Martha Stewart is coming to celebrate the upcoming opening of Deer Creek at Hunters Ridge her newest KB Home community in Ormond Beach FL. You could be one of the 150 guests at her private block party on Sept. 14th!Hurry out to any of the KB Home communities by September 9th and complete an entry or email your Name, Address and Phone # to janis@TeamGagliardi.com and we will submit your entry!!Winners will be drawn and notified on September 10th and you could be one of the lucky ticket holders! Martha wants you to be her guest.WinnersGet to see Martha Stewart!Get a sneak peek of the all-new Deer Creek community!Tour the model homes decorated by Martha and her designers!Enjoy delicious food and refreshments!Win Martha prizes!Join the interest list to be one of the first to own at Deer Cre... 09/02/2007

Ormond Beach Real Estate & Community Events. By Lisa C. Hill, "THE SMART CHOICE!" I’ve recently written several blogs about different things to do around the Daytona Beach area. Ormond Beach is included as part of the Daytona Beach area. In Daytona Beach, so far we've discussed the Daytona Beach Flea Market, which is now listed as one of America's Top 5 Flea Markets, Driving on Daytona Beach, baseball games at Jackie Robinson Ball Park and the Daytona Cubs, Seaside Music Theater, and several other suggestions. As I was about to write this Ormond Beach post, I decided to include some personal memories from growing up in this area. I lived all but 4 years of my life in the Daytona Beach area. One of the places my family frequented the most was Tomoka State Park, in Ormond Beach. My broth... 08/20/2007

KB Homes, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders in the nation has partnered with Martha Stewart. They have partnered with Martha Stewart in designing a line of houses with her name on homes that KB builds and markets! Ormond Beach residents are excited about the new community at Deer Creek in Hunter’s Ridge. The community will include 48 three to six bedroom homes and 3 models ranging from 2532 square feet to 3794 square feet! Martha’s special touches include wainscoting, picture fram molding, open shelving and recessed lighting! Rose lovers can enjoy her signature Rose Garden which will be a feature of every Martha Stewart Community! Thinking of living in a first class neighborhood in OrmondBeach? Contact Marty or Janis for details regarding the Intents List for Deer Creek at Hunter... 08/20/2007

THE Ormond Beach Real Estate & Community Event Blog. By Lisa C. Hill, "THE SMART CHOICE!" Here's another interesting historical fact about the Daytona Beach area. Located in Ormond Beach, just 10 minutes north of Daytona Beach, is the former winter home of John D. Rockefeller.This home named The Casements, for the many casement windows that adorn the building, was built in 1910 and purchased by John D. Rockefeller in 1918. Mr. Rockefeller also died in the home in May of 1937. The family sold it in 1939.  This beautiful piece of history is on the National Register of Historic Places and now serves as a cultural center for Ormond Beach with creative experiences for all ages, including classes, exhibits, events, gift shop and meeting spaces. You can also take a guided tour and see John D.... 08/17/2007

Marketing a home for sellers was once exciting! I now celebrate a showing! Where are the buyers? Waiting for the best deals? Well, buyers there are some excellent buys available and the smart money people are out making offers. Jump in the market. Ask an agent to assist you! You will be happy you did! 08/08/2007

 The current property tax situation in the state of Florida has to be fixed now.  With a reduction in property taxes it will open our real estate market back up and improve our economy.  Our legislatures are in special session this week trying to fix our broken property tax system.  Email your legislatures now and encourage significant reduction in our taxes for this tax year.What a carnival it has been.  The state government is saying that city governments must reduce their budgets and cap spending.  The city governments are saying that if they reduce their budgets they will have to eliminate thousands of jobs.  Aren't there already tens of thousands of jobs affected and loss of income due to the real estate market being down?  Real estate affects the whole state's economy from the Rea... 06/14/2007

With all the talk that our local schools aren't making the grades, I have to challenge that.  My daughter just had a bonus word for her spelling test, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.  She is in first grade!  There aren't too many people that can say it let alone spell it.  I have to tell you that she spelled it correctly.  I think that kids today are expected to do so much more.  As technology advances, so do their expectations.  We are able to do so much more in less time with technology.  Children start using computers in school in pre-school sometimes.  I didn't learn how to use a computer until I was in high school.  Children are so much smarter and exposed to so much more than we were in the past.  There was just an article this week in the News Journal stating that our scores ... 06/11/2007

