Wellington Homes and More...

Best of Saturday- SalsaFest at Greenacres Community Park

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:23:24 -0600

Best of Saturday- SalsaFest at Greenacres Community Park is happening tomorrow Saturday November 21!

If you are looking for a great time make it over to Salsafest! Just right outside of Wellington Florida, right off of 10th and Jog- you will be able to enjoy great Latin Salsa music. They are expecting at least 12,000 people.

This event is hosted by the Palms West Chamber of Commerce.

There will be three world renowned Salsa musical acts.

Rey Ruiz was born in Havana Cuba who's latest album is at the top of the charts. He will be the closer at SalsaFest. Ruiz defected from Cuba on one of his singing tours to the Dominican Republic. He then came to the U.S and started recorded his Salsa music. We are blessed to have Rey's talent among us. One of his albums earned him the title of "Salsa Singer of the Year". He has earned many awards and has a platinum album.

Lalo Rodriguez from Puerto Rico and Anthony Cruz from New Jersey are also going to be entertaining everyone with their talented Salsa music.

Make sure you get there in time for the Chihuahua Races that start at 3 p.m!

No Salsafest is complete without a Dominoes competition which starts at 1 p.m.

Don't forget to stop by and support the Latin Business booths.

Ah, the delicious Sizzling Salsa Cooking is going to be yummy! The mayors of different towns around here are also going to be having a cook off. Even children chefs are going to get in on the act and have a young chef competition.

This year's event is made possible by the very generous support of Dr Jose Ortega from the Palms Wellington Surgical Center, the Center for Joint and Bone Surgery and Optimal Wellness. This is they way that events in the private sector work. We get together, donate time and money together out of our own free will and desire to help and promote cultural awareness and support.

Children get to get into SalsaFest for Free for seven and under. Adults are $10 per ticket or $30 for a family of four. A part of the proceeds will be donated to the City of Greenacres Department of Leisure services to help them keep their award winning youth programs. Their youth programs reach out to underprivileged children in the Greenacres Community.

Come on out and join in on the fun!

Best Of Saturday- SalsaFest at Greenacres Community Park- Coach Katerina Gasset is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

IMPORTANT! Florida Real Estate Agents: New Licensee Law!

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:52:34 -0600

The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation or commonly known as DBPR is the governing agency over licenses in the state of Florida.

During the 2009 Legislative Session- the Florida State Legislature passed a new law- House Bill 425 as part of Chapter 455.227 (I0(t) that is for real estate licensees, appraisers, CAM and state contractors.

NEW REPORTING REQUIREMENT FOR CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS:

Beginning October 1, 2009, Chapter 455.227(1)(t)requires all licensees to report to the department within 30 days of being convicted or found guilty of, or having plead nolo contendere or guilty to a crime in any jurisdiction. This law also requires that any conviction prior to October 1, 2009.

A licensee who fails to report that information, may be subject to disciplinary action, including fines, suspension or license revocation. To report this information, complete the criminal self-reporting document and mail to the department as provided on the form.

There are two parts to this change that licensees need to be aware of: 1) In most cases the law previously required the reporting of felony convictions only, not misdemeanors. The law now requires the reporting of misdemeanors. 2) The law change now requires retroactive reporting for any crime that was not previously reported to the state, whether it occurred prior to getting a license, or after the license was obtained.

That means that if you have ever been convicted of a DUI; you now have to report that even if it happened before you got your license and even if it is a misdemeanor. That means that if you ever got convicted of a misdemeanor of possession of pot- guess what- now they want to know about that.

I am hoping that does not mean they will start revoking licenses over stuff that happened years ago to agents who have been serving their clients diligently and ethically.

They are really looking for those that are convicted of Fraud, Identity Theft, Extortion and those types of crimes.

Here is the form for reporting anything!

Please call DBPR directly if you have any questions at 850-487-1395.

Wellington Florida Homes For Sale- Find Your Perfect Dream Home Today!

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:01:27 -0600

Wellington Florida Homes For Sale- Find Your Perfect Dream Home Today!

Wellington Florida is a small home town 'feel' place to raise horses, families and friends. Living in Wellington Florida is like living in Old Florida where mature trees provide the backround and imagry of horse and rider riding off into the sunset come to mind. Below sunsets are children playing and friends walking or biking along the community trails and pathways. To learn more about Wellington Florida- click here.

