Delray Beach Update- January
Click Play and Watch our Delray Beach – January Monthly Update video!
Noreen on Delray Morning Live!
Noreen Payne was the first guest of 2020 on the weekly Delray Morning Live show! Click play to hear Noreen talk about the new diverse and dynamic board members this year on the Delray Beach Chamber. She is Chairman of the Board and shares exactly why she decided to become involved in the Chamber and hints at some exciting new things to come!
What the Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce means to our community?
By: Noreen Payne
Chairman Elect of the Board of the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce
Special to the Delray Newspaper
Delray Beach has won many accolades for being an intimate town with big city sophistication. How do we maintain the image and growth of our wonderful city? We focus on supporting the local businesses that support the city and the people behind it!
Our Chamber focuses on supporting and enticing many businesses to Delray Beach – it is our Chamber’s mission to ensure that our business owners and visitors alike feel welcome and supported each and every day. The Chamber advocates on behalf of the businesses – works to build relationships and networking opportunities within our city, bringing exposure to the businesses to encourage future growth and development, organizing and delivering beneficial training and education to our small business owners who may not have the resources on their own, delivering programs and events to build excitement and focus for all of our Chamber members.
It is pure joy for me to witness a ribbon cutting of a new business in our city – to be there to watch the big smiles on the faces of the entrepreneurs who have chosen our city, Delray Beach, to plant their roots. To then see those same business owners come to one of the Chamber’s networking or education events and watch as they develop relationships and friendships within our local business community and residents. I am exhilarated when I leave a meeting with our City leadership and accomplish a victory on behalf of our Chamber business members – these wins impact the bottom line of our local business owners and I take pride in being a part of this process.
People often ask me “why” I am so involved in the Delray Chamber of Commerce. I must confess it was not an initial goal to be engaged and certainly would never have thought it possible that in 2020, I would be Chair of the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce- but here I am! I simply went to an event in the hopes of meeting other local business owners and residents and the energy in the room was infectious. I found I understood our city better, was engaged in changing policy and attracting good businesses for us! I moved on to various leadership roles because I saw the value and the impact to our local community.
At the end of the day we are people looking to build relationships with other people – when we help a local business owner grow their fledgling business into a thriving business that impacts not only that business owner but also our entire economy. As a local resident, I want to see businesses thrive, I want to see new residents move into our area and participate in our community, to see our property values continue to rise and to know that our Delray Chamber is making an impact on our community and residents as a whole.
Here’s how you too can get involved:
Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce
561-278-0424
Selling a home in Delray – Should we accept a buyer’s contingent offer?
We received this excellent question recently:
Our house has been on the market for awhile and now we have an offer.
But, it’s contingent upon the sale of the buyer’s home. What does this mean? Should we accept it? It’s the first offer we’ve had in a few months, so I’m thinking yes. Help!
Our advice would certainly depend on a lot of factors, but it’s a maybe!
If your home has been on the market for awhile and it’s not a seller’s market in your home’s price bracket, you don’t want to unilaterally just pass on this – it could be a great opportunity.
We’d want to ask some more questions… Can we work with that buyereir offer to a place that works for both parties? Also, is their home on the market? Is their home under contract? If so, we’d want to look at that contract. We would need to understand how strong their offer is.
There are times that we’ve represented buyers that came forth with an offer like this. It wasn’t our listing, and guess what? We got to the closing table – because we know how to get our buyers to the closing table. In this case, the agent on the other side needs to be helpful, too. So, we also look at who that agent is… because that does make a difference, and we are often familiar with that agent.
There’s a particular clause in the contracts here in Florida called a “kick-out clause.” If it’s a buyer’s market, you as a seller may or may not want to consider that. Basically this clause says,
“I’ll take your offer and it’s contingent upon the sale of the home, but I’m leaving it active. I’m taking backup offers, and when I get an offer you’re going to get first right of refusal. If you still want this house, then okay, the contingency’s gone, this house is yours.”
