Daytona Beach Tennis Program Receives Grant

Daytona Beach has received a United States Tennis Association-Florida (USTA Florida) "Share the Love" grant to begin using the QuickStart Tennis format for 10-and-under children at Daytona Beach's Derbyshire Sports Complex.

"This program is focused on providing inner-city kids with an opportunity to play tennis," said Joseph Chirillo, recreational coordinator for the City of Daytona. "Currently we have 50 youth from the ages of 5-14, both boys and girls, playing three days a week at the Derbyshire Sports Complex."

QuickStart Tennis is the new USTA-approved format for teaching children age 10-and-under, featuring smaller court sizes, racquet sizes, foam and decompressed balls, a simple scoring system, and net heights adjusted to ease kids into the sport.

The funding will be used to purchase QuickStart Tennis equipment for the city, which has struggled with recreational resources during the current economic conditions. Chirillo says prior to the grant, the young children in the program used donated adult-size racquets and regular high-bouncing balls which made it difficult to learn.

USTA Florida's "Share the Love" campaign is a $500,000 initiative on top of the organization's regular annual giving, to help fund tennis programs and projects throughout Florida communities during challenging economic times. Funding priorities for the USTA Florida 'Share the Love' initiative include QuickStart Tennis and Jr. Team Tennis (coordinator training, start-up, etc.), public facility funding (schools, parks, conversion to QuickStart courts, etc.), community tennis awareness (innovative pro-active start-ups, program expansion), school programs and senior tennis programs/projects.

Share the Love grant applications are still being accepted by USTA Florida at www.USTASharetheLove.com, or questions can be e-mailed to grants@florida.usta.com.

For more information on QuickStart Tennis in Florida go to: www.usatennisflorida.usta.com/USTA-Jr-Team-Tennis---New/23757_QuickStart_Home/

Sherry Armstrong, Realtor
386-679-3191
yourkeytothebeach@gmail.com
www.sherryarmstrong.com

Scammers Hitting Daytona Beach Short Sale Sellers

The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors has put out an alert which applies to all areas of the state, in response to the huge number of short sales in Florida.

A short sale is when a homeowner needs to sell their home for less than what they owe on it. This can be a stressful and complex situation that leaves many homeowners vulnerable. At a time when plenty of Floridians are worried about their homes, some scammers are trying to bilk people out of cash and even out of their homes.

"When people are vulnerable, that's when people put their scams into work," said Glenn East, CEO of NEFAR.

Two Big Red Flags are

• If someone asks you to sign over your home
• If someone asks for a big fee upfront

If it seems to good to be true, it is.

If you have any questions about a proposal, call or email me - or, check it out with the state attorney general's office. Don't sign anything.

I have the experience and knowledge to help with your short sale or pre-foreclosure, and many references to support the help I've given to buyers and sellers. Just be cautious and very skeptical!

Sherry Armstrong, Realtor
386-679-3191
yourkeytothebeach@gmail.com
www.sherryarmstrong.com
www.ormondbeachscene.com
www.activerain.com/blogs/sherrya

Manatee Calf Rescued in Daytona Beach

As reported by the Orlando Sentinel, "A manatee calf, apparently orphaned by its mother, was rescued recently in Daytona Beach and is receiving care at SeaWorld Orlando.

"The female seacow, which is 3 1/2 feet long and 41 pounds, was bought by officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to the Orlando park's rescue and rehabilitation center on July 24. The calf remains in guarded condition, park officials said.

"She was rescued from a canal near the Caribbean Jack's restaurant in Daytona Beach. SeaWorld staff must bottle feed the calf every three hours with specially-designed nutrient-rich baby formula.

"Once she is grown and is eating the normal diet of vegetation, the seacow could be released back into the wild. SeaWorld has rescued 23 manatees and has released 11 this year."

(photo from SeaWorld Orlando)


Sherry Armstrong, Realtor
386-679-3191
yourkeytothebeach@gmail.com
www.sherryarmstrong.com
www.ormondbeachscene.com

2nd Daytona Beach Music Festival Attracting Big Names

The second half of the American Music Festival is coming to Daytona Beach Labor Day weekend. The Jonas Brothers will perform in the Ocean Center, along with superstar Usher and special guest Demi Lovato.

The entire complex is planned to be transformed from its temporary bleachers to an actual arena. The idea for the city is to make a big splash with big names with the hope that big things will follow.

The bandshell will also see more big name acts in the future, but its not being said who yet.