Wellington Florida home for sale come in all sizes, styles from condos, townhouses, single family homes to Mcmansions and equestrian ranches on acreage. Whatever it is you desire in a home or vacation getaway or a second home for your equestrian needs- you will find it here in Wellington Florida.

You will be able to find homes that are in gated communities to those without a homeowners' association. You don't need homeowners' associations here in Wellington Florida in order to have a tidy neighborhood because the Village of Wellington code enforcement is very strict and a phone call or two will usually rectify any situation that may be an eye sore in our community.

Most of the schools in Wellington Florida are rated A schools. You can check with the Palm Beach County school district website to confirm the boundaries and locations of public elementary, middle and high schools. We also have Wellington Christian school which is a private school for grades preschool to high school and is a very popular school around here.

If you are a homeschooling family you will feel right at home here in Wellington Florida. We have a very large homeschooling population in Wellington Florida. Feel free to contact me about homeschooling. I am a veteran homeschool mom of over 28 years.

Wellington Florida homes for sale- prices are low today and you will be able to get a lot for your money right now. We will help you find your perfect space and place under the sun here in sunny South Florida- Wellington Florida! You will be able to find small condos in the low $100,000's to luxury estate homes beginning in the $600,000 range up into the millions.

The search screen below is a search of the homes for sale in Wellington Fl. You can see all the homes for sale right now in Olympia of Wellington Florida. If you want to search other areas just change the search fields below. It is interactive. You can use it right here and now! No clicking to another site. Just search for your home right here. Have fun and don't hesitate to call Nestor Gasset and Katerina Gasset with any help you may need at 561-753-0135.

What's In A Web Browser Anyways? Back To The Basics.

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:19:41 -0600

What's In A Web Browser Anyways? Back To The Basics.

Whenever I write a post about techonology and mention using Firefox or Safari I get emails and comments with the following questions:

What is Firefox?
I can't use Firefox because I have to use IE for my MLS.
Why do you say you use Firefox and Safari?
I want to use Firefox but it is just a habit to use IE.

So let's go over some basics:

When you buy a windows PC you get IE- Internet Explorer.
When you buy an Apple computer it comes preloaded with Safari.
Whether you have an Apple or a PC; you can download FREE Firefox web browser, you can have Safari on a PC also.
There are many other browsers out there for you to choose from.

These are all Internet Browsers.
You use these programs to browse, search or use the Internet.

You can have more than one browser on your computer at the same time.
In fact you can have more than one browser open on your computer at the same time.
For instance: you can have IE opened up and be on your MLS and have Firefox open in another window for gmail or Google documents and you can have Safari open to be surfing on the internet.

You can also have tabs open in Firefox; lots of them without slowing down your computer.

So what do we use and why:

We joined the Mac world in the last few months so we use Safari a lot now.
But before we got our Apple computers we had PCs and this is what you can do to get the best browser experience:

Download the Free Firefox browser.
Set the Firefox browser as your default browser.
That means that whenever you go on the internet you will automatically open Firefox.

When you need to get on the MLS you will click on the IE Icon and Internet Explorer will open.
When you are finished using the MLS, close out of IE.
Unless you are a really heavy gamer you do not need IE for anything other than MLS.

Firefox is a much safer browser. The new version is lightning fast!
You will get used to the speed that Firefox browses the internet and will wonder what took you so long to get Firefox. You can also save all your tabs when you log out of Firefox. There are so many features, too many to list. Just go to their website and read all about it.

The next best part about Firefox is all the great add-ons.
I wrote a post about managing your social online life with Yoono, a Firefox Add-on.
I have Colorful Tabs- and add on that lets me see all my tabs clearly and I have lots of tabs on!
Then there is the Read It Later add-on that I wrote a post about here.
This is just the tip of the iceberg of Add-ons that developers make to use with Firefox.

Hope this helps!

FTC Disclosure: I am not an employee of any of the browsers, I am not an affiliate of any of the browsers or add-ons. I do not make any money explaining how to use these programs. I may get a thank you from the company. I may get more subscribers to my blog because of sharing great information I find on the internet. At this time these are all free add ons however since I don't know any of their marketing plan I do not know nor can not know if they ever plan to monetize their tools. I am only sharing my experience with these tools.

What's In A Web Browser Anyways? Back To The Basics by Coach Katerina Gasset is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Wellington Florida Real Estate News: Palm Beach Steeplechase Is Almost Here!

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:39:24 -0600

Wellington Florida Real Estate News: Palm Beach Steeplechase is almost here! Mark your calendars and get your tickets now.

