Heather Barber

Great summer memories are made in the backyard pool. Everyone, no matter their age, can enjoy cooling off and taking a dip.

Swimming is a great way to spend time together as a family and it's a perfect way to beat the heat. Precautions and care should be taken, however, to ensure all parties stay safe.

First, be sure everyone knows how to swim. Most community recreation centers and YMCA's offer swimming lessons. Parents who are proficient swimmers may even choose to become their children's swimming instructor at home. Making it a fun experience can take the pressure off the child. Everyone can learn how to swim, it just takes time and patience. Children of any age can learn to swim. It’s instinct.

In the instance, though, that you have guests or children you can't swim, be sure they stay in the shallow end of the pool or that they wear a life vest.

Remember, teaching children how to swim doesn't guarantee their safety. Children must be watched at all time when they are in a pool. Drownings and accidents can happen in a matter of minutes. Simply stepping inside to answer a phone call can be enough time for a child to slip into the pool and drown.

For extra safety during any play-date or party, have an "on-duty" lifeguard at all times. That means at least one adult is in charge of watching the children at any given time. Consider taking shifts and sharing the responsibility with other parents at the gathering.

As a second line of safety, keep your pool area in tip-top shape. Toys should always be picked up, so as not to be a temptation for children. There are also numerous security features on the market. Many homeowners have security covers or fences installed to keep children and pets from entering the pool area. Fences should have gates that latch and are child proof. If you don't have pets that will trip them, alarms are a great way to keep track of who is in the pool area. Perimeter alarms can be set to sound when a subject is within a foot or so of the fence or pool. Motion detectors can be even more sensitive and will let you know when any child has made their way to the backyard.

Next, having a family discussion about pool safety is important. Talk about dangers of pools, what is off-limits and when, and what to do if someone is injured. You may even want to have practice drills. Children should always know how to call 9-1-1 if needed as well. There may come a time when it is the adult that needs help.

As the last stage of safety, be sure that you have the correct amounts of chemicals in your pool. Too much chlorine can injure your eyes and is hard on your body. Too few chemicals and you could have a breeding ground for bacteria. If you lack confidence in your own ability to maintain the pool, be sure to contract with a professional who can come weekly to clean the pool and adjust chemical levels.

The bottom line is accidents happen fast. Be sure to take all the necessary precautions that will make your summer fun ... and cool!

CoreLogic released its January Home Price Index (HPI) report today. Nationally, home prices, including distressed sales, declined in January 2012 by 3.1 percent year-over-year and by 1.0 percent month-to-month – its sixth consecutive monthly decline.

However, Florida sales increased by 1.8 percent year-over-year, one of only 18 states to see a price boost.

Excluding distressed sales, national year-over-year prices declined 0.9 percent in January 2012 compared to January 2011, but that same metric posted a month-over-month gain, rising 0.7 percent in January. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions.

In Florida, prices rose even when distressed sales were excluded – 0.9 percent year-to-year.

Overall, seven states had higher price increases than Florida. South Dakota led the nation with an overall 5.7 percent price increase year-to-year, while Illinois saw the biggest price drop at 8.7 percent.

“Although home price declines are slowly improving and not far from the bottom, home prices are down to nearly the same levels as 10 years ago,” says Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic.

Renting spaces from extra rooms to vacation properties with ocean views is a snap, thanks to the Internet classifieds such as Craigslist.

Why shouldn't renting your driveway be just as easy? After all, finding somewhere to park is also about location, location, location.

Not limited to single-family home driveways and garages, the site will list spots for anyone who has space to fill from churches and schools to small businesses and strip malls.

Obviously, spaces nearest public transit centers, downtown areas, theaters, stadiums and other attractions will bring higher rent, but will have to compete with existing parking facilities.

You can rent your space by the hour, day, week or month. The only restrictions could be those imposed by a homeowners association, city ordinance or other jurisdiction.

The service is free for drivers to browse and contract. It's also free for parking space owners to list. Parking space owners pay a 15 percent fee when a space is rented. Renters can pay via cash, check, PayPal or other methods.

Users do not have to exchange personal information or even communicate. All transactions can be accomplished through the website.

Please be advised homeowners to check with their insurance company before renting out their garage or driveway. No matter where drivers park they typically park at their own risk, but should check with their auto insurance company before parking long term anywhere.

The idea isn't completely new…there are others…

Drivers and property owners long have used www.craigslist.com as a parking marketplace. And you can shop around for the best deal from www.parkatmyhouse.com , ParkWhiz, ParkingSpotter, Parking Spaces 4 Rent and Your Parking Space, among others.

More than a quarter of all home sales in Palm Beach County last year were of bank-owned properties or homes purchased in a short sale, a sign of continued stress on a market where traditionally less than 1 percent of sales are of distressed homes.

Nationwide, distressed sales made up 23 percent of all home purchases.

Interesting trend

What piqued analysts’ interest was not the sheer number of distressed sales, but a shift nationwide and in Florida at the end of last year toward more short sales and fewer sales of bank-owned homes. A short sale is when a lender agrees to take less for a home than what is owed on the mortgage, while a bank-owned sale is of a foreclosed home that has been reclaimed by the lender.

Statewide, short sales were up 3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared with the same time in 2010, while bank-owned sales were down 32 percent.

“The banks know they lose less money through a short sale then a foreclosure,” said Jack McCabe, chief executive of McCabe Research & Consulting in Deerfield Beach. “They don’t have to take ownership, they are not responsible for maintenance, and right now there’s no positive profit involved in this. It’s all about cutting losses.”

In a scenario becoming more commonplace, Realtors said banks are dangling incentives in front of homeowners to make a clean getaway, rather than drag out a long foreclosure. Many may have heard of different "cash for keys" programs.

Realtor Jared Dalto, of the Palm Beach Group at Seawinds Realty in West Palm Beach, said he was about to list a short sale recently when the bank called the owner and offered $10,000 for the deed.

“It was just hand us the deed and we’ll give you $10,000 to get out of the house,” said Dalto, who didn’t know which bank made the offer.

Dalto, who estimates about 90 percent of his sales are short sales or foreclosures, said wait times to conduct a short sale are getting shorter, but that “horror stories” still exist.

“I just closed a sale today that I had for two years,” he said. “But some are getting fast-tracked, which is extremely helpful.”

The short-sale trend was reversed in Palm Beach County.

For all of 2011, RealtyTrac measured a 4 percent decrease in short sales in Palm Beach County compared with 2010.

Sales of bank-owned homes, however, were up 82.5 percent during the same time period.