This can be helpful, as it gives the buyer some protection. If she or he is not in a position to own both homes, this offer can be accepted, subject to the above – a win-win for a buyer and a seller.
The most important thing to know is that every scenario is different, so you want to be sure you are working with the right Realtor… a team that can give you guidance and help you make the right decision for your specific situation. There are a lot of factors to come together to create the right deal! (That’s the part that we love! It’s the the fun part!)
We’d love the opportunity to help you through scenarios such as this, and to get you to the closing table. Contact us at (561) 571-2289 for a no-obligation consultation!
Selling My Home in Delray – How do I know if a buyer is qualified?
A fan of our Facebook page recently submitted this question:
When a buyer makes an offer on my home, what should we be looking at to make sure they’re qualified and will be able to close on their offer?
When we are your listing agents, we are always keeping this issue in mind, at every step in the process!
- Before the showing.
When an agent contacts us to arrange a showing, we start by screening the buyer on on a few things. We ask: What is the buyer looking for? Is the agent familiar with the community, and the home? Is the buyer pre-qualified? We ask these types of questions to begin to understand the buyer, their qualifications, and their motivation.
- At the showing.
One of the reasons that we accompany all of our showings is because it’s another important opportunity to get a sense of the potential buyer. When onsite, we can get a feel for the buyer first-hand. We look for cues and clues to indicate their mindset. Are they asking the right questions? (Like, how old is the roof, the air conditioning? What does the community have to offer?)
One of the fun things to watch as we are touring through the house is whether they’re envisioning where the furniture’s going to go. That’s an example of a great buying sign. So, we are getting an idea if they are qualified to purchase this home, and if they are actually envisioning themselves being in this home.
- When we get an offer.
Of course, this is a thrilling part, but where do we go from there? It’s really important that if we take your property off-market, because he have an offer, that it’s actually going to close. If it’s a cash offer, we make sure that they have clear funds. How? We ask for statements that show that they have the funds. And probably most importantly, we look to see that that statement is in the name of the buyer on the contract.
(If it’s in an LLC, if it’s a company buying it, then guess what? Those funds need to be in the name of the LLC or the corporation. That’s crucial!)
If there will be a mortgage, we look at the pre-qualification letter. One pre-qualification letter is not the same as another… What did that mortgage broker or lender do to pre-qualify the client? Did they pull credit? Did they look at their assets, liabilities, and so forth? We analyze this carefully at this stage. We often pick up the phone and have a conversation with the mortgage broker to make sure that we have a sense that they can buy this home.
(It helps that we’ve been in business so long and we know so many people in the market! So when I see a mortgage broker or lender whose name I know, it’s an easy conversation to have.)
Our goal, besides just to get offers on your home, is to get an offer to the closing table and make it a positive experience for all the parties. Making sure that the buyer is qualified to buy your home is important at every step. We do NOT want surprises!
So whether it’s on the front-end or after you get an offer, we work together to make sure we get you to the closing table.
If selling may be in your future – or you’re just curious about what your home is worth today – you can request a no-obligation home value assessment here.
Questions? Call us – Amy and Noreen, All About Florida Homes, Keller Williams Realty – at (561) 571-2289. We’d love an opportunity to discuss your home selling goals.
Luxury Modern Villa Town Home in Delray’s Palm Trail – Just Listed!
We’ve just listed a true gem! It’s a luxury modern villa town home located in the highly desirable area of Palm Trail in East Delray Beach.
This gorgeous home is just blocks from one of the best beaches around, and closeby to Downtown Delray’s famed Atlantic Avenue – brimming with culture, nightlife, events, cuisine, shopping, and more!
This move in ready, newly constructed in 2016, urban home has been meticulously maintained. It offers a contemporary innovative design, high end finishes – and so many spectacular upgrades. Our favorite features include:
- custom window treatments
- Restoration Hardware lighting
- extensive floor to ceiling windows
- high 11-plus foot ceilings and 8 foot solid wood doors
- expansive, bright open floor plan.
