Congratulations!  Clay County School District

Clay County FL School District does it again by being named an Academically High Performing School District. There are 37 school districts in the state of Florida and only 13 school districts have received the honors for 2010-2011 of being Academically high-performing.

This is the third year in a row that the Clay County school district has received this award. The other 12 school districts winning the award this year are Brevard, Charlotte, Citrus, Gulf, Indian River, Lee, Martian, Nassau, Seminole, Sumter, Wakulla, and Walton.

Clay County School District is always striving to have the best school district in Florida and this award is well deserved.

For more information about Clay County schools visit:

Clay County FL Schools

Fleming Island Plantation - Fleming Island FL Homes For Sale. There are currently 50 homes for sale in Fleming Island Plantation - Fleming Island FL a golf course community in Fleming Island FL. Out of the 50 homes for sale in Fleming Island Plantation, 21 of the homes are short sales and 3 are bank-owned. This shows that almost have of the homes in Fleming Island Plantation are distressed properties.

Fleming Island Plantation has plenty of amenities including the 18-hole Fleming Island Plantation golf course., a recreation area with tennis courts, basketball courts, a playground, a volleyball court, a picnic area, a dock, a splash playground, and a swimming pool.

Search Fleming Island Plantation Homes For Sale and if you have any questions please call Robert Schwabe at (904) 403-2429

I took the morning to search the local MLS to find the best deal on foreclosed homes in Orange Park, FL. I came up with my top 5 foreclosure listings that are under $62.00 a Sq. Ft. If you are looking for cheap houses for sale these are the ones you should be looking to purchase. You might hear people calling the repo homes for sale or REO (Real Estate Owned) but, they are basically homes that have been foreclosed on and now bank-owned.

Below is a video of my top 5 foreclosed homes for April 2011

Link to top 5 foreclosed homes in Orange Park FL

This past weekend, Slow Food First Coast had its first Tour De Farm event.  The tour was on Sunday, April 12, 2011, from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM. This was the first year for Tour De Farm and it looked like it was going to be a successful event.  There were approximately 24 farms that participated in the event. St Johns County had the most participation with 14 farms. The other 10 farms that were in the event were in the following counties Baker, Bradford, Duval, and Putnam county.  List of all farms that participated.

Some great local restaurants helped sponsor the event like 29 South Eats, St Augustine Grill, Bistro A.I.X, The Floridian, Purple Olive, and Orsay. Some of the local chefs from these restaurants partnered up with many of the farms on the tour and were giving demonstrations.

When my wife first told me about the Slow Food Tour De Farm event I wasn't interested in going. Then she asked my son of 2 1/2 years of age if he would like to see some goats.  Well, of course, the animal lover in my son would not miss the opportunity to see some goats.  So, not wanting to disappoint my son, we headed out to Terk’s Acres Goat Farm.  We arrived at the farm around 10 minutes to 1 and there were a few people already there.  We started off by enjoying some free samples of artisan homemade organic sorbets by Seacow Confections.  Wow, this was some of the best sorbet I've ever had and you can find them every Saturday at the farmers market at the Saint Augustine Amphitheatre. The farm was pretty well set up with 4-H students giving demonstrations on how to take care of goats. The 4-H students showed us the proper way to clip the goat's hoofs, shave the goats, remove the horns, and milk the goats. As for my son, he wasn't interested in the demonstrations he just enjoyed seeing all the animals and getting a chance the pet them.  As we walked around the farm we saw chickens freely roaming around and my son asked: “ I hug them”.  Understanding the chickens are a lot faster than he is, the wife and I agreed that he could go "hug them". After walking toward a few chickens and realizing that he wasn't able to catch them, he went back to petting goats.  

Fresh Start Hydroponic Farm was the second stop of the day. When we got there Chef Jean Stephane Poinard of Bistro De Leon was giving a demonstration on making a hor’duerve on toast with cream cheese and fresh Datil pepper sauce.  They had Datil pepper products, Minorcan clam chowder, lettuces, cucumbers, and other organic vegetables for sale.  At  2:00, Connie Foy put together a workshop called “Hydroponics at Home”. She put together a great demonstration explaining how hydroponics works and answered questions people had.

At the beginning of the day, I had no interest in the tour.  But, by the time we arrived at the  Fresh Start Hydroponic Farm, I found out that hydroponics is very interesting and found myself asking Connie Foy questions on how to start my own hydroponic garden.  Overall, the family and I had a great time visiting that the two farms. The only thing I regret is not having more time to visit other farms.  I hope Slow Food First Coast's Tour De Farm was a great success and I hope they make this an annual event.