Wellington's Palm Beach Steeplechase is Saturday November 28th- the Saturday after Thanksgiving right across the street from Palm Beach International Equestrian Center.

People come from all over the world to compete and to be entertained at Steeplechase.

Of course one of the highlights is you will get to dine on our son's exquisite culinary delights that will sure to please your palette. Joshua (our second oldest son) is the executive chef at White Horse Tavern, formerly Tavern On The Green- at the Palm Beach Equestrian Club. He has already created the menus for the event. There will be several tents that will be provided for private parties for the day. If you are planning to eat at White Horse Tavern you will need to make your reservations now or else the restaurant will be totally booked. If you miss eating at the restaurant during Steeplechase make sure you get in this season to dine. Our son, no bias intended is one of the best chefs in the United States.

We anticipate thousands of people to attend this event. The Steeplechase race is so exciting to watch. We have so much fun at Steeplechase because most all the Equestrian events here in Wellington Florida are Polo events and Hunter/Jumper and Dressage events. We don't get many races here so Steeplechase adds another dimension to the venues that make Wellington Florida a first class and world famous equestrian area.

The race is like the kick off to our equestrian winter season. The top Steeplechase riders will be coming from Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other states and many countries to compete in 5 races for a total of $200,000 in prize money.

Steeplechase was a race that began in Ireland in the 18th century where the race was from one church steeple to another. Eventually this race became popular all over the world.

The riders and their horses will race clockwise for 2.25 miles including over hurdles. This year there will be an additional race, the Celebrity Race. This is definitely an event you will not want to miss. Horse racing is always crowd pleasing.

The gates will be open for tailgaters at 9 a.m. and the first race will begin at 1 p.m.

This year there will be four designated tailgate sections. You bring your car or tent, bring your own food and drink and get ready to have a blast!

Whole Foods Market is sponsoring a tailgate contest for the most creative, most equestrian and most culinary. We also can not leave out, the most Palm Beach! This is a whole entertaining section just on its own. You should see how people go all out on decorating and preparing for this contest.

Tailgate fees- each car is charged $295 and that includes four tickets. If you want to have a tent space the fee is $395 for a 10x10 and includes 8 tickets. You can also reserve the Home Stretch Rail Chalet for $3000 which includes 40 tickets.

Other activities will include:

A tug of war between the firefighters and the sheriff's deputies.
A classic car parade.
Harley- Davidson motorcycle parade.
A local Mayors' race. A Female Hat Contest.

There are also lots of entertaining activities for the kids:

Children's carnival. Pony
Jugglers, Face Painters,
Balloon Artists,
A Petting Zoo,
Pony Rides,
Bounce Houses.

And don't forget about the entertaining Jack Russell Terrier Race.

General admission is $20 in advance or $25 the day of the event and children under the age of 12 are free.

Parking is $10 per car for general parking, please see above for tailgate fees. VIP parking is available for $25.

See you there!

T o view Florida Short Sales- Click here . We know Palm Beach County Short Sales and Port St Lucie Florida Short Sales and will help you get your home Sold if you need to Sell your home and help you buy your home in Palm Beach County Florida : Call us today.

Simplify Your Online Life!

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:01:43 -0600

How To Be In More Than One Place At The Same Time on Your Social Networks. Simplify Your Online Life!

I have been experimenting with different programs to help make my social networking more efficient.
The biggest thing I look for in programs whether they be add-ons to Firefox or actual software to install on the hard drive is how much time can I save by using the features.

Efficiency means saving time in my world. It also means being able to effectively network for business and causes.

There are some great tools for Twitter. Actually a lot of them. But most of them are Twitter specific.

I like Tweetdeck for Twitter and I do use Tweetdeck a lot.

Tweetdeck does save me time when I need to be totally focused on Twitter and Facebook.
You can now feed your Facebook and your Myspace right into Tweetdeck.

It is especially great if you want to connect to a certain person. Remember that on Twitter the 6 degrees of separation really can happen very quickly.
Whoever you want to meet- you can do this very efficiently using Tweetdeck- through following their tweets, following their followers and then adding value to their Tweet line.
It is also great when you want to keep on top of a certain trend or cause you are involved with. You can follow the # hash tags of your group, event, trend or cause very easily with Tweetdeck because you add as many columns as you need.

The downside to Tweetdeck is that it takes a lot of space on your hard drive and it freezes up older systems. You can always delete Tweetdeck if that happens to you.

