Whether you were crying, cheering or doing a little of both when kids went back to school a couple of weeks ago, now’s your chance to cash in. We want to see your Back to School shots. Was it Billy’s first day of Kindergarten at Mill Creek Elementary or Wards Creek Elementary? Jenna’s first day at Pacetti Bay Middle School, or Laura’s first day of 12th grade at Nease High School? Did your student have a scowl or a smile? Was it an outfit or hairdo they will laugh about it 5 years? And exactly how loaded down was their backpack? Send in those keepsake Back to School photos and let us know which school they were off to. Send in your photos to Peyton Davidson at pdavidson@davidsonrealtyinc.com by September 15th. (We will not post names to protect privacy.) Voting will be from Sept. 16-22 – so tell your friends, family and neighbors to vote online for your little one and you could win a $100 Target Gift Card. Which will come in handy when their lunch box, sweatshirt, backpack, one shoe, calculator and other assorted items disappear throughout the school year.
September 3, 2010
Calling all Parental Paparazzi! It’s the Back to School Photo Contest
August 31, 2010
The One and Only Dottie Lay
Each month we love to feature one of our talented Jacksonville realtors and for August we’d like to introduce you to Dottie Lay! Dottie is a very special lady to me and to everyone in the office, so I thought what better way to highlight her than to ask her co-workers what makes Dottie so great and here is what they said:
“Dottie is a team player! She’s always available to share her experience and to lend solid advice to other agents. She has cultivated a long list of referral business from her dedication to her buyers and sellers. A true professional. I aspire to be Dottie one day!”
“As a new agent with Davidson she was always ready to answer my question in spite of the amount of business she was doing. She made herself available & I thank her for that as well as the kind words and support she is known for. Truly successful people share their talents…that is Dottie.”
“Dottie is very professional. She is competent and people trust her. She works very hard for her customers.”
“When I was a new agent, Dottie ALWAYS found time to pick up her phone if I called for advice. She is a true role model in our company. She is very hard working and dedicated and never has a negative word to say about anyone. A true professional and a dear person.”
“Dottie is a real pro!!! She is organized, precise and has complete knowledge of the business. She builds great relationships with her customers and has an incredible referral base. She’s tops when it comes to being a superior Realtor.” (more…)
August 30, 2010
Northeast Florida Real Estate Trends in July
This week’s headlines on the historical drop in national home sales certainly didn’t help in creating market confidence. Closings in the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors (NEFAR) market area in July are down almost 30% from the number of closings in June. I really believe the tax credit is part of the reason for this drop. It is encouraging to see that pending sales or new contracts being written in Northeast Florida have increased over June.
Out of curiosity I did some research on high-end transactions in the Nease High School attendance zone which includes communities such as Nocatee, Palencia, World Golf Village and everything in between. Since January 2010 there have only been 25 single family homes closed over $500,000. My statistics come from the Northeast Florida Multiple Listing Service and do not include any home listed only in the St. Augustine MLS. Sales of high-end residential homes are still hampered by the lack of consumer confidence and the mortgage lending market.
Here are a couple facts about St. Augustine and Jacksonville FL real estate in July:
• While the median sales price in the NEFAR area dropped in July, the average sales price in the NEFAR area showed a slight increase. Unfortunately our primary markets 32092 (World Golf Village) and 32095 (Palencia) showed a decrease in the average sales price. Home price improvement will only be generated by reduced housing inventories and increased job production in the private sector.
• The number of homes available for sale continues to drop. When looking at “for sale” inventories, keep in mind there is a need to segregate listings based on sales price viability. There are many sellers listing their homes high above true market value. These properties are “for sale” but not saleable.
• The inventory of available homes in the World Golf Village is less than half of what it was 2 years ago. In August 2008 there were 258 active listings and in July 2010 there were only 122 active listings. (more…)
August 25, 2010
Davidson Hits the Road!
There has been a lot of restructuring going on lately in this St. Augustine FL real estate office and we couldn’t be happier about it! We are really excited about our new and improved sales meetings on Tuesday mornings. The agents are getting more involved, we are team building, celebrating hard work, congratulating each other, and having fun! And, of course, we are learning all about Northeast Florida real estate.
To help get more “hands on” we’ve decided that once a month, the last Tuesday of the month, we’re taking our party on the road to see and learn all we can about our area. So far we’ve seen the beautiful Lennar, David Weekley Homes, Taylor Morrison, and CornerStone Homes’ models in Nocatee and August 31st we are setting out to make Aberdeen home for a couple hours.
Aberdeen is full of great properties and builders. Have you had the chance to check out the community? There is so much going on there that you might not have seen. We are starting off at the Drees Homes’ model and then exploring what Richmond American, DR Horton, Holder Johnson, and Mercedes Homes’ have to offer. If you are interested in the CR 210 area, any one of our Jacksonville Realtors can show you around town! (more…)
August 18, 2010
Jim Davidson’s Delicious Salmon Stuffed with Goat Cheese
From Jim Davidson’s kitchen to yours! This month he is showing us how to make salmon stuffed with goat cheese and spinach, one of Sherry Davidson’s favorites! If you are a resident of our St. Augustine golf course community, he recommends running up to Kyle’s Seafood off of US1to get the best salmon filets.
Salmon Stuffed with Goat Cheese & Fresh Spinach
Buy large salmon filets boned and skinned (I purchase ½ of the whole salmon and cut it into steaks 3”- 4” wide). Make sure the fish market pulls all the rib bones out of the meat.
Make a thick mixture of goat cheese (garlic or herb encrusted) and fresh spinach. Mixture should be very thick.
Rub each filet with olive oil and cut a small slice in the side of each filet to create a pocket for the stuffing mixture. Insert about 3 tablespoons of the goat cheese and fresh spinach mixture into each filet.
Completely wrap each filet in a pastry strip then baste the top of each pastry wrapped filet with egg wash (lightly whipped egg whites). Publix sells the pastry in the frozen section. Make sure to thoroughly thaw the pastry before use. Bake at 325° for 30 minutes until pastry is brown. While the salmon is cooking, I heat up a can of lobster bisque.
To serve put ¼ cup of lobster bisque on plate, put salmon on top of bisque, then put another ¼ cup of bisque on top of salmon. Serve with any type of paste (I like pasta with clam sauce and, of course, I used to enjoy a nice bottle of white wine!)
Jim
Davidson Realty
Our real estate team specializes in World Golf Village, St. Augustine, Jacksonville, St. Johns County and Duval County.
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