Another “Chamber of Commerce” day here in the Lower Florida Keys! Outside temp today is supposed to be 87, the tropical-looking sky is mottled with big, puffy clouds, and it rained last night. We are still in the supposedly “Rainy Season” here, but we really have not had a lot of rain this year. From the looks of the puddles this morning, we had a good amount of the wet stuff, and that was exactly what the doctor ordered for our new cashmere zoysia grass lawn-it looked beautiful this morning. Lawns are a rare sight down here on “the Rock”. Most folks just want to have a yard of coral gravel, so that they don’t have to mow, but not ME- I like the exercise of mowing and the feel of walking across that lawn barefooted is great-I probably should charge admission to the neighbors!

I just finished my daily mid-morning fruit snack–a peach. The little label says that it was produced in the USA, but I have to wonder-where in this country are peaches harvested this time of the year? The peach was, nevertheless, pretty tasty.

Fantasy Fest is coming!! For the uninitiated, this is an annual week long Mardis Gras-like festival in the city of Key West, not the least part of which is not knowing what state of dress (or undress) you are likely to encounter at any time! This year’s theme is “Gnomes, Toads, & White Rabbit Tea Parties”, and the many events kick off on Friday, October 19th with the ROYAL CORONATION BALL. Other events throughout the week include GOOMBAY, featuring the sights and sounds of the Caribbean in theBahama Village section of Key West, the CELEBRITY LOOK-A-LIKE CONTEST, the HOMEMADE BIKINA CONTEST, the GIT-R-WET T-SHIRT CONTEST, the truly wild and crazy SLOPPY JOE’S BAR 24th ANNUAL TOGA PARTY, and much, much more!

For questions or more information, contact: buyinparadise@bellsouth.net

Please visit my website for Florida Keys Real Estate–it’s a great resource!!

“In town” is how we often refer to being in Key West. The Preferred Properties main office is in Key West, and I am here today doing “floor duty”, waiting for all those walk-ins and phone calls on our advertised listings! This office is one street back fromDuval Street, which is where you find the “heartbeat” of Key West. Duval is pretty quiet this afternoon, but in a few days the Fantasy Fest revelers will start to trickle in for this year’s event, which begins next Friday, and Key West will be full of excited visitors.

Its a nice day-tropical sky, 90 degrees, wind swaying the palm trees. This evening, toward sunset, a crowd will be assembling, as it does every evening, to enjoy the sunset and the vendors and performers who will be assembled there. This is kind of the cap-off to the day in a little tropical city where there is so much going on!

OOPs-got a walk-in-gotta go!

For over a year, Monroe County, Florida (the Florida Keys) has been working toward acquiring a de-commissioned U.S. Navy ship, the USS Gen Hoyt S. Vandenberg, to be sunk about six miles south of Key West to serve as an artificial reef, augmenting our living Coral Reef. Much work on the vessel is necessary to prepare for it’s sinking, and progress toward this exciting event is moving along nicely.

Salvage crews working on the ship in a Norfolk, Virginia shipyard have removed most of the fuel tanks, some 700,000 feet of aging wiring, and all of the large hydraulic turning knuckles full of oil, and will be bringing the ship into dry dock in November to finish readying the vessel to be sunk.

Next month, worker will clean the hull, block through-hull fittings, remove brass, copper, nickel, and electric motors from the engine room, and will cut holes in the hull of the 520-foot former troop transport vessel, which also served as an Air Force tracking ship that once tracked Mercury and Gemini spacecraft. Additionally, crews will pour concrete in the hull.

Project officials project that, once in place as an artificial reef, the Vandenberg will generate some $80 million in tourism-related sales over the next 10 years-an enormous positive impact on our local economy. Visitors to the artificial reef, some portions of which will be within 40 feet of the surface, will be able to dive it, snorkel it, fish it, and view it from glass-bottom boats. The expected cost to clean, tow, and sink the Vandenberg is $5 million.

Early this morning on my drive to the office, I noticed an unusual message on the marquee in front of Mote Marine Laboratory here on Summerland Key. It read “Welcome, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Aquarium”. Also, late last week, as I was driving over the nearby Kemp Channel Bridge, I noticed a nice-looking boat about 30 feet long which was filled with people and equipment. On the hull was boldly painted “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not”.

Mote Marine Laboratory is an outfit that does studies and research on dolphin, shark, porpoise, and other marine species. They also monitor the health of our precious, protected Living Reef. Check them out at www.mote.org.

This morning I phoned Mote’s office here, and was told that once a year Ripley’s comes to our area of the Lower Florida Keys to collect unusual tropical fish for the aquariums in their museums all across the country, one of which is located nearby inKey West. Mote accomodates them by providing the use of the Lab’s salt-water fish tanks for storing and caring for the captured fish until they are shipped out to Ripley’s aquariums. That’s just one of the unusual and interesting things that go on around here-I’m glad I called!

Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgages may soom be a more viable financing option for many more prospective homeowners. A current proposal, already passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, would allow the FHA loan limit to rise to $417,000 in “high cost” areas, it would reduce the minimum required down payment to 1.5 percent of the home’s purchase price, and it would allow the elective of a 40-year amortization term to keep monthly payments low. An amendment, however, would modify FHA loan limits to permit loans up to the lower of 125 percent of the local median home price, or 175 percent of the national conforming loan limit.

In addition to financing being more affordable, some of those who are having difficulty in making their payments on their subprime loans, thus facing possible foreclosure , may have the opportunity to refinance into a “friendlier” FHA loan. Let’s keep our eye on this one!