Check Out These Family-Friendly Independence Day Events Happening in North Florida!

Wondering what to do with family & friends this Independence Day? Here is a list of the family-friendly holiday events happening this week in Gainesville and north cental Florida to celebrate the 4th of July.

Event: UF Fanfares and Fireworks
When: Tuesday July 3rd; 6 PM - 10:00 PM
Where: Flavet Field at the University of Florida, 605 Woodlawn Drive, Gainesville FL

Fanfares and Fireworks is the annual Independence Day celebration. Featuring local and regional bands, music, and the traditional fireworks display, the event draws thousands to the University of Florida bandshell. Musical groups confirmed so far include: Bears and Lions,Gainesville Community Band. The fireworks will begin at approximately 9:40 p.m. During the event, LifeSouth Blood Center will conduct a blood drive and concessions will be available for purchase. For safety reasons, no dogs, sparklers or alcohol are allowed at the event. Coolers are allowed, but may be subject to search by the University of Florida Police Department. www.wuft.org/fireworks

Event: Fireworks Extravaganza in Trenton
When: Tuesday July 3rd; 7 PM - 10:30 PM
Where: Pine Grove Baptist Church - 16655 NW CR-339, Trenton, FL, 32693

Free Food, Fireworks, Family Fun, Live Music, dessert trucks, and Water Slides! Bring your towels, swimsuits, lawn chairs & yourselves and come join the fun! Invite your friends, neighbors and community!

Event: Williston Independence Day Celebration
When: Tuesday July 3rd; 5 PM - 10:00 PM
Where: Horseman`s Park, 803 SW 19th Ave., Williston, FL

The event begins with a parade on Noble Ave. at 5:00 p.m. Immediately after the parade we welcome you to Williston Horseman's Park located approximately 2 miles South of Williston on Hwy. 41. Gates to the park open at 6:00 p.m. There is a $2.00 per carload parking donation requested but not required. Once inside the park you will find entertainment all evening long as well as free rides for the children, games and vendors of all kinds including many varied food vendors. The City of Williston sets off the amazing fireworks at dusk. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets. No dogs except service dogs are permitted. Please no alcohol. This is a family event. (352) 528-5552.

Event: City of Alachua 4th of July Celebration
When: Wednesday July 4th; 3 PM - 10:00 PM
Where: Hal Brady Recreation Complex,14300 NW 146 Terrace, Alachua, FL

The City of Alachua will hold its annual Fourth of July Celebration on Wednesday, July 4, 2018 at the Hal Brady Recreation Complex. The event will begin at 3 p.m. and last through 10 p.m., with fireworks at 9:30. Please check back to this website as more information will be posted as it becomes available.

The City of Alachua has dubbed its celebration "The Largest Small Town Fireworks Display in America." The annual event draws more than 30,000 people to Alachua and has great economic impact on businesses in our area. There are dozens of activities for the kids, including bounce houses, rock wall climbing, bungee jumps and water slides. This year kids can also take advantage of the spray park and skateboard park located on site. For the adult audience there are several unique vendors, bingo contests, dancing groups and live musical entertainment to name a few. Without a doubt the event has something for everyone and of course the hottest fireworks around.

Event: Cedar Key Parade and Fireworks
When: Wednesday July 4th; 12 PM and 9:15 PM
Where: Cemetery Point Park, Cedar Key, FL

Golf cart parade at noon, and Fireworks Over the Water between Dock Street and Atsena Otie at 9:15pm!

Event: Hawthorne Family Fun and Fireworks
When: Wednesday July 4th; 5 PM - 10:00 PM
Where: Hawthorne Recreation Park, SE 205th St,, Hawthorne, FL

Join us for Food, Music, Get-Together, Fun, Fireworks, Games, Bounce Houses!

Event: Interlachen 4th of July Celebration
When: Wednesday July 4th; 8 AM - Dark
Where: Various Locations - Interlachhen, FL

Red,White & Boom! This is always a great day with lots & lots of FREE stuff for the kids to do. Fishing tournament, bike race, parade, free games, food, music, face painting, movies and fireworks!

Event:  Keystone Heights "Our Country Day"
When: Wednesday July 4th; 9 AM - 9:30PM
Where: Keystone Heights Beach Park, 550 S Lawrence Blvd, Keystone Heights, FL

Join us behind City Hall from 9am-4pm. Parade begins at 11am. The parade will form at the front of Keystone Heights Elementary School, located on Pecan Street. Keystone Beach from 5:30-9:30. www.ourcountryday.com

Entry into the beach park will require each spectator to must have an armband, no exceptions, and this year armbands will cost $1. Armbands will go to the first 4,000 buyers, the absolute limit to entries to the beach park, so get yours early. Armbands will be sold starting June 1st at My Brand, Healthy Living 4U, Genesis Fitness, and City Hall. You can also purchase them at The Street Dance on June 30th. Armbands will be available July 4th 8 a.m. - 2 p.m. Behind City Hall and 5 p.m. - until fireworks begin at Keystone Beach.

