S & J Journal

The real estate search engine Trulia says it is now on average 45% less expensive to buy than to rent a home.  Trulia conducted a study called the Summer 2012 Rent vs. Buy Report in 100 American cities. While the buy-versus-rent savings varied greatly among the cities, buying was the best choice in all 100 markets.  To conduct the study, Trulia looked at the homes for sale and rent on its own site between June 1 and Aug. 31, 2012. One Florida metro area made the top five list for home buying affordability. According to Trulia, the monthly cost of homeownership in   Lakeland-Winter Haven is $495 , while the cost of renting is $1,276 – a 61% ($781) savings for those who choose to buy rather than rent. Read the full Florida Realtors article .

As it celebrated its 50th anniversary, the law firm moved from Downtown Miami to 396 Alhambra (built by developer Agave Holdings LLC). Many of the firm’s attorneys are Gables residents who are very involved in the community. Pictured: Attorneys Gregory Cesarano and Charles Johnson. Guests Melissa Tolmach, Jennie Lou and Attorney Ben Reid.    

The Coral Gables Art Cinema held a founders' night private preview of Arbitrage, a film about high-stakes finance and corruption starring Richard Gere & Susan Sarandon. Pictured: (top right) Cinema President Steve Krams with wife Midge. (bottom right) Ginger Jochem and Dolly McIntyre (two of the Cinema’s Founders). (left) Maritza & Bob Jacobson (Board member). www.gablescinema.com

The Today Show's real estate expert Barbara Corcoran explains how low home appraisals are causing frustration and disappointment for buyers and sellers and she offers advice about how to avoid them.   VIDEO

Please read about Kid Care below. David Lawrence is a friend of mine and Ginger and I constantly promote children's reading programs as well as have our annual book drive.     Jeannett: Here’s the good news: Already, more than half of the 10 communities participating in Reading Pals have launched with hundreds of trained volunteers heading for classrooms to read with children. Meanwhile, many other volunteers are signing up to help with a statewide health care outreach initiative. (For one example, 22 volunteers were trained this week in Miami to go into communities and enroll children in KidCare). Moreover, via our partnership with TurboVote, hundreds of Floridians are registering to vote . Working together, we have the power within us to build something that hasn’t been built before – that is, a movement for all children. Your support fuels this work and inspires me. (To make a contribution of any size – fully tax-deductible – just click here .) ...

Hello Friends....have an interest in international tennis or golf? Do you have children that may want to be in the JOB parade? Want to volunteer or help sponsor one of the fifteen events? Stop by the cocktail party Tuesday at the Biltmore and meet some of the people involved in one of the largest youth festivals in the US. See invitation below...

Late last month , Redfin released a quarterly survey of homebuyer attitudes that included answers from almost 1,000 home shoppers in 19 cities...It appears buyers are frustrated by having to bid  against other buyers on homes, since inventory is low in some markets.  People are having to compete for properties and 70% of buyers said they’d encountered multiple-bid scenarios. The survey ran from August 16-22. Interesting survey findings: ·          46% believe now is a good time to buy, down from 56% in the first quarter ·          32% believe now is a good time to sell, up from 13% during the first quarter ·          61% believe prices will increase, up from 32% during the first quarter Read more: http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?p=5&id=280578