Buying Smart Homes

New Homes in Port St Lucie

With the introduction of pre-construction smart homes in Westcliffe Estates at Tradition development in Tradition to the Port St Lucie Real Estate market, buying new homes in Port St Lucie has become smarter than ever. The so-called smart homes are generally equipped with the latest security-related distance controls through the computer or smart phones. With a simple app on your cell phone, you can change the thermostat, lock/unlock the doors and monitor inside and outside of the house by installing cameras that connect directly to your phone. While this technology has been around for a while, the process of developing Zero Energy Home is fairly new and a welcome addition to smart home technologies.

The Zero Energy or Greenergy@ Homes, developed by GE@, promise to eliminate the electricity costs for good. Just imagine not having a bill from your power company ever and perhaps even getting paid for the overage in electricity produced by your house. The Zero Energy Home Technology is primarily based on solar energy. During the daylight, the system is creating more electricity than the usage in your house and the overage put to use during the night time. The way this works is simple. Your house is connected to the power company grid as other homes are, but the excess energy produced during the day is transferred to the grid and return to your home during the night. In most markets the power companies use and pay for the access energy not completely depleted during the night. This is a wonderful scenario in which not only you do not have to pay for electricity but you will get a check from power company as well.

Westcliffe Estates is a pioneer in bringing Zero Energy Technology to a Planned Unit Community in (PUD) Florida and the US. The homes in Westcliffe Estates are equipped with the latest Smart Home Technologies as well as solar energy, the Ecomagination@ developed by GE@. The pre-construction homes for sale in Westcliffe Estates are also built using the latest innovations in pre-construction industry, which results in the development of the most energy efficient homes in the market. The developer of homes in Westcliffe Estates, Homecrete Homes, also equip each home with the latest appliances by GE@ ranked as some of the highest energy efficient appliances available in the industry.

For more information on visiting the model homes and available Zero Energy Homes in Westcliffe Estates please contact our experts at:

Phone: (772) 323-6730

Email: info@portstlucie.city

About Author:

Hamid Hakimi – Realtor

Hamid Hakimi is a broker associate with Coldwell Banker Thomas J white Realty in St Lucie West serving Tradition, St Lucie West, Port St Lucie and surrounding area. He holds bachelor degrees in industrial engineering and business administration and is a former licensed property appraiser. He was the 2014 speaker for Florida Association of Realtors at their annual convention. Email him at info@portstlucie.city attention Hamid.

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Pre-Construction and New Homes in Port St Lucie

by Hamid Hakimi | Pre Construction

Pre-Construction and New Homes in Port St Lucie

Pre Construction Opportunities in Port St Lucie

Pre-Construction Homes While the construction of new homes in Florida is promising the start of new pre construction opportunities in Port St Lucie, some areas of the state have been experiencing different impacts of this new era of home construction. Based on the data collected from US Bureau of Census the number of the permits issued for St Lucie County for the construction of single-family homes is 1,651. Florida Association of realtors has analyzed this data along with an interactive graphics demonstrating the number of residential permits issued for different counties in Florida. The graphics are extremely user-friendly, just hover the mouse over each county and a data-box will open indicating the number of permits issued for that specific county.

Although the collected data seems reliable but in our opinion, there is some discrepancy between the numbers shown for St Lucie County. The main reason for our doubt is the number of the new single family homes announced by different developers. For example, Vitalia at tradition alone has announced a new phase with 1,500 single family homes in addition to the existing new construction homes as well as the remainder of the homes planned to be built under the previous phase. If we add the 1,500 new units in Vitalia at Tradition to the construction of more homes in other preconstruction communities such as Victoria Parc (GHO Homes), LakePark at Tradition (Minto homes), Westcliffe Estates at Tradition (Greenergy Communities by Homecrete Homes) and the continuation of construction in PGA Village Verano (Kolter Homes).

No matter which stats you want to rely on the fact remains there is an undeniable benefit of buying pre construction homes in any on-the-rise market. Regardless, if you are an investor or buying a new home as your residence the earlier you enter the purchasing of pre-construction homes in Port St Lucie, there is an increased financial gain.

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Estimating Home Value

by Hamid Hakimi | Port St Lucie Real Estate

Estimating Home Value

For Sale by Owners or Realtors®

What is the Price of Your Home

Correctly pricing of a home is the most important step in sales of any property. With many online estimators by real estate related websites like Zillow and Redfin offering their version of how much your home worth, finding real value has become more complicated for consumers. While Zillow’s tool, Zestimate, covers a larger market but it has been lacking accuracy and most of the time has been notoriously undervaluing the properties. This is mostly because Zillow does not have direct access to the Multiple Listing Services (MLS) and mostly uses the county records or data driven from real estate brokerage websites. Redfin, on the other hand, covers significantly fewer market but boasts on their accuracy, which is through the use of data by the MLS. All this has resulted in confusion for both home seller and home buyers.

