Oceanside Inn in Daytona Beach Shores. Market Snapshot - 02/26/10 08:39 AM
Oceanside Inn in Daytona Beach Shores is one of the best condo-hotel resorts in the area. I wanted to write "affordable", but today there is no strict distinction, as you can find deals with similar prices in those, which were considered expensive just a few years ago, like The Plaza Resort & Spa.
The resort is a combination of pretty good physical shape, not the worst condo-owners association (which is a compliment), and one of the best rental management (which is not an exaggeration), and just the amenities that are needed but not a huge and unjustifiable burden on the owners.
… (1 comments)

The Right Way To Get Wrong Results - 02/25/10 12:41 AM
How often in our lives are we absolutely sure that we know how to do things? Simple things. We can explain why we would do it way, and it would sound reasonable, and sometimes even scientific.
Our Branch office is all glass in the lobby of a resort. Right across from the Front Desk. We just opened it in January. When we were discussing the lease, we were asked to wear name tags "so that people could clearly see that you are not resort employees". What is wrong with name tags? Nothing...
So we got them. Now, every time someone has a … (10 comments)

Beyond The Mess - 02/21/10 11:58 PM
One of my favorite bloggers, Patricia Kennedy, posted Listing From Hell? Not Necessarily. Very well written blog, read it and you will not regret.
It reminded me another story, somewhat weird, but we do not choose the stories, we only choose whether to tell them.
The Seller of a condo-hotel studio in the Fountain Beach Resort put it for sale for $50K. He had a tenant. The arrangement was that if the tenant was at home, we could call him, give him 10-15 minutes and then show. The tenant never said "no" so that was not the problem.
The problem was that … (26 comments)

What to Ask If You Do Not Want To Buy a Condo or Condo-Hotel. - 02/21/10 11:32 PM
We advertise condos and condo-hotels. Prices are sometimes simply ridiculous. I do not know how somebody up north can seriously take ads like "$35K oceanview studio in the oceanfront resort".
So we get a fair share of calls. And so often the first and only question is "What is the monthly maintenance fee". And when I answer that it is $300, the next question is "A month?". That makes me think that they are calling from a third world country, where you can live on $4 a day.
Condo-hotel monthly maintenance in Daytona Beach area is different from residential condos, and coverswater, electricity, cable, … (2 comments)

Plaza Resort & Spa in Daytona Beach. Fee is 20% Less This Year... What? - 02/21/10 09:08 PM
In my recent blog Changes in Plaza Resort & Spa - Daytona Beach Condo-Hotel I mentioned that Maintenance fee has been reduced by $100.02 a month. Form $528.24 to $428.22.
Wow!
I think The Plaza Resort & Spa in Daytona Beach is the only condo (and condo-hotel) in the area to reduce the monthly Association (aka Maintenance) fee. But before rejoicing, let us think about it.
Association fee is a function of the budget. The Association puts together their annual budget, and then divide it in a specified manner (by sq ft. or by unit) and establishes the amount per unit. The Plaza Resort & … (0 comments)

My First License - 02/20/10 03:43 PM
It is sort of a story about my American past. Sounds so strange to my own ears, but after nearly 19 years in the US, we got a significant "past" in America.
When we came in the summer of 1991 and plunged into the scorching hellish heat with 104F in the stone jungles of New York after cool Moscow, we were thirsty, poor and very optimistic.
I could write, read and speak English and do it all pretty well. But I had difficulty understanding English. My ears were not adapt, and fluent speech was difficult to understand.
Some of it was … (20 comments)

It Is Cultural - 02/20/10 11:59 AM
On February 16 I posted Know Your Limitations... Or Get Pregnant. I had several comments since posting, responded to them, everything was fine. Until this morning.
I opened my Outlook and there were 2 comments that came in the mail. My eyes stumbled on the title. What the heck was it "Kow Your Limitations"? I looked at it in disbelief, read it again and again. ... until it settled. I goofed.
I sure ran spell-check, but it does not check titles. And I am the one, who repeatedly said that we need to check our titles and read them twice...
The funny … (13 comments)

