Real Estate Musings from St Pete, Florida

Sun rising over the Vinoy Basin.

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:24:05 -0500

Gorgeous sunrise over Vinoy Basin out into Tampa Bay.

Mounted Police in downtown St Petersburg

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:17:23 -0500

Downtown St Petersburg has its first Mounted Police. Brooklyn and Jacob came to St Pete from Boston - hope they'll like the warmer winter! Boston recently disbanded its 12 member Mounted Police which had served Boston for over a century.

I was having lunch at the St Petersburg Yacht Club when I saw this pair pass the big window by the waterfront. This is their first day on the job here, so heads are turning and people are coming outside to watch.

Tami took this photo from right outside our office - one more attraction we can see from our desks. They are in Straub Park, right by the Museum of Fine Art.

The St Petersburg Police Department has patrolled downtown St Pete by car, on foot, by bicycle and Segway - now they can add horses. Friday and Saturday evenings we'll see the mounted police as well as the horse drawn carriages in beautiful downtown St Pete.

Fabiano signing his newest book, Egmont Passage Tale of the Dreamcatcher

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:32:24 -0500

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.

Vinoy Place St Petersburg Market Update 8-23-09

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 13:14:54 -0500

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 townhome.

Having the inside track

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 12:07:15 -0500

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 my other clients - which may be a sales price before closing, coming price reductions, or information passed on to them by their attorneys.

Whether it's questions on a new shop or photos of a customer - always ask permission to share, telling them where you plan to share it.

Ovation condos have begun closing

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 13:26:08 -0500

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 to take care of any problems that may arise.

It's a real pleasure to work with the JMC Community, and so good to know that whether selling a new unit of theirs or a resale, that they will be there to handle any issues.

In an era of extended finger pointing, it's a welcome change to deal with a company that takes responsibility. That's part of what you're buying when you buy a JMC condo.

The sales staff for Ovation will be moving into the Ovation building on Tuesday. If you have an interest in buying in Ovation and want to see one of the two furnished models, please call The Simms Team at (727) 898-2582.

Museum of Fine Arts - St Petersburg Florida

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:57:33 -0500

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, sometimes bicycles, but there's usually something going on along Beach Drive.

Book Signing at ALVA International real estate office

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 14:14:38 -0500

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 St Pete area as a backdrop, and weaves history and current events into an interesting tale.

In the current economic environment, the more we can help each other succeed, the more each of us will thrive. I think making more people aware of this interesting book will enrich their lives as well.

If you can't make it to St. Petersburg to get your autographed book, you can order Dreamcatchers online.

Ana - the first named storm in the Atlantic for 2009

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 13:34:08 -0500

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. But then, we keep our hurricane supplies on hand all the time, and we know where we'll go if we need to evacuate. Not being worried is NOT the same as not being prepared.

Wealth and college choice

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 13:19:55 -0500

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 attended Harvard but didn't graduate.

Social Networking - Cutting Your Own Grass

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 09:10:59 -0500

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 your video for the members because this is something they need to hear & understand. Especially those that are just starting down the social media road.

Many hear about the new technologies & think that they have to learn & understand each & every one of them. When in all reality, they could be 100 times more effective if they just found one or two ways to effectively market themself in the social media realm and become masters of those.

Like you mentioned in the video, not everything that you or I do will work the same for that member. Each market has it's own specific niche that the each & every person needs to learn. While twitter might work well for an agent in California, it may not do a thing for an agent in Idaho.

This simple principle applied to social media stands true for any type of marketing someone does. Example:

In my area, open houses are extremely ineffective. Agents that do an open house here only hold them to pick up that one or two buyer leads that come in, or the agent does the open house to please the seller.

Just because open houses do not work for here, does not mean that they are a complete waste of time. I have spoken with several people from around the US that use an open house as their main form of marketing & it has been super effective for them.

I guess the main reason I would love this video share is this: Each market & each person have their own individual uniqueness. The key isn't trying to learn how to do EVERYTHING, but to learn what will work & become a master of those.

