Something is freaking wrong with the climate. And as if global warming was not enough, now we are witnessing a very weird natural unnatural phenomenon. After Spring comes Winter...

I am watching TV and for a few days they are talking about Americans, that Egypt is not letting go, and taking them to court...

What is the crime? They were doing what they were doing for years, promoting democracy. One of them is the son of Transportation Secretary Sam LaHood, who was the head of International Republican Institute (IRI, for short, is a democracy promotion organization that operates in some 75 countries around the world.)

Hmmm, didn’t we cheer as that spring swept through Egypt? Did we think it over well enough before cheering? Did we expect cold winter after warm and cheerful spring?

So, we support democracy and then get the opposite. And it is still not a failure of foreign policy? And the beauty of it is that they would be doing it at our expense. We are paying them over $1 billion a year. Isn’t this nice?

Sure, they love democracy so much... They need to further it, and to strengthen it...

I remember the screaming that George Bush did not have a successful foreign policy. What should we call the failures by our present administration?

You do not now?

It is easy.

It is called great success.

Cheers for great success

*Photos by LadyDragonflyCC - TY for 300,000 Views!!!! via Flickr.com Creative Commons License

I remember first time going to Coop City in the Bronx. Co-op City is the largest coop in the world with its 35 high-rises spanning 320 acres along Hutchinson River in the North East Bronx.

It was autumn, and it was dusk when we came there... and in many windows in those high-rises there were menorahs, many-many menorahs... and my heart started pounding.

People have marked their windows showing that Jews lived there... How could that be? How could that be that there were no anti-Semites throwing stones and smashing windows?

How could that be that people were looking at high-rises illuminated with menorahs and did not curse, or swear? Or even seem upset?

How on earth could this happen? Was I in Israel by any chance?

No, it was not Israel. But it was not Soviet Union either. It was America... and -  a Russian Jew - I was standing there stunned ...and frightened... and relieved

I was in a fantastic place, Coop City, where Jews were not afraid of being Jews. It, actually, turned out to be a fantastic country, where Jews are not afraid of being Jews...

I am not religious and do not worship any G-d. But I am glad that others can do it freely, without fear and without persecution... No matter which religion they follow...

This is a fantastic country after all...

Take my word for it...

* Photo by grongar  via Flickr.com Creative Commons License

Nobody loves the government. Even Real Estate agents… Real estate agents do not like what government is doing… Real Estate agents are smarter than the government…

Maybe, maybe, maybe…

May be not…

I think that we on AR mirror the “big” government.We just do not notice it.

Take so popular challenges on AR, especially those serial challenges, running for weeks and months. When the government comes with a stimulus (challenge) with a lot of dough (points), it works poorly.

I wrote that, then stumbled on “it works poorly” and then figured that this is a senseless phrase. The exact statement is not “works poorly”, but rather “it does not work”.

Folks, it does not work, period. Not in challenges on AR, where we are rushed to write x number of posts in y number of days, and naively believe that this has positive effect on the business…

Not in government, which believes in a wonderful Christmas notion, that if you give people a lot of money, then they will buy all the crap you give them. And we will have healthy economy.

Perpetuum mobile of stupidity happiness...

If a kid would say this, we would smile, but when the big government says that ... we go and vote for them.

Somebody here needs a shrink.

Who could that be?

* Photo by Pawns via flickr.com

This is not a rant. This is just an observation. This is something that everyone has to overcome here on AR.

When you join and start blogging, you have great ideas, you write entertainingly, there is substance and there is form… and there are few or no readers…

So freaking frustrating…

You write a post, and get a couple of comments, and then you read another post about the same issue, and it has 30-40 comments, or it is featured, and the comments are in hundreds. And it is no better than yours, or worse…

And nobody talks to you…

There is little or nothing you can do to overcome this in a minute, day, week, or month…

You are one of a huge group, and people do not know you yet. The bigger the group, the longer it takes to be noticed, to form your own circle. You can make it a little faster if you are actively commenting and entering others’ circles, but other than that, you are like good wine, which has to age to be fully appreciated.

I remember that feeling of vacuum around me…

There is unfairness on AR...

There is an unfairness in life in general…

Newbies on AR. Do not get discouraged, because it may happen even to the best written post in the world.

Time and concerted effort are the only remedies here.

* Photo by Flo's shots 4 me via Flickr.com

I received a call from a Canadian buyer. He called me a week ago and questioned me about one of my listings in Plaza Resort & Spa, a premier Condo-Hotel in Daytona Beach. I sent him all the information, we exchanged a few e-mails, and then it all came to a halt.

I called him, and he explained that he made an offer on another unit in Plaza Resort & Spa. The one, which is direct oceanfront, and mine isn't. I figured that there is another agent involved, and I know that agent, so I said that it was fine and hung up.

Week later I see that the unit he told me he made an offer on, is still active, however, the price went up from $55K to $76K. Ouch, but for out of the area investors, it is not unusual to gauge the activity and then refuse to sell and raise the price. There was no problem doing it, as the offer was far from full price.

Today I received an e-mail and a call from this buyer. He tried to make an offer for another direct oceanfront unit in Plaza Resort & Spa, but could not get any response, and was asking me to represent him in this transaction.

