The Vince Carter Team Real Estate Blog: February 2010

Each year in Louisville, the American Heart Association plans a gala, the Crystal Heart Gala, in hopes of raising thousands of dollars to fight Heart disease in America.  This year's gala tomorrow night is sure to set new records in dollars donated, a hopeful step toward curing heart disease.

The American Heart Association is a national voluntary health agency to help reduce disability and death from cardiovascular diseases and stroke. At each Crystal Heart Gala, survivors or surviving family members of heart disease share their stories in hopes of inspiring others to become a part of the solution to this terrible epidemic in America. This year's gala features the story of a nine-year-old girl who was born with a congenital heart defect, the number-one killer of babies in their first year of life. In fact, heart disease is second only to accidents as the number-one killer of kids under age fifteen-a sobering statistic.

So in hopes of changing these numbers, the American Heart Association is funding research-over $1.3 million in research at the University of Louisville, and over $3 million at the University of Kentucky.  Donation events such as the Crystal Heart Gala help make the research to fight and cure heart disease possible.

This year's Crystal Heart Gala features a full night's line up of entertainment, drinks, dinner, and auctioning to serve its donors well. Cocktails begin at 6p.m. and include the Maker's Mark, Brown-Forman, and Jim Beam specialty bourbon bars, followed by dinner at 8p.m. After dinner, dancing begins with the Endless Summer Band leading the way.

Aside from the food and entertainment, the American Heart Association's Crystal Heart Gala features an incredible array of auction items. The live auction includes a vacation in Maui,  a pearl necklace from Seng Jewelers worth $5,000, a Ladies' Day in Chicago to see Oprah, and boxing gloves signed by Muhammad Ali, among other items. The bid board auction boasts a package worth $26,800 from Persimmon Ridge Golf Course, and a family vacation to Orlando Florida in addition to a few other great packages. And finally, the silent auction offers over fifty items and packages. These items are a fantastic way to enjoy the night, take something home, and still make an impact to fight heart disease in America.

Attending the American Heart Association's Crystal Heart Gala is not the only way to make a difference. You can log-on today to make a donation to the AHA, or donate specifically to the Open Your Heart  appeal that will happen at the gala by logging on to http://www.heart.org/louisvillekyheartball, clicking the Open Your Heart tab, and making a gift online.

Louisville residents are some of the most generous and caring people in the country. To find your dream home and become a part of the community that serves others and fights for positive changes in this country, contact The Vince Carter Team.

2010 Welcome Home Funds

ATTENTION ALL BUYERS:

I wanted to share some of the important details with you about the 2010 Welcome Home Funds that are available starting March 1, 2009. 

• Up to $5000 grant, there is no monthly payment required, the grant however is a deed restriction and is forgivable over a 5 year period.  Borrowers are encouraged to use all of the $5000
• The borrower must contribute $500 to the deal by NO means can the borrower get cash back, unless they are disabled
• There are household income guidelines for 1 to 2 person household in Jefferson county maximum income is $49,200 and for a 3+ person household max income is $56,580.  These are the 2009 limits, should they change for 2010 Welcome Home limits will change to match 2010 figures
• This grant can be for any borrower that fits the income guidelines they DO NOT have to be a first time homebuyers
• First time home buyers must complete a homebuyers counseling program
• It WILL take 4 to 6 weeks to be approved for the funds, we can not close until the funds have been approved!!

Call us for more details at 502-554-9514.  Tell all your friends, as they may qualify too!

Vincenzo's Restaurant  on Fifth Street offers fine Italian Louisville dining for all types of formal affairs. The restaurant began with two men, Vincenzo Gabriele and Agostino Gabriele, brothers from Italy, who had a passion for cooking. These brothers desired to see "a place of hospitality where [their] friends, old and new, [could] come to enjoy a truly special evening." http://www.vincenzositalianrestaurant.com/pages/about.php

This desire quickly came to fruition as the brothers assembled a highly skilled kitchen and dining room staff to run Vincenzo's Italian Restaurant each day. The restaurant offers a unique menu that reflects the European heritage shared by the brothers in addition to a lighter, specially designed Eurospa menu to cater to guests desiring a "lighter fare." The menu includes appetizers, soups & salads, light cold entrees, sandwiches, entrees, and a dinner entrée menu unlike any other. Dinners range in price from $10 to $40, and there is also $75 dinner available that allows patrons to enjoy a five-course dinner prepared by Chef Agostino himself. This price includes champagne as well as dessert-well worth it to dine on such gourmet Italian food in Louisville.

