Remember Mikhail Gorbachev? A popular political figure often viewed very favorably in the United States? Many of us, Russians, after the initial euphoria of Perestroika and Glasnost (the latter, by the way, is like Transparency), hated him with all our guts. He betrayed our generation. He promised democracy and Change, but all he did was trying to put a nicer face on the ugly Socialism. Sweetening the regime...

I am more at peace with him now then I was then. I give him credit, but not for what he did. I give him a lot of credit for what he did not do.

In my mind Gorbachev was a weak leader, and in a sense this was a blessing. He could have done so much more. I am grateful he didn't.

He could easily spark a bloody Civil War had he been more hard core communist with more convictions (which he claimed he was). He could allow for so much more bloodshed that he did in April of 1989 in Tbilisi, when the army used shovels to slash women and children... and less than 2 years later in January 1991 in sanctioned army assault on Lithuania's TV station...

20 people dead in Tbilisi (and hundreds injured), and 15 dead in Vilnius, Lithuania... This was the lowest death toll in repressions in Soviet history. Millions executed under Lenin; dozens of millions under Stalin; 2,500 in Budapest in 1956 under Khrushchev; 72 Czechs and Slovaks in Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1966 under Brezhnev...

Now I understand how easy it is for me to be righteous. Yes, Gorbachev did not revolt against the system as we hoped he would. He represented the whole, and Gorbachev's whole was a huge country, which with few exceptions of political and intellectual activity centers (like Moscow, Leningrad, and a few other places), was oblivious to our aspirations.

To make things more difficult for Gorbachev, he was one of them... the party elite, who had a problem seeing the future. He was a blind shepherd, who wanted to patch a few holes in the system, to pump new blood in the dead body, to prolong the agony... He was, maybe, the last one to bid farewell to an antiquated system, which was simply falling apart. The smell of decay was all over, but he got used to it, and he could not tell...

The country was under the tremendous inertia of the ideals of The Great World Power, and Communism, for which our "fathers died for"... And even at the slow pace of reforms, that we used to despise, there was an attempt to overthrow him in 1991. He was unintentionally killing the dream. Not the reality, as it obviously sucked, but he was the one, who did not stop the killing of the ideals. People do not forgive killing the ideals, even if they would forgive killing people for the ideals...

Socialism and communism were so deeply engrained in every cell of our physical and social being, that the fact that it had faded so quickly (in historical terms) is absolutely remarkable... But this is when you are looking from a distance, whether geographical, or historical... I was there. I am not impartial... I am prejudiced.

Gorbachev happened to be the one who just tried to loosen a tight harness, but the horses took off...

I do not like Gorbachev. But I now learn to understand him better.

I believe that his biggest achievement was his failure to preserve the system.

I am not sure he understands it.

* The photo is courtesy of Flickr.com

Recently Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan went on a killing spree and 13 people lost their lives. And it happend on a military base Fort Hood, TX. There is a controversy here, whether he is a terrorist, or a disgruntled major acting like one. With the word disgruntled being a keyword. As if terrorists are not disgruntled people from our viewpoint.

But this is not about avoiding calling events the proper names. We may keep saying "honey", though...

I have not been to Texas, but movies portray it as a great State where everyone bears arms. Everyone must be an exaggeration, of course, but just think about it: there were 300 soldiers where the killings occurred, and if not on a military base, this terrorist would have been stopped sooner. 300 trained soldiers would have put him out of his disgruntled misery much sooner, and would not have to wait for a female Police officer to come to rescue (a great lady, by the way).

Isn't it a sad story that trained military men and women could not stop a terrorist simply because they were on a military base?

Does it make military bases the safest place to kill Americans?

What a paradox!

* Photo is courtesy of Flickr.com

Palma Bella is one of the newest and finest condominiums in Daytona Beach Shores. Developer - Doug Cook - brought the sense of luxury that simply was not there. Not in the name, as we call luxury any Oceanfront Condo, and though the Ocean is definitely a luxury, the condos very often not.

