Fabiano signing his newest book, Egmont Passage Tale of the Dreamcatcher - 08/28/09 04:32 PM
This evening enjoy wine and cheese at ALVA International until 8 pm - author (and client and friend) Nino Fabiano is signing his newest book Egmont Passage Tale of the Dreamcatcher.
A tale of intrigue set on Tierra Verge, the book blends local history with current events.
Pirates Amy and Tami dressed for the occasion.
Nino will also be here tomorrow from 10 am to 1 pm.  Come buy one or both of his books, and have it autographed.
… (13 comments)

Vinoy Place St Petersburg Market Update 8-23-09 - 08/23/09 01:14 PM

 
Vinoy Place continues to do well despite a slower condo market in downtown St Petersburg. Built in 2001 and 2002, the 4 towers and 10 townhomes have 102 units.
So far in 2009 there have been 5 closed sales of Vinoy Place condos, ranging from $775,000 to $1,200,000, with an average of $890,000. The price per sq ft has ranged from $262/sf to $331/sf, with an average of $293/sf.
There are currently 8 Vinoy Place condominiums available for sale through the MLS, ranging from $580,000 for a 1,793 sq ft short sale to $2,200,000 for a 4,033 sq ft … (3 comments)

Having the inside track - 08/23/09 12:07 PM
Generally the reason you have the inside track is that you're trusted. You need to respect that trust to maintain it.
Confidentiality is an important requirement in a client-agent relationship, and it's implied in your relationships with the community as well.
Often developers will share things with me before the information is made public. I always ask a) may I share this with my clients and b) is this something I can blog about? and I always respect their answers. Similarly, when I have multiple clients in a building or neighborhood, I'll ask them if I can share their information with … (5 comments)

Ovation condos have begun closing - 08/22/09 01:26 PM

Ovation condos have begun closing - so we now have a definitive answer for the question we're frequently asked - When will Ovation start their closings.
The first buyers to close are Richard and Melissa Middlesworth. Check out the Ovation article in tomorrow's St Pete Times.
Ovation is the latest luxury condominium developed and built by JMC Communities. Mike Cheezem has been building quality condominiums for many years here in the St Petersburg area. It means a lot to buy a condo knowing that the developer will stand behind what he builds, and will be there in the years ahead … (5 comments)

Museum of Fine Arts - St Petersburg Florida - 08/20/09 02:57 PM

 
Looking out my front window this morning I saw some young ladies walking up and down the steps of the Museum of Fine Arts - obviously working on their posture. Learning to model? Just gaining poise?
It's another day of sunshine in St. Petersburg so the umbrella is for keeping the sun off, not the rain.
By the time I got my camera and went out the door, I no longer could get the group ascending the stairs in harmony, heads held high and straight, but I think I caught a bit of the moment.
Sometimes it's tai chi, … (7 comments)

Book Signing at ALVA International real estate office - 08/15/09 02:14 PM

 
Antonino Fabiano, one of our favorite clients and friends, and author of Dreamcatchers, will be holding two book signings at our office, ALVA International, Inc., 238 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg, Florida, on Friday, August 28th from 5-8 pm and Saturday, August 29th from 10-1.
Why a book signing at a real estate office? Well,
Why Not?
It's a win-win in our opinion - exposure for the book, the author, and our new (since Christmas) real estate office. It's a great downtown St Pete location where lots of people walk by.
Egmont Passage: Tale of the Dreamcatcher uses the … (2 comments)

Ana - the first named storm in the Atlantic for 2009 - 08/15/09 01:34 PM
We rather ignore hurricane season which lasts from June 1st until November 30th unless there's a named storn. Then some people are glued to every weather report to guess which direction it's going to take. I prefer to get the advisories directly from the National Hurricane Center rather than listen to the hype. The advantage of hurricanes is that you know about them days ahead of time. The disadvantage of hurricanes is that you know about them days ahead of time.
Personally, I keep track, but don't get concerned until much later when it's evident if it's really headed our way. … (3 comments)

Wealth and college choice - 08/15/09 01:19 PM
There have been several reports on the best college to attend for various reasons, from Wall St jobs to partying. Today Forbes.com posted a list of which colleges generated more billionaires. Here are the top 5 graduate billionaire generators.
#1 - Harvard with 54 billionaires  (5% of the world's billionaires)
#2 - Stanford with 25 billionaires
#3 - Univ of Pennsylvania with 18 billionaires
#4 (tie) - Columbia and Yale with 16 billionaires each
Some 10% of Forbes 400 Billionaires last year didn't have a college degree.  So I guess Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg count in that group since they … (4 comments)

Social Networking - Cutting Your Own Grass - 08/15/09 09:10 AM
I thought the content of the video was right on, and the way the video is displayed in the blog is cool technology. This will also give a taste of what a RE Bar Camp is about.
Via Jeff Turner (Real Estate Shows):
Yesterday, I finally got around to editing the kickoff presentation I did at REBarcamp Denver.
This morning I received this message in tweet from Jeremy Blanton: "Can you do me a fav & put that video up on AR?" I asked him to tell me why and the following was his response.
Jeff, I would like you to post … (0 comments)

Stefan Swanepoel on Trends in Real Estate - 08/14/09 03:47 PM

Stephan Swanepoel spoke this morning in Tampa on 7 Strategies to Succeed in Today's Real Estate Market at an event sponsored by Engel & Voelkers. Swanepoel is known for spotting trends early on - when you read his books, be sure to read the paragraph-long trends as well as the chapter-long trends so you can be looking for what's coming.
He publishes an annual trends report and for the next issue, he'll be breaking that into two books - one with information to make your business profitable and the other to cover social media, which has grown so fast it … (5 comments)

 
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Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS

Saint Petersburg, FL

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ALVA International, Inc.

Address: 238 Beach Drive NE, St Petersburg, FL, 33701

Office Phone: (727) 898-2582

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