Parkland’s first dog park, Barkland is now open to the public.  Last Saturday, Barkland had its grand opening.  The park is over two acres in size.  There are two separate areas: one for large dogs and another for smaller dogs.  There is also a dog washing station, water fountain for both pets and humans, covered pavilions to cool off, walking trails, benches and picnic tables, and dog play equipment that includes tunnels and agility elements.

Broward County Animal Care setup a booth at the grand opening and offered a low cost Rabies vaccination against rabies for only $15.00, as well as a Broward County pet license tag.  The event received a great turnout.  Many Parkland residents brought their dogs to enjoy the new park.  Now, Parkland adds another park to its large list, but this time for man’s best friend.

Barkland is located at: 9245 Ranch Road, Parkland, FL 33067.  Barkland sponsorship opportunities are still available for individuals and businesses. For more information please contact Scott Davidoff at sdavidoff@cityofparkland.org.

Know the neighborhood. Know the value. Know your hometown agents: The Parkland Parrot Real Estate Team. If you are interested in buying or selling real estate in Parkland or South Florida and are looking for experienced local Realtors, please do not hesitate to contact the Squawk at 954-609-0591 or send us a message here.

Parkland and South Florida Realtor Michael Citron was quoted in yesterday’s Sun-Sentinel article entitled: South Florida housing strategies for 2012.  It appears that the housing market collapse is fading away bringing a stronger and more stable market in the coming months and years, especially in more stable communities like Parkland, Florida.

Home sales in Parkland and South Florida are on the rise, as the real estate bottom nears.  But, the shadow inventory of bank foreclosures soon to hit the market and less than stellar job market could prolong the recovery.  Sun-Sentinel reporter, Paul Owers, provides a guide to help both buyers and sellers, and homeowners “underwater” on their current mortgages in 2012:

Sellers:

DO: Consider selling early in 2012, before foreclosures hit the market
DON’T: Try to attract buyers with cars, cash or most other incentives

Underwater Borrowers

DO: Plan now if you’re considering a short sale
DON’T: Think you’re necessarily stuck with an underwater mortgage

I was quoted in the Sentinel article giving advice to potential buyers in 2012:

DO: Write a letter to the seller, explaining why you want the home

DON’T: Sound desperate or let the seller know how much of a mortgage you’re approved for

If you’re writing to a lender, be sure to explain that you’re pre-approved for a mortgage and can close quickly, Broward County (and Parkland) real estate agent Michael Citron said. If the seller is the existing homeowner, go into more personal detail.  “If the home has a pool, tell them that you hope your kids can learn to swim in that pool,” Citron said. “A regular seller wants to know the buyer will appreciate the house as much as they did.”

If you are thinking about selling or buying a home, it has never been a better time to make a move in real estate for 2012.  To read the complete Sun-Sentinel article, please click here It is a honor and privilege to be considered as a local real estate expert.  I look forward to working with the Parkland and South Florida community for all of your real estate needs in 2012.

Know the neighborhood. Know the value. Know your hometown agents: The Parkland Parrot Real Estate Team. If you are interested in buying or selling real estate in Parkland or South Florida and are looking for experienced local Realtors, please do not hesitate to contact the Squawk at 954-609-0591 or send us a message here.

The City of Parkland just announced the many honors received in 2011.  These attributes include the following:

1. The Parkland public school system received the highest rating of “A” from the Florida Department of Education (Stoneman Douglas High School, Westglades Middle School, Heron Heights Elementary School, Park Trails Elementary School, and Riverglades Elementary School)

2.  Forbes Magazine designated the City of Parkland as the number 1 Top Education Town where the median home price falls between $400,000 to $600,000. The City’s value was so strong that it landed eight (8th) overall in the entire review. The Forbes Magazine designation states that your housing dollars go furthest in getting your children a great education within the City of Parkland.

3. For the fourth year in a row, the City of Parkland was designated a Playful City. Out of more than 1,000 applicants nationwide, the City was honored with this designation. To receive this award a community must demonstrate a creative commitment to the cause of play. The City was recognized for its development of a special needs sports program and construction of a boundless no limits playground located at Terramar Park.

4. The City of Parkland is tops for the cultural, educational, and community amenities it provides to its residents via the Library. Parkland Library serves Parkland residents by providing a top rated library experience. This year Parkland Library received the FLA Library of the Year Award for the quality of service provided to the residents of the City. Our municipal library service was recognized from among 186 municipal, county and university systems. The library is dedicated to providing personal and unparalleled services to our community.

5. The City was just honored as the top Broward County community for quality of life in the State of Florida. The Business Journals used a twenty part formula searching for places that have healthy economies, light traffic, moderate costs of living, impressive housing stocks and strong educational systems. The study used the United States Census Bureau information and divided the country into four regions. The South, which Florida is located in, contained one thousand one hundred forty six (1,146) cities which were compared to Parkland. When done, The Business Journal ranked the City of Parkland 41st or 96.51% better in terms of quality of life than the other municipalities in the study.