I do a lot of online work consisting of blogging, researching, marketing, participating, networking, coaching and email communicating.
While doing many of those online activities I can multi-task.

On my Igoogle page I have all my social networking as little widgets (which is set as my home page) on my Firefox browser.
But even that is not exactly what I really wanted because then I need to have more windows instead of tabs open in order to fully make use of those widgets.

Then I discovered Yoono! I have been using Yoono now for a couple of months and it is the one application that is helping me to maximize my time online and help me to not waste time. AND IT IS FREE!

Yoono is a Firefox add-on. Just go to your Mozilla Firefox home page and click on the top of your tool bar on tools. Under tools, click add-ons. Type in the search bar- Yoono.
Install Yoono. You can choose different colors for your background. I like the pink contrast to my home page.

Yoono works as a column down your left sidebar of your Firefox browser. You can see all the action going on in real time without clicking in and out of websites or gmail or whatever you are working on. They also have a desktop version which is like Tweetdeck except does not seem to suck so much life out of the computer.

You can set Yoono to run your Twiiter feeds, your Facebook, Myspace and Instant Messengers like Google Chat and AIM. If you are an Instant Messenger person, Yoono is fabulous! All your IMs come in on one sidebar!

It is better than Twirl or Twitbin and it is faster than Twitterfox.

The best thing about Yoono with Twitter is that I can see all the Tweets, all my Friends timeline and Tweets, I can see my DMs and my Replies to me all on one little sidebar! From there, I can post my Tweets, reply to Tweets and even Retweet right in the column there. I can also click on a profile and it will take me to their Twitter home page. It is the easiest way to retweet which is one of the most powerful ways to enter a conversation on Twitter.

Another great feature is you can share websites, links, photos, etc all with one click to all your social networks. You can drag and drop images, video and links right into your IM to share with your friends and colleagues. You can share anything from the web with Yoono.

Check out this feature that Yoono also included on the sidebar. You can get all kinds of websited suggestions like when you are doing research for a post or an article.

IF you are looking for a way to get your social networking sites organized and have them all aggregated in one spot- try out Yoono. The price is right! FREE!

Simplify Your Online Life! by Coach Katerina Gasset is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

By TwitterButton

Send A Gift- Thank You Card To Our Soldiers- Xerox Let's Say Thanks Program

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:07:40 -0600

Thanks to Xerox sending out a Thank You card to our soldiers is simple, fast and free.

At this time of the year we can take some time out to teach our children about giving thanks and living in gratitude.
The best way of course to teach gratitude is by being a good example of being in a thankful state of mind.

You can gather your children around your computer right now and go to this site:

Let's Say Thanks- In Support of our Troops.

All you do is click on the card you want to send and then click on what you want the words on the text side of the card to say.
You don't even have to think to do this because it is all done for you. You just have to choose the card and the text out of the ones on the site.
Then you just click send.

Xerox prints out the postcards and then these cards go into the care packages that Givetothetroops® sends to our soldiers.
What a gift Xerox is giving to the troops. I really appreciate a company setting a great example like this.
The cards have all been designed by children and are patriotic. There are many patriotic symbols and messages to choose from.

There is a link on the site where you can read the responses from soldiers around the globe.
For some of these soldiers, your card will be the only mail they get from home.

Here are some of the comments sent back by different servicemen and women:

To all who have supported us,

I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you from myself and my fellow Marines. Your packages and well wishes have lifted our spirits at a time when we are so far away from our friends and family. I wish you could have seen the bright eyed looks and utter excitement from the Marines when opening the boxes. It was a true blessing that you made happen. It makes us proud to know that our fellow Americans care as much as we do. It makes the sacrifices we and our families make worth every minute we spend here. We Americans can stand shoulder to shoulder in unison on one thing - we're all proud of our country and we're all proud of each other. The effort you make on behalf of the troops is just as important as the work we are doing here and around the world.

- A Gunnery Sergeant

As I was leaving an un-eventful Valentine's Day today, one of the mail clerks yelled "Adams!! You have a package!!" A package, I thought to myself. I'm not expecting anything. What could this be? I took the box into my office and closed the door. As I opened the box, a flood of joy came over me as I looked over the cards from you and the young ones, one of my co-workers walked in to see tears rolling down my eyes. I had never received a gift with this much love, packed into one little place from someone that I've never known.