The amazing kitchen features include a suite of high end Thermador appliances along with a custom build out of the pantry by the current owners.
Upstairs, the grand master suite with private balcony overlook the backyard feature an immense tandem walk in shower in the bathroom.
The sellers went above and beyond by also adding customized built in shelving in closets and customized storage options in the oversized garage. The home is hardwired for the ultimate opportunity to live the “smart home” lifestyle with remote control features for security, media, and temperature controlled comfort.
The indoor outdoor South Florida lifestyle can be enjoyed year around with heated pool surrounded by travertine paver decking and covered lanai in the private back yard. Lush landscaping has been added by the existing owners to enhance privacy and shade.
Take a short drive or walk, bike, perhaps golf cart along the beach to Atlantic Avenue and enjoy fine dining, upscale shopping, art galleries, theater, music venues, concerts, festivals and so much more!
For details, check out the listing here.
Delray Beach Events for January 2019!
January brings so many not-to-miss events to downtown Delray Beach! Here are some of our picks:
First Night in Downtown Delray Beach (Dec 31 into Jan 1)
Kick off January in Delray Beach with The Annual First Night event. It’s open to everyone, and taking place primarily at Old School Square.
This festive event centers around (and even in!) Delray’s Famous 100 Foot Holiday Tree. It will feature games, food trucks, music, shows, crafts for the kids – plus the fun attractions of both the merry go round and the ice skating rink. So much fun for the whole family!
We’ll bid farewell to 2018 and welcome 2019 at the close of the evening with fireworks atop the parking garage located in the heart of downtown.
Continuing throughout the month are several newsworthy shows and concerts at Old School Square and The Arts Garage. A few that we plan to attend include:
First Friday Bites and Art Walk (Jan 4th)
This happening starts with a stop at The Arts Warehouse, where there will be food trucks and plenty of art to enjoy throughout the warehouse, Artist’s Alley & Pineapple Grove.
The Capitol Steps at Old School Square (Jan 5th)
A Washington-based troupe of Congressional staffers-turned songwriters presents this hilarious night of music and political satire.
The Spring Arts Open House at The Arts Garage (Jan 12)
Be sure to check out this one out! It’s an opportunity to learn about all the Arts Garage workshops, shows/concerts and events planned for the year.
Towards the end of January, we are looking forward to:
The 6th Annual Delray Beach Fashion Week (Jan 23 – Jan 27)
Featuring local fashion designers and retailers – and showcasing private shopping events, trunk shows, and several runway fashion shows along Atlantic Ave & Old School Square – it’s a must in Delray!
There is always so much to do in Delray Beach, our Village by the Sea! These are just a few of the many events to enjoy during the month of January. For additional information or to find other events be sure to visit The Delray Beach Community Calendar online OR stop into The Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce for more details on these and several other happenings.
Delray Beach Holiday Events – 2018!
Welcome to the December Holidays – a month long celebration in Delray Beach! This is just one of countless reasons why we LOVE living, working and playing in Delray – our unique Village by the Sea.
Delray Beach 100-foot Christmas Tree Lighting
Thursday, November 29th
Delray Beach is widely known for the 100 Ft Christmas tree, which is the crown jewel of the entire season! The holidays start with a city-wide celebration of the lighting of the tree – which is impressive, for sure, standing 100 feet tall! And, it actually houses a gorgeous display of vignettes inside.
The tree is positioned on the grounds of Old School Square in the center of downtown, where kids of all ages can enjoy the tree, plus a visit with Santa, ice skating on the skating rink, putt putt golf, or a ride on the antique merry go round! It’s truly enchanting, so we recommend you earmark some serious family time to enjoy it all!
Delray Beach Menorah Lighting
Sunday, December 2nd
The fun continues after the Christmas tree lighting, with the lighting of the Menorah to kick off Hanukkah.
Holiday Market at The Arts Warehouse in Artists Alley, Delray Beach
Weekend of December 7th
Did I mention the shopping events?? Another new “not to miss” this season is the Holiday Market at The Arts Warehouse in Artists Alley, happening the weekend of December 7th! Local artisans will be showcasing one of a kind gifts – great for those hard to buy for on your list.