It is a true pleasure living and working in our fine City of Parkland.  Our City has certainly become an exciting place to live and raise a family.  There are so many things for the entire family to enjoy in Parkland.  Parkland offers its residents a quality of life that no other city in all of Florida can match.

Know the neighborhood. Know the value. Know your hometown agents: The Parkland Parrot Real Estate Team. If you are interested in buying or selling in Parkland or South Florida and are looking for experienced local Realtors, please do not hesitate to contact the Squawk at 954-609-0591 or send us a message here.

To stay updated with all Parkland real estate information, receive our blog posts via email by subscribing here. After registering, you must activate the subscription in a follow-up email.

Finally, the end looks near for the Chinese Drywall issue that has hit many states, particularly Parkland and South Florida.  Chinese Drywall manufacturer, Knauf and its Chinese affiliate Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin, recently agreed to a settlement that would give cash to help replace the Chinese Drywall in affected homes.

The settlement will cost approximately $600 million to $1 billion.  According to NBC Miami,  the company will cover all of the necessary Chinese Drywall repairs on all 4,500 houses that were affected.  Among the homes affected, 55% of the homes are in the State of Florida. There are thousands of homeowners, mostly in the South, affected by the installation of tainted Chinese Drywall.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs said that Knauf knew that the Chinese Drywall that they installed in homes was defective and neglected to tell customers. Chinese Drywall gives off a foul odor.  It also corrodes wiring and metal in appliances and causes health problems.  Settlements have been reached with other Chinese Drywall manufactures and more should follow.

This is great news for many Parkland and Florida homeowners that have been dealing with the Chinese Drywall saga for many years.  This news will also help stabilize the overall Parkland and Florida real estate market as more and more homeowners will receive settlements in order to finally remove the Chinese Drywall in their homes.  As a result, homeowners, and their families, will soon be able to enjoy their homes that they had built.  We will continue to provide the Parkland community with updated information on the Chinese Drywall court proceedings.

Know the neighborhood. Know the value. Know your hometown agents: The Parkland Parrot Real Estate Team. If you are interested in buying or selling real estate in Parkland or South Florida and are looking for experienced local Realtors, please do not hesitate to contact the Squawk at 954-609-0591 or send us a message here.

The Obama Administration is releasing a brand new revision to the Home Affordable Refinance Program for homeowners that are underwater on their mortgages.  Struggling homeowners that owe more than their homes are worth can take advantage of this new program.

Below, please see the criteria that homeowners must meet to take advantage of this program:

• Borrowers must be current on their mortgage payments.
• The loans must be backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
• Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac must have bought these loans no later than May 31, 2009.
• To find out if your loan is owned by Fannie, click here. To see if it’s owned by Freddie, click here.

Some other revisions to the Home Affordable Refinance Program are that the government will allow some borrowers to refinance their mortgages even if their mortgages exceed 125% of the values of their homes.  Other noted changes to the program also permit less risk for lenders and decreased fees for borrowers.  Some homeowners can even qualify to refinance their mortgages even if they had a foreclosure in the past seven years!

This new program could help tens of thousands of South Florida residents that owe a lot more than their homes are worth.  In fact, Corelogic, a research firm, reported that four out of 10 homeowners in Broward and Palm Beach counties are currently underwater on their mortgages.  Today is the launch of this new program nationwide, but mortgage experts caution underwater homeowners looking to take advantage of this new government program to be patient, as many lenders are not prepared to accept many applications right away.  I caution homeowners to be patient and shop multiple lenders in order to receive the best rates and programs.

I think this program will indeed help many Parkland and South Florida homeowners.  As a result of underwater homeowners taking advantage of this program, the overall real estate market in Parkland will improve.  In the future, more homeowners will be able to refinance their mortgages and stay in their homes resulting in less distressed home listings being put on the market for sale including short sales and bank foreclosures.  If you are looking to take advantage of this new program and need to speak with an expert mortgage professional, please give me a call at: 954-609-0591.

Know the neighborhood. Know the value. Know your Parkland hometown agents: The Parkland Parrot Real Estate Team.  If you are interested in buying or selling a home in Parkland or South Florida and are looking for experience local Realtors, please do not hesitate to contact us at: 954-609-0591 or send us a message here.

Richard Wentz, a retired New York Police officer that lives in Heron Bay, was recently asked to take down his commemorative 911 flag from his home.  Wentz lives in The Fairways At Heron Bay community and was told by the association that he must remove the flag or risk being fined or possibly sued.  Patricia Favata, president of the The Fairways At Heron Bay Board of Directors, claims that neighbors have complained that Mr. Wentz is breaking the rules of the association that state that a homeowner can only have one flag on their property.  Mr. Wentz currently boasts two flags: one regular U.S. flag and another special flag for the victims of 911.