Changes in Plaza Resort & Spa - Daytona Beach Condo-Hotel - 02/19/10 07:40 PM
We have not visited the Plaza Resort & Spa for some time. So, what happened in the Plaza Resort & Spa in Daytona Beach since we visited it last?
Well, there are quite some changes. Plaza Resort & Spa is a condo-hotel, and it has the condoowners Association. There was an annual meeting of the Association. As I wrote before, this is the Developer's association. They do not run monthly meetings, and they, pretty much do what any hotel would do.
At this annual meeting there was the budget to vote for, and they did. What everyone was waiting for was … (0 comments)

Know Your Limitations... Or Get Pregnant - 02/16/10 11:38 PM
I was 22, it was my last year at the University, and I already was married and had a baby. And I had to work to feed the family.
I worked at a plant, where we were assembling excavators. Huge plant, with thousands and thousands of workers. The job was very physically challenging, and my back was hurting as if I was an old fart. I soon ended up working the bridge crane, those large cranes gliding under the roof.
Safety first was the slogan only, and risks were unjustifiable and plenty. People did not care about others, and did not … (20 comments)

One Very Big Idea - 02/15/10 09:26 PM
We love great ideas. We cherish vision. We are for change, for not orthodox everything. We are for progress.
And who is against?
Here is the glimpse at one big idea, that actually was realized in the country covering 1/6 of the planet Earth's soil. This huge country was the USSR.
I was born when this project just started shaping up. 58 years later it is interesting to look at it. It may give us some insights.  
The idea was to turn the waters of Amu-Daria - the largest river of the Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union - from the Aral Sea … (25 comments)

It Is All Realtive.... But So Darn Cold! - 02/14/10 10:46 PM
We have quite a cold winter. At midnight it is 43F. And we are in Florida. And if Daytona Beach usually has more cold days than Miami, this winter we are pretty much the same.
DC area has a pretty cold and snowy winter. Snow disrupts daily activities, peole are trapped in homes because of the snow on the streets. Right now it is  30F in Washington, DC.
Chicago is darn cold. It is 20F. Brrrr... Cold winter.
Fairbanks, Alaska. Right now is 4F. Will go to 29F at the highest point tomorrow and then fall to 4F at night. It … (32 comments)

Convenience For Whom? - 02/14/10 10:13 PM
Short sales, loan modifications, foreclosures, bankruptcies.... Very often used words nowadays...
Very much abused words nowadays as well.
While driving I am listening to the attorney hosting a talk show. People call and he answers their questions. Someone asked the attorney about the short sale vs foreclosure, I actually missed the question, but it had something to do with the credit. The attorney answered that for the purposes of obtaining a mortgage there is no difference between short sale and foreclosure, and that you can get a mortgage (under certain conditions) in 2 years.
Really? I thought there was a difference … (10 comments)

Hawaiian Inn Oceanfront Condo-Hotel Unit in Daytona Beach Shores - 02/14/10 09:25 PM
This is the best priced direct oceanfront Condo-Hotel unit in the South Wing and by far the best deal in Hawaiian Inn in Daytona Beach Shores.
5th floor unit(#538) in a resort undergoing major concrete restoration. The unit is not rentable today, the glass sliding doors are coming before the end of the month, and after they mount the railings, the unit will be ready for rentals.
Please, keep in mind that in August, when the market slows down, the resort will start closing the units in the central (horseshoe) part of the building. This restoration will take minimum a year, … (2 comments)

Jamie McMurray Won The Daytona 500 - 02/14/10 08:03 PM
Our office is in the condo-hotel, and last couple of weeks it is busy in Daytona Beach. But today it was dead quiet. Everybody went to the racetrack. Internations Speedway. And when the unusual quietness was broken by the noise from the bar, I knew that we have the winner - Jamie McMurray won the Daytona 500 in 2010.
I am not a big fan, my son went to watch the race a few times, I haven't. Still need to do it to get the feel of the ecstatic crowd holding their breath in dramatic moments of the race.
I live here, I need … (2 comments)

