Hawaiian Inn in Daytona Beach Shores. September 2011 - 09/30/11 11:54 PM
It is time for a market update for Hawaiian Inn in Daytona Beach Shores. Hawaiian Inn, built in 1965, is one of most popular Daytona Beach Shores vacation places, and always enjoyed great loyalty from vacationers.

The resort turned condo-hotel in the very end of the 90s. Developer was on a tight budget, and to maintain the property in decent shape, they always had higher than average maintenance fee, but avoided those Special Assessments.
But time was taking its toll, and the need for major concrete work was becoming a necessity. And a Special Assessment was unavoidable. The problem was … (6 comments)

Good SamARitan - 09/30/11 10:35 PM
Like so many others on Active Rain, I see when something is not working on AR pages of other people, when the font used for navigation blends with background and you can't find «Blogs» or «Home» to click away, and I am annoyed with a long line of HTML code instead of text, and frustrated that the member put a broken link there...
Of course, I do not have that problem, do I? No, not me... All my stuff is working and it is others, who make all those mistakes...
Yep, absolutely true... until I get an e-mail from a member, … (11 comments)

The Only Reciprocity I Know - 09/30/11 01:23 AM
Finally the stars lined up and closing was in 3 days. And then it stalled when the Buyer's Lender did not send the package to the Closing agent as promised. They got a bit deeper into Master Insurance policy for the Condo Association, and claimed that the replacement cost for the whole building was $400K more than what the association had insured it for. The lender wanted the Association to hike the insurance by 9%, and the association had no intention to increase the insurance per building (and the complex is 12 buildings) by $400K each just because some dude wanted … (14 comments)

Why Are You Talking To Me? - 09/29/11 03:26 AM
There was a blog post recently that suggested that we ask our customers/clients how they want to communicate with us. I assume it was about communicating during the transaction. I agree, it is a must.
However, real estate agents consider the client now in a long lasting relationship (usually without asking the client whether this is what they want), and the discussion is not whether it is appropriate to keep bugging the client, but how often is too often. So, the consensus here is that once a month maybe too often, but once every 3 months is cool.
Imagine a cancer … (23 comments)

Oceans Three Condominium in Daytona beach Shores - 09/25/11 11:53 PM
3043 S Atlantic Ave., Daytona Beach Shores, Florida
Oceans Three Condominium is one in the family of The Oceans, a popular condominium development in Daytona Beach Shores. Excellent location in Daytona Beach Shores. Shopping Center anchored by Publix is across the street. A rare place in greater Daytona where you can live without a car.

Built in 1974, this oceanfront 21-story condo houses 120 two-bedroom/2 baths units. 6 units per floor, units are about 1,200 sq. ft. on average, all have excellent oceanfront exposure and from 4th floor up also a view of the Intracoastal (Halifax River).
Outside oceanfront pool, … (14 comments)

Who Is Jac Kass? - 09/25/11 05:05 PM
It was shortly after immigrating to the US. We went to Department of Motor Vehicles in the Bronx to register a car. There was a huge crowd. A Russian guy standing in line commented dirty about the black guy in front of him in line. He did it in Russian, sure that nobody else would understand. The guy in front of him turned and asked in fluent Russian «Why are you insulting me?» And it was just the beginning.
It was a very awkward moment for the guy. He did not expect a black guy to know a word of Russian, … (10 comments)

Shake-Up on ActiveRain Olympus - 09/25/11 12:39 AM
I looked at the leaderboard and yep, there is a shake-up on AR Olympus. Number one on AR is now Russel Ray. He left behind Todd Clark, who  was number one for about 2 years, I think, after passing Lenn Harley, and I already can't remember who was number one before Lenn.
Anyway, this is the first time that number one on AR is not a real estate agent. Russel is a home inspector by trade, and a lot of other things by choice, a marketer, a photographer, a prolific blogger (but you could figure that easily yourself).
I must say … (20 comments)

Nothing Beats Competence - 09/24/11 12:11 PM
A week ago I received a call from the agent, who wanted to show a house in Port Orange, FL. The house is overpriced because the Seller is trying to avoid a short sale, but is a little bit underwater. It was rented, and it was not a big pain in the neck for the Seller. And then the Seller instead of signing a lease for another year, offered the tenant to buy it for the amount of the loan. And this was a serious mistake.
In few days an agent called and asked for references. Yep, the tenant is scared to be in … (11 comments)

