Karen Hurst ~ Principal Broker ~ Warwick ~ Rhode Island

There are many marinas located in Warwick Cove in Warwick Rhode Island, but Harbor Lights Marina, in my opinion is one of the best.

Besides being located on a back street off Warwick Neck Avenue, Harbor Lights Marina has a clear view down Narragansett Bay. Sitting on the dock and watching the boats brings just as much enjoyment as having a boat in a slip.

Harbor Lights Marina, boasts double fingers. (for those who do not know what double fingers are, its a dock on both sides of your boat) Most of the marinas in Warwick do not have double fingers. Having a dock on either side makes it so much easier for the Captain to get the boat in the dock with a minimum of fuss. It also lets the First Mate take their time jumping off the boat to tie up the lines.

A Dock has a perfect view of not only the Oakland Beach fireworks, but a general parade of boats coming up the cove and then returning at the end of the day.

All the docks are clean, well lit and just a nice place to be.  Tim and Leo are always around, either on the gas dock, or in the office, or out in the yard and both are very accessible for questions and help.

Hap, the mechanic and John, the Yard manager are also always accessible and always willing to help.

Below are a few photos of Harbor Light Marina, mostly taken from the water.

If you are looking for a slip, check out Harbor Light Marina in Warwick RI.

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Highland beach, in Warwick, RI is my home town. It is on the very neck of Warwick Neck, another village in Warwick. Perhaps I should say my home "village" as I am continuing on the series I started a couple of years ago.

Back then I promised to do an entire series on the villages in Warwick. I first blogged about Oakland Beach in Warwick RI and I continue to receive calls and emails from that blog. In fact, Oakland Beach has been improving by the minute and I am selling homes there as fast as they go on the market. I am starting to think maybe I should have kept Oakland Beach a secret!

Next I blogged about Conimicut Point, another beach community (and Village) in Warwick, and of course Warwick itself!

Getting to Highland Beach is (and most Rhode Islanders remember this) usually by the "back road to Rocky Point" or Palmer Avenue. Off Palmer avenue are two streets that lead into Highland Beach. These are the only streets into and out of Highland Beach. Once inside you can go down a few different streets, like Priscilla, Ogden, Surf, Chapin, etc, but they all lead to the water.

While Highland Beach has a very small beach, most of the properties are on the waterfront and all the others back up the hill overlooking the waterfront houses. This is a very quaint community. There are homes that have been here for almost one hundred years, meaning that they survived the Hurricane of 38! which to my knowledge was the biggest hurricanes to hit Rhode Island in the past century.

There are all types of homes in Highland Beach. Former beach houses, now converted, large Cape Annes, many with wide porches and also some newer homes are all what makes Highland Beach so quaint. There are no two homes alike and the one bond is the Narragansett Bay!

If you want to live in Highland Beach, you need to be working with a Realtor because, these homes do not stay on the market for long. There are two here for sale right now. One is a waterfront and one is a raised ranch at the top of the hill.

The above statements are the personal opinions of Karen Hurst of Stonehurst Realty

"Making Realty a Reality"

There have been a few posts here in Active Rain regarding baskets for closing gifts. I thought I would upload one that I did for a client.

My intention was to "make it personal". I wanted something that the client would actually use and remember me when they used it. Of course each client is a little different so every basket has to be a little different.

This particular couple liked wine and sitting in their backyard at night by the pool. They also lived near the Conimicut Lighthouse which I happened to have done a painting of a few years back.

Because I belong to Cafe Press, I was able to have the painting reproduced on a small box (see photo) and also a Notebook (which you cannot see but is in back of the box). A couple of fancy wine glasses, both white and red wine and a couple of candles with holders completed the basket.

I liked the idea that this basket used both my paintings in a useful way and was "personal" to the buyer. Obviously the basket you make would "fit" the house sale and this one did.

Any other ideas or photos out there?

By this time, everyone that has anything to do with Real Estate should have heard that this is a Buyers Market.

What exactly is a Buyers' Market?

• What it is supposed to be is a time when:

*Homes are priced well

*Loans are at low interest rates

*People are prepared to buy.

When all of the above criteria have been met, then it can be called a Buyers' Market.

Let's take a look at today's Real Estate Climate and decide whether or not it is a Buyer's market right now.

As everyone knows, Real Estate is Local. This means that while it may be a good time to buy in say, Florida, it may not be a good time to buy somewhere else. For the purpose of this post, I want to discuss the local real estate options here in Rhode Island. (since these are the only ones I am completely knowledgeable about:)

The first criteria: Homes are priced well....This seems to be fulfilled. Many buyers' are wondering if prices will fall even more here in Rhode Island. My guess is, yes, they will continue to decline for another year at least.