Event: Lake Butler 4th of July Celebration
When: Wednesday July 4th; 7 AM - Dark
Where: Lakeside Park, 155 NW 3rd Street, Lake Butler, FL, 32054

Lake Butler is the place to be this 4th of July! The Lake Butler Rotary Club is sponsoring the event, and the plans are in motion for a great celebration this Independence Day! (386) 496-3401.

Events of the Day:

• 3:30am - Big Bass Fishing Tournament
• 7:00am - One Mile Family Fun Run
• 8:00am - 5K Run (register at Lake Ave & 3rd Street, the Loop)
• 9:00am - Noon - Antique Car Show

Throughout the day you can check out the various vendors offering food, crafts, and much, much more! There will be a Live DJ, karaoke and more, a fun day for the whole family!! Ending the day at dusk will be a Fireworks Spectacular!!!

Event: Lake City 4th of July Celebration
When: Wednesday July 4th; 5 PM - Dark
Where: Columbia County Fairgrounds, 438 State Rd 247, Lake City, FL

Lake City hosts their Annual 4th of July Celebration annually on July 4th. In 2012 the event was moved from downtown Lake City to the Columbia County Fairgrounds and we have had a record crowd ever since! We found our attendees had more room to spread out and enjoy the show, there is more parking, children were able to run around and play, vendors were selling out of food, the police and fire departments felt the event was safer than in the past and it allowed for thousands of more people to come and experience North Florida’s best firework display! This is an event that you do not want to miss!

Event: Lake Santa Fe Boat Parade
When: Wednesday July 4th; 11 AM
Where: Lake Santa Fe Park, Northeast State Road 26, Melrose, FL

A long-standing tradition on Lake Santa Fe is the annual 4th of July Boat Parade. Typically the circumnavigation begins at 11 am. Boats gather at the entrance to the Lake Santa Fe Boat Ramp, Alachua County, at the south end of Big Lake Santa Fe. The circumnavigation goes counter-clockwise along the shore of both lakes. Anyone interested can simply decorate your vessel and come along. Docks provide a great place for viewing.Or when the red, white and blue boats motor by, feel free to jump in your own vessel and join the parade!

Event: Micanopy July 4th Celebration
When: Wednesday July 4th; 11 AM - Fireworks at Dusk
Where: 702 W. Third Avenue, Micanopy, FL

The Town of Micanopy is planning a day-long celebration of Independence Day on July 4th, as it has done for over a quarter of a century. The day will begin with our annual parade at 11:00 am ; then onto the Ballpark for music, food, and fun, including a bounce house free for children starting at 5:30 pm; and culminating with the Annual Fire Works display at dusk. Bring blankets, chairs and bug repellent. Concession Stand will be open.

Event:  Town of Bronson Fireworks
When: Wednesday July 4th; 5:30 PM
Where: James H Cobb Park, Bronson, FL

The Town of Bronson will be hosting a fireworks display at dark. Food vendors will be on hand selling delicious treats. Bronson Fire Rescue Station 70 will be lighting the sky with a beautiful Fireworks display as the sky darkens.

Home buyers and home sellers have different responsibilities, but they share one common task crucial for preparing properties to leave or enter the market: decluttering. Both buying and selling a home usually involve moving out of an old place and into a new one. Decluttering makes packing and relocating easier by stripping the house down to the essential items and giving owners a close estimate of how much space they will need in their new home. These tips from Gainesville real estate agents can help make decluttering seem less daunting.

Limit What You Bring Home

The months before a move are the time to become more selective than ever with things being brought into the house. Before making a purchase, question whether you want the item because of a true necessity or mainly its aesthetic or sale price. Don’t buy anything you don’t need immediately, especially if you are looking for a home for sale in Gainesville, FL, and don’t know how much storage space it will have. Similarly, don’t accept promotional items and miscellaneous trinkets given out at events if you don’t want them. Give them to someone else instead of taking them home and letting junk piles grow. Resist the temptation of buying extra storage products (such as shelves and containers) to help with organization, as it signifies you’re not doing a good job at letting things go.

Create Systems for Decluttering

The easiest way to declutter without stress is to start early and make it a habit. Come up with a system to remind yourself to purge regularly. For example, for every item you bring home, take one or two out. Or, use the calendar to keep track of your wardrobe. If a piece of clothing useful only during a portion of the year makes it through the season unworn, remove it from your closet. Keep a box or bag for donations nearby, add to it throughout the year, and take it to a charity or consignment store when it fills up.