The chefs at Vincenzo's Italian Restaurant want patrons to feel at home. For this reason, they even share some of their recipe secrets on their website. Guests are invited to email questions to the chefs and to try out a couple of favorites by reading Vincenzo's Italian Restaurant's  online blog. http://www.vincenzositalianrestaurant.com/pages/chef.php

In addition to offering fine Italian dining in Louisville, Vincenzo's Restaurant  also is available to cater formal events. Their Italian catering menu includes dinner catering, a dinner buffet, a lunch buffet, and hor d'oeuvres. Those who desire high quality dining choose Vincenzo's Restaurant  to cater their events.

Vincenzo's Italian Restaurant has earned its share of accolades, including the honor of hosting a number of celebrities as well as winning the Best of Louisville Award.  This restaurant cannot be beat.

Restaurants like Vincenzo's provide a place for Louisville residents to unwind and relax in style. For more information on why Louisville residents have it made, please contact The Vince Carter Team.

*Vincenzo's Restaurant is available for reservations M-F 11:30am-2pm and 5-10pm and on Saturdays from 5-11pm.

Crescent Hill, a Louisville neighborhood, has truly stood the test of time. According to a Courier Journal article by Martha Elson, Crescent Hill began as a "self-sufficient community centered around church, library, home and school."   Over a hundred years later, the neighborhood still stands as one of Louisville's best locations to live.

Crescent Hill was hit hard by both the movement to the suburbs and a terrible tornado, but its residents believed it special enough to fight to preserve. Southern Living featured the neighborhood in its collection of "The South's Best Comeback Neighborhoods."  Crescent Hill residents "love to talk about.... the well-kept cottages, beautiful churches, and involved citizens....the turnaround of the Frankfort Avenue business corridor."  Indeed, the landscape of Frankfort Avenue has changed. According to councilwoman Tina Ward-Pugh, "Fifteen years ago you didn't have to look for cars before crossing Frankfort... Now it's the heart of Crescent Hill."  (http://www.southernliving.com/home-garden/best-neighborhoods-00400000061751/page8.html)

What makes Crescent Hill unique enough to make such a comeback? A combination of factors, including its perfect location right in the middle of the Clifton, Clifton Heights, Brownsboro-Zorn, St. Matthews,  and Cherokee Gardens neighborhoods.  These neighborhoods all have a rich history that makes them worthy of preservation and pride by their residents.

In addition to its location, Crescent Hill   stands out for its variety of resident-owned shops along Frankfort Avenue, including Blue Dog Bakery & Café.   The beautiful nearby homes in Crescent Hill allow residents the luxury of accessing this strip on Frankfort Avenue by foot-without the necessity of a car. The strip features specialty shops and cafes, coffee shops and ice cream stores. And a couple of times a week, a Frankfort Avenue farmer's market is available for purchase of fresh grown, organic fruits and vegetables, as well has homemade breads.

Homes in Crescent Hill retain the rich, luxurious, historic feel that buyers are unable to find in the typical subdivision. Streets are dotted with tall, mature trees that offer an unmatched beauty. The Vince Carter Team can help you navigate this beautiful neighborhood to find your dream home. For more information on living in this beautiful Louisville neighborhood, please contact The Vince Carter Team.

The city of Louisville boasts numerous entertainment extravaganzas, from the nation's largest fireworks display each spring at Thunder Over Louisville to the Kentucky Derby.  Events like these gain attention from all over the world. But companies like Louisville Golf offer a different, more intimate approach to Louisville businesses.