Palma Bella is one of the five oceanfront condominium buildings comprising the Costa Bella collection in Daytona Beach Area. Out of 5 planned 3 have been completed: Marbella, Bella Vista and Palma Bella.

Palma Bella is a gorgeous building with very spacious three-bedroom and 3 baths units. Developer used best materials and the lobby is very impressive. You find yourself in the art gallery with pictures on the walls, nice tiled common areas with a social room with full kitchen facing 100' pool and the ocean. The U shaped building has a bridge on the 9^th floor making it resemble the Atlantis on the Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

The bridge is facing west, and it is gorgeous place to watch sunsets over the city. Developer was lucky that he had all units reserved, but by the time they got to Closings, the market was not in great shape and some of the buyers/speculators walked away. That became a common challenge for condo developers getting caught in the declining market.

Palma Bella features include underground reserved parking, sundeck w/oceanfront heated pool & spa, oceanfront fitness room.

All units are 9'4" ceilings, crown molding, 5 1/4" baseboards, built-in electric fireplace, European style cabinetry in Kitchens, imported granite countertops, Jenn-Air electric grills on balconies.

Of course, everything is up to new toughest codes with impact-resistant windows and doors with saltwater protection.

Check the available units today. Everything that is under $500K is a terrific price, but look at $398,500. This is an incredible price at $164.33 per sq. ft. What an incredible market.

Call me if you want a million-dollar luxury oceanfront unit for less than 50 cents on a dollar. Call 386-405-4408 or drop me a line in the e-mail.

* The photo of the  ocean is taken from unit 202. The least expensive unit 302 is just above it.

Greta Van Susteren from FOX went to Pakistan to interview Hillary Clinton. In her first appearance on Fox after she got there was a dose of surprise. She said that even though they got to Pakistan in the middle of the night and did not really speak to many people, her first impression was that they were very unhappy with US. They were very angry with the strings attached to the money they were getting from US.

Maybe that was to make sure the money was spent exactly the way they were supposed to?

It reminded me my only travel back to Russia in 1995. My former Moscow boss and his company were hosting an international small conference. It was in typical Russian manner, hastily done, and one day prior to the conference they had no idea who was going to interpret. And here I came, and immediately got engaged.

The participants on the Russian side were CEOs of several Siberian industrial enterprises, and on the "foreign" side there was an American accountant, who was invited to "say something", and a consultant from England, representing an investment group, explaining how to get projects financed by foreign investors.

It was fascinating to watch. These were two worlds, and there was very little understanding between them. I remember one CEO, who got very angry. "Just give me the money. I know what to do with it better than anyone else".

For Russians the idea of a plan for 2-3 years ahead is a joke. There was Yeltsin at that time, but nobody knew who would be there next morning. Like in a famous poem, calling to look out of the window in the morning to see whose banners were up. Nobody knew that there would not be a killer inflation, or deflation, and whether the government would not make other changes dramatically affecting everyone and everything.

The CEO was trying to explain to the Brit that his demands were stupid, and the Brit, calm as a cucumber, patiently waited till the end of a tirade and then calmly stated: "All I hear is that you do not want the money."

"I know how to spend the money and I do not need you to watch over my shoulder" (CEO)

"Then do it with your own money" (The Consultant)

Having lived in Russia until 40, I perfectly understood that poor CEO guy, who had no chance in the world to pull it off.

Coming from America I perfectly understood the Business plan and the discipline. The bridge was not there yet then. I am afraid it is still not there.

A lot of Russians today think that the biggest problem for America is that they elected a black president. Russia is a very racist country. But here they are wrong. They do not understand that the biggest problem of America is not the color of the President's skin but the color of his ideas, and in that regard he is so much closer to Russia than to America.

We are sort of getting closer... in an unexpected way.

Time to update on the Condo Deals in the Oceans - Daytona Beach Shores, a popular Oceans complex. In the last months the market has changed: there are fewer units remaining for sale, the prices are somewhat higher, and multiple offers can happen...

I have clients who are still waiting to see how it changes. Well, just 5-6 months ago there were quite a few units in the 140K-$170K range. Look at the table below. There are now only 3 units for under $170K. 4-5 months ago there were 3 units for under $170K just in Oceans One, and now there are 3 in all 11 oceanfront Oceans buildings. "Real' price is over $190K.

