Florida Real Estate Blog

Errol Estates 7:56 AM September 25^th 2008 The front would be played on the Highland and the back on the Lake.

Greg has been sick for a week and today was no different as he was seen hacking and sneezing on the 1^st tee. CW always thinking of the safety of the stable of athletes in the cup race suggested that JR locate some filters to protect all the rest of us. So there we stand on the 1^st tee box. Greg gasping in laughter while JR, Lou (poor attempt) and CW await the beginning of the competition with their painter filters strapped on their faces. JR always one to communicate had printed across the front of each the following.

STAND BACK MANN

Tee shots where struck and balls found many different lies and JR took the lead by 3 over Greg with Lou and Chuck following. 2^nd hole chewed CW up and he was immediately down 10 strokes to the leader. The 3 par again saw JR extend his lead as he was the only one to par. The 4^th saw Chuck, Lou and JR par and Greg fall back another 2 strokes. That’s when the earth shook, I’m sure you all felt it. JR was in a commanding lead and what does he do? He blows the ball OB and goes on to record a 9. These boys can smell blood in the water two zip codes away. Greg immediately cranks it up a notch and shoots 1 over par over the next 3 holes to close on JR and take the lead at the turn. He is up 2 on JR who is up 3 on Lou and CW is 5 back of Lou. It is a fickle game this game of golf.

The 10^th hole today would have a beautiful view looking down into the valley and all drives where struck and play would continue down the fairway. Lou was in a strong position until his 5^th shot was hit twice. Greg extended his lead by 2. The 11^th had Chuck and Lou recording par and Greg giving up two strokes. CW went in to hyper drive and recorded 4 pars in a row. At this point everything has changed from the beginning of the match. We are on the 15^th tee box and Greg leads Lou by 5 with JR and CW tied 1 back of Lou. Lou closes the gap to only 3 and we are looking for a wild ride to the club house with only 3 holes to play. There was a slight delay while Greg hosts a conference call, the other three played on and waited patiently. He was not flustered as he extends his lead back to 5 and the rest is history. That is with the one exception on the 18^th. CW is in 3^rd position 1 shot over JR. We do remember that the last place contestant has the honor of buying the Winners lunch. So one would think that CW would go into protect mode. On to the Tee box and all drives where struck. We will drop the color on Lou and Greg at this time for they are locked into their position.

JR finds himself on the green in 4. CW (remember he has a 1 stroke lead of JR) is lying 100 yards out in 2. He proceeds to hit the 3^rd to the left side of the cart path and asks for a ruling on his ball. JR and Greg confer and agree to a fee drop. This is within 30 yards of the green. He will score today a 9 on this hole. CW will have to confer with his Elders and come up with a new course or some consideration that in future matches he would be exempt from playing the 18^th hole on the Lake course. Yes this is the same hole that he (being in 1^st place with a 1 shot lead) slid all the way back to 4^th in Match 19 on June the 19^th. Always remember the Golf Gods will not be mocked. He who is looking for birdies instead of boggies is due to repeat their past errors. Or as CW likes to say. RECOVERY IS A WONDERFUL THING on to Rock Springs Ridge.

September 18, 2008 2 Pm Sweetwater Country Club

Early in the day the word was out, the club was aerating their greens today. Greg provided everyone with an opportunity to opt out but our cast of characters would have none of it, after all this is day made for the CW. The world may be falling apart around us but these 4 find great joy in the competition. So off we go.

It is a great day yet something seems amiss, yes the Golf Gods will have their hand in this match. Chuck and Greg take the lead coming off the 1^st hole. The 2^nd has such a challenging chute to drive though and it always gets at least one of us. Today it was Lou’s turn and he would fall 6 strokes off the leaders. Leave it to Lou to begin his climb back out on the 4^th hole. The boys traded shots across 4, 5 and 6 (that 3par can really mess with your mind). At the 7^th Tee box CW is in the lead by 3 and striking the ball well, his dreaded putter seems to have found favor today, could it be? Would the Golf Gods be that kind? Oh but we must never forget the 18^th at Errol. Yep that was the one where CW stepped up to the final hole with a substantial lead only slide out of contention due to a much discussed mechanical failure.

7^th found CW long down the middle and his 2^nd shot crossed the fairway and was on an uphill mound about 40 yards out. His 3^rd placed him just on the green with a 48’ putt. Lou is by his side and will putt first and he lags one up close. Then CW drains his put for his first par of the day and then goes out and pars the tough par 3, 8^th to extend his lead to 5.

His drive up the 9^th was strong enough to beat Lou then when you think we have found a chink in his armor as he is 20’ from the hole for a bogie and he makes the putt he would extend his lead to 7 over the field at the turn.

10^th was no different he is long off the tee but he and Lou find themselves in the pine straw with 150 left to the center of the green. Yet he and Greg would make bogie. 11^th saw some of the best drives this group has ever had on this hole with CW past the bunker on the short grass. Lou and JR are not far behind but Lou goes for the gusto and ends up in the water. He did go on to record double bogie and pick up 2 strokes on CW. Lou and JR would cut into Chucks lead with pars on 12 and Lou continued par on 13. CW was still up by 6 and you got the sense that this could be CW’s day. He was driving and putting very well and he continued to carve up the fairways looping shots around trees and over bunkers.