As the leader in professional wood clubmaking, Louisville Golf is one of the last surviving companies that hand manufactures its drivers and putters. The company has survived many changes in the golf industry because of its commitment to making only the absolute best quality clubs possible.

This commitment stemmed from Louisville Golf's founder, Elmore Just. Just authored a book, The Persimmon Story, in which he details and explains the benefits of using Persimmon clubheads as opposed to metal. Every true golfer knows that no club quite compares to a Persimmon club. For this reason, many professionals practice with true wooden clubheads and then play metal clubs in tournaments because of sponsorship obligations. Just knew that making golf clubs was an art, and he passed this art along to his brothers, who now run Louisville Golf after his death.

When the clubmaking industry changed to earn more profit, Louisville Golf refused to sacrifice quality clubs for an extra dime. Big clubmaking companies began mass producing metal clubs because they were faster, easier, and cheaper to produce. But Louisville Golf  stayed true to its founders beliefs through the years, firmly committing to the more detailed, time consuming method of producing clubs made from natural woods.

Louisville Golf has survived the test of time, and its customers loyally return year after year because they know where to purchase the game's best tools. Elmore Just believed that "Persimmon [was] nature's gift to club makers and golfers, used by almost 90% of the touring professionals, [with a] mystique [that] captured the golfing industry." http://www.louisvillegolf.com/story.php

Today, this gift is found exclusively at Louisville Golf.

Only Louisville residents can boast unique industries, companies, and events such as these. To become a part of this terrific city and find your perfect home here, please contact The Vince Carter Team.

Take a drive through Old Louisville, and you will be impressed by the beautiful Victorian homes that line the streets. It is here, in this breathtaking historic district, that Buck's Restaurant and Bar provides fine dining, a romantic atmosphere, and gourmet cuisine.

Buck's Restaurant and Bar is the perfect choice for a romantic night away from the stresses of the work week. The restaurant requests reservations, ensuring only the best service for its patrons and providing you the opportunity to plan a special evening to spend together with family, friends, or that special someone.

The menu at Buck's Restaurant and Bar includes appetizers, salads, and gourmet dinners, with entrée prices ranging from $17.95 to $35.95. The restaurant is available to serve you from 5 to 10pm Mondays through Thursdays or from 5 to 11pm on Friday and Saturday.

In addition to its excellent dinner menu, Buck's Restaurant and Bar offers an excellent wine menu consisting of sparkling wines, white wines, and red wines. These wines include everything from a $19 Bolla Italian Pinot Grigio wine  to a $216 French Krug Grand Cuvee Brut Champagne, and everything in between.

The setting at Buck's Restaurant and Bar is one that fosters the luster of romance. With live piano jazz, fresh flowers, comfortable lighting, dessert bar, cigar room, and mismatched china, no other restaurant can compare. One patron described it as "A Valentine's Day, special occasion must go. Top drawer in every respect from the ambiance, service, and food." http://www.bucksrestaurantandbar.com/reviews.asp

In addition to its excellent dinners, Buck's Restaurant and Bar also has limited lunch hour offerings on weekdays from 11am to 3pm.

Buck's Restaurant and Bar has a table waiting for you. Call (502) 637-7883 to make your reservations today.

For more information about Louisville restaurants or living in Louisville, please contact The Vince Carter Team.

Since 1954, Assumption High School has modeled academic excellence in Louisville.  This private Catholic high school sets forth strong values for teenage girls, including collaboration, mission education, compassion and service, educational excellence, concern for women and their issues, world vision and responsibility, and spiritual growth and development.

The faith community at Assumption High School includes prayer services and liturgies, theology classes, and a four-year overnight retreat program. Their values statement impresses their dedication: "We are the community of Assumption where faith guides, compassion inspires, integrity matters, and excellence empowers." These values have led the school to win many prestigious awards, including the Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Award (which it has won three times), the Blue Ribbon Lighthouse Award, the National Catholic Education Association School of Tomorrow for its innovations in education, and the Learning Differences of Kentucky Beacon of Hope School Award. Additionally, the school has a recognized American Counselor Association Model Program and an award-winning faculty and staff.

