Expert Realty – South Florida Real Estate Blog

Despite economic recession, our country’s Independence Day will be celebrated to the fullest extent!

In 2009, the 4th of July in Miami, Broward, and Palm Beach County will bring fireworks to beaches and parks across the tri-county.  Where can you catch a great display of fireworks and celebrate this year?

Deerfield Beach in Broward County, will hold its annual All-American 4th of July Celebration, at the beach, starting from the pier heading north.  Events on Saturday will begin early, with games for children, water balloons, slides and tons of refreshing summer activities!  Local bands will also join in starting at around 3pm, and will continue on until the fireworks after sun-down!

Those looking for a parade may want to head over to Sunrise, at 10am.  The parade will be along Sunset Strip starting at NW 12th street, all the way down to City Park.  There will be children’s activities, ride and free food until 1pm.  From 6-10pm, at the Bank Atlantic Center, there will be bounce houses for the kides, face painters, and other fun activities.  Rain or shine!

In Miami-Dade County, head on over to Coconut Grove, for an entire day and night filled with fun!  Enjoy games and food for adults and children, and various local bands as well!  Fireworks will be held at 9pm, at Peacock Park.

Those in the Boca Raton area can see fireworks shoot off at around 9pm, at Florida Atlantic University off of Glades Road.  There will also be fireworks at Boynton Beach at Intracoastal Park, and at Delray Beach at then end of Atlantic Ave, starting at 9pm.

Two women’s volleyball events will be taking place in Miami over the next week through the fourth of July weekend.  The two events will bring young girls from across the country to compete at the 2009 US Jr. Olympics Volleyball Competition, and women from all over South, Central and North America, to compete in the 2009 Pan American Cup.

The Jr Olympics volleyball tournament will bring over 9,500 girls from ages 12-18 to compete for national titles.  Volleyball recruiters from colleges and universities across the nation will attend to search for prospectives students and players.

The Pan Am Cup will certainly be the highlight of the weekend, with a diverse audience.  The tournament will begin with group rounds first, which have been divided as follows:

Group A: United States, USA, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico
Group B: Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago

Scheduled games and events will begin Friday, June 26th, 2009.

Many people dream of meeting the president face to face.  Even celebrities and stars, including Dwayne Wade and Alonzo Mourning.  The two Miami Heat basketball players met with President Obama this past week at a gathering to discuss the importance of fatherhood, and the mentoring of young children.

The audience included many mentors that work for youth groups that mentor children without parents. Mourning and Wade work with many children on their free time in the South Florida area, and are inspiring to many fans, including the president.Dwayne Wade and Obama seem to relate to each other, having both grown up in Chicago, and both love basketball. 

After the meeting, Wade and Alonzo went to several centers in Washington to speak with hundreds of children, many of them growing up without fathers. An inspiring moment, and surely these children will never forget meeting Dwayne Wade and Alonzo Mourning.

The talked about area planned for Virginia Key recently was rejected at the city board meeting this week. A unanimous decision based on those in the room agreed that the plan was ‘utter non-sense’, and just another tourist trap for visitors.

Conservationist and protesters oppose the plan, mainly for environmental reasons.  The new plan puts forward parking garages, boat slips, and other such commercial use.  Despite the historical significance of the park being the first legal beach for African-American use during the early 1900’s, developers are still eager to create, level and build on the island.

An area of the park has already been restored and recently re-open to the public, however, the future of Virginia Key Park is still up for debate.  Currently, Virginia Key Park visitors can enjoy a playground and other restored facilities.

This past week the Department of Education released grades for Florida schools this year, showing more ‘A’ schools in Miami and Broward County than last year, and fewer ‘F’ schools. 

Notable Miami Community Charter School jumped from a dangerous ‘F’ rating last year, to an ‘A’ rating this year. This amazing accomplishment is not frequently seen, so kudos to all of the teachers, parents and students of Miami Community Charter School! 

Miami Dade increased their ‘A’ schools from a total of 171 last year, to 210 this year.  And Broward County also saw an increase with 141 ‘A’ schools last year, up to 162 this year.