It’s that time of year again for the 4th annual Orange Park egg hunt. This free event will be at Orange park town hall  Saturday, April 16, 2011, from 10 am –12 pm. Orange Park town hall is located at the corner of Hwy 17 & Kingsley Ave.  If it’s anything like last year there will plenty of eggs to find. There will be two groups of egg hunts. The first group will be for toddlers up to the age of 3 and the second group will be for children 4yrs to 7yrs.

Besides the egg hunt, there will be plenty of other activities to enjoy. There will be plenty of live music, face painting,  bounce houses, prizes, and pictures with the Easter Bunny.   Register your child for this free event today.

Well, it’s that time of the year again for the Clay County Fair. This year will be marking the 25th anniversary of the Clay County Agricultural Fair. The Clay County Fair will be taking place at the Clay County Fairgrounds in Green Cove Springs FL. The fair will be running from March 31 - April 9, 2011.

Advanced ticket sales will be until March 31 when you will be able to save a few bucks by ordering them online at  www.claycountyfair.org. or by visiting the fair office.

There are always plenty of things to do at the fair. There will be approximately 40 midway rides to enjoy,  4H livestock shows, livestock exhibits, and contests which include  Chili Cook-off, Hog Calling, and Husband Calling. Visit www.claycountyfair.org. to get the daily fair schedule.

The main stage will be featuring some great entertainment this year.

Thur. March 31st, 6 pm DeWayne Spaw

Fri. April 1st, 3:30 pm & 7:30 pm DeWayne Spaw

Sat. April 2nd, 10:30 am &3:30 pm DeWayne Spaw

Wed. April 6th, 7:00 pm  Brett Eldredge

Wed. April 6th, 8:00 pm Randy Houser

Thur. April 7th, 7:00 pm Megan McGovern

Thur. April 7th, 8:00 pm John Anderson

Fri. April 8th, 7:00 pm Adam Brand

Fri. April 8th 8:00 pm Jerrod Niemann

Sat. April 9 8:00 Easton Corbin

And much more great entertainment.

There is one thing I know they won’t run out of and that’s Funnel Cake, Cotton Candy, and plenty of FUN!

In a nutshell, a short sale is when a homeowner asks a lender for debt forgiveness. The homeowner is selling their home at a price short of what they owe on the mortgage and is asking the lender to forgive the difference.

The first thing to do when considering doing a short sale on your home is to consult with a real estate attorney and see if there are other options before selling your home as a short sale.

A short sale can help people avoid foreclosure when they are behind on their mortgage and can no longer afford the payments, due to loss of job, credit card debt, medical bills, increased property taxes, divorce, child college tuition, etc

Every lender has different requirements to process a short sale. The basic "short sale package" starting point most lenders will ask for from a homeowner includes.

• A signed and dated handwritten hardship letter explaining their circumstances
• A seller signed an authorization form letting the real estate attorney and/or real estate agent negotiate with the lender on the seller's behalf.
• Two years of most current consecutive tax returns and W-2s.
• Two months of most recent paystubs or proof of income, including unemployment benefits.
• A complete seller financial statement.
• Two consecutive months of bank statements from all bank accounts.
• A signed and date real estate listing agreement showing commissions.
• Signed and dated real estate purchase agreement. An estimated HUD-1 settlement statement giving the lender the net dollar amount
  that they will receive at closing.
• Additional Information as requested by your lender.

These are some of the most basic things that lenders will ask for. In the last few years, there has been successful getting short sales done in Orange Park and Fleming Island. Short sales usually take 30 - 60 days to close once an offer has been accepted. In some cases, a short sale can take up to 12 months to get completed.

Call me today to set up a time for a  free no-obligation confidential consultation.

Robert Schwabe

Orange Park FL Short Sale Specialist

(904) 403-2429

*Robert Schwabe of EXP Realty, LLC is not associated with the
The government and our service are not approved by the government or your lender.
Even if you accept this offer and use our service, your lender may not agree to change
your loan.
If you stop paying your mortgage, you could lose your home and damage your credit.

Top 12 foreclosure properties for sale in Fleming Island, Florida for January 2011.

I took some time the other day searching the Multiple Listing Service to find foreclosed homes for sale in Fleming Island, Florida. I came up with my top twelve homes. All these homes are under $100. a square foot. If you would like the January 2011 top 12 foreclosed homes for sale in Fleming Island, Florida list please click on the button below.

Fleming Island Foreclosed Homes

If you would like to get a list of foreclosed and short sale homes email daily click below.

Sign up for the Fleming Island foreclosure list.