Julie Jones

I have discovered a wonderful website for identifying Florida-friendly and Florida native plants recommended by the University of Florida/IFAS horticulture experts that will thrive in South Florida landscape designs. This site features interactive information on how to easily landscape your important, real estate investment while minimally impacting our precious, natural habitat.

Visit www.floridayards.org to learn:

•1. Landscaping 101 - Offering an interactive tutorial and quiz to help get started in creating a design according to individual yard's specific needs. A photo gallery is also included to give landscaping ideas.

•2. Interactive Yard - Shows how to create an environmentally low-impact, Florida friendly yard with an interactive on-line tool for step-by-step instructions using native, low-maintenance plants.

•3. Plant Database - A veritable treasure-trove of nearly 380 possibilities for plants, shrubs, ground cover, trees, palms, vines and grasses specifically suite for your landscape.

Floridayards.org is designed to accommodate any area in Florida. Whether a do-it-yourself, gardening aficionado or an employer of a favorite landscaper, I highly recommend using native Florida vegetation to landscape your residence. Native vegetation minimizes the need for watering and fertilizing, which in turn, saves our natural resources, encourages a natural habitat for our birds, and creatures, including butterflies and humming birds, and will help return Florida, and Fort Lauderdale, to its natural state.

On the 40th Anniversary of the first moon landing, Nick Churton, our delightful counterpart from the London marketing office, Mayfair International Realty, reflects that the UK and US real estate markets are now remarkably similar and thinks that taking a "giant leap" in today's market may be a very good step indeed. It is my pleasure to re-post the blog for your enjoyment.

Forty years ago three brave men risked their lives to make a giant leap for mankind. The Apollo X1 mission to put a man on the moon, and go where no man had gone before, held the planet in thrall. It was the end of the ‘60s and Britain had swung for almost a decade. But, as a counterpoint to the successful moon landing, back on earth the wheels were coming off. The decade-long free spending party had come to an end.

So, no change there then - particularly as none of us really knows now what is going to happen next, any more than we did in the early ‘70s. But life and economics appear to have come full circle.

The real estate market is certainly going where it has never gone before. We are in un-chartered territory with the market very finely balanced indeed. On one hand, it could remain on its present - albeit shallow - upward trajectory. On the other we could experience the double bounce or ‘W' shaped recession, about which some economists and media commentators seem keen to remind us.

From a real estate point of view there seems little doubt that, although there is a large question mark hanging over where the market may go next, now does seem a pivotal time for home movers. If the recovery continues, the rate of increase in real estate values should ultimately rise. So now would be a very good time to buy. Were the market to slip back and values slide then it would be a smart move to sell. Moving home always features profit and loss - the financial advantage of selling almost always cancels out the disadvantage of buying, or vice versa depending on the market.

The first six months of this year have defied most market predictions. Activity has been high, and in some places demand has even exceeded supply. That was not in the script, but is a welcome sign of tentative market recovery. So, too, is the news from the house builders that they are seeing their best sales results in three years.

Buying real estate in this market may seem to some like a giant leap into the unknown: not quite like risking one's life and flying to the moon for the first time, but a bold step nevertheless. However, when weighed against some of the good signs of recovery then the bold move now may very well prove to be the shrewd one.

My British colleague, Annette Reeve, of Mayfair International Realty, sent me the below article in which she was interviewed for Assetz Latest Property News, a group of well-known and successful property investment advisors who deliver research and selected UK and overseas property investment solutions. I am happy to share with you the positive view UK investors have on US real estate investment.

Building up from the bottom for investors

29th July 2009

For those looking to buy property in the US, the recent vibes appear to have been promising. For months, of course, it has been possible for bargain hunters to pick up cheaper homes, as prices have fallen and the epidemic of foreclosures has led to a huge number of knock-down deals being available at auction. But now the market is showing signs of entering a new phase.