Walking off 15 it became apparent this was a day to fight for 2^nd place. Charlie had no equal today. So the Ice Man (that would be Butt Ice) took dead aim on JR or maybe the reverse is true. Anyway they stroll to the 16^th both knowing it will be a battle over the next three holes. For those of you who have been asking where is Greg in this blog. He is here but not having a great day. We did refer to the Golf Gods earlier, well they where having their way with both Greg and CW today. Leaving the 16^th green Lou and JR are tied. Lou chips his ball in from off the green on 17 to take a one shot lead going to the 18^th. Much was said about the history of the 18^th on Errol Estates but CW was not to be denied. He confidently strolled to the tee box and drove the longest drive down the center of the fairway. Lou and JR where off on the left in the rough. That reminds me, Sweetwater CUT YOUR ROUGH. I do believe in a 1 shot penalty rough but this was ridiculous. When you find your ball and then walk to get your club and cannot find the ball again it is too high.

Lou hit his shot first and it found the water. JR found more rough but was on the green in 3 Lou arrived around 6 (that’s not the hour). So let the record show CW has a win in the first half and already one in the 2^nd half. JR finished 2^nd then Lou and Greg. OBTW Greg did par the last hole. Who says those Golf Gods don’t have a since of humor.

First let me say Time value of money is always a good idea and that is what we have here. This is a true credit but it does not come until the end of the year so you’re not going to the closing table with this money. It does allow you to borrow $7,500 from Mom/Dad and pay them back in the first part of 2009. Just remember it is not free. You will pay it back beginning in year 3 and going until year 15. That is $500 each year. But again Time Value of Money. By the time you’re last two years come around that $1,000 left in 2022 dollars will have the buying power of say $400.

They do have some hurtles. First you must be a first time home buyer or not owned a home in the last 3 years. Next you must purchase a home for greater than $75,000. Your income if single cannot be over $75,000 and this is adjusted up to include any student loans you may have. Or if married $150,000.

Given that Nehemiah and Ameridream are going away at the end of September this is the best game in town unless your income level is such that you can qualify for county funds.

Call us today and we can help you get into your dream home.

This day would find us at Rolling Hills after a long vacation for most of our competitors. Tee time was 7:24 and the players where on the tee box and ready for the day’s compitetion. All that can be said of the first 5 holes was that Lou was in control. From that point to the 9^th he gave back to the field and we made the turn Lou in the lead by 1 over Greg, JR 2 back and CW 4 behind of JR.

The 10^th provided a subtle swing as Lou’s ball was lost and many shots missed their target. After 11 JR is in the lead over Greg by one and then he has to face the 12^th. Interesting hole number as that would be the score that JR would record today on this hole. Have I told you yet that CW was on a cruse? Well he was and he returned with that same dreaded putter. This guy could be leading this cup race if he could only putt the ball past the hole and never ever, ever use his 3 wood off the fairway.

On to the 13^th it is now Lou and Greg by one stoke and they battle across the Mann Turn ( that would be 13, 14 and 15^th) even up. JR found some breathing room from CW but could not close the gap on the leaders. Greg kept leaving the door open on 16 and 17^th but Lou could only match his play. So we arrive on the 18^th Greg up by one. Greg is off the fairway behind trees and Lou is on the short grass. Yet Greg nails a shot through the trees to 140 from the green. They both hit good third shots to on or first cut areas on the green. Lou is first and rolls a long putt that comes up short for the tie. While Greg nails a 35’ put for a two stroke win. He is in control as we progress in the CW cup race. Great round Greg.

We all walk away today with something to learn about our shot selection. Infinity and Beyond.

Property acquisition should begin soon with contacts to the home owners impacted before the end of the year.  Then the County/State will order Appraisals and make offers to purchase the impacted land.  You do have options if the offer seems low you can negotiate but it will require you have some data to support you. 

Mag, Maggie and I are very familure with this area and can support you during this time. As members of our Home Owners Association it would be our pleasure to offer this to our members free of charge. As both our Canadiets for President have said.  Service to the community/country is what we should all consider. 

Tonight the County has provided to all owners that back up to 434 the opportunity to build a wall 6' to 8' tall on the owners land. Not on the land they purchase. This is a good thing in that we would have a common wall that runs the length of our community and it would be built by the Government.  Not sure if all of it will be free at this time based on the type of construction we chose.   Concerns should be that we will maintain it after construction and those homeowners will have to provide 5' of their land for county right of way to build the wall, after that it is all theirs or the Homeowners association.  If the Homeowners association. That opens a whole other can of worms.

The county stated (Brett) that we did not qualify for a Noise reduction wall  (and our Board President does not believe it will be attractive).  I asked Brett to confirm if any other area on the 434 widening project qualified for a noise wall and he said no they did not.  I also stated after giving my name and address to the Board that the Noise wall would be maintained by the county and State where our 6' to 8' wall will be maintained by us even though the wall is not on a common area (could be a problem). As the Board said tonight we must have more input on this issue.  More to come.