Race... As In Racing - 02/14/10 03:53 PM
Wallace S. Gibson posted Top 10 Senate Seats GOP can take in 2010 She used an image of NASCAR race. And it reminded me that today is the biggest NASCAR event (at least for Daytona Beach) - Daytona 500. Actually, while I am writing it, they might be making their last lap or finishing few remaining laps and the winner will be announced any minute.
Anyway, if you read his interesting (maybe not so iinteresting for liberals - LOL) post, you will see that she uses the word race a lot. As I said, she even uses the image from NASCAR race. I guess … (12 comments)

Short Sale Short Story. Shorter Than The Short Sale - 02/13/10 06:16 PM
This is a short sale. A direct oceanfront unit in Oceanside Inn, a very nice (by Daytona standards) condo-hotel resort in Daytona Beach Shores.
The sellers are retired. They bought the unit for cash. Then they decided to get money out of it, and this way weather the real estate downturn, and we helped them with that.
Then, there are mounting problems, financial, medical... need to let it go. I hate it as prices are so low, and I know that should they be able to hold for a little longer, they would be able to sell it for so much more, … (8 comments)

Who Said Real Estate Is Boring? - 02/13/10 01:46 PM
There was a sale of the property. I was on the deed. The buyer couldn't come to the closing due to his schedule, so was driving a day earlier (he is 3-hour drive from us) to sign all the documents because he wanted to do the walk through and make sure everything what was promised to be left was indeed there.
It is a bit earlier than initially planned, so there was a hectic clean-up under way, but I was not there, I was in the office. I spoke to the Buyer's agent a day before, and I told him that because the closing was … (2 comments)

The Soviet Story that We All Should Know - 02/07/10 11:59 PM
The Soviet Story. A film about the past that can become the future.
I always think that it is difficult to amaze me with anything about the Stalin regime. But every time I read or watch about it, my blood boils. It is not about Sparta, it is not about Alexander the Great... It is about what happened in the recent past as much as about as what can happen in the future .
I think this film - The Soviet Story, is a must for every thinking citizen of the World. That's what the World can be again, maybe with variations, as guns … (31 comments)

An Episode in Relativity - 02/07/10 11:45 PM
It was when we still lived in the Bronx shortly after arriving to US. Canada was so close, that by the time we started driving around and actively contribute to US economy responsibly buying on yard sales in lower Westchester County on weekends, our eyes were set on Canada.
We just needed a good reason to go. Well, it came. Our friends' daughter was getting married to a Canadian, and we were invited to the wedding in Toronto. It was a justification of going on a spending spree in the form of gas and other unexpected things.
On the way back … (16 comments)

Tough Luck Helping Friends - 02/05/10 03:19 AM
A friend of mine, a good guy in the mortgage business for many years got heavily engaged in "investing' in those stellar years where the money were easily coming and in large quantity. Like many others, he did not stop early enough and ended up owning a few homes, which are all underwater.
After first trying to rent and make payments from rentals, then selling so that he would pay off the mortgage, he decided to go with short sales. We listed the homes, put signs, ran advertisement, got offers. Happy, sent him the  offer, and then for a few days … (19 comments)

The Only Designation That Matters - 02/05/10 12:43 AM
Ruthmarie Hicks posted Death by designation - or - if there are more initials after your name than IN your name you may be a "designation junkie"
What a great topic, and what a great way to put it. I was waiting for that post for a long time. Even for me, the insider, those abbreviations make little or no sense.
I recognize CRS, GRI, and CCIM, maybe a couple of others, but only due to unfair exposure to those in our daily lives of real estate professionals.
But I am an insider. For a "normal" Seller or Buyer even those … (17 comments)

 
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