What Experience Means - 09/24/11 12:44 AM
I read an article about death rate of prostate cancer patients, and the study showed that chances of survival depend a great deal on the experience of the surgeon. They said that patients operated by surgeons with more than 300 prostate surgeries under their belt have better chance of survival.
I think there is some resemblance with real estate. I think that agents who have sold over 300 homes or condos have that experience that adds value to the transaction and makes it overall a better one.
And I would not be surprised with patients seeking an experienced surgeon when their … (10 comments)

Happy End Story. And It Is Not Christmas Yet. - 09/22/11 12:48 AM
In Florida (and in Colorado) we are presumed acting as Transaction Brokers unless stated otherwise.
On AR I noticed the attitude that transactions brokers are sort of half-a$$ agents or brokers as we do not have to offer full fiduciary and that makes buyers we work with not clients but customers.
The belief that a piece of paper signed will make me half a$$ is very foreign to me. I am sure there are half-a$$ agents in any state. By the same token I am sure that there are good agents in Florida and Colorado.
Like so many others, I try to do a good job. … (24 comments)

Terri, I Miss You, Too - 09/20/11 11:36 PM
I posted The War & Peace of Short Sale a couple of weeks ago. It was at a time when I thought that all the hurdles were over, and we were sailing uneventfully to the Closing.
Wrong. The documents were sent to the Seller but the Buyer's Lender did not send the package to the Title Company because of the insufficient insurance on the condo building.
And in the evening on Thursday last week the Closing set for next day, Friday, looked dead in the water, and then the stars lined up in the last moment and we closed.
It was my … (16 comments)

How To Make Yourself A Laughing Stock on Trulia - 09/19/11 05:42 PM
It is easier than you may think and every day I see real estate practitioners doing just that. Showing to the world that they are not worth a penny. That they are naked kings. And then we are surprised that general public have very little respect for us.
I ran into a question on Trulia today, and it was from a guy who wanted to finance  a multifamily for $2 Mil with no more than $200K down payment, and, as he put it, he did not want to be cheated.
So, I went to read the answers, and the first one was … (32 comments)

Double Condo Unit in Fountain Beach Resort, Daytona Beach - 09/18/11 11:57 PM
Fountain Beach Resort at 313 S Atlantic Ave. is a condo-hotel in the heart of Daytona Beachside. It is second building south off the intersection with the International Speedway Blvd, and is walking distance to al the buzz of Daytona Beachside.
Converted to condo-hotel in 1999, this 149-room resort right in the Atlantic provides good views of the ocean from every balcony in the building. Overwhelming majority of units are 343-sf studios with a 49 sf balcony angled towards the ocean.
This is a true one bedroom unit. Not a chopped studio. Only one door from the hallway left, so they … (3 comments)

Does Lubricating Noose Make Hanging Enjoyable? - 09/18/11 01:49 PM
Ruthmarie Hicks from Westchester County, NY posted The vicious circle called marketing…(a.k.a. spam) which in turn was inspired by Inna Hardison's “Do consumers think Real Estate is a Relationship business? – one consumer’s perspective….”
I think that they both are excellent. Inna's is from the customer's perspective, and Ruthmarie's from the agent's perspective. I already have commented on Inna's and even reblogged it, so here I am commenting on Ruthmarie's.
"For example – I had a buyer that I performed flawlessly for.  She was thrilled with what I did, but when the time came to sell her home – her friend … (16 comments)

Win/Win Is Not For Amateurs. It Is For Buyers And Sellers. - 09/17/11 10:22 AM
 Thomas J. Nelson posted Win/Win Is For Amateurs and It Kills Deals... Wow, win/win is for amateurs? Really?
Well, then I am an amateur...
A featured blog, tons of comments. I do not think it is controversial, I think it is simply semantics.
Thomas himself acknowledges that «it's possible for both to achieve mutual benefits through the give and take of the transaction"
For me this is what I would describe as "win/win".
Here' s the example (and I am sure you can throw tons more of similar or even better ones):
The Seller has the property on the market … (21 comments)