The table below includes all 9 units for sale in all of the Oceans buildings for under $200K, 9 out of 22 total units for sale.

It is also good to remember that at the height of the market these units (remodeled) were sold for close to $500,000. (I would rather concentrate on that number, than wait to see if it falls another $10K-$20K.) 

So, which of these is the best buy? Well, the best one is not on that list. But it is for sale. We had it under contract for our buyer. It was a short sale, and then the Seller declared bankruptcy, thus effectively killing the Short sale. We asked whether our client could buy a note, never got the answer, and the buyer bought a property in another area.

Now somehow the judge got it out of bankruptcy and told them to sell it, at least that's what the Listing agent told me. She called me because we had it under contract. It is not yet on the MLS, and I might be the only one who knows about it.

Because it is not my listing, and I did not ask the Listing agent for permission to disclose the address, I can only say that it is in Oceans One, it is a 2 bdr/2 bath DIRECT OCEANFRONT unit. Not only that, this unit was practically fully remodeled and now has granite countertops, beautifully done Master Bath, tiled floors. It could benefit from replacing the windows and the sliding balcony door. Living room has the view of the ocean and the city, both bedrooms face the ocean. We had it under contract for $155,500, same as unit 2005 in the same building, which is an REO, with no remodeling except for the kitchen, and not direct oceanfront (but a unit with a great views of both the ocean and the Intracoatal).

You want it? Maybe you could get it for the same price, which would be as close to a miracle as it gets. Call me at 386-405-4408.

Considering the changing market, of course, in a couple of years this would sound more than a miracle...

Daytona Beach Area...Where Living Is Cool...

It was a picture perfect day in Daytona Beach. At 79F it felt on a cooler side, crispy and clean air, blue sky...

I was showing an apartment building on Daytona's Beachside, just a block from the ocean. We looked at several units and were ready to leave, when the Seller, a good friend of mine, shouted something and pointed to the sky.

I looked up and there was the shuttle Atlantis going up and glowing in the cool blue sky. I did not have a camera with me, and it happens very fast, so all I could do was to grab my I-Phone and try to capture the magnificent moment. It is a very cool phone, by the way.

Did not come out nearly as gorgeous as how I saw it, as I could get it with my digital Canon Rebel, but it was my fault. I should have had the camera with me.

Well, need to go and check if Gary Woltal has placed his incredibly great pictures of a liftoff, like he did last time (LOL). Not that he lives here, he is in Texas, but he somehow manage to be in the right place at the right time.

I think this is another advantage to  living in Daytona Beach Area, where my winter footwere is the same as summer footware (what a saving) and where the weather, life in general, and entertainment are all Cool. World class cool...

Daytona Beachside is a 23-mile long but narrow Barrier island squashed between the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway, also called Halifax River.

This is a small part of the Daytona Beach area, but when we are talking VACATION, this is what we have in mind.  The rest is for locals. There are absolutely gorgeous communities in the area, but they are of no interest to tourists.

We are spoiled. Why buy anything 3 miles from the beach, when right now you can buy a condo rirght on the beach and spend less than 50 cents on a dollar? I am sure there was a time when in Manhattan people would only build on the water. Now living on Park Ave is not considered an exile to Siberia. Far from it.

Todays condo market on the Beachside is represented by 775 Beachside condos. This is quite a drop from 1,063 18 or so moths ago. Threre are 384 2 bdr/ 2 bath unit starting from $29,900 (an REO) and this is a drop from over 500 a year and a half ago. 287 of these condo units are either direct oceanfront or oceanview units.

As for prices, we were seeing lower prices until about 5-6 months ago, when 2 bdr/2 bath unit in direct oceanfront buildings like one of the Oceans were from $140K. Not now. They are starting from just a few dollars under $200K.

Together with decreasing inventory, this is a hint on the light at the end of the tunnel.