This excellence stems from a firm commitment to individually serve every single student that attends Assumption High School. With an average class size of 18 and a student teacher ratio of ten to one, AHS offers one of the most one-on-one private school opportunities in Louisville.  And this small ratio pays off in student achievement, as the average ACT score is 23.4, the SAT 1100. Plus, AHS is equipped with teachers to provide more than 20 advanced placement college courses.

In addition to its academic excellence, Assumption High School boasts championship athletic teams with a reputation for victory.  Fall sports include cross country, field hockey, golf,  soccer, and volleyball; winter sports, basketball, cheer, dance, ice hockey, swim and dive; and spring sports, crew, lacrosse, softball,  tennis, and track. These teams are known throughout the Kentuckiana area and nationwide for the intense competition they provide and for their almost unbreakable winning streaks.

Assumption High School  is yet another reason why Louisville, Kentucky is an excellent place to call home. For help finding your perfect Louisville home, please contact The Vince Carter Team.

Actor's Theatre offers Louisville drama at its best. Now in its 46^th season, the non-profit theatre is acclaimed for revitalizing American playwriting, "with over 300 Actors-debuted scripts now in publication." ( http://www.actorstheatre.org/about.htm )

According to its vision statement, Actor's Theatre "bring[s] people through theatre to celebrate, challenge, and explore who we are." ( http://www.actorstheatre.org/about.htm ) This exploration has birthed some of the best plays of our time, including The Gin Game, Crimes of the Heart, and Dinner with Friends. Plays like these have not only captured audiences but have also won Pulitzer Prize nominations, the Margo Jones Award, Shubert Foundation's James N. Vaughan Memorial Award, and a Tony Award.

Located on West Main Street in downtown Louisville, Actor's Theatre provides a great opportunity for Louisville entertainment. What could be better than dinner and a play? Whether it's season tickets to all of their productions or a one-time ticket purchase, Actor's Theatre is worth a visit.

But entertainment isn't all Actor's Theatre has to offer. As educators know, literature and live theatre often go hand in hand, intersecting along the way with History and other academic disciplines. For this reason, the theatre offers opportunities for educators and students to experience this outside-the-classroom learning setting firsthand through classroom programs, student matinees, teacher/student resources, community outreach, and more.

The current season of plays at Actor's Theatre includes Lookingglass Alice, A Midsummer Night's Dream, A Christmas Story, Crime and Punishment, Ella, The Cherry Sisters Revisited, Dracula,   A Christmas Carol, and Greater Tuna. Additionally this year, Actor's is featuring the 34^th Humana Festival of New American Plays, providing an opportunity for patrons to experience the debuts of all types of new plays-from comedies and dramas to "plays that forge new theatrical territory." ( http://www.actorstheatre.org/season.htm )

And if performance or season tickets to Actor's Theatre aren't in your budget, they offer a variety of free performances by the Apprentice/Intern Company.

Actor's Theatre has a date night waiting for you. Entertainment opportunities like this are yet another reason Louisville is an excellent place to live.  For more details on living in Louisville, please contact The Vince Carter Team.

Kentucky is known worldwide for two main things: The Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Fried Chicken.  Many consider KFC just another fast food restaurant chain, but few know of its quality origins. Claudia Sanders Dinner House in Shelbyville, Kentucky just outside of Louisville has faithfully preserved the history of the family behind KFC.

It all started with the man we all know, Colonel Harland Sanders.  The couple crafted their world-famous chicken recipe while living in Corbin, Kentucky at their restaurant, Kentucky Fried Chicken.  With the opening of interstate 75, the couple moved to Shelbyville, Kentucky and started their base operation for Kentucky Fried Chicken from the now 125-year-old dwelling, Blackwood Hall, which also served as their residence and is still part of Claudia Sanders Dinner House today. In the mid sixties, Colonel sold KFC but continued to run the restaurant business with his wife by starting Claudia Sanders, a "Dinner House where an air of Southern hospitality and cooking combined with old fashioned, family style services still remain."   -- http://www.claudiasanders.com/aboutus.htm

Today Claudia Sanders Dinner House serves customers from Shelbyville, Louisville, and beyond. Its Kentucky-style recipes include world-famous chicken, country ham, Kentucky hot brown, Bar B Que, Kentucky Pie, homemade cobblers, and more.

