Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty recently honored its top producers at the company’s Champions Gala celebration at Epping Forest Yacht Club.
Dressed in ‘fun and fancy’ attire, the company’s leading real estate associates enjoyed a chic celebration highlighted by gourmet cuisine, libations, dancing and entertainment.
The gala honored more than 70 Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices sales associates and their guests from the company’s branch offices throughout the First Coast.
The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors’ 2015 president, Sally Suslak, will represent Northeast Florida at MIPIM, the world’s largest real estate investment trade show.
Attended by over 21,000 people from 89 countries around the globe, this year’s event is March 15-18 in Cannes, France.
The trade show brings together investors, developers, business services, architects and planners, business leaders, journalists and others.
Influential participants from all property sectors — office, residential, retail, healthcare, sports, logistics and industrial — attend, network and exhibit information about hundreds of development projects and sources of capital worldwide.
More than 100 conferences, 350 speakers and 150 networking events are included.
Florida Realtors will have a pavilion with representatives from several regions.
Suslak will give a presentation and offer printed materials touting the region’s appeal. Suslak will offer her presentation in both English and French.
Jacksonville area home buyers can create their own floorplans using David Weekley Homes’ Design it Yourself tool, a web-based program developed by the home builder.
Shoppers create the floor plan in four steps, getting real-time updates to room counts and pricing.
Users can print the plans and review them with a sales consultant to begin building their home.
Two sections in The Village at Twenty Mile are using the new program — The Village at Twenty Mile and The Crossing at Twenty Mile.
The program can be accessed through at a kiosk in the model home; a DIY player will also be available online soon.
Freedom Mortgage presented the first of four events entitled “Freedom Realtor Education Series, 2016.”
More than 80 Realtors attended the session at the ALOFT Hotel, Tapestry Park.
The event featured the State of Florida Bond Program, highlighting the “Hardest Hit” $15,000 down-payment assistance available for eligible borrowers in Duval County.
Freedom Mortgage offers the Hardest Hit DP Assistance on VA, FHA, USDA and conventional loan products. North Florida Branch Manager Jim DelVecchio, discussed uses for the “Hardest Hit” product with conventional loans.
One is the use of the BPMI Single Pay Option Mortgage Insurance, which allows homebuyers to pay for mortgage insurance with the Hardest Hit Bond funds, eliminating monthly premium payments.
Freedom Mortgage will conduct its second Realtor education event May 4 at the ALOFT Hotel.
The featured topic will be “Qualifying Your Buyer with Credit Scores Below 620.”
The session will provide in-depth detail on Freedom Mortgage’s “Freedom First” product, which allows manual underwriting approvals for qualified buyers with credits scores as low as 500.
The second event is limited to 100 Realtors.
Trailmark, a master-planned community by GreenPointe Communities, broke ground on its 6,900-square-foot outdoor-inspired amenities and welcome center.
It is planned to open this summer.
Located near World Golf Village in northern St. Johns County, Trailmark includes miles of biking and walking trails framed by an oak hammock preserve. Its waterways and lakes include Six Mile Creek, a tributary of the St. Johns River.
Trailmark’s Welcome Center amenities will include a state-of the-art fitness center overlooking a free-form resort-style pool with beach entry.
The fitness center will be equipped with treadmills, recumbent bikes, elliptical machines, weight lifting machines and a series of free weight stations. The gathering center will also contain sports courts and playfields.
The center’s interior design, inspired by historic North Florida architecture, features a modern-rustic twist.
Wide-plank oak hardwood floors, chunky beams and rift-cut hardwood chairs and tables play against modern lacquer cabinets and mid-century dining tables.
Plans also call for the Camp House, a 1,990-square-foot outdoor pavilion offering a fabulous water view alongside a large central lake.
The first phase of TrailMark’s amenities will include an expansive trail system. Future plans will allow residents to launch kayaks and canoes into Six Mile Creek.
A new show home has opened at The Bluffs on Plummers Cove, a riverfront community by elacora offering new homes in Old Mandarin.
Furnished and decorated by Barbara Ondo Design Group, the Windward model features an open, spacious floor plan designed for living and entertaining.
Inspired by the St. Johns River, the interior features a nautical style with traditional highlights.
Entering the foyer, classic columns greet a soft airy color palette of mint and sailcloth while introducing the bold accents of navy blues, coral and charcoal grays throughout the home.
Seven-inch-wide cobblestone oak wood flooring anchors the main area of home.
The Windward is among six new single-family home plans available at The Bluffs on Plummers Cove including four designed specifically for The Bluffs.
Homes range in size from about 2,200 square feet to more than 4,000 square feet.
The plans include three-car garages and customizable options — including additional bedrooms, sunrooms, extended lanais and bonus space.
All of elacora’s homes at The Bluffs on Plummers Cove offer a choice of exterior elevation and are designed with tile roofs, paver driveways and environmentally responsible building practices.
Homes are priced from the mid-$400,000s to $1.6 million.
For the second year in a row Palencia’s Market Street Festival will benefit The Starlight Project.
The nonprofit, in partnership with the Down Syndrome Association of Jacksonville, creates custom bedrooms for children with special needs in Jacksonville and St. Augustine.
The work benefits children with Down syndrome, autism and cerebral palsy.
This year’s Market Street Festival will be held from 1 to 6 p.m. April 2 and will include live music from Take Cover!, craft vendors, face painting, rock wall climbing, bungee jumping, bounce house, performances from local dance and gymnastics studios and several Jacksonville food truck vendors.
Admission is free.