Wentz is a true American hero that ran into Tower 1 of the New York Trade Center and helped pull out people before the building collapsed. Wentz also lost 43 friends and colleagues that day, and the inside of his Heron Bay home is a shrine to the lives lost at the World Trade Center. Mr. Wentz now is fighting cancer, which he says he received from breathing in all of the particles and debris during the cleanup of Ground Zero.

I hope that Mr. Wentz’s fellow homeowners in the Fairways at Heron Bay come together and voice their concerns to the Board Of Directors on the treatment of a formed New York police officer and hero.  I am sure that everyone can come together and allow Mr. Wentz, as well as other Heron Bay homeowners, the right to display their support for the victims and heroes of 911.

I also want to let our readers know that the Parkland Parrot Real Estate Team has no affiliation with the Heron Bay Homeowner’s Association.  We have received several emails from Parkland homeowners, as well as people from around the country, voicing their concerns.  If you would like to contact the association regarding this issue, please call Benchmark Property Management at: 954-344-5353. Again, I hope that Mr. Wentz can keep is flag posted proudly in front of his Heron Bay home.  I look to the Fairways At Heron Bay association to allow him to keep the flag up and, if necessary, amend their rules and regulations regarding this issue.

Know the neighborhood. Know the value. Know your Parkland hometown agents: The Parkland Parrot Real Estate Team.  If you are interested in buying or selling a home in Parkland or South Florida and are looking for experience local Realtors, please do not hesitate to contact us at: 954-609-0591 or send us a message here

Last Saturday, November 12th, Parkland Soccer Buddies celebrated its 10th Anniversary at John Quigley Park (7901 Parkside Drive) It was a fun-filled day for the  entire family which included bounce houses, food and drinks, vendors, music, speeches and much more.

Each soccer buddy was paired up with a student from the local Parkland school district for the afternoon.  There were many volunteers that participated in the great event for the buddies.  Not only do students earn public service hours, but also learn great social skills by interacting with the buddies and their families.

Parkland Buddy Sports pairs special needs children and young adults, from all over South Florida, with student and adult volunteers in organized athletic programs.  There are other Buddy programs for other sports including baseball, basketball, tennis, running, and more. The program was started in 2002 by Jeb Niewood and his son Kevin.  Today, Parkland Buddy Sports has enrolled hundreds of special needs players from all parts of South East Florida.

For more information, please contact Jeb Niewood at: 954-753-9430 or visit: ParklandBuddySports.com This is a fantastic charity, which I support.  I had a great time at the event and look forward to participating in future Buddy events.

Know the neighborhood. Know the value. Know your Parkland hometown agents: The Parkland Parrot Real Estate Team.  If you are interested in buying or selling a home in Parkland or South Florida and are looking for experience local Realtors, please do not hesitate to contact us at: 954-609-0591 or send us a message here.

Decline in distressed homes helps housing market heal

Del DeMarino (left), had to take less money for his Coral Springs home because of foreclosures and short sales nearby. His real estate agent Michael Citron is helping him deal with a difficult market. (Jim Rassol, Sun Sentinel / November 11, 2011)

By Paul Owers, Sun SentinelNovember 14, 2011

Some South Florida homeowners can sell their homes at a better price this year because fewer foreclosed properties are on the market.  “People hear that the market’s terrible,” said Judy Trudel, an agent for Balistreri Realty in Lighthouse Point. “But there are certain neighborhoods that are doing well.”  The values of some homes not in distress are stable, if not rising, real estate agents say.

Although foreclosures and so-called short sales still account for a large part of the region’s housing market, the numbers are declining.  Distressed sales made up 48 percent of all sales in October, down from 54 percent in October 2010, according to the Miami Association of Realtors.  In Palm Beach County, distressed sales represented 23 percent of all transactions last month, compared with 27 percent in October 2010.

Fueling the decline has been a surge in South Florida home sales that is helping shrink the available housing stock, including the number of properties in some stage of foreclosure. Those properties have weighed down the beleaguered housing market the past four years.  Weston’s housing market has been especially robust. There are only 10 bank-owned homes on the market in the entire city, said Chip Rowand, a broker for the Keyes Co. in Weston. Bidding wars are common there.  “The days of coming in 20 percent under asking price are gone,” he said.

Since President Barack Obama took office in early 2009, the upscale enclave west of Fort Lauderdale has led the nation with the highest increase in home values, according to one research firm.  The median value of a home in Weston climbed 15.1 percent to $280,000 from February 2009 to August 2011, according to a survey of the nation’s 1,000 largest cities by Zillow.com for Bloomberg Businessweek.  Other communities also are reporting positive price trends.