As a result, we have been receiving many comments from both buyers and sellers when it comes to our estimation of value for the properties they wish to buy or sell. because of that we have to educate them regarding the market condition and most importantly the compatible properties (Comps) rule that we use in determining home values. Depending on websites algorithm has been the biggest downfall of these websites in valuation of homes. This is mainly because there are many other factors involved in pricing a property, which are not considered when using a formula. The most important variables like the market condition, estimate of value for homes with more or less bedrooms, homes with different sizes and amenities such as pool are not factored in such algorithms.

The best solution for both home buyers and sellers still remains in working closely with a real estate professional. Our team has created a unique and unparalleled approach in appropriately pricing properties. We use the expertise of a former property appraiser, along with the data from the Multiple Listing Services (MLS) for homes sold by Realtors® and county tax roll data for homes sold by owner (FSBOs).

For buyers it is an obvious choice because typically the Realtor® services for residential home purchases are free of charge for buyers because seller pays the commission. For sellers, on the other hand, use of a professional in marketing, negotiating and following up with issues like appraisal, inspection or multiple offer situations are well worth the cause. This is especially true when it comes to the price of homes sold by owners compared to sold by Realtors®. According to www.realtors.org the price of a typical home sold through Realtors® is at $249,000 while For Sale by owners (FSBO) homes sold for only $210,000. This is a $39,000 difference lost by FSBO sellers that tried to save a $14,940 commission, which they had to pay if their home was sold by a Realtor® a nest loss of $24,060.

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Best Month to Buy a Home

by Hamid Hakimi | Real Estate Tips

Best Month to Buy a Home

Best Months to purchase Homes

Every year during the holiday season centered around Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Eve, the number of home buyers significantly decrease. This results in homes staying on the market longer, which leads to the eventual price drops by sellers. To add to that, families with kids who make a large pool of buyers are absent during winter months due to the schooling of their children. This creates a perfect storm for the price drop in December. Most homes sales closed in January have shown the best prices compared to other months. Typically these homes go under contract in December. Since the loan underwriting is expected to take a longer time to close than previous years under the new lending guidelines, it is possible that the closings in February take the prize for lower prices this year but the purchase contracts are still from December.

^{According to Lawrence Yun, the Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors® “The seasonal decline is not all price depreciation of homes” in winter, Yun notes. “A good portion of the movement is driven by a higher proportion of lower priced and smaller-sized homes getting sold during the winter months. The reason for this is that families with school-aged kids are generally not in the market during the winter because they do not want their kids to be disrupted during a school year, and it is the families with kids that generally require the larger homes that carry higher prices.”}

Read more on Yun’s article in Forbes: Best Month to Buy Homes

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Best Beaches in Florida

by Hamid Hakimi | Explore Florida

Best Beaches in Florida

Best Beaches Florida

Hutchinson Island Beach

Florida Beaches are some of the best beaches in the world. There are many different style beaches throughout Florida including Resort Style, Old Florida Beaches, Surfer Beaches, Nature Preserve Beaches and more. Discover some of Florida’s well kept secret beaches for a vacation or road trip to remember!

Hutchinson Island is one of Florida’s best-kept secret

It is a barrier island 23 miles long stretching through both Martin and St. Lucie Counties. Some areas have very narrow strips of land with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and Indian River on the other side.

Much of the island has been left in its natural state that truly makes this one of “Old Florida’s” beaches. As you travel north on Hutchinson Island you will find many pull-off locations with breathtaking views of the beaches in its natural state. The island has many activities including horseback riding, deep-sea fishing, golfing, boating, surfing, shelling, and other outdoor family activities. Most parking is free so enjoy all the stops along the way to see the spectacular beaches in Stuart, Port St. Lucie and Fort Pierce. Definitely, a must see for family or romantic getaways don’t miss this one! Looking for Hutchinson Island Real Estate?

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Florida Gulf Coast Travel

by Hamid Hakimi | Explore Florida

Florida Gulf Coast Travel

Florida Road Trip US HWY 98

Pensacola, Florida Beaches One lazy summer we took a road trip along the Northwest Coastline of Florida. We drove from the Southeast coast over to Naples and headed north stopping off briefly in St Petersburg. By day’s end, we reached the beautiful stretch of US HWY 98 that led us all the way to the Panhandle and ultimately to Pensacola. The stretch of HWY 98 covers a variety of old and new Florida towns that offers a collection of one-of-a-kind worldly beaches that you could not find anywhere in the nation. The Town of St. Joe is one of the newest communities while older and more established towns like Panama City, Destin or Pensacola are inviting visitors to the less-crowded, most relaxed beaches one could ever imagine.