Well, this unit is on MLS but is not really for sale, the seller is not responding, so this is a dead end, and it will eventually end up in foreclosure.

My Canadian buyer asked me about another oceanfront unit in Plaza Resort & Spa, but just yesterday we have received a nearly full price offer for the next best deal in Plaza.

So, he asked me what the best deal in Plaza Resort & Spa was, if he would buy something today. And it is tougher question than it seems.

If for under $65K, than units 1217 and 1218, which are both listed for $64K seem to be a good deal. I know who the seller's agent is, and I know what the Seller paid for it, and I know that flipping at $64K does not really give her a lot of money, so I would not expect her to discount even for a penny.

There is an investor, that just increased the price by $21K on another unit, so the investor might  be tempted to do the same here.

So, if my goal were to buy a unit today for under $65K, I would go with full price, quick closing, and hope that she would not change the asking price.

As for whether unit 1217 (it is one unit closer to the ocean than 1218) for $64K is the best deal, if $65K cap was not there, I am not that sure and here is why.

Let me compare unit 1217 it to unit 409. Unit 409  is South East corner (direct oceanfront), largest studio floorplan in Plaza Resort & Spa (513 sq. ft.), 2 balconies, glass cook-top (other studios don't have it)... Asking price $103,900 (the Seller wants to raise it, but for now it is what it is).

Unit 409 was initially bought in February 2006 for $385,665. It is 26.9 cents on a dollar.

Unit 1217 was sold in March 2006 for $232,973. It is 27.5 cents on a dollar.

When the prices go back to 2006 level (and it is not a matter of if, it is only a matter of when, and 409 will be sold for $153K more than 1217, tell me, which is a better buy today?

Meanwhile, unit 409 will have better rentals because of the cook-top as families prefer being able to fix breakfast in the unit rather than eat out.

Let me know if you have questions. My mobile is 386-405-4408.

Land of Lamborghinis and Ferraris

There are people working at sewer plants. They are good people. Good people in the world are cleaning the poop, collecting garbage, working in funeral homes…. Did they really grow up dreaming about cleaning the poop?

What were their dreams? What were their goals?

Have they failed in life?

Imagine that we all live our dreams. Imagine land of Lamborghinis and Ferraris…no Hondas and Toyotas… Land of Chris Ruth Steakhouses and no Burger Kings or McDonald’s…

Imagine boring life in Mar a Lagos of the world… with nobody to clean the poop…

Life is not reaching a goal and happily dying after you are there…

Life is about a journey

Life is as good, as good is our journey…

The happiest person in the world this minute is a boy after his first kiss… not the richest Warren Buffet and Bill Gates…

You can’t buy happiness… even with a Master Card…

But we can make our journey memorable...

* this post is inspired by a wonderful post by Thomas Craig You Are Right Where You Are Supposed to Be!

Vegas Bob hit the the exposed nerve with this blog post. he put in words what I feel. he wrote the blog that I wanted to write. he breathed out the words that I wanted to breathe...

Active rain is still here, many participants are still here. But haven't we lost something? Innocence of early AR? Camaraderie of early AR? Joy of early AR?

We are still here, but we are more mature, more cynical, more business-like, less organic.

I think we were the community and people first, and business second. We were naive, and many did not believe there was business, so we were sincere, honest, and loved people here.

Now we know that there is business

Plaza Resort & Spa, the premier Daytona Beach condo-hotel, is awake from the sleepy winter. A week ago there were 25 units for sale, and today only 22. The inventory is decreasing, but the prices have gone down as they always do in the slowest time of the year. They will slowly rise, expecially in summer.

Summer is when we have seasonal real estate boom in Daytona Beach Area.

So, there are 22 units for sale in MLS in Plaza Resort & Spa in Daytona Beach. Well, this is what MLS says. In reality there is 21 unit.

Unit 506, a direct oceanfront studio for $62K, is listed as Active, but it is anything BUT Active. This is a short sale, where the Seller is not cooperating, and where the Listing agents had 4 offers, but wasn't able to get a response from the Seller.

This is a lost case, as when you have a non-cooperating Seller, there is nothing you can do. Of course, the agent could withdraw the Listing.

Interesting, are there other fake active listings in Plaza Resort & Spa?

Looking for a condo or a condo-hotel in Daytona Beach Area. Call me 386-405-4408.

I rarely reblog, and this is the sign that I really liked this blog post by John B. McKernan.

I was cautious when clicking, as I am tired of the barrage of these senseless "Time to buy now" calls. I was afraid this was just another explanation of why the buyers need to buy now (becuase we, the agents, need money), so reading this well written and well thought of post was like fresh air.

My dear friends’ granddaughter when she was little was told that they couldn’t buy what she wanted, because they did not have money.

- Daddy, why don’t you go to the bank and take the money, and then we can buy (whatever was there that she wanted)?

She is 18 today, and she already knows that you do not just go and take the money in the bank and buy what you want.

But the President, who is over 18, still does not know. And he goes to the bank and takes the money... Our money... My money... Would I, personally, give him a penny? 

Who can explain to him that even when he want to "buy" happiness, health, and other important things for which you do not have money, he shouldn't?

And how come our President, who is over 18, does not know that you can’t buy happiness even with Master Card?

Guess, takes longer for Presidents…

If, of course, we allow longer…