Jeremy, that's good enough for me. :)

Jeff Turner on Twitter | Facebook

Stefan Swanepoel on Trends in Real Estate

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:47:19 -0500

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 fills an entire book.

Topics covered by Swanepoel included information overload on the internet, foreign companies now expanding abroad, MLS consolidation, the remaking of NAR, huge consolidations caused by the economy, the need to master short sales and foreclosures, and of course, navigating the social media.

And, yes, he mentioned Active Rain!

Egmont Passage: Tale of the Dreamcatcher

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 13:22:28 -0500

Egmont Passage: Tale of the Dreamcatcher is the latest novel from Antonino Fabiano. Combine local geography and lore (Tierra Verde and the Bayway Islands) with a captivating tale, a mystery, a ghost, and characters we knew from Fabiano's first novel Egmont Passage: Tale of the Seventh Mystery (available on amazon or for your Kindle) Though there is continuity from the first novel, this one stands on its own.

Zeke, JJ, and Izzy work on the campus television station of Bayway High School (and yes, there are high schools with their own television station and daily broadcasts) and tend to get involved in the news in addition to reporting it.

For Pinellas County locals, this has the interest of an ancient shipwreck with doubloons, familiar ghosts, time travel, history, and even weaves in the current events of annexation and the possibility of a gambling ship for Tierra Verde.

For those in real estate, the plot thickens with attempted takeovers, a missing land deed, and a corrupt politician.

Originally intented to appeal to young people, I found that I couldn't put the book down, so it obviously has wider appeal.

Disclaimer: I know the author, Nino Fabiano, and count him as a friend as well as a client. I don't believe that it colors my opinion on the book, but without knowing Nino I might never have found the book, and that would have been a loss. But then, not knowing Nino would have been an even greater loss. Yo Creo !

Renters often pickier than Buyers

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:48:13 -0500

Despite having less to choose from, renters are often pickier than buyers. Why? Perhaps because they will be living in the house or condo as it is. Buyers may be changing the flooring, or painting, or tearing out walls. They can make it theirs - renters are lucky if they can paint.

Generally renters are picky about the property, but perhaps they should be picky about owners as well. I think the renters should vet the owners just as the owners vet the tenants. What's the owner's credit rating? Is he current on his mortgage of the rental property? Has he filed for bankruptcy? The tenant could find himself out on the street, so he, too, should be doing due diligence.

Pinellas County Florida's the center of Coffee

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:27:37 -0500

Step aside, Seattle, and let me tell you about the role that Pinellas County, Florida, plays in enjoying coffee:

Terry Davis, of Ambex in Clearwater, is the third largest builder of coffee roasters in the US - machines that cost from $3,500 to $150,000. Whether it's St Petersburg, Oregon, or China - you're likely to find one of Terry's coffee roasters.

There are then about two dozen small coffee roasters in Tampa Bay, including Kahwa.

Then there's the matter of coffee filters. Enter Melitta cone filters. Melitta has been here in Pinellas County for 15 years.

You like flavorings in your cup or in the beans? Monin's Flavors, in France since 1912, is also in Clearwater, with labs and tastings. The bottles of flavorings you see on the shelves in your local coffee shops, and that you smell in the beans, may well come from Pinellas County, Florida.

It's worth reading the entire coffee article and seeing the photos that were published this morning in Bay, a bi-monthly magazine published by the St Petersburg Times. To go directly to the article, after you've clicked to Bay, go to Page 49.

Signature Place staging

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:00:16 -0500

We attended a VIP reception this week at Signature Place, the architecturally striking new condo in downtown St. Petersburg. This was a chance for a couple of hundred people to view the furnished models, and check out the common areas, enjoying food stations scattered throughout.It started with flutes of champagne in the elevator.

