If you live along a coastal area, hurricanes are a fact of life. Despite their inevitability, the worst thing you can do is nothing at all.

Preparing in advance for the potential damage and risks will help you cope when emergency strikes. Here are some great tips to ensure you are ready for any eventuality: 

Plan your escape route

In the event of an evacuation, you may have to act quickly. storm surges in a hurricane can create a significant rise in water level that can affect coastlines for hundreds of miles around the storm zone. Don’t wait until the last minute, as panic may overtake common sense in an emergency. 

Have pets? Plan ahead!

Have a plan for your pets in the event that you have to evacuate. Many shelters have accommodation

National real estate sales data collected from 2014 - 2017 can predict the best time to sell in Boca Raton. The data compares the average national home sales price each year to the average home sales prices per month, and national home selling time to the average speed of home sales per month.

Based on this research, if you time your home sale correctly, you could make more money on the sale or sell the home faster than you could if you sold it at any other time of year.   

When to Sell in Boca Raton to Make the Most Money

Over the timespan of 2014 - 2017, June was the best time to close on your home sale in Boca Raton. Home sales that closed in June sold for 9.47% higher than the average home selling price for the year. This information suggests

Overlooking Lake Boca from Mizner Grand condominium's coveted center stack, this modern masterpiece creates the feel of a luxury estate home with the services of a five-star resort.  Commanding majestic views of the bright blue waters, this 5th floor residence offers both east and west facing balconies which look onto Lake Boca, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Boca Resort's golf course.  Tastefully designed, this spacious residence totals 4,878 square feet with three bedrooms, four full and one-half bath, a state-of-the-art home theater with commercial-quality Bang and Olufsen surround sound, and two parking spaces.

Mizner Grand condominium's double gate-manned entry leads to a Porte Cochere where you will be greeted by the valet who escorts

Top Predictions for the Real Estate Market in 2018

Compass goes public, economy soars, Congress pivots on homeownership tax benefits and more

As we approach the end of yet another year, one of the biggest questions on most everyone's minds, especially those of us in the real estate industry, is "what is going to happen next year?"  Brad Inman of Inman.com recently reviewed his past predictions about the real estate market, some of which came true and some not. Two years ago as we approached the year 2016, Brad Inman predicted that Donald Trump would be elected President of the United States.  That obviously came true.  Last year, Inman predicted that Zillow would expand overseas in 2017 and NAR would choose a woman CEO; didn't happen. 

Inman

Hotels, condos, retails shops and more are coming to Delray Beach’s walkable neighborhood, SofA (South of Atlantic Avenue). 

The 236 Fifth Avenue, a 35-unit luxury condominium and the Aloft Hotel, a 122-room tech-minded hotel, 5,000 square feet of first-floor retail boutiques and structured parking are rising and occupancy for 235 Fifth Avenue will begin in 2018.

Condos at 236 Fifth Avenue are on sale now. Prices start at $500,000 and range over $1,000,000. Positioned on the second, third and fourth floors, the pet-friendly residences will vary from one-bedroom to three-bedroom condos with sizable balconies and private parking with additional guest spaces.

The contemporary-style building is adjacent to the Aloft Hotel and the residences will

Delray Beach officials, as well as residents, have long voiced concerns about the prevalence of sober homes in city neighborhoods.

Sober homes provide safe homes for individuals in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction as they prepare to re-enter society after rehab or incarceration. Since these individuals are protected under federal law, the City of Delray Beach has been largely unsuccessful in its attempts to curb the rise of more such homes and has continued to lobby the feds in favor of an equitable solution. 

Proposed change limits number of sober homes in a given area

Currently, the city is proposing a new regulation that would not only limit the number of sober group homes in an area but would also require these homes to be

A mixed use development that would provide downtown Delray Beach with:

• Two and three bedroom apartments
• High-end retail boutiques
• 60 ft. wide public, landscaped courtyard with outdoor eating restaurants
• Class-A Office space
• A 120-room hotel
• Residential- Inns with amenities for extended stays
• A 400-space underground parking facility and Valet drop-off parking service
• Eight (8) historic structures are being fully renovated & incorporated into the
• project, including the Cathcart House and The Rectory on Swinton
• An attractive pedestrian streetscape along Swinton Avenue with water features and landscape areas
• 60’ wide public pedestrian walkway to Atlantic Avenue

How would the Swinton Commons project benefit the

Downtown Delray Beach's famed Sopra Center on Atlantic Avenue

110 East Atlantic, formally known as the Sopra Center, has received building permits and construction has started. The Richard Jones designed adaptive re-use project will transform the 4-story,  1950’s era, steel frame building into a Modern Class-A office and mixed-use destination.

The building upgrades include enhanced below grade parking, new elevators, windows  and a complete façade redesign.

There will be new retail space facing Atlantic Avenue and the new Class-A offices on the upper floors will now enter from a new west facing lobby. The building, defined by a unique exterior level raised plinth, will have it extended  south down SE 1st Avenue as well. Current tenant Rocco’s

A deal that would allow the construction of a $200 million mixed-use project downtown on Atlantic Avenue is moving closer after more than a decade of planning and approvals.

Atlantic Crossing, a 9-acre project featuring apartments, offices, restaurants and shops, would be located beside Veterans Park along the Intracoastal Waterway. It’s the city’s largest proposed development in terms of square footage at the moment, said city commissioner Mitch Katz.

“It’s important because it’s prime real estate on Atlantic Avenue that needs to be be developed,” he said. “I just want to see this move forward.”

Signing the agreement would end a lawsuit the developer filed in 2015 over delays, and eliminate the risk of the city paying an estimated $40 million in

Phase I of the three phase $25 Million Club Improvement Plan is complete and included the renovation and redesign of the 18-hole Olde course and practice facilities by golf course designer, Tom Fazio II, along with substantial improvements to the ballroom and ladies' card room.

Fazio's design for the new Fazio II Course features stunning and strategic bunkering, dramatic change in the visual appearance, new landscaping, new bulkheads and lake banks, new drainage and irrigation foundations, new greens, tees, bunkers and cart paths, installation of Bermuda Turf, and most importantly, improving the playability at all skill levels for members and guests.

Improvements to the practice facilities included an added water feature, a larger and centrally