Hello Clients, Family & Friends! I'm excited to bring you our March Keys Real Estate eNewsletter.  This month we're bringing you:

• The most accurate and updated market statistics by neighborhood and Key
• Our Featured Listing
• Financial Advice - The best homebuying strategy
• Featured Event
• Calendar of Events

We're working hard to keep you updated and ahead of the market.  We always strive to be your #ForeverAgent with the Forever Brand of Berkshire Hathaway.  I'd love to hear from you, we're always your "boots on the ground" if we can help with anything.

We want to keep you informed about our ever changing real estate market.  In the Keys supply remains low and demand remains strong leading to steady and reasonable growth in our real estate market. 

For the most accurate statistics and trends for each Key, and Key West neighborhood click on the image ---->  to be taken to our website where you can view and print the year over year comparisons. 

We’ve been matching people and places in the Florida Keys for the last 6 decades, so we’ve seen the ups and downs of the real estate market. No matter what happens in 2020, we’ll continue to monitor the housing trends closely to keep you ahead of the market and in the know.  #Goodtoknow

A stunning property in the heart of Old Town, Key West. This 3 bedroom,3 bath home has ''windows to the clouds'' that capture you upon entering. There is a 2nd story open air office space which would also serve as a great children's space with enormous amount of hidden storage. The newly renovated kitchen with high end appliances is perfect for the chef in the family. A generous amount of covered outdoor dining space overlooking a beautiful private heated pool with waterfall is a great entertaining area in any type of weather. Beautiful orchids are sprinkled amidst the lush tropical landscape. A COVERED CARPORT completes this beautiful home!

SELECT IMAGE ABOVE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ^^^ 

"You don’t want to throw money away on rent anymore, do you? Instead, you can build an asset that can grow large if you handle your money wisely.

Your best strategy? Prepare financially now.

Down-payments. Down-payments under 20% of the home’s price spell risk for lenders. You’ll pay a higher interest rate as well as private mortgage insurance, about 0.5 to 1.0 percent of your mortgage. That’s about $2000 a year on a $200,000 mortgage, or about $167 monthly.  

However, paying PMI allows you to get into a home faster with less money down, and advantage in a desirable housing market.

The costs of homeownership. According to The Motley Fool, you should prepare to pay about two to five percent of the transaction in closing costs. Afterward, expect to pay for maintenance and repairs, which average about 1% of your home’s value annually. Property taxes can be reassessed annually by multiplying your home’s value by the mill rate (percentage) for your county. Prepare for utilities to rise in winter and summer.

Debt management. Rutgers University economists suggest your monthly consumer debt service should be no higher than 10% of your net income or you’re moving into the danger zone. Divide your monthly consumer debt payments by your total net income to find your percentage."

The Bahama Village Music Program invites the public to help them celebrate their 20^th anniversary with a Birthday Bash on Sunday, March 29, 2020 from 12:00pm – 6:00pm at the Coffee Butler Amphitheater. The free, family-friendly event will be a day filled with music jamboree with performances by Key West’s finest musicians and BVMP students, audience jam-alongs, an artisan market, a cash bar, food trucks, a silent auction, a kid’s zone, and of course, birthday cake. Special to the event will be the inaugural presentation of the Key West Music Hall of Fame inductees, which include Coffee Butler, Ellen Sanchez, Fats Navarro, and Buddy Chavez.

The 20-year-old program started in a storage room with three keyboards in 1999 and is now a comprehensive music school with 200 students at their main location and outreach programs. Since then, Bahama Village Music Program has given over 20,000 free music lessons taught by more than a dozen student teachers, professional instructors, and dedicated volunteers to over 2,000 children who could not otherwise afford them.

 

Join them as they celebrate the sense of pride and community spirit that has resulted from this important program that fosters important mentor relationships between local teenage musicians and their students, offers free summer camps for BVMP students, collaborates with Dance Key West to offer free dance lessons to BVMP students, offers yearly full-tuition scholarships and grants to student teachers to attend the Berklee College of Music’s Aspire: Five-Week Music Performance Intensive, and facilitates full-scale musical theater productions with Keys Kids Junior and House of Pan Steel Pan Band at Horace O’Bryant School— inspiring children island-wide to discover the musician within. For more information and sponsorship opportunities, call Executive Director Katchen Duncan 305.504.7664 or email info@bvmpkw.org. Celebrating 20 years of free music education. It takes a village

3/1 | Locals Sunday / World Wildlife Day

3/6 | The Peking Acrobats @ TWT

3/7 | Oldest house Museum Conch Shell Blowing Contest

3/7 | 58th Conch Shell Blowing Contest

3/8 | Spring Forward 

3/14 | 60^th Annual KW Home Tour

3/14 | Spring CFK Sprint Tri & Biathlon

3/15 | MEGA Parade of Homes

3/17 | St. Patrick’s Day Bar Stroll
                 *For additional information ------>

3/20 | FKSPCA Spring Social

3/23 | American Cancer Society Diamond Gala: A NIGHT ON SAFARI

3/26 | Centennial Bank Customer Appreciation Event

3/26 | Samuel's House - Women of Integrity & Men of Valor

3/28 | Big Coppitt Fire Station Easter Egg Hunt

3/28 | 7 Mile Bridge Run

3/29 | Bahama Village 20^th Birthday Bash

3/29 | Kids Old Wooden Bridge Fishing Tournament