Spring is in the Air! It is that time of year again when we enjoy spectacular Azalea blooms, crystal clear blue skies, ideal temperatures, and the anticipation of the fun and focus of the Heritage Golf Tournament. Spring is always a terrific time of year…especially on beautiful Hilton Head Island!

75 Deerfield Road
$834,900
The gorgeous marsh-front setting is ideal for this fully-renovated builder's home. This home offers 4 bedrooms, 4 full bathroom, separate laundry room, office/mud room, 2-car garage, an open floorplan and nearly 3,000 heated square feet. Special features throughout include smooth ceilings, recessed lighting, crown molding and much more. Nearly everything is new. A short walk to Dolphin Head beach/recreation area. The entry foyer is light and bright featuring an overhead skylight, travertine floors, and glass entry doors at either end of the center hall. The great room and dining area enjoys a wood burning fireplace with stone raised hearth & surround, a vaulted, wood ceiling, and hardwood floors. 2 sets of glass doors lead to the back deck with stairs to the ground level. Enjoy peaceful marsh views.

As a means of exposing you to different areas of Hilton Head Island / Bluffton, we present this interesting and entertaining section of our email newsletter. Below, you will see photographs taken of a very specific location in our area...and all you have to do is guess where it is! Well, actually, we tell you at THE VERY BOTTOM OF THE NEWSLETTER, so don't get too frustrated if you can't figure it out. Have fun with it...and good guessing!)

Sales Trends
Sales are heating up gradually this early Spring, just like our temperatures. After a very slow period of sales over the past 6 months, we are pleased to see an increase in activity and newly-pending property sales. Home, villa and inventory levels are still at record highs, presenting outstanding opportunities for buyers. So…if you have been considering a purchase, you really need to consider acting quickly. This market conditions will change through the Spring as we normalize back into a strong market for the second half of the year!

Hampton Lake
Allow us to send you some information on this very exciting, new development in the Bluffton area – you will be glad we did! This unique, man-made-lake residential community will provide outstanding water views, water access, water fun…as they say, “It’s All About the Water.” The first homesite release was a complete sell-out…so get on board today with our assistance!

We hope that you find the following tip on home maintenance, etc. to be helpful. If so, feel free to pass it along to a friend.

This Month's Tip
We received the following warning from a credible source, but we have not verified its information. It seems logical, and if it is accurate, it is worth heeding as most termite protection policies EXCLUDE damage from Formosan termites: “If you use much around your house be very careful about buying mulch this year. After the Hurricane in New Orleans many trees were blown over. These trees were then turned into mulch and the state is trying to get rid of tons and tons of this mulch to any state or company who will come and haul it away. So it will be showing up in Home Depot and Lowes at dirt cheap prices with one huge problem; Formosan Termites will be the bonus in many of those bags. New Orleans is one of the few areas in the country where the Formosan Termites has gotten a strong hold and most of the trees blown down were already badly infested with those termites. Now we may have the worst case of transporting a problem to all parts of the country that we have ever had. These termites can eat a house in no time at all and we have no good control against them, so tell your friends that own homes to avoid cheap mulch and know where it came from.”

Across the Country
In order to help put our local market into perspective, we have provided some nationwide real estate news that we hope you will find interesting. Just click on the USA map to the right to access this section of our newsletter...and be sure to let us know if you have any questions or comments.

Please Welcome Serena Crisan
Please welcome our newest Team agent, Serena Crisan. Serena is an outstanding professional with decades of successful retail-sales experience through her family-owned clothing stores. Serena has been a heavily-involved member of the community, a super-active parent of three Hilton Head Prep students, and a wonderful person to know and be around. Serena will be working with buying-clients as a Team Buyer Specialist, and we know she is going to wonderfully successful!

Team Website Upgrades
Take a visit to www.MayerCollins.com and check out some of our latest added features: 1) We now present ALL of our Team listings in a continuous-scroll format for ease of perusing what we have listed for sale; 2) Each Team listing features a Google locator map with integrated satellite imagery – VERY COOL!; and 3) Our Real-Time Realtor Response is an easy, quick format for shooting us your general or specific questions – we love turning these around promptly with informative answers.		 Hilton Head Real Estate Question

Valentine's Winners
For our February past-client giveaway, we are pleased to announce that the winners were Frank and Vici Radomski, Peg and Jim Carroll and Anne Spriggs. Out of the 75 entrants, these 3 Team clients each won the lucky drawing to receive $75 dining gift certificates at a restaurant of their choice. This month’s past-client giveaway is a South Carolina Education Lottery ticket – feeling lucky?

Service Above and Beyond
Congrats to Chip Collins and Ann Eden who both received the Hilton Head Area Association of Realtors 2005 Realtor Service Award! This award is presented to local Realtors who serve on Association committees, participate in Realtor functions, give of their time and resources to local charities, etc.. Our Team goal is to have each Team agent achieve this distinguished award for 2006!

Our Name in Lights
If you are traveling on Hwy. 46 in Bluffton, check out our new Collins Group Realty billboard! It is even lit at night, so you can’t miss it. It is located about 500 yards down Hwy 46 off of Hwy 278.

Wild Wings Goes West
A long-standing Island favorite has hopped the bridge and graced Bluffton with its newest location. Great food, great atmosphere, casual, sometimes loud – always enjoyable! Check it out on Highway 278 near Island Ford.

St. Patricks Day Parade a Hit
Outstanding weather adorned this year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, and the event was a great hit, as always! Absent of the screeching-tire mini-cars, the parade was otherwise in-line with prior years, providing great hand-out’s for kids including candy, popcorn, green beads and more. The longest stretch of the parade route runs along the southern lanes of Pope Avenue, and the parade ran for about 2 hours.

Water Police to Patrol May
Starting this boating season, Bluffton police plan to have a routine boat patrol along the May River by May 2006. The patrols will run Friday through Sunday and police will be looking to control intoxicated boaters, overcrowded boats, personal watercraft jumping wakes, etc.. This should be a good means of making our boating waters safe this summer.

Congratulations are in order for our February E-mail
Newsletter Drawing Winner

Donna Lieberman of Cortland, NY

As a recipient of this e-mail newsletter, you are automatically entered into our drawing for next month's giveaway. Good Luck...and don't forget to pass this along to a friend so they can sign up to be a recipient of the newsletter and an entry in our drawing! Thanks! Simply click here to enter.

Lawton Stables. These recently-renovated stables are located at the intersection of Plantation Drive and Greenwood Drive in Sea Pines Plantation, and offer residents and visitors alike a unique way to enjoy the beauty and nature of Sea Pines. Leisurely rides along miles of trails throughout the Sea Pines Forest Preserve plus expert riding lessons and newly-added carriage rides are just a sample of what this fun-filled business offers. The Lawton Stables recently changed ownership when our Team co-founder Mark Mayer added it to his resume at the start of 2006.