Claudia Sanders Dinner House offers daily dining for the whole family as well as a banquet facility for all types of special events -everything from wedding receptions to business meetings to birthday and anniversary celebrations. They also have buffets for special occasions such as Easter, Mother's Day, and Father's Day.

In addition to the superb fine dining offered at Claudia Sanders Dinner House, there is a Saddlebred Lounge offering a wide array of beverages in a comfortable setting, as well as a gift shop where customers can take a piece of Kentucky charm home.

Claudia Sanders Dinner House is another facet of Louisville that makes it a great place to call home. For more information on making Louisville your home, please contact The Vince Carter Team.

Take a twenty-minute drive east down interstate 64 from Louisville to Shelbyville, and you'll find a quiet escape from city life. With a perfect commuting distance from the city, this small town provides the slower pace and peace of nature that many who work in the city desire.

Other than its proximity to Louisville, Shelbyville has many other selling points that persuade home buyers to pick the quieter life. The small city has renowned horse farms, distinguished dining options, shopping,  and great recreation.

As the Saddlebred Capital of the World, Shelbyville has outstanding horse farms, as well as a yearly horse show that attracts guests from all over. There are over forty Sattlebred establishments in Shelbyville, making the horses that come from this small town some of the "most famous and accomplished show horses in the country" states http://www.shelbyvilleky.com/horse-farm-tours.html This prestige has made Shelbyville's yearly horse show a great success.

For those not into horses, Shelbyville still has plenty to offer in terms of dining, shopping, and recreation. In fact, its dining accommodations attract Louisvillians for both daily dining and special events. Two of its most popular restaurants include Old Stone Inn and Claudia Sanders Dinner House. Both provide excellent dining for daily or formal occasions. Additionally, Shelbyville boasts multiple other small town dining options, including Bell House Restaurant, Maggie's Bistro, Science Hill Dining Room, Fiesta Mexicana, FireFresh Barbecue, Marimba Mexican Restaurant,  Mike's Fish House, Sixth and Main Coffeehouse, Ken-Tex Bar-B-Que, McKinley's Bread Shop & Deli, Sam's Place, and Through the Looking Glass.  These small town options beat the typical chain restaurants and provide a plethora of mealtime choices for residents and visitors alike.

If shopping is what you need, Shelbyville provides both fast access to Louisville malls via I-64 and its own shops to help you find what you're looking for. Shops include Antiques for You, Gardner House Antiques, Making Ends Meet fabric shop, Metzger's Country Store, Ruby Rooster Antique Mall, Shelby Horse Supply, the Country Lady, and The Keepsake Shop. Additionally, Shelbyville  features a few essential chain stores such as Goody's, al-Mart, Payless Shoe Store, and more.

Too often the complaint of small town residents is that there is "nothing to do." Not so in Shelbyville.  Recreational opportunities include tours, entertainment, golf, wildlife, and educational options for residents, visitors, and their families. Whether it's touring the Talon Winery, bowling at Bluegrass Bowling Center, catching a movie at Great Escape 8 theater, horseback riding at Red Orchard Park, watching a live play at Shelby County Community Theatre, or getting pampered at Magnolia's Spa and Salon, Shelbyville  has plenty of options to keep residents on their feet. Plus the golf courses in Shelby County, including Shelbyville Country Club, Clear Creek Golf Course, Persimmon Ridge Golf Course, and Weissinger Hills Golf Course,  provide a game to meet every level of player out there.

Shelbyville, an often overlooked home-buyer's dream, has great prices on houses for you and your family. For more information about living in Shelbyville or other Kentucky counties, please contact The Vince Carter Team.