I was shocked to hear that Florida is second in the nation for tech jobs.  You wouldn't think of Florida as a state with such a large high tech job market.  Why aren't we attracting more of these employers to our area?  We need to draw more business to the area to build our local economy and provide higher paying jobs in the area.  The rapid appreciation of real estate in the area has pushed home prices up into the middle to upper-middle income ranges.  We need to bring jobs to the area to support those prices.Take a look at these stats. "On a state-by-state basis, Cyberstates 2007 shows that tech employment gains occurred in 40 cyberstates in 2005, the most recent data available.  The last year that so many states saw this much tech job growth was in 2000.  While it is no surprise that... 06/11/2007

Governor Christ signed the state's $71.5 billion state budget but.....he vetoed almost $460 million.  He is making a statement by making our government live within out means.  I know that there are some local projects that weren't approved but there were also a great number of projects that were approved.  He approved a $1.2 billion increase in the day to day spending of public schools.  Read more of this News Journal article.There was a great concern with the local property tax issues that there would be cutbacks in the school system.  I have two children in school and the last thing I want cut are programs in our school system.  Children are our future and we need to provide all of the resources we can.  It is good to see that they are trying to stay away from school cutbacks.I have b... 06/11/2007

Did you think we were on vacation from our St. Jude Fund Raising? Nope! We've already begun meetings for next years events! We need more sponsors and more ideas. We won't get that by taking time off. We did run into a snag with one vendor and had to wait to get our money back from the vendor before signing the official check to St. Jude. This is why it has taken so long for me to bring the official total to you.Before I tell you just how much the check was that we sent in to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital from our events, please, take a moment to watch this video by Kayla LoCicero. Kayla is only 19 years old by the way. If this doesn't give you chills, nothing will.Halls Of St. JudeThe following is what my father and I came up with for our local papers and biker maganzines:  (I a... 06/10/2007

Investors! Furnished studio condo. Great for investment or weekend getaways. Sleeps up to 4 with a pull down Murphy bed plus a lazy boy sleeper sofa. Remodeled in December of 2004 with ceramic tile, new kitchen and updated bath. Cozy complex on Ormond Beach. Covered parking, laundry facility and heated pool. On site management available. $99,900.See virtual tour: http://visualtour.com/inventory.asp?u=68416   05/18/2007

IMPRESSIVE ! 5 BEDROOM 3 1/2 BATH BRICK HOME WITH SPARKLING HEATED POOL / WATERFALL JACUZZI! THIS ELEGANT HOME IS IN IMMACULATE CONDITION! BEAUTIFUL STONE FIREPLACE, 2 MASTER SUITES, CALIFORNIA CLOSETS, GORGEOUS OAK FLOORS, ON CUL-DE-SAC. WALK OR BICYCLE TO 150 ACRE PARK TO PLAY TENNIS, BASKETBALL, FISH AND PLAYGROUND. TOO MANY EXTRAS TO LIST.Virtual tour:  http://visualtour.com/show.asp?T=969037   05/18/2007

Ok, I know you've been waiting for part 2 for days now. I'm sorry it took me this long to get it out to you but I had out of town guests this weekend! No, really, I did! Here is the link to Part 1 Bikes & Blues With Mickey Jones, The Bike Run for St Jude Hospital just in case you missed it. I told you about everything before the ride. I couldn't take very good photo's during the ride, holding a camera steady on the back of a 1982 Harley Davidson Shovel Head is next to impossible, I did get this shot off of our police escort  though.. Kind of... Our parade route took us over the Granada bridge to A1A along the ocean. Last year I rode with a friends husband on a Yamaha or Kawasaki and the passenger seat sits higher so I was able to shoot photos easier. Here is the photo I took last year o... 04/24/2007