As I thought about what the cards talked about with soldiers giving their lives and privileges up to ensure the freedom of Americans, it was nice to know that someone out there does not take it for granted. I don't know who you are, but you are truly a gift from God. The gift that gives me the drive to serve my country proudly. As you pray that the Lord keeps the soldiers here safe and brings us home, I pray to the Lord that people like you do not die off from this world. Your contributions are nowhere near inadequate. Please never forget what this means to a soldier. Thank you for your love and thoughts.

Please be kind- take a moment out of your day to send a card for free to a soldier today. Please Reblog!

Short Sale- REDUCED! 12460 Sunnydale Dr Wellington Florida 33414

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:25:03 -0600

Short Sale-REDUCED! 12460 Sunnydale Dr Wellington FL 33414

Overview
Maps
Photos
Features
Description
See the Video!
Neighborhood

$599,777

Single Family Home
For Sale

Main Features

3 Bedrooms
3 Bathrooms
Lot: 3,756 sqft

Location

12460 Sunnydale Dr
Wellington, FL 33414

Nestor and Katerina Gasset

International Properties and Investments, Inc
(561) 753-0135
coachkaterina@gmail.com
http://www.wellington-luxury-homes.com

Listed by: International Properties and Investments

Our recent listings

Short Sale-12460 Sunnydale Dr Wellington FL 33414
Lake Ida Delray Beach Florida Living- New Listing For Sale!
8364 White Egret Way- Lakes Of Sherbrooke- Lake Worth Florida 33467- Not a Short Sale!
Short Sale - 305 S Swinton Ave Delray Beach,FL 33444
Short Sale-Orlando Florida Vacation Home

Subscribe to our listing feed

See more Wellington, FL real estate for sale

Short Sale- 305 S Swinton Ave Delray Beach Florida 33444

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:05:45 -0600

Short Sale - 305 S Swinton Ave Delray Beach,FL 33444

Overview
Maps
Photos
Features
Description
Watch the Video!
Market Stats

$429,777

Single Family Home
For Sale

Main Features

3 Bedrooms
2 Bathrooms

Location

305 S Swinton Ave
Delray Beach, FL 33444

Nestor and Katerina Gasset

International Properties and Investments, Inc
(561) 753-0135
coachkaterina@gmail.com
http://www.wellington-luxury-homes.com

Listed by: Nestor M. Gasset

Our recent listings

Subscribe to our listing feed

See more Delray Beach, FL real estate for sale

Palm Beach- Back In The Day- Guess Who Trivia!

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:19:58 -0600

Palm Beach Florida- Back In The Day- Guess Who Trivia!

Palm Beach Florida was really popping in the era between World War I and the Great Depression!

Florida was really the rockin’ out place to be, to party and to live it up.

So here are some highlights- trivia you may not know!

Al Capone dreamed of making his home in Boca Raton Florida. He started to settle there but was put into prison. He later settled in Miami where he lived out his years and died of syphilis.

John Dillinger and his gang fired machine guns into the air at a house in Palm Beach on New Year’s Eve of 1933-34.

Hoagy Carmichael was a clerk in a West Palm Beach law firm before he made his fortune in music.

In 1921 President Warren Harding pushed for the creation of the Intracoastal Waterway because he was stranded with some people in a channel near Fort Lauderdale. He never forgot his miserable day in Florida.

The famous Architect who inspired much of Boca Raton and Palm Beach’s homes and shopping centers- Addison Mizner- buried his pet spider monkey ‘Little Johnny Brown’ somewhere on Worth Avenue. For those of you who do not know, Worth Avenue is second only to Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles.

Al Capone’s son was arrested in North Miami in 1965 for shoplifting aspirin and flashlight batteries totalling $3.50.

Babe Ruth was staying in Palm Beach in 1930 holding out for the salary of $85,000. He eventually signed a 2 year contract for $80,000 per year which was $5000 more than President Hoover made. This made Babe Ruth the highest paid baseball player in history.

George Gershwin stayed in Palm Beach to write the opera, ‘Porgy and Bess’ in 1935.

In 1929 Boca Raton banned public begging, brawling and stubborn children!

The first radio station in Palm Beach county was WJNO which opened on July 31, 1936.

Do you have any Palm Beach Trivia to share?

Make your own mark by selling your house with Nestor and Katerina Gasset- while we all have fun with trivia, there is nothing trivial about getting your house sold!

Photo Credit to Nationaltrust.org blog.