The anglers could enjoy the beautiful coastlines or many fishing piers while RV travelers would never run out of options to camp in many RV parks and campgrounds. We strongly suggest a stop in St. Joe for lunch or a snack and walk around the elegantly designed town and from there on you are set to go through an unforgeable road-trip that covers many National Parks such as Apalachicola National Forest or the St. Andrews State Park, which is a full facility campground on white Sandy beaches of Panama City and a perfect place to camp overnight.

If you are taking on a short road trip, your next stop will need to reserve most of your time as you arrive at the incredible Emerald Coast area of the Gulf of Mexico and welcomed by the three of the most relaxed sugary white sandy beaches you will ever come across. Destin is arguably the home to one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. The surrounding Fort Walton Beach is the home to swim with the dolphins at Gulfarium, and Okaloosa Island makes Emerald Coast the crown jewel of beaches in Florida and the nation. Santa Rosa beach is in close proximity of Destin while Navarre Beach is a must see on your way to Pensacola.

At this point may we suggest a more scenic route by taking HWY 399 by Fort Walton Beach to Navarre Beach rather than the shortcut of the HWY 98 (Gulf Breeze Hwy). Pensacola Beach in Santa Rosa Island is the next destination which is a popular town by locals and tourists for their shopping malls and the ultimate stop of this memorable road trip.

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Golf in Florida

by Hamid Hakimi | Golf Port St Lucie

Golf in Florida

Florida Golf Courses

Sunshine, beaches, and Florida golf courses are responsible for the brisk tourism of the Sunshine State that combined with citrus production have been the backbone of the state’s economy for many years. While historians date the origin of golf to the era of Roman Empire, Florida has been the modern day Golf Empire of the Unites States. Sunny days and warm winter weather bring many golfers to the state throughout the year to explore the magnificent golf courses of Florida. Find your course and book a tee time. With over 1,480 courses in Florida, Naples makes the top of the list when it comes to the number of the golf courses in the State of Florida.

Below are the top Florida Cities in that category:

1. Fort Meyers Golf Course
2. Orlando Golf Courses
3. Boca Raton Golf Courses
4. Jacksonville Golf Courses
5. Bradenton Golf Courses
6. Sarasota Golf Courses
7. Ocala Golf Courses
8. Vero Beach Golf Courses
9. West Palm Beach Golf Courses

Interestingly Miami or Doral, the home to Blue Munster in Doral Country Club, did not make the top ten list but remains as the one of the most intriguing destinations for serious golfers from all over the world.

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Manatee Center in Fort Pierce, Florida

by Hamid Hakimi | Things To Do In Port St Lucie

Manatee Center in Fort Pierce, Florida

Fun Activities for the Kids At the Manatee Center

Manatee-Center

When looking for things to do in Port St Lucie be sure to visit the Manatee Center. Whether the kids are on vacation, spring break or off for the holiday they will enjoy the Manatee Center in Fort Pierce. The staff is very knowledgeable in marine life and reptiles. There are various fish tanks, reptiles and information stations. Outside you can walk out on the docks and there is an observation deck. There are some nice Manatee statues to take pictures of the kids with a nice gift shop inside. The cost is very minimal and even if you do not spot a Manatee the center is well worth visiting. Even though we did not see a Manatee the day we went we still caught a glimpse of some marine life off the docks. With such beautiful weather, it was a joy just to see the water and blue skies. Nearby is a tourist center to pick up some brochures for other activities on the Treasure Coast.

The center is located west of the Atlantic and overlooks the Indian River Lagoon known for the historical resting spot for the Manatees. Besides the Manatees one might see a variety of wildlife including Dolphins, Brown Pelicans, Terns and a stroll through the butterfly center with beautiful flowers attracting the butterflies.

Manatee Center address:

480 N Indian River Dr, Fort Pierce, FL 34950 · (772) 466-1600

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Indian Riverside Park in Jensen Beach, FL

by Hamid Hakimi | Things To Do In Port St Lucie

Indian Riverside Park in Jensen Beach, FL

Indian Riverside Park in Jensen Beach Florida

Indian Riverside Park Jensen Beach, FL There are many things to do in Port St Lucie including nearby Indian Riverside Park in Jensen Beach, Florida. It is a stone throw from Port St Lucie and Stuart. The park hosts many family-oriented events throughout the year. The Indian Riverside Park also offers many activities and attractions that are geared to please the visitors of all ages. The following is a list of some of the amenities that the park has to offer to:

Fishing Piere
US Sailing Center
Amphitheater and Stage
Maritime and Classic Boat Museum
Treasure Coast Children Museum
The mansion atTukahoe
Capitan Sewall’s Home
Butterfly Garden
Interactive Play Fountain
Lagoon
3/4 Mile of Paved Walking Path