For Immediate Release
Aug. 6, 2008
Contact: Melanie Green, Communications Director
MGreen@NEFAR.org
(904) 394-9494, ext. 1204
(904) 398-8025 Fifth Annual Home Buyers Expo Draws 2,000+ Consumers
Popular annual event presented by the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors and The Florida Times-Union
JACKSONVILLE, FL - More than 2,000 consumers from throughout Northeast Florida took advantage of the free seminars presented at the July 19 Fifth Annual Home Buyers Expo at the University of North Florida. Produced by the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors and The Florida Times-Union, the event featured 30 seminars relating to all aspects of the home buying, selling and homeownership process, along with a trade Expo with helpful information and giveaways for attendees.
This year's Expo was expanded to provide new sessions geared toward sellers, including the extremely popular "Staging Your Home to Sell." Another hot topic was "Is a Short Sale Right for You?" which targeted those facing issues with their mortgages and trying to avoid foreclosure. Seniors and their caregivers found the reverse mortgage seminar particularly helpful. Another popular seminar was "The Truth About Northeast Florida's Real Estate Climate: Put Your Money Where Your Life Is," which provided a realistic look at what's happening in today's marketplace, backed by expert analysis.
"We got incredibly positive feedback from the consumers who attended the event, indicating that the roster of seminars was expansive and extremely helpful," said NEFAR Communications Director Melanie Green. "The public really finds great value in getting good, solid real estate information from area experts - for free and with no sales pressure."
Event speakers included Rick Holmes, CTX Mortgage Company; Susan Harnage, City of Jacksonville, Housing and Neighborhoods Dept.; Barbara Britton, Housing Partnership of Northeast Florida; Bob Wagner, Florida HomePro; Ernie Dukes, Omni Title Services; Jeff Marks, Ryan & Marks, Attorneys; John McKeown, Community First Credit Union; Jim Overton and Dana Clark, Duval County Property Appraisers office; Shannon Rachal, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage; Robert Fleischmann, SunTrust Mortgage; Roxanne Starbuck and Leslie G. Summers, J.P. Perry Insurance; Wally Conway, Florida HomePro; Denise Balthis, Redesign to Sell; Shelby Weikel, The Browning Agency of Ponte Vedra; Mike Williams, Pillar to Post Professional Home Inspections; Stephen DuVal, DuVal Fields Consulting, LLC; David Reed, JEA; George Johnson, Duval County Emergency Management Dept.; Marshall Gallop, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage; Ulrich Leinhase, Maximum Success, Inc.; and Millie Kanyar, Watson Realty Corp.
Presenting sponsors for the event were News/Talk Radio WOKV, AM 690 and 106.5 FM, and WJXT, Channel 4.
The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors (NEFAR) is headquartered in Jacksonville with satellite service centers in Orange Park, Jacksonville Beach and Palatka. NEFAR is the largest trade association in northeast Florida, serving more than 6,500 Realtor and affiliate/business partner members in Duval, Clay, Putnam and St. Johns counties.
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