
Summer may be just out of reach, but there's still plenty to keep you and the family entertained along Alabama's Gulf Coast. From a hot air balloon festival to a beach ball drop, check out what's happening in our area during May 2022.
Mobile Area
Beach, Dune and Maritime Forest Excursions
May 5 – July 13
The Estuarium at The Dauphin Island Sea Lab
Boyington Oak Festival
May 14-15, 1-6 p.m.
Oakleigh House Museum

Bellator Real Estate & Development is honored to be included on RISMedia's 2022 Power Broker Report, ranking as the top real estate brokerage along Alabama's Gulf Coast and the No.4 brokerage in Alabama.
RISMedia's 34th Annual Power Broker Report ranks the Top 1,000 brokerages across the United States by the 2021 residential sales volume reported by each company. In 2021, Bellator Real Estate & Development closed $853,715,168 in residential sales volume, ranking No. 488 on the Power Broker Report.
"As the report shows, our area, like many around the county, experienced a historic year in real estate, and we are thankful to have b...

It shouldn't come as a shock that our area has the highest average residen- tial air-conditioning expenditures in the country, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). In fact, those electricity costs are probably already on the rise this April thanks to our warming spring weather kicking on the A/C.
Around this time each year, many along Alabama's Gulf Coast consider ways to cut energy costs and make their homes more energy efficient. That's likely even more true this year than most with the average change in energy costs increasing 25.6 percent from February 2021 to February 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Cutting down on drafts by improving caulking and/or insulation around doors and windows as well the atti...
Alabama's Gulf Coast contains several real estate markets depending on location and price point – just to name a few factors. The graphic below shows real estate statistics for March 2022, the latest month available.

Vital Signs provides a visual representation of what's happening in several local markets by showing you supply. The colored-coded numbers represent the absorption rate, the number of months it would take to sell every home on the market in a particular price range if no others were added. If the market is moving quickly, the absorption rate will fall below six months of supply, and if it's more of a buyer's market, it will jump above six months of suppl...

With all of the moving parts surrounding, well – making a move, the financials can quickly become confusing. One of the often-overlooked portions of purchasing or selling a home is earnest money.
Earnest money is essentially a deposit on the home you would like to purchase. Because a seller removes her property from the market while the closing process is completed, earnest money is seen as a good faith deposit that a buyer intends to carry through with the purchase. If the closing isn't completed, the seller would keep the earnest money unless an issue arises that was outlined as a reason to return the money to the buyer in the purchase agreement.
Most often those pre-outlined issues that would return earnest money are issues with financing, app...