That stage is one of new growth and, to the delight of the government, it may well be thanks to some of the stimulus cash that has been pumped into the economy. That was certainly the view of under secretary for economic affairs Rebecca Blank when figures from the US Bureau of the Census showed an 11 per cent jump in new homes sales in June compared to May.

Such funding is coming in the form of grants aimed at getting less well-off people onto the housing ladder under the First Time Home Buyers' Programme, a policy that is definitely fruitful, according to Annette Reeve, a director at Mayfair International Realty.

Discussing the policy, she said: "The US government is aiding key workers at the lower end with a grant to get on the housing market. It is like anything here, if you start at the bottom it filters its way up through the market and I think that is having a good effect."

Ms Reeve commented that she hoped that both in the US and the UK the market is "over the worst", adding that there may be good reason in the States to think so.

She remarked: "Prices are down so much and you can get such good buys. Here in the UK we have got a very short inventory, which is obviously what is holding the prices up. In the US, if each month there is an X percentage increase on sales, then the huge stock of inventory that they have had around for the last few years will eventually get [used] up."

Good buys, of course, is what British investors in US property are looking for. The figures from the US Bureau of the Census indicated an increase in numbers bought from 346,000 to 384,000. It also revealed that there is a gap between the value of a new home and an existing one, with the freshly constructed dwellings costing an average of $206,200 (£124,706), compared to $276,900 for all homes.

Of course, that may reflect something about the nature of the homes concerned, not least if the grants are aimed at the lower-paid end of the market, meaning large, plush houses in fashionable areas are not going to feature heavily in the statistics. But for investors, the most important issue will be to watch for signs of a sustained rise in house buying and with it a consequent increase in prices, something that may finally confirm the revival is underway.

Enthusiasm for Fort Lauderdale’s natural treasures reaches farther back than the 21st century. Below is part of a poem about this city, written in 1840 and featured in a Saint Augustine newspaper:

Ode to Fort Lauderdale

A reef of pure coral bounds Lauderdale’s land

Along which the sun-fish in myriads play;

With hues of the sunbeams are shells on her strand

In sparkling profusion embathed in the spray . . .

A virgin New River, to her Ocean calls,

Through distant murmurs, he woos her embrace.

Coy and modest she comes, ‘til its thunder appalls.

Then in wonder, abashed, turns away from his face . . .

I applaud our city’s (and Florida’s!) current-day residents, politicians and nature conservationists for striving to return our tropical paradise back to its natural state. Clean air, clean water, healthy animal habitats—including reefs, recycling and a focus on green living are factors for which we are all responsible—not only here, but everywhere. Here’s looking toward returning and maintaining our global environment to the point of inspiration, once more.

I wish you sheer poetry from my corner of paradise!

Not surprising, so very many of Florida's vacationers, both national and international, return to settle for keeps in the Sunshine State. (I was one of them relocating from the UK almost 20 years ago!)

First, the climate cannot be rivaled. For those who do not tolerate cold weather, South Florida offers endless summer practically 24/7. Sometimes, I have to check the calendar to remember month we're in because this fabulous weather appears on a daily basis.

The cost of living is still lower than many other urban areas. Day-to-day basics: food, shelter, clothing and transportation are more affordable.

With a serious eye on education, in just three year's time new programs and testing brought Florida's K-12 ranking to 10^th in the nation. Distinguished colleges, universities, community colleges and technical training centers continue to attract local, as well, as out of state and international students.

Florida also boasts one of the country's most sophisticated health care systems with world-renowned medical facilities.

Above all, there doesn't seem to a better reason to live in Florida other than the state, with 663 miles of beaches, is one of the top vacation spots of the world. With most residences designed to accommodate outdoor living, and the fact that every Floridian lives within 60 miles of a beach, every day is a vacation get-away.

Come and visit Fort Lauderdale. Better yet, decide to stay. Visit www.luxuryrealestateftl.com and let me open the door to your next home---your new luxury lifestyle!