In the Shadow Wood subdivision of Coral Springs, Beverly Rothstein of the Christopher White Group listed for sale a four-bedroom home next to a run-down foreclosure.  Regardless, Rothstein’s client had an offer within a week for near the $305,000 asking price — even without a for-sale sign in the front yard. The deal closed last month.

Another of her clients, Erwin Sefton, sold his three-bedroom Coral Springs home in three weeks for $245,000. He’s moving to a new house near Boynton Beach that won’t be ready until January, and his only disappointment is that his house sold too quickly.  “Everybody I talked to said it would take at least six months,” said Sefton, 67.  With buyers attracted to affordable prices, sales of existing homes and condominiums have soared in 2011.

Palm Beach County easily will surpass last year’s total of 9,584 home transactions. Broward County already has eclipsed last year’s home sales total of 7,997. Condo sales in both counties this year already exceed the annual totals from 2005, the peak of the housing boom.  Lenders are starting to resume foreclosures that had slowed dramatically in the past year amid the “robo-signer” controversy.

Some real estate agents and analysts believe these imminent foreclosures make up a “shadow inventory” that threatens to hurt the budding housing recovery. Others are skeptical, saying the onslaught of foreclosed homes predicted for the past two years hasn’t happened yet and won’t be as bad as feared.  “Banks are handling the disposition of distressed properties better,” said Bill Richardson, president of the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches. “I don’t think we’ll see any significant price deterioration from where we are now.”  But that doesn’t mean neighborhoods hit hard by properties in the foreclosure process won’t face price declines in the months ahead.

Del DeMarino wants to move closer to the ocean, so he put his four-bedroom home with a pool in Coral Springs on the market for $319,900. When he dropped the price by $10,000, he immediately had four offers. It’s now under contract for the asking price, and he expects to close next month.  There are dozens of homes in his Maplewood subdivision that are in or near foreclosure, said Michael Citron, his real estate agent. Without that drag on the market, DeMarino easily could have netted 15 percent more for his house, Citron said.  “The foreclosures and short sales are definitely still a factor,” DeMarino said. “You’ve got to price it right if you want to sell it.”

Copyright © 2011, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

The Parkland Farmers Market is back!  Every year, it gets bigger and better.  The first Farmers Market of the season took place this past Sunday, November 6, 2011.  The turnout was outstanding, as many Parkland neighbors came out to looking for fresh vegetables, homemade cookies, pies, and so much more.  There certainly was a lot of vendors selling everything from homemade guacamole dip to homemade honey.

This year, there were more things for the kids to partake in including bounce houses and pony rides.  The Parkland Farmers Market is one of many free events that the City of Parkland puts together each year.  There was also live entertainment and cooking demonstrations during the day.

If you are looking for fresh vegetables, crafts, and other homemade items, then you should not miss the next Farmers Market which is Sunday, November 20, 2011 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at:

8350 Ranch Road
Parkland, FL 33067

For more information and complete details, click: Parkland Farmers Market

Know the neighborhood. Know the value. Know your hometown agents: The Parkland Parrot Real Estate Team. If you are interested in buying or selling in Parkland or South Florida and are looking for experienced local Realtors, please do not hesitate to contact the Squawk at 954-609-0591 or send us a message here.

To stay updated with all Parkland real estate information, receive our blog posts via email by subscribing here. After registering, you must activate the subscription in a follow-up email.

There were 25 total single family sales for the month of October 2011 ranging in price from $208,000 to $1,250,000 Last month, there were 29 total single family home sales. There were 4 less Parkland single family homes sold in the month of October, 2011 than in September, 2011. Among the October sales, 6 were distressed sales (bank foreclosures, short sales, or corporate owned properties).24% of all sales were distresses ones.

As stated in our September market report, it is typical that Parkland and South Florida home sales decline around this time as buyers and sellers focus more on the upcoming holiday season.  But, great news is that there were only 6 distressed sales in the entire month of September.  With less bank foreclosures and short sales on the market, the overall Parkland and South Florida will stabilize in the coming months.

If you are thinking about making a move to Parkland, Florida, now is the time, as interest rates are at record low levels.  Also, homes in Parkland have never been more affordable than right now!  Parkland is one of the best places in the country to raise a family with excellent schools, parks & recreational activities to enjoy.

Every month, I make sure to post each and every single family home sale that takes place in the City of Parkland, Florida. Being a Parkland resident, I know how important is to keep abreast of the monthly real estate sales and market activity. If you would like to see home sales in the past months, please click here.

Know the neighborhood. Know the value. Know your hometown agents: The Parkland Parrot Real Estate Team. If you are interested in buying or selling in Parkland or South Florida and are looking for experienced local Realtors, please do not hesitate to contact the Squawk at 954-609-0591 or send us a message here.

To stay updated with all Parkland real estate information, receive our blog posts via email by subscribing here. After registering, you must activate the subscription in a follow-up email.