The second criteria: Loans are at low interest rates. This also seems to be fulfilled. Many buyers' are also wondering if rates will fall even more....My guess is, yes, they will continue to fall, again for another year or so, but then will level off.

The third criteria: People are prepared to buy...This is definitely not fulfilled. Partly due to high unemployment rates, the economy, poor credit and general uneasiness about the market.

With only two of the above criteria met, it would suggest that it is not a bonafide Buyers' market.

However......................

Homes are priced very well right now and combined with the lowest interest rates around in the past ten years makes this an excellent time to buy.

Consider what would happen if you wait until next year or the year after. Here is an example:

You purchase a home at $150,000. today at an interest rate of 5 3/4% for 30 years. Your principle and interest payments per month will be $876.00 per month.

Say you wait for two years and purchase the same home for $132,000. (this is a depreciation rate of .5% per month for 24 months) assuming the general trend here continues.

Two years from now, there is a good probability that the interest rates will have not only dropped but started climbing back up as is generally the case when home prices have dropped. Let's say they have only crept up to the original 5 3/4% and you go for a mortgage for 30 years. Now your mortgage payment would be $770.00 per month!

Sounds like you should wait? Wrong. First, what are you paying for the 24 months you are waiting? Are you renting at say, a low price of $500.? (rare in Rhode Island if you have more than one room). If so, then you are paying over the next 24 months $12,000 minimum and still do not own your own home!

On your mortgage you would have saved over the course of 12 months, $2,544.00! Subtract this from the $12,000. you have paid out and you are minus $9456.00!! (which if you had it to throw away, you could have at least used it towards your furniture in your new house)

This is only one example, based on a buyer using a loan to purchase. If you have the cash to buy, the example would be simple, again if you are renting, what exactly would you be saving by waiting? In the same scenario you would have saved, over the course of 24 months, $9,024.00! That's $4512.00 per year. In this scenario, it may be better to wait, unless you are unhappy with your current arrangement and really want to get into your own home.

Opinions are of Karen Hurst, Broker/Owner of Stonehurst Realty only. For a free consultation, visit me at Stonehurstrealty.com and find out if this is your time to buy.

Today is November 4, 2008 and it is Election Day here in the United States of America. As many have said, it is historical for many reasons, no matter who is the President elect by tomorrow.

I voted this morning at Saint Mary's School in Warwick Neck and the turn out was not as large as I had anticipated. One of the volunteers did say that there was a large turn out approximately an hour before I arrived.

I am not one for counting Electoral votes as I do not think they accurately represent the Vote of the People! To me, the Vote of the People should be the ONLY vote there is in any election. However, this is the way it is and we need to get out their and make our voices heard in sheer numbers.

My opinion is that many Americans have forgotten what our forefathers had originally intended when they wrote the Constitution. Especially the first amendment to the Constitution which is the Bill of Rights.

1 -freedom of worship, speech, press, right of peaceful assembly, right to petition the government

2 -right of citizens to bear arms

3 -troops may not be quartered in private homes without owner's consent

4 -guards against unreasonable searches, arrests, seizures of property

5 -requires indictment by a grand jury for major crimes before trial, prohibits repeated trials for the same offense, forbids punishment without process & that you don't have to testify against yourself

6 -guarantees a speedy public trial for criminal offenses, trial by an unbiased jury, legal counsel for the accused, and that witnesses must attend the trial in the presence of the accused

7 -guarantees trial by jury in civil cases in anything valued at more than 20 US dollars

8 -forbids excessive bail or fines and cruel or unusual punishment

9 -people have other rights than those mentioned in the Constitution

10 -powers not delegated to the federal government belong to the states or the people

I would like my readers to take a moment and read each one, then stop and think about each one. How many of these are still the same in our current lives?Today is an important date in our history, not just because we have our first female vice president candidate and our first black candidate, but because our freedoms (Rights) have been usurped. The economy both in Federal and State governments has been grossly mishandled. We have been outright lied to and nothing can be done about it. Our rights to privacy are gone. The World hates us! The list is enormous and I do not have the time to list all the current problems we as a country are facing. We should all be rioting in the streets, yet we are not.

Today is the day to be heard. If you do not vote today, you will have no recourse. Make this the day, we as Americans, stand up and be counted.

"These are the opinions of Karen Hurst and do not represent opinions of Storm Realty"