Schools in Miami have been improving each year in their testing scores, and overall ranks as a ‘B’ rated county.  Broward County also shows improvement each year, and remains with an ‘A’ rated county grade.

To look up your schools rating go to schoolgrades.fldoe.org

The Miami Downtown Development Authority had been concerned for thegrowth of the downtown Miami area as the real estate experienced a sluggish start despite the lucrative deals for newly developed downtown condos.  But after a recent study, findings are showing a large increase in condo rentals and sales in the downtown Miami area.  New residents to the area are finding themselves in the lap of luxury with lower priced rent or mortgage payments in comparison to some of their Brickell area neighbors, and still with an advantageous commute, and just as many luxurious amenities, including rooftop pools, gyms, and amazing city views.

The study also showed that the ratio of occupation of condos in downtown Miami comparing new leases to purchase contracts is at about 50:50.  So about half of downtown Miami residents are renters, while the other half are owners. 

The downtown area had not always been such a popular place, but with the redevelopment that has occurred over the recent years, the area is proving to be a great place for investment in Miami.

When Katrina hit New Orleans, thousands of victims where dispersed across the nation in attempt to find temporary housing.  Many were even separated from immediate family members during the process…

FEMA is currently exploring the idea of what to do if the situation were to occur in Florida, and where displaced families would go. The idea that came up was placing them in foreclosed homes in Florida. The major benefit FEMA sees with this option is that families will not have to leave their communities, and would stay together with their families. Many of Katrina victims were placed out of state and never returned home, leaving the destroyed community nearly empty even 4 years after the storm.

There are over 280,000 homes going through foreclosure in Florida.  FEMA would begin contacting banks and lenders of these homes, and would match families to home based on their currently location.  Though still evaluating the idea, and how the process would work, many are optimistic about the idea.

A new water park in Fort Lauderdale?  It could be…

At a Fort Lauderdale city meeting this past Tuesday, discussion of ways to keep the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex up and running were brought about.  The complex has been around since 1928, and though used year round for national and international swimming and diving competitions, the complex does not generate enough money to keep itself open, running in the red more than $1 million each year.  The city had generated various ideas to boost revenue here, one of which included building an aquarium at the complex, however that idea was shot down at Tuesday’s meeting.  Commissioners want a tourist destination spot, one that would generate a significant amount of revenue.

The idea that has now been proposed is the creation of a small water park with slides and a lazy river.  The city is currently accepting bids to explore this option.  City planners believe that the park would create a significant amount of incoming revenue from tourists, and would help to keep the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex open for swimming and diving competitions as well.

The location is also home to the International Swimming Hall of Fame, a tourist stop for many Fort Lauderdale visitors.  Money generated would also be used to renovate the museum.

Have you seen this little guy?

Several black bears sightings were reported earlier in April of 2009 in the Weston area, but after the ‘capture and release’ of three black bears, the sightings had diminished for a short time.

Still, this past Friday, a black bear sighting was reported near Weston Elementary School, Manatee Bay.  The school was put on lock down for part of the afternoon as officials searched the area for the bear.  The bear was not found.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is growingly concerned with the issue since more community development has edged its way into the bears’ natural habitat.  There is also a concern that the bears are finding food sources in the areas as well, which will certainly increase their emergence into these neighborhoods.

Wash your hands! 

The H1N1 flu virus, commonly referred to as the Swine Flu, has continue to spread throughout the states, with over 7,000 reported cases in the U.S. as of today.  The current number of Florida Swine Flu cases has reached over 139 reported cases, which includes 38 from Miami Dade County, and 31 in Broward County.

The normal flu season ends in April, which brings even more attention to this flu strain that is currently continuing on through the month of May.  Though no swine flue cases in Florida have led to death, there is still a major concern and alert to all residents to be cautious, wash hands frequently, and stay home from work or school if you are sick.

The Florida Department of Health contains a web page with useful information about the virus, including information on what to do if you or a family member becomes ill.