tag treasure-coast-real-estate-finance-company

This week we’re continuing our tour of Florida’s Treasure Coast with a look at the city of Stuart. Stuart is an amazing mixture of old and new, with stunning architecture and more than a little history to its name. The House of Refuge at Gilbert’s Bar is the only remaining House of Refuge in the United States, built as one of ten along the east coast of Florida; it’s the oldest structure in Martin County. (Houses of Refuge were created and run by the U.S. Lifesaving Service as havens for shipwrecked sailors along the Florida coastline.)

If you’re getting a nautical feel to this article, that’s not accidental. Stuart is all about the ocean. Beaches abound, fishing is a local obsession, and parasailing and jet skiing are not reserved for the tourists—everyone here spends time on, in, or around the water.

But it’s not just the water that makes people want to live here. Downtown is compact, easy to walk around and locate anything. “It’s a bustling district, but we’re still quaint—nothing is too hectic,” says Patty O’Connell, past president of the Downtown Business Association. “Most of our retail stores and restaurants are locally owned and feature a nice mix of upscale and affordable. It’s not easy to keep a small-town feeling. A great deal of effort has gone into creating guidelines that maintain the character of the historic downtown and waterfront.”

According to Sperling’s Best Places to Live, Stuart’s “landscape consists of a barrier island and coastal plain—topography typical of Florida’s coastal cities. There is extensive agriculture, tropical trees, and vegetation inland. The subtropical coastal climate is pleasant year-round. Summer temperatures are tempered by ocean breezes and by the frequent formation of afternoon cumulus clouds and showers. There is some hurricane risk, but the area is north of the major hurricane tracks.”

What are your real estate options in Stuart? Just about anything you want. Do you picture yourself living in a pastel-colored condo? We’ve got it. How about a waterfront mansion in Sewall’s Point or Sailfish Point, perhaps along Ocean Boulevard? That’s here, too.

And this is a great time to buy in Stuart. Home appreciation has gone up nearly 12% in the last 12 months, and is poised to keep climbing as more and more people choose to transition from second-home owners to making Stuart their primary residence.

At Avrus Financial and Mortgage, we’re always looking for places that you might want to call home. And once you’ve found the right place, we can help you find just the right mortgage, too.

Why not ask us how… today?

 

This week we’re continuing our series on Florida’s beautiful Treasure Coast, named for the loss of Spain’s “treasure fleet” in a hurricane offshore. These days, the Treasure Coast is its own beautiful treasure, and you’ll find exceptional places to live here, none lovelier than a jewel of the coast: Jensen Beach.

The town’s primary industry used to be pineapples—it was once known as the Pineapple Capital of the World—but a series of freezes, blights, and fires (how unlucky can one place be?) brought about the collapse of the industry in 1920. Nothing that bad has happened since, we’re happy to report, and the pineapple is still part of Jensen Beach’s persona; there’s an annual pineapple festival (including the crowning of a Miss Pineapple for the year) and gathers the community as well as visitors into the celebration.

Jensen Beach has the look of a prototypical Old Florida beach town, and retains an unpretentious air. It’s a quiet place, with no colleges (and therefore no college students), and it’s not overwhelmingly large: with a population of 12,730 people and three constituent neighborhoods, Jensen Beach (zip code 34957) is the 184th largest community in Florida. And if you like swimming, then this Treasure Coast town is definitely for you: check out Hutchinson Island, where Sea Turtle Beach and Bathtub Beach await. Imagine being able to hang out there every day—and you could, if you made Jenson Beach your new home.

Jensen Beach has a variety of neighborhoods (Holly Creek, Jensen Park Estates, Nettles Island, Pinecrest Lakes, Royal Oak, and The Landings), so you’re sure to find just the right place for you: it includes neighborhoods for families with children, seniors, and gated communities with services and security. The median listing price in Jensen Beach is $277,000, with the median closing price $207,000, so real estate is affordable. And at Avrus Financial and Mortgage, we can help keep it affordable, by finding you just the right Jensen Beach mortgage with low closing costs and the best interest rates available.

With a plethora of Jensen Beach houses, condos, townhomes, and single-family homes on the market, you’re sure to find the one you’ve been dreaming of owning. But before you call your real estate agent, call us: we can pre-approve your mortgage so that you can explore everything that Jensen Beach properties have to offer—while not going over your budget. Your real estate agent will thank you, and you’ll thank us, because we can help you find just the right financing for your new home.

Why not ask us how… today?

There used to be a gold route from the Americas to Spain, called the Spanish Treasure route, which ferried the wealth of America to the Spanish king’s coffers. He didn’t get the shipment that was sent along in 1715, though: a hurricane sank the ships not far off the coast of Florida, and because of that the coast is known today as the Treasure Coast.

It’s probable that you won’t find any Spanish gold there now—but you might just find your next home, as it’s a beautiful area with more gleaming sand than any other on the East Coast.

But it’s sheltered sand. The whole Treasure Coast is shielded from the Atlantic Ocean by narrow sandbars and barrier islands. They protect the coast’s shallow lagoons, rivers, and bays. And as soon as you’re off the beach, you’ll find abundant pine and palmetto flatlands, as well as lakes and rivers—in particular the Indian River, part of the Indian River Lagoon system.

In the next few weeks we’ll be looking at some of the specific communities on the Treasure Coast and talking about where you might want to live—and how we can help you live there, with just the right Treasure Coast mortgage. But for today let’s just introduce you to the area…

Port St. Lucie, the largest city on the Treasure Coast, is known for its fishing and has been called the “Sailfish Capital of the World.” Stuart has a lovely historic downtown area and is home to the Lyric Theatre, a former silent movie house, where you can hear live music performances. Hobe Sound has an eclectic assortment of shops, boutiques and galleries, as well as one of Florida’s finest nature preserves. Jensen Beach, once known as the Pineapple Capital of the World, now feels like the quintessential Old Florida beach town with a plethora of really great restaurants.

All of these towns have great real estate on offer that includes waterfront, luxury elegant homes, condominiums, golf course community homes, town homes, multi-family dwellings, investment, commercial, rural ranchettes, acreage, lots, and single family residences. There’s truly something here for everyone! And when you decide to settle on Florida’s Treasure Coast, remember that Avrus Financial and Mortgage has been here, already, for decades, helping families just like yours find the home of their dreams in an area that looks a lot like paradise. We’ve helped hundreds of families settle in here, and we can help yours.

Why not ask us how today?