Do consumers think Real Estate is a Relationship business? - one consumer's perspective... - 09/17/11 12:19 AM
I wrote a couple of blogs discussing BBA. The fact that there are many agents, who will not work without BBA did not surprise me. what surprised me is that those who venture working without always put it in the context of relationships.
And it is not. People come to us with their real estate needs, and not to become our friend for life, or foster the relationship.
For some reason many agents consider any business interaction a relationship building.
And when you say it is not a relationship, they do not hear.
I think serious discussion is needed and that's … (14 comments)

Does it Say "I Am a B…."? - 09/16/11 01:05 AM
I am looking at the profile photo and see a dog. I can’t help thinking that beside meaning a pet lover, it carries a message “I am a bi…”. Actually, for me it is the first impression, pet lovers come distant second.
Yes, it is not the dog’s, it is Jane Doe’s page, I get it. What I do not get is the reason why this Jane Doe thought that the dog is the best representation of her.
Maybe she is right? Maybe she knows better…
I am trying to understand the point. For example, my photo is there so that members have a … (19 comments)

How Tight Are Buyers' Shoes? - 09/13/11 12:37 AM
I have posted a few times recently about Buyer Broker Agreement, one post was featured and there were a lot of comments, another one wasn't and there were very few comments. I thought like I did not succeed and I did not see the reason to keep trying until I ran into a very good Alan May's post If you represent them, set them free.  I was glad he posted it. I think that agents would benefit from reading it.
The stunning lesson from reading comments to my blogs was that often times we do not walk in Buyers' shoes. It … (130 comments)

Plaza Resort & Spa in Daytona Beach. September 2011 - 09/11/11 11:29 PM
I have not been writing about Plaza Resort & Spa, a premier condo-hotel in Daytona Beach, for quite some time. It is time to revisit it and look at what is happening in the market.
Plaza Resort & Spa is one of the oldest condo-hotels (with only Hawaiian Inn being 4 years older), but it is one of the nicest resorts in the area, a higher end property and it is reflected in the overall ambience and in higher rates and higher occupancy.
The developer accumulated a lot of oceanfront properties, both hotels and vacant land, but Plaza Resort & Spa … (13 comments)

Opus Condominiums in Daytona Beach Shores. September 2011 - 09/11/11 02:22 AM
There are 32 condo units for sale in Opus Condominiums, the last built condominium building in Daytona Beach Shores, and the last in Daytona area.
Developer lost the building in a foreclosure sale. Canadian investors grabbed it and are now selling units as bulk seller, not as a successor developer. Besides semantics, this could mean that if new owners will find construction defects, there will be no developer to sue for damages.
There are always construction defects and the only question is how serious they are, and how much money it would cost to fix. Developers of Opus Condominiums (at that … (4 comments)

Too Much Time on Our Hands - 09/10/11 03:03 PM
I read a blog (or, better say, watched it) by Tatyana Permanova, a fellow agent from South FloridaDragon's car  It is a photo blog about a Dragon Car, which is, basically, a regular car meticulously arranged so that those dragons are the main theme of this eye-stopping vehicle.
Mark Paulson left a comment “Now there is someone with way too much time on their hands.”
And while I understand that for many of us it is difficult to imagine spending hours and hours on something like that, I do not agree with the notion that it is wasted time.
Maybe I … (17 comments)

Agatha Christie of Short Sales - 09/08/11 09:29 PM
Whenever I have a question, I Google it. And when I Google real estate related questions, very often I end up on About.com page.
Today I had a question regarding forgiven debt, and I ended up on this About.com page. I like articles on About.com, because they are quality stuff, and also because if you scroll all the way down you will see a familiar face of our AR own Elizabeth Weintraub, a writer for About.com, an agent and a short sale guru from Sacramento, an excellent blogger who turns boring short sales stuff into a clever and creative suspense masterpieces.
Have … (13 comments)

Educating Customers - 09/07/11 10:58 PM
 And Getting High Doing It
I do not like the term “educating customers” and I don’t use it. To me it has a connotation that customers are not smart enough and it is our job to teach them. In my market the customers I meet are usually sophisticated and experienced buyers. I learn as much from them as, I hope, they learn from me.
I posted In The Buyer's Corner.... inspired by the discussion about Buyer Broker Agreement. I am not using them, but I am not rallying against those who do.
The comments have one common notion and it is that … (15 comments)