Guys, there is still time to get you dream vacation place for 35-50 cents on a dollar. Do not outsmart yourselves. And if you do, hold the stories how you could buy something great for nothig to yurselves. I think I am going to listen to too many of them rather soon.

Want a piece of oceanfront? Call me at 386-405-4408.

Do we know how to put ourselves in buyer's shoes? Do we understand how out-of-state or out-of-the-country customers feel when we are showing them properties?

Imagine coming to Daytona Beach area with its 23 miles of white sandy beaches, hundreds of condominium buildings dotting Beachside - this narrow Barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal. There are 775 condo units just on the Beachside on the market today.

What do our customers need the most in the market with thousands of available Daytona Beachside condos screaming "Buy me"?

384 Two-bedroom / Two baths units, and 287 of those condos are either oceanfront or oceanview units - prime target for vacation condo buyers.

Wouldn't you feel lost? Would only knowing "prices are great" be enough to lay out hard earned cash? 

So they come to us, professionals, the people who can help them navigate in the sea of properties, all of which seem pretty similar.

What do we do? And how do we do it?

This is a real life scenario. A group of Canadians called me and asked to show them the condo-hotel units in the area. They were in the car coming to Daytona Beach, and were going to be in town in an hour.

When we met, we had a rather long conversation. They were quite knowledgeable about condo-hotel concept, they were reading my blog on Active Rain. But there was a bitter taste to that...

They came from South Florida. That's where they wanted to buy. Spent several days, but did not buy. Why?

They did not feel comfortable. Everything that agents showed to them was "a great buy". In any market if everything is great and rosy, we feel that something is not right, but we do not know what. It bothered them. To the point that they decided to go 250 miles north from the place where they thought they wanted to be.

250 miles to drive not to the place they loved, but to the agent, who took time to talk about condo-hotels at length on AR, who was showing strong points as well as weak (in their own words, I am not just bragging), and even though this was Daytona, and not Miami, they decided to give it a try.

After two days spent with them, they thanked me, said that they got enough information and promised to call if they decide to buy. They called next morning. Wanted to make the offer on a gorgeous condo unit in Ocean Walk Wyndham Resort.

It is bilateral now.

My beautiful daughter, who helps us with marketing, was in the office, when they first walked in. She later asked me why with clients, who told me right away that they were looking for condo-hotels, I started telling them the whole story about condo-hotels, good and bad and the difference between condos and condo-hotels, and tons of other things? Why not simply take them and show them what they were looking for? Why didn't I?

Because that's what other agents have done.

"We want to buy a condo-hotel unit, so that we can use and rent when we are not here" is what they said.

What they did not say, and what is of paramount importance was that they wanted to make the right choice in the sea of choices, and they wanted to feel good about that choice. They needed the justification, some facts, and not only feelings. That choice should have been theirs, not mine.

They wanted to put it from standing on the head (everything is great) to the feet (this is why this makes more sense that that and here's why).

Should I take them to best units (in my opinion), would they feel comfortable spending way over a hundred thousand dollars, because some dude, who benefits from that sale, told them to do so?

Yes, I think I know which units would be best for them. It would have taken me no time to do it. But selling is not telling them what to do. It is being honest, objective and educating them, so that they come to their own conclusions. If their conclusion is what you think is right, then you did a pretty good job.

And this is why not only did I take them to other condo-hotels, which were not the best, I also took them to residential condos, so that they could compare the lifestyles. And told them about pros and cons of each of those. The problem is not that there are serious cons with each of them. These Canadians are intelligent people and are able to think it through. The problem for them was when agents were skipping it altogether, leaving them only to decide which unit to buy.

But they did not feel it was their decision.

Just think about it. They ended up trying to buy a condo-hotel unit 250 miles away from the place they flew to. Of course, we still have the same ocean, great beaches, nice weather... and they feel they made a very good choice.

They did. I was there simply to help them along the way.

When being in the buyers' shoes feels too tight, we got to walk more. Like with many new shoes, it takes time and effort.

I was showing condo-hotel units in Daytona Beach in the Plaza Resort & Spa recently and my clients asked me:

- What is the worst thing about The Plaza Resort & Spa?