For more information on the American Music Festival, check out www.amf2010.com.

with Your Key to the Beach,
Sherry Armstrong, Realtor
386-679-3191
yourkeytothebeach@gmail.com
www.sherryarmstrong.com
www.ormondbeachscene.com

Daytona Beach Downtown Plan

As reported by Mark Lane,of the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Daytona Beach city officials have unveiled a new Downtown plan. He makes the following points:

1. the new plan doesn't dismantle City Island
2. the new plan envisions walking spaces around downtown and Riverside Park with slower speed limits and a 2-lane road
3. the new plan leaves out public-private projects that would convert public land to private use, for the most part

4. the new plan includes retail kiosks in Riverfront Park

Lane concludes, "A functioning downtown is the best of both worlds: urban pleasures with smaller-town familiarity. If the experts knew how to make one work, they would have told us how three studies ago. But, at least this time, the city has a plausible plan that doesn't start by wrecking what we already have."

If you have an opinion about the new proposal, contact your city officials.

with Your Key to the Beach,
Sherry Armstrong, Realtor
386-679-3191
www.sherryarmstrong.com
www.ormondbeachscene.com
yourkeytothebeach@gmail.com

Daytona Beach Building New Community Center

A new community center will be built in Derbyshire Park of Daytona Beach, with the goal of opening it to the public by May, 2011. Construction on the Yvonne Scarlett-Golden Cultural and Educational Center, a 17,500-square-foot property on the east side of the park, is set to begin by September.

Public Works Director Ron McLemore said the design phase of the project, which includes the drafting of drawings and construction documents, is 90% complete. He anticipates bid and contract approval from the City Commission in September.

Plans for the building include a courtyard in the center, which will contain an amphitheater for theatrical and musical performances. The building will cost $2.5 million, with about $1.6 million coming from the general fund and the remainder coming from three grants, including a $600,000 Volusia County ECHO grant. The building is dedicated to former mayor Yvonne Scarlett-Golden, who was the first black mayor of Daytona Beach. She held office from 2003 until her death from cancer in 2006 at the age of 80.

with Your Key to the Beach,
Sherry Armstrong, Realtor
386-679-3191
yourkeytothebeach@gmail.com
www.sherryarmstrong.com
www.ormondbeachscene.com

(resource: MyHometownNews.net)

Daytona Beach and Shadow Home Inventory

A recent article on RealEstateChannel examines the term "shadow inventory" which many real estate market forecasters feel will affect our Florida foreclosure numbers for years to come. Author Kevin Brass explains, "Recent debate focuses on a report from Standard & Poor's, which suggests that it may take three years to absorb the current shadow inventory of distressed properties. More than $480 billion property falls into this category, which Standard & Poor's defines as 'outstanding properties that are (or were recently) 90 days or more delinquent, in foreclosure, or real estate owned (REO), but haven't yet hit the market inventory.'"

In our Daytona Beach area, we have higher numbers of foreclosed properties than in many parts of the country. If all of these homes entered the market at once, definitely they would impact pricing and supply vs. demand. But if we look at the numbers, the shadow inventory may not be as much of a problem as it seems.

Brass states, "For one, the size of this shadowy inventory is, in fact, shadowy. Nobody really knows how big it is, with estimates ranging from 2 million to 8 million homes. That's a big difference, and it's worth noting that many of the owners who fit Standard & Poor's description may not end up putting their homes on the market. And Standard & Poor's report makes it clear the problem differs wildly from market to market. In New York, for example, the analysis estimates there is 103 months of supply in shadow, light years ahead of the 34-month national average. In contrast, Phoenix, the lowest of the 20 markets studied, showed only 16 months of inventory.

"In fact, in many markets the inventory of publically available properties is shrinking. In Miami, for example, the number of residential listings in May was down 19.3 percent from a year earlier and 43 percent below August of 2008. Nationally, total inventory was down 3.4 percent in May, according to National Association of Realtors data.While the spring numbers were certainly skewed by consumers rushing to buy before the expiration of the federal tax credit, they don'suggest that there is a flood of listed property lingering on the market."

Another point Brass makes is that the distressed properties making up the shadow inventory are not all the same type of home. In Daytona Beach, we have condos, and single family, and waterfront, and golf course, and attached homes. Many foreclosures are homes which have not been taken care of, and the prices when these sell will not affect the Daytona Beach high-end home market.

Brass concludes, "Standard & Poor's looked at the national shadow inventory numbers and issued a stern warning, part of the new-found hard edge adopted by the ratings agencies in the wake of the mortgage crisis. 'Given this backlog, we believe that average home prices could fall again if demand doesn't rise in step with the potential influx of supply,' Standard & Poor's credit analyst Diane Westerback said in a statement.

"But that's a big 'if.' A reasonable uptick in demand--fueled by, say, low interest rates and tax breaks--could easily offset the impact of the distressed properties, opening the possibility that the shadow inventory may turn into the equivalent of a dangerous hurricane that never hits land."

For a detailed analysis of your Daytona Beach property, call or email. I'm a specialist in short sale and distressed properties, and certainly can advise you on the shadow inventory of Daytona Beach.

Sherry Armstrong, Realtor
386-679-3191
yourkeytothebeach@gmail.com
www.sherryarmstrong.com
www.ormondbeachscene.com