In The Buyer's Corner... - 09/07/11 12:30 AM
In a recent featured post, with a lot of comments the author mentioned a Buyer Broker Agreement and said “I don't believe any buyer who understood agency would proceed without it”. And then somebody left a comment saying that he  did not use BBA.
The blog author responded with “Personally, I too do not ALWAYS require buyers to sign an agency agreement before I work with them but a majority of the time I do.  It is a rare exception that we don't at least sign one along with the paperwork when submitting an offer.  They have already chosen me, obviously, and that … (123 comments)

Living in Daytona Beach Shores. Living by the ocean. - 09/06/11 12:15 AM
Daytona area has 23 miles of the Beach.
The longest shoreline is in Daytona Beach Shores. Being so much smaller than its neighbor Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach Shores “picked” the best place on the beachside. It is bordered by the ocean  on the east and Halifax River on the west and is sandwiched between Daytona Beach to the north and Wilbur-by-the-Sea and Ponce Inlet to the South.

Our office is in Daytona Beach, in the oceanfront condo-hotel. And I live in Daytona beach Shhores. I try to walk home from my office as often as I can, and I enjoy walking barefoot … (13 comments)

It Is Hot. And I Scream Ice Cream - 09/05/11 03:49 PM
It is September in Daytona Beach Shores. And it is still hot in the middle of the day even on the beach. At this time there are more people in the pools than on the beach.
In a few hours there will be way more people on the beach, biking, walking, jogging, swimming, playing in the waves…
It is hot, and I scream… Ice Cream
Ice Cream I scream…

 

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… (8 comments)

Love Your Tenant... or It Can Cost You - 09/04/11 11:58 PM
Some situations when you describe them sound unreal. We were working on a short sale. After we got a contract, we thought it was now OK for the seller to rent it to tenants, as she desperately needed money.
She rented it to guys. However, because she was not paying any maintenance fee for a very long time, the management told them they could not use the pool, Jacuzzi, gym…
So she was charging them nearly half of the regular rent in the building. The problem was that she did not want to pay the maintenance fee, so she most probably … (14 comments)

The War & Peace of Short Sale - 09/04/11 10:42 PM
Cinnamon Beach in Ocean Hammock in Flagler County is one of those gorgeous new coastal developments that came at the peak of the market. We are working on a short sale there, and it is so far our longest. We are at 2.5 years mark. Yep…
First it was a sub for the Servicer, who negotiated the deal, but when they sent it to the Servicer, they refused to honor it. The Buyer walked away.
Then we went through court mandated mediation. The seller, hoping to ease the issue, agreed to settle with the second lender for $33, but it did … (4 comments)

Oops, What An Interesting Concept... - 09/04/11 10:40 AM
Judy Orr in the comment to Phyllis Lerner’s  STOP Over-Pricing Your Home For Sale... "You'll Catch Many More Bees With Sugar Than Vinegar"...   wrote “It is very difficult to get a seller to understand the concept of pricing at the low end to hopefully generate multiple offers. “
Well, I am not the Seller, but it is very difficult for me to grasp the concept. I understand why it is used when selling REOs and short sales, as time is way more important than money, but with those there is usually no problem for the Seller to grasp this concept. Judging by … (1 comments)

A State of Hyperactive Coma - 09/03/11 09:28 PM
In January 2009 I posted The Man Who Shot Down McCain
It was a bit of surprise to see the comment on this old blog coming in August just a few days ago. Actually two angry comments from a Russian named Boris. The comments were so familiar, that even if he would not have a Russian name, I could tell it in a fraction of a second.
The hatred, the blindness, lack of attempt to see world any different that what our propaganda instilled in us.
Anyway, I responded, and then there were two more comments, and it was turning … (19 comments)

Messrs Washingtons... and Jeffersons....and Napoleons - 09/01/11 06:32 PM
Aren't you fascinated by the level of competency that real estate agents and brokers are demonstrating in everything (at times even including Real Estate)?
I am.
How often do you read that the (stupid) banks lose more money on foreclosures than on short sales? How the heck do they know that? Do they know why, what is behind those decisions? Or this is simply a wishful thinking? «Oh, please, do not foreclose; let us sell, as it is much better...»
Better for whom?
Let me look around. I can only see agents and Sellers who benefit. Not the economy, not the nation. And why … (11 comments)

 
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Jon Zolsky, your Daytona Beach, Florida connection

Daytona Beach, FL

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Jon Zolsky, Daytona Condo Realty LLC, 386-405-4408

Address: 313 S Atlantic Ave., Suite A, Daytona Beach, FL, 32118

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