I thought for a moment and answered:

- The fact that the Condo Owners Association is controlled by the developer.

And then they asked me:

- What is the greatest thing about the Plaza Resort & Spa?

I thought for a moment and answered:

- The fact that the Condo Owners Association is controlled by the developer.

We started laughing simultaneously. It was funny.... and it was true.

So, why it can be bad?

In the developercontrolled association they set the rules. They control the association, and can carry any agenda they want short of criminal. Owners have to put up with that, as there is very little if anything that they can do.

Theoretically, this is not a good point for the owners.

Then, how it can be good?

In real condo-hotel world the biggest problem is not the buildings. It  is the Board of Directors of condo owners association.

The Board consists of elected owners. They have no real clue about Hospitality business. And because of that, they think that there could be nothing easier than running a hotel. They usually have ideas in that regard, and there is nothing more dangerous to a condo-hotel than these ideas.

We would not attempt to do a surgery on our loved one on a kitchen table with a chef knife. But we will remodel our house without consulting a designer. And that's fine. Remodeling a hotel to your taste is ot fine, but we see it again and again.

Having a professional company running and operating the hotel is a blessing. But when you do not understand it, how can you value it?

A simple example. Exactly a year ago, a few new owners in another condo-hotel decided that they can do a better rental management for the owners. They were involved in a property management company, specializing on managing single family homes. They kicked out a company, which was doing it for years there.

I came there 2 days ago, and there was nobody on the front desk. But there was a note that they are only there until 3 PM. The Association manager told me they are leaving. They could not make ends meet. And the rentals were dismal.

Now theyare screwed. The previous company is not coming back to a property, where they "killed" the business. This will be the 3rd condo-hotel in Daytona area, that lost Front Desk. Because the Board thought they knew how to run it.

How Would Have Thomas Jefferson Voted? Really, how?

I never studied the History of USA. I am picking bits and pieces as I go... I learned the History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and I knew nearly by heart all 600 page course book when I was taking the exam for my post graduate course...

So, I am a first grader in the history class here. And it is OK for me to ask stupid questions. Like how would Thomas Jefferson have voted on the Health Care bill?

Thomas Jefferson, who said "If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretence of taking care of them, they must become happy." (Jeffersonian Cyclopedia)

It was written in 1802. Written By Thomas Jefferson, who in 1801 became the 3rd President of the United States of America. Well educated, he, between other things, "read lawwith George Wythe and was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1767.

In 2008, 207 years after writing this letter, another educated lawyer became the 44th President of the United States. And he advocates for a strong government "wasting the labors of the people", wasting billions and trillions of dollars on the way. If this is the opposite of what Thomas Jefferson wrote - remember "they must become happy" - does this mean that they will become unhappy? If we agree with the first statement, then it does. Is this Obama's goal, or he simply does not care what is going to be tomorrow as long as he fashions today?

Jefferson was a great man and a visionary. Not everyone, not even every President is. Maybe we can understand that the 44th President of the United States of America does not see the nightmare ahead of us...but how come he can't look back and recognize the nightmare behind?

115 years after this letter was written, and 92 years ago, in 1917 to be exact, another lawyer took over the power in another great country. He believed that it was possible to correct the course of history and expedite it. That strong government could make the progress happen much faster, and that all they needed was strong government that could lead people to happiness. He declared capitalism evil and promised to abolish money. Bringing people to happiness turned out to be tougher than they thought. Stubborn subjects refused to see the far fetched goals. They needed to be brought to the future with a little force. And that's how the Red Terror started. 

Lenin might have read Jefferson, but somehow did not get it. He thought he would rival Jefferson. But Lenin at least was looking ahead and thought he saw the bright future. There was no precedent yet... But decades later and millions upon millions dead, there is now...

We can't see the past in the future. It had not happen yet. But every future bears the seeds of the past, and looking in to the past, you can better understand the future. This is how we learn. On mistakes made by others.

But does he understand the past?

Does Barak Obama see the future or does he want to make his own mistakes? With dire consequences?

Which part of Jefferson's writing an educated lawyer does not understand?