When we went outside into the 6th floor Sky Garden, we were impressed at the staging here at the end. The artificial turf never needs mowing or watering and you won't be bothered by noisy lawnmowers. We thought it was nice to stage this picnic.

After the music started and we were enjoying samples from Mise en Place, we looked over and saw that the staging had even included models! The people hitting golf balls on the putting green were obviously guests at the reception, but these two sunbathers certainly looked like staging!

Signature Place will start closing on sales later this month.

Scansnap makes it SO easy!

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 12:48:41 -0500

You've heard me brag about the Fujitsu Scansnap before and I like the new S1500 better even than the older ones.

Today was a great example - I bought a new 16 GB flash drive to take with me to Costa Rica later this month. You never know when you'll want the details on what you bought, instructions, warranty and the receipt. Where did you buy it and how much? (well, maybe you don't care when it's a flash drive, but you sure do when it's a computer or a camera).

So - I put the opened cardboard instructions/warranty from the box, which had information on both sides of the two panels, stuck it into my Scansnap along with the receipt - obviously different sizes, but also oddball sizes and different paper/cardboard weights - and Voila! one button and an instant later all was scanned and ready for me to tell it where to save the .pdf file. I love my Scansnap!

Twitition on the new iPhone 3GS

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:27:09 -0500

What's a petition on Twitter? A Twitition.

After spending hours on hold and online with AT&T today to complain that they wouldn't give me a $199 upgrade on the new iPhone 3GS until next March (they really need to allow upgrades as fast as Apple makes them on the iPhone), Tami pointed out to me that

there's a petition on Twitter, a Twitition that

"we the undersigned petition AT&T to offer reasonable iPhone 3GS upgrade prices. AT&T should give existing customers the same rate for the new iPhone 3Gs that they do for new customers. New customers or not, another 2-year contract is being made."

In 1 day 11 hours there have been 4,956 signatures so far! Sign it using your Twitter account.

Who will make their mortgage payments? Credit card data mining.

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 08:24:37 -0500

This morning our paper had a long and interesting article from Charles Duhigg, business reporter for the NY Times. He wrote an article for the New York Times Magazine on all the data mining done by/for credit card companies. So, for example, someone who charges felt pads for chair legs or a carbon monoxide detector is far more likely to pay his credit card bill than someone who charges a chrome skull car accessory.

Avoiding for the moment the privacy or ethics issues ...

Wouldn't this data also work to determine who's most likely to pay their mortgage payments? Could doing this lower the interest rate and payments for those most likely to pay their bills?

Vanishing edge pool

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Sun, 31 May 2009 13:35:24 -0500

In Florida we frequently see a Vanishing Edge pool or an Infinity Edge pool. You often see them in locations where beyond the pool edge you just see water, whether a lake beyond, or open ocean. Sometimes, when there is a traditional light pool surface, the edge intrudes, even though it's not very wide.

Here, in this pool in Costa Rica, you have a dark pool surface, which gives the impression of a natural lagoon rather than a modern pool. This one is well done, and from this edge it looks as though you might fall off with the water, dropping hundreds of feet to the ocean below.

Not to worry - there's a safe pool wall that will keep you enclosed.

Pool design and tropical landscaping can certainly create ambiance, though.

Shopping at a roadside restaurant in Costa Rica

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Sun, 31 May 2009 13:24:30 -0500

Along the road from San Jose, Costa Rica, to the Jaco and Esterillos areas on the Pacific Coast, we always stop about half-way at a delightful Costa Rican restaurant for a cold drink and snack.

There's the restaurant with hot and cold foods, and tables on a covered patio;

there's the produce and grocery section;

and there's the handicrafts section, with hats, handbags, and hanging chairs like this one.

The scene was so colorful I thought it was worth the photo.

USB upgrade for Verizon air card

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Sun, 31 May 2009 13:16:31 -0500

I've had a Verizon aircard for a few years, one that fits into a PCMCIA slot in my computer, and I love the flexibility of having broadband access wherever there's cell phone reception, instead of having to depend on a wireless network.

