in the Lower Florida Keys, using his V.A. eligibility. He thought, correctly so, that I would be interested in the following memo:
"V.A. Loan Limit Increased"-Week of September 01, 2008. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will now use a locality-based approach in raising ceilings on its no-down payment home loans from the current $417,000 to as much as $729,000. The VA's Specially Adapted Housing Program has also raised primary grants from $50,000 to $60,000 toward constructing a new home or modifying an existing home to meet adaptive needs of veterans or active-duty servicemembers with certain service-connected disabilities. Veterans with certain service-connected disabilities resulting from severe burns can receive the adaptive housing grants. For more information, call the VA at 1-800-827-3702 or at the VA Loan Guaranty website."
This memo appeared at www.military.com on September 3, 2008. I thought all you real estate professionals out there who are involved with sales to members of the Military might want to know about this if you do not, already. I was surprised to find out earlier this week that the loan officer who closed my recent V.A. Loan sale did not even know about this.
This V.A. Loan limit increase will mean a great deal to us here in the Lower Keys, as we have quite a military presence. Ironically, V.A. Loan closings here have been extremely rare for years, due to the relatively hight prices here being in excess of the V.A. Loan limit at any particular time.
I hope this information is useful!
Your Florida Keys REALTOR, Bruce Herndon
LOBSTERFEST 2008 in Key West starts tonight, August 8, 2008. This year's event, celebrating Florida's famed Spiny Lobster, kicks off tonight at 8:00pm at Rick's Saloon. The city's legendary Duval Street will be blocked off at each end to allow for the "Duval Crawl" where hundreds of participants roam up and down the Street, partaking of liquid and lobster refreshments way into the early morning hours. What a time! On Saturday there will be loads of lobster being served and a big Street Fair will offer a multitude of merchandise, crafts, and art. Sunday will feature a big Lobster Brunch to be served at e the Double Tree Grand Resort, capping of this year's festivities.
Plan to come next year!
For more information about things that happen here in the Florida Keys, please visit my website at www.bruceinthekeys.com
Your Florida Keys REALTOR, Bruce Herndon
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24478 Overseas Highway Summerland Key, Florida 33042
I really do not feel like I am old enough to say this, BUT, I have been working in the real estate brokerage profession for 35 years! I am a native of Orange County, Virginia, where I owned and operted Bruce F. Herndon& Associates (country property sales) until early 2003, when I moved to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, joined RE/MAX Ocean Realty in Kill Devil Hills, and became immersed in the coastal resort property market there. Opportunities opened up, and my wife, Terri, and I relocated to Florida's Lower Keys last August. This is an ENTIRELY different real estate market from anything I have ever experienced! The real estate business is very complex here in the "American Caribbean", as well as it is fascinating and full of opportunity.
I have been very involved in the REALTOR organization ever since entering the real estate profession, serving as local association President, state association Vice-President, and NAR Director. I love our profession, and am entirely dedicated to it.
Throughout my career, one of my stongest attributes has been my creative ability to come up with solutions to my clients' sometimes impossible-seeming needs. I work very diligently and productively for my clients, and consistently receive their appreciation for accomplishing their real estate objectives. These are the principal characteristics that set me apart from the other fine real estate brokerage professionals in the three markets I have worked in.
I look forward to being a part of the Activerain group!
Use this section to write about your specific areas of expertise. Do you specialize in first time buyers - listing high end homes - etc. Are there specific market area's that you specialize in? The more you write about your area's of expertise the more knowledgeable you'll sound to a potential buyer or seller.
I concentrate on listings and sales of waterfront properties in the Lower Keys, that area between the west end of the Seven Mile Bridge to and including the City of Key West. The Florida Keys are very much a water-oriented area. The buyers I serve require easy access to the Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico for their fishing, diving, and treasure-hunting pursuits. My buyers are typically retirees, people planning to retire, and other folks who want to move here permanently, dropping out of the Real World to live the "Keys Lifestyle".
Do you have any good testimonials that clients have provided you in the past? Be sure to add them here.
Bruce--
We want to thank you for really taking care of us with this unreal selling of our beach property. You went far beyond the call of duty. No one else would have done all you did. We hope RE/MAX appreciates your dedication. Hope you and Terri will stay in touch. Again, thanks for everything.
Sincerely,
Sylvia and Elizabeth Stephenson
Dear Bruce--
Just wanted to drop you a note to let you know it has been a real pleasure working with you on the 621 Canal Drive closing. You are a TRUE professional and I'm sure your clients figure that out very early on. I hope we will have many more opportunities to work together in the future.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Argiroff
Century 21-Lighthouse Shores Real Estate
Note: Kathleen called me just today, October 9, 2007 with a referral on Cudjoe Key!
Dr. John Stubbings, Owner/Broker
RE/MAX Ocean Realty
P.O. Box 8
Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina 27948
Dear Mr. Stubbings:
As you know, we finally closed on our beach property, after a very unreal experience of planning to sell . Bruce Herndon, our broker, went way beyond anyone's expectations in handling this for us. If it had not been for Bruce, we would have not known where to turn. He is the best broker- associate we have ever had dealings with. We feel very fortunate to have had him take care of our property.
Sincerely,
Gordon and Liz Adamson
Bruce, My Friend,
In the process of writing this letter, yours arrived, and I thank you for it. However, I feel badly that your's preceded mine in thanks. Your efforts to move the property and to help our college have been singularly outstanding. I cannot immagine anyone working harder in our behalf and with the sensitivity of knowing how terribly important the final resolution of the sale would be to the college. One could argue, however, that this should be the normal mode for any REALTOR, and perhaps it should. In your case, nevertheless, you have gone beyond what would be considered normal customer attention in giving us a full measure of your personal concern as well as involvement. This has been abundantly clear to me throughout these months as we have worked together to move "Williston". We have been singularly blessed with such attention, and I wish to join all of us at the college in expressing to you our very great appreciation for your dogged perseverance in getting us to this happy conclusion.
On a separate, more personal note; I would like to enclose a memento of our relationship, strictly from me. The book "The Bridge at Dong Ha" is a story written about an incident I was involved with in Vietnam familiar to most Marines, but to few others. I would be pleased if you would include it in your library, again as a personal memento.
Thanks again for your dedication. Colonel John W. Ripley,
President, Southern Virginia College for Women
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