You've waited a long time for this one haven't you? You want to know how many bikes were on the ride, how much money did we raise, how did everything go?                                                                        It was a beautiful day, no threat of rain, nice and warm, perfect for our Bike Parade. I took over 360 photos this day, but I couldn't manage a good shot from the back of our 82 Shovel-head, of the actual ride.. HOWEVER! I did hook up with a photography club and they were placed thru-out the parade route with still and video cameras, when I get some of their photos I will share them with you. It was also a beautiful day to be in the air. WHAT? THE AIR? As In The Sky?? Yes! We had Air Support, 1 helicopter following us with a camera, AND! Three squads of 4 old airpla... 04/20/2007

  Recently I recieved a builders brochure of a new community that was being built off of Hand Ave in Ormond Beach, Florida.  The brochure was beautiful, the words and format of the brochure did not match the calibre of ugly exteriors.  In todays Florida Market were new housing sales are at an all time low you would think that in these large builder organizations would have at least one person with a pair of eyes that could see what is beautiful and what is not.  As a residential designer I had the mind set that everything I produced should be good for at least 300 years.  I wanted everything I designed to be beautiful and if I saw a mistake or something that could be improved I would work double and triple time to make it happen. In big architectural firms that produce beauty like Mckim... 04/13/2007

Well Friends the Big Weekend is almost here! Bikes and Blues with Mickey Jones on Saturday and The Mickey Jones Golf Classic on Sunday. Both will benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis TN. Mickey arrived Tuesday evening and joined our committee for our final meeting at Cancun Lagoon. He told us that he liked how we've banded together for a commen cause, fighting childhood cancer. Last night I met Mickey at the Iron Horse Saloon where he sat with the regulars joking around, telling stories and playing horseshoes. I believe he and his partner won 2 out of 3 games. I think we both had a great time. Tomorrow our day is to begin at 9am Eastern with a radio interview that you all can listen to right here on the computer! Mickey will be on the air with DJ's Tracy Dillon and F... 04/12/2007

We only have 9 days to go until our Bike Event and 10 until the Golf Event. I can't believe how the time is flying. All of sudden things are happening very fast.On Monday April 9thMayor Fred Costello of Ormond Beach, FL, is going to officially proclaim April 14th and 15th St. Jude Days. To quote a paragraph from the official letter that will be going out;"I, Fred Costello, Mayor of the City of Ormond Beach, Florida, do hereby proclaim April 14-15, 2007, as the time to support the efforts of Rock On Productions, Bikes and Blues with Mickey Jones, and the Mickey Jones Celebrity Golf Classic forST. JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITALIn the city of Ormond Beach and urge all citizens to join with me in support of these events and their efforts to ensure a huge success for a very worthy cause."... 04/05/2007

Isn't it funny how things turn out sometimes? I've been posting about the events I am working on for St. Jude, but I haven't told you anything from behind the scenes. The funny thing about all this is I didn't realize how Real Estate oriented our events have become. One of our committee members, Marvin Miller owns and operates his own Real Estate office, Miller Real Estate And Associates. Now, just last week, Marvin came through with a sponsorship check for The Mickey Jones Celebrity Golf Classic from Bray & Gillespie, who in 2004 formed Ocean Waters Development LLC to specialize in special renovation projects and or condo/hotel development projects along the Daytona Beach coastline. Another Real Estate related company!                     Lets top this off with the fact that I've recru... 03/15/2007

SAVE THE DATEAPRIL 14th 2007!Bikes and Blues With Mickey Jones in 2007 promises to be a great time for all! Come on and join us for a nice ride, some good food, good music and good friends. I promise that you will not leave disappointed! There is no better feeling in the world then being in the middle of a gathering like this. We're not talking a poker run here, this is a non stop~escorted ride, so matter where you are in the "parade of bikes" it is the most awesome feeling when you look in front of you or your rear view mirror and all you see are bikes or headlights and know each of you is helping a child fight the battle of their life by doing something YOU love to do.Our ride begins at the Iron Horse on US 1 in Ormond Beach.... 03/09/2007

This isn't my listing, but it is a great price for this home. It is just six houses from the beach with a screened enclosed pool, spilt plan, kitchen and baths could use some updating, but they are in very usable condition. The price was just lowered to $279,000, this really is a great price for the location of this 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage home. It is on a very nice street with a beach approach. If you are interested in this home please give me call 383-235-3385 or email me at djdcentury21@aol.com. 02/09/2007