The Delray Beach Holiday Parade
Saturday, December 8th
After these lighting events, we then look forward to the Holiday Parade, this year taking place on Saturday, December 8th along Atlantic Avenue. You’ll see carolers, elves, ballerinas, nutcrackers, dancing teddy bears, Santa on the fire truck… You name the holiday icon, and they walk, dance or ride along in the parade.
The Boynton & Delray Holiday Boat Parade
Friday, December 14th
Local restaurants and private homes along the intracoastal play host to those of us that really do enjoy celebrating the season with this event. Boat owners go all out and decorate/light up their boats of all shapes and sizes and parade along the water way. What a sight to admire!
Heads up!
Various events, various dates in Delray
Mixed into the month of December are celebrations are all the opportunities to socialize with our neighbors while supporting some our key local non-profits.
Carols by Candlelight Concert, Empty Bowls, Mix & Mingle at The Sandoway House, Christmas at Cason Cottage and new this year is the Jingle Mingle Drum with Food Trucks, Caroling… These are all events to look up, attend, and enjoy!
Delray Beach New Year’ Eve Celebration of First Night
Monday, December 31st
The Grand Finale of the Holiday Festivities is The New Year’ Eve Celebration of First Night. This is a true tradition for many of us! Music out on the Ave… shows, activities for the kiddos… all ending with the spectacular fireworks from the top of the parking deck.
The month of December flies by in Delray Beach, but the memories made during the season last a lifetime!
Delray Reads Brings in “Marley and Me” Author to Village Academy
Last week, Noreen visited Village Academy in Delray, to participate in Delray Reads Day. She was joined by John Grogan, author of Marley & Me, who was the keynote speaker, Janet Meeks, and Rich Pollack. What a great team!
This year’s Delray Reads Day book is Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein.
We are so proud of all of Noreen’s volunteerism. It looks to us like the best reward was the big group hug she was at the center of at the end of the program!
Live Music in East Delray
Did you know that research has actually shown that enjoying live music events is good for you? Yes! There are significant stress-reduction benefits to attending concerts or enjoying live music.
Here in Delray Beach we have so many opportunities to partake, and because maintaining a healthy lifestyle is important to many residents, you’ll find most of us frequent live music venues.
Of course, we all have different favorites. Here are some of mine!
Johnnie Browns on Atlantic Ave is surely among the most popular among locals. Acts play every night of the week. Check out this fun lineup!
Monday: Live Elvis Night! A Popular local Elvis impersonator performs two shows at 7:30 & 9:30.
Tuesday: Hot Rod Show with a Rod Stewart look alike (!) starts at 8:00.
Wednesday: Classic Rock with The Flyers, an energetic trio that plays your favorites starting at 8:00.
Thursday: Thirsty Thursdays features a variety of bands that perform at 8:00 each evening.
Friday & Saturday: Rock n Roll n Ribs. (Yes, really! Enjoy ribs and live music every weekend from 9:00 -1:00AM.
Sunday: Rockin’ Sunday with Shaun Schumann runs from 4:00-7:00.
Other awesome local places to enjoy music, plus food and spirits, include:
Bostons on the Beach (known for Reggae night on Mondays!)
Deck 84
Blue Anchor
3rd & 3rd
Tim Finnegan’s Irish Pub
But why stick to restaurants and pubs only?
Old School Square offers three diverse venues for music. Check out the outdoor pavilion for Free Friday night concerts during season and special performances in and around the area. Indoors you’ll find the Crest Theater and The Field House. Look for special concerts here too.
The Arts Garage offers fantastic opportunities in many genres ranging from Jazz, latin, hip hop, rock & roll, instrumental, classic, opera, and more. There are always exciting performances at this special “bring your own picnic basket” venue.
Downtown Delray Beach offers something for all ages. Comment to let us know your favorite passtimes here. Bonus points if yours support the value of living healthfully!
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