Recently I bought a netbook, which I really like, but haven't used as much as I could because it has built-in wireless but not a PCMCIA slot for my Aircard. In the Vinoy lobby there isn't any free wireless, so the netbook isn't much use there. Ah, well, everything has disadvantages.

Last week Tami wanted to borrow my Aircard to use on our new laptop, because she was making a Facebook presentation that required an active connection. Fine. Well - not so fine. After checking with both Dell and Verizon to find out why it wouldn't work (good instructor, Tami checked ahead of time) and discovered that it needed a shorter PCMCIA card.

In the process of ordering that, I discovered that there is a Verizon USB Aircard, in fact it's a Novatel USB760 card, the latest EVDO technology modem, which Verizon would send me for free - if I added another 2 years to my contract. I like the service, so said OK. You can buy it online for $49.99.

The neat thing about it is that I now use this on ALL my mobile laptops - my old small Dell, the new netbook with 8.5 hour battery, the new Dell laptop with all the goodies, and any other machines laying around. It's smaller to carry, and I like that it fits in a USB slot toward the back on my computers, since I found the PCMCIA slot near the front annoying.

Sometimes we have to be forced out of complacency to get the newest and best.

Signature Place is getting ready

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Sun, 31 May 2009 12:53:53 -0500

There's lots to like at the new Signature Place condominiums in downtown St Petersburg Florida. Their garden - on the 6th floor, not on the roof - has a pool and putting green, but on a nice sunny day lounge chairs like this are inviting places.

If you're inside working out in the gym, you can look forward to a post-workout dip in the pool, followed by relaxing here.

Note that all the "grass" is artificial turf. No brown lawns here, and no noisy lawnmowers on an early morning. The bushes and trees are live, though.

Signature Place, 3 years under construction, will start closing on units the latter half of June 2009.

Contact The Simms Team if you'd like buyer representation for a condo in Signature Place.

Parking Meters create Poor Publicity and Punctures Profits

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Sun, 31 May 2009 12:42:29 -0500

Recently the City of St Petersburg installed parking meters along Beach Drive - ostensibly to prevent employees from taking parking spaces away from customers - but we all know it's to increase revenue to the City.

50 cents an hour, two hour max, with a 2 hour limit. 8 am to 11 pm. 7 days a week! Different blocks have different maximum times and different enforcement hours, but that - which creates lots of confusion - is a topic for another blog!

Poor Publicity when visitors to downtown St Pete don't have change.
Poor Publicity when someone dines at a local restaurant, and sips an after dinner drink or coffee, only to return to a ticket and fine.
Poor Publicity when people come to downtown events like the Saturday Morning Market or today's Taste of Pinellas and come back from a great event to find a ticket and fine.

Why not, if you must have parking meters here, use credit cards with a forgiveness period of 30 minutes, that gets added to your card, none of which requires change?

Punctured Profits when people don't stay for dessert or an additional drink or coffee because the meter's running out.

Punctured Profits when the gelato shop no longer gets morning coffee business because it doesn't make sense to a customer to put in change when all the rest of the spaces are empty.

Punctured Profits when customers go to the competition a block away where there's no charge for street parking.

Why not wait til 10 am to start enforcing a parking fee? You could have the local businesses put hoods over them until 10 am or put up a sign saying, Complimentary til 10 am.

Question I can't answer

Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) — Sat, 30 May 2009 19:23:56 -0500

When we write about the local market and the lifestyle here, we often blog about what's happening with the schools. I'm no exception, and have blogged about our Pinellas County schools as well.

Sometimes our readers think we have all the answers. Today I received this e-mail:

My son attends Pinellas Park High School and will continue for the next two years as I was told he will be grandfathered in since are area's zoned high school has changed. What I would like to be assured is that he will continue to be able to catch a bus to and from school.

Sorry, I can't give that assurance. I directed the writer to the Pinellas County Schools site and suggested she discuss her concern with them.