Sort Your Belongings

Empty every closet, drawer and cabinet in the house, one by one. Classify all your belongings into three piles: keep, toss and donate. Throw away anything that cannot be repaired or that you haven’t touched in a year. If you forgot you owned it, you probably don’t need it. Consider selling or donating items that still work but you don’t use anymore. This could be clothing that you no longer like or fit into and any other item or device of which you have more than one model and only use the newest one, such as electronics. Profits from sales and the joy of helping somebody in need without asking for anything in return are great incentives to get rid of stuff. The sooner you eliminate clutter, the sooner you can add the property to the list of Gainesville, FL, homes for sale.

Identify the Irreplaceable

Limiting the amount of items you put sentimental value on can help make ridding your house of things you don’t use significantly easier. That said, don’t stress thinking you have to throw everything away. Most clutter is a collection of things that can be replaced. So, identify the things you couldn’t find anywhere else, such as photos, letters and family heirlooms, and store them safely in a labeled box. After that, you can decide what else you can afford to keep depending on available space.

Work With Gainesville Real Estate Agents

If you have checked decluttering off your to-do list and are ready to take the next step in the real estate market, Rabell Realty Group is here to help! Our Gainesville real estate agents have years of experience working as the bridge between sellers and buyers. We help sellers list their homes for sale in Gainesville and assist buyers by showing them properties that match their needs and budgets. Call us today for a consultation!

Simple Plumbing Fixes For Gainesville Homeowners

When plumbing systems fail, homeowners often find themselves overwhelmed paying for costly repairs. Severe plumbing system issues should be left to the professionals, but there are a number of simple fixes homeowners can easily accomplish on their own. Whether you’re a first-time homeowner, long-time homeowner or you’re considering buying a home in Gainesville, FL, there are plumbing solutions every homeowner should know. Rabell Realty Group offers six basic plumbing tips that can help.

Flipping Houses Is Back — With A Catch

Flipping homes was all the rage about a decade ago. The trend, by definition, is when someone buys a fixer-upper property, repairs it enough to make it habitable again, and quickly sells it to a new buyer, usually twice within a calendar year. But when the housing bubble burst in 2008, flipping came to a halt. Today the trend of flipping is back — with a catch.

The downside to house flipping is that buyers with an average budget are finding fewer homes with average prices. This shortage has made condominiums, or condos, one of the best places to invest in real estate.

Turn & Burn Condos

Condos often appear to be an easy investment opportunity for a property investor. Yet, as a long-term venture, condos rarely bring the type of return an investor wants. Here are three reasons why flipping a condo will likely provide a better return on investment than holding it for an extended time.

Condo Association Fees

Usually, the largest fees home investors in Gainesville are responsible for are annual property taxes and homeowners insurance. But if you own a condo, the monthly association fees alone may range from several hundred to several thousand dollars. These fees also require a significantly larger down payment. In other words, condo fees alone can easily reduce your ability to invest in other properties because they rarely go down from year to year.

Special Assessments

Special assessments, such as the installation of energy-efficient windows or HVAC units, can improve the condo. However, while the renter enjoys the lower utility bills, the owner — in this case, investor — is responsible for paying for the improvements. A special assessment, depending on the amount of money needed, can offset any returns for a year or more.

Supply & Demand

As any growing city, Gainesville’s housing demand depends on many factors, such as major employers moving in or out of it. Even though there’s always demand for rental housing from students at Santa Fe College and the University of Florida, demand for specific properties fluctuates depending on other rental options available. A realtor with Rabell Realty Group can help you look at supply and demand trends before buying an investment property.

Help for Home Investors In Gainesville

If you’re wondering how to invest in property, there’s a lot to learn and do. One of the biggest steps is finding a property, such as a condo, that suits your budget and goals. The team at Rabell Realty Group understands the ins and outs of the Gainesville real estate market and can help you find a condo perfect for flipping. Call us today!

Receive the Latest Local Market Stats

Curious about local real estate? So are we! Every month we review trends in our real estate market and consider the number of homes on the market in each price tier, the amount of time particular homes have been listed for sale, specific neighborhood trends, the median price and square footage of each home sold and so much more. We’d love to invite you to do the same!

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You can sign up here to receive your own market report, delivered as often as you like! It contains current information on pending, active and just sold properties so you can see actual homes in your neighborhood. You can review your area on a larger scale, as well, by refining your search to include properties across the city or county. As you notice price and size trends, please contact us for clarification or to have any questions answered.

We can definitely fill you in on details that are not listed on the report and help you determine the best home for you. If you are wondering if now is the time to sell, please try out our INSTANT home value tool. You’ll get an estimate on the value of your property in today’s market. Either way, we hope to hear from you soon as you get to know our neighborhoods and local real estate market better.