Julie Martin Realtor® Broker Mobile Alabama Real Estate

Accepted Contracts:
8316 Bennett - HUD/Joe Winans
10570 Wulff Road - Lee Martin
8686 Three Dean Way - Mary Thomas
(That makes 23 properties under contract!!)

Closings:
5471 Drexel Drive - $91,000 - Brandi Cook
416 E. 21^st Avenue - $82,000 - Lee Martin

Listings:
195806 - Details: 3105 DOG RIVER RD, THEODORE, AL - $329,900 - Brandy Lutz
195558 - Details: 409 PALMETTO CT, GULF SHORES, AL - $82,000 - Lee Martin

http://mobmls.net/MobileReports/ListitLib/show_report.aspx?ID=INJ3488916

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This Blog by: Julie Martin, CRB, e-PRO, Broker/Realtor, Port City Realty

Mobile, AL; 877-880-8110 toll free; 251-665-4665 my cell; julie@portcityrealty.com.

Search all the listings in Mobile County, Baldwin County and on the Mississippi Gulf Coast any time for free with no sign in requirement from PortCityRealty.com.

Current Foreclosure List and Information

Current Waterfront List and Information

Current Mobile Condo List and Information

For the past six months we've been optimistic (some would say naively) that Mobile would weather the current recession better than most communities. Last week Forbes confirmed that view, by naming Mobile one of the "Best Cities in America for Recession Recovery." This designation is not much comfort if you have been laid off or your company is facing difficulties, but if we continue to embrace a diversified economy (health care, education, shipbuilding and aerospace) the worst may be behind us.

Meanwhile, major announcements continue to set a remarkable pace in Downtown Mobile. Birmingham hotel developer Mike Cowart, who finished the new Hampton Inn in record time, has announced his plans for the site of the American National Building at St. Joseph and St. Louis Streets. Once again in partnership with the Edmonds family, he'll be building an 81-room Candlewood Suites Hotel, designed for the extended stay business traveler. He plans to break ground in early August, and if experience is any indication, business travelers will be able to rest their weary heads well before the end of next year. The project will feature such energy saving innovations as a solar-heated saltwater pool and solar panels to help heat water used by hotel staff.

In other development news:

• The 350 block of Dauphin is getting to be quite the concentration of creative energy. Joining Hernandez-Calhoun International Design and the Story Company ad agency on that block is the office of Wellborn Ideas. Stacy Wellborn specializes in direct marketing campaigns and internet based marketing, and has already been involved in some great downtown campaigns.

The Riverview Office Tower is now fully leased with the addition of Alion Science and Technology, a defense contractor. The office with 40 employees took the remaining space on the 9th floor.

They Should. Mobile, Alabama is once again on Forbes - "Best Cities" List. This time Mobile has been named one of The Best Cities For Recession Recovery. Read about all the cities here.

Mobile was also named this year in Forbes - Best Medium Cities for Jobs, and in 2008 in Forbes
America's Fastest-Growing Large And Small Metros.

Forbes is not the only one who has noticed our fair city. Money Magazine, Entrepreneurs and Best Cities are only a few that have all recognized Mobile in the past couple of years.

We have new industries coming to our area that include the largest steel mill in North America, and a new speedway. The executives that are choosing Mobile are doing so because they like our location, our local government and our beautiful city. With our historic neighborhoods, our waterfront homes on rivers, Mobile Bay, and the Gulf of Mexico and plenty of very reasonable homes, Mobile will remain on the top of many lists for years to come.

Top Producer For May 2009 - Lee Martin
Top Listing Agent For May 2009 - Katie Baluyut

Welcome our new agent - Brenda Bailey

Accepted Offers:
Bayou Jonas - Joe Winans/Julie Martin
1900 Clinton Ave - Brandy Lutz/Brandy Lutz
11046 Windsor Road - Joe Winans/Joe Winans
Lot 26 Cypress Creek - Julie Martin/Dauphin
9248 Mayfield - Julie Martin/Lori Phelps
3880 Bebee Point - Joe Winans/Pickett
409 Palmetto - Lee Martin/Lee Martin

Closings:
6529 County Road 22 - $250,000 - Libby Davis/Julie Martin
455 Beach Blvd. - $253,000 - Lee Martin/

Listings:
194313 - 4251 W BLACKWELL NURSERY RD, SEMMES, AL - $179,900 - Libby Davis
194129 - 905 BONITA AVE, DAPHNE, AL - $199,000 - Brandy Lutz
194269 - 564 CLARKE ST, MOBILE, AL - $29,900 - Julie & Doug Martin
194271 - 823 HAWKINS ST, MOBILE, AL - $49,900 - Julie & Doug Martin
194330 - 10650 POTTER TRACT RD, GRAND BAY, AL - $117,000 - Joe Winans
194376 - 5471 DREXEL DR, THEODORE, AL - $89,900 - Brandi Cook
194442 - 1420 POLARIS DR, MOBILE, AL - $144,500 - Katie Baluyut
194267 - 382 TUTTLE AVE, MOBILE, AL - $9,900 - Julie & Doug Martin
194602 - BEN HAMILTON RD, GRAND BAY, AL - $1,413,400 - Katie Baluyut

http://mobmls.net/MobileReports/ListitLib/show_report.aspx?ID=INJ3437312

Caravan:

Here is a link to the properties that are on caravan today

Listings viewed this week on PortCityRealty.com:

Topics for discussion:

New Kitchen

Writing and Presenting Contracts - Adequate time / Reasonable - doable terms (No FHA on a fixer-upper)

Backup offers - it's in your seller's best interest to know if they have another deal worked out. It's also usually in the buyer's best interest to not wait until another deal falls apart and the property is back on the market.

Customer/Client lists - don't drop people because they list or buy from someone else

Showing Value - at least weekly

Front office brochures - it looks like I have all the listings

The use of REALTOR

High end properties

I read in my local paper this week about a 72 year old Korean war veteran who had left high school in 1955 to join the military. He served in the Korean War and then again in Vietnam. Eventually he earned a master's degree in engineering. Even though he had graduated from college years earlier and has lead a very productive life he had always regretted that he did not have a dipolma. This week he decided to take advantage of a state law passed in 2004 that allows anyone who left school to fight in World War II or the Korean War to get their diploma. He can barely walk but he will be walking across the stage with the other students to receive his diploma.

I live in Alabama but I did a search and there are a lot of states that have passed similar laws. I'm sure there are a lot of veterans who left school to serve in World War II or the Korean War who qualify to receive a dipolma.

My father-in-law passed away a couple of years ago. He too left school to serve his country. He came home and earned a degree in Chemistry. Besides a successful career as a chemist at Brookley Field he also started two successful businesses. He use to laugh about the fact that he had a degree but no diploma and also that he had a driver's license without ever passing a driver's test. I can't help but think he would have liked to have that diploma if he had known it was an option.

The paper said only 8 people had taken advantage of the law in Alabama since it was passed in 2004. I'm sure there are a lot of veterans all across the country that would receive their dipolma under a similar law, if only they knew. So if you know a veteran who left highschool to serve our country please check and see what the laws in your state are and help your veteran get his or her diploma.