Savanna In Weston Florida- Homes For Sale

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:59:06 -0600

Savanna In Weston Florida- Homes For Sale

We had this cute little listing in Savanna that was priced just right, it was a short sale and we got it approved to close as a short sale. We had a lot of offers on this particular property with multiple offers coming in at the same time. It is a very popular area to live because the homes in Savanna of Weston Florida are just a 30 mile drive to Miami and a 20 mile drive to downtown Fort Lauderdale. Savanna is just minutes from Sawgrass Mill mall and Wannado City®. If you need to do a short sale on your home in Savanna in Weston Florida give us a call. We have a buyers' agent that specializes in the Weston homes for sale market.

Savanna is a gated community with a guarded gate. It is the largest gated community in Weston Florida. There are around 12,000 people residing in Savanna and there are over 60,000 people living in Weston Florida.

There are 2,963 homes in Savanna in Weston Florida. Those homes are divided up into different sections based on price ranges.

Here is some fun trivia about Savanna that even if you live here you may not know:

Savanna has 8 parks,
855 light poles,
119 fire hydrants,
87 cul de sacs,
5,252 Swale Trees,
9,640 irrigation heads.

The Savanna clubhouse and amenities are extremely varied. The clubhouse here even offers swimming classes and Tae Kwon Do and dance classes. You can rent the clubhouse out for your Birthday parties, anniversary parties, Bar Mitzvah parties and whatever your entertaining venue might be.

The pool area is very inviting! The resort style pools are immense so you can get your daily laps in right here. There is a large lap pool and a main pool with a waterslide. There is a kiddie pool that is interactive and there is a wading pool for your teeny ones. and a playground.

The amenities also include to lot playgrounds, a roller hockey rink, a multi-purpose field and Basketball courts.

There is a 9 hole miniature golf put put course with lots of shade and decorative landscaping all along the way. They even have a little store right at the clubhouse with snacks, sandwiches and such. This is real resort style living. You never have to leave home for vacation!

Many of the homes are on the lake with great views.

The price ranges of the homes range from the low $200,000's to over 3 million$ USD depending on the size of the lot and the square footage of the home.

The search screen below is a search of the homes for sale in Olympia - Wellington Fl. You can see all the homes for sale right now in Savanna in Weston Florida. If you want to search other areas just change the search fields below. It is interactive. You can use it right here and now! No clicking to another site. Just search for your home right here. Have fun and don't hesitate to call Nestor Gasset and Katerina Gasset with any help you may need at 561-753-0135.

Wannado City® at Sawgrass Mill in Sunrise Florida - A Kid's Place You Will Not Want To Miss Out On!

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 11:44:59 -0600

Wannado City® at Sawgrass Mill in Sunrise Florida- A Kid's Place You Will Not Want To Miss Out On!

Our homeschool support group planned a group field trip for the kids to Wannado City® last week. It worked out great for us because we hired a new buyers' agent who works in Weston Florida and that is right close to Sawgrass Mill in Sunrise. Sawgrass is absolutely my favorite shopping mall in the world besides all the shops at Disneyworld. ( we are Disney Fans), but more about shopping at Sawgrass in another post. I am not a big shopper. I like to buy online and I don't buy anything I don't really need or that does not serve a purpose, and absolutely no dust collectors.

So our plan was to spend a day with Julie Locke our new buyers agent in Weston. We asked her to take us on a tour so we could take tons of photos and blog about the are so we could get her the buyers leads that we will get from blogging. We spent the night in a hotel right next to Sawgrass and in the next morning met our homeschool group outside of Wannado City which is located right at the Sawgrass Mills shopping mall close to Rainforest Cafe.

Our son was standing in line and started meeting and talking to a couple other homeschooled boys around his age. He is 7 years old and is very good about making friends with other kids. He and another boy connected well and ended up being buddies the whole day. Of course that meant that I made a new friend also in this boy's mom since we were going around together following the boys on their trips around Wannado City®.

Wannado City® is the largest indoor theme park in the United States. It is so much fun. I was saying to Nestor; I wish they had a place like this when I was a kid. I would never want to leave! You can not do everything in one day so you need to pick your favorite things to do first and then go back through the city to do the second favorite things to do.

Wannado City® is a place where the kids get to explore many different occupations in near to real life situations. The parents are allowed to watch from outside but for most activities the parents are not allowed to go into the specific career buildings except for a few of them.

The first thing on the boys' list was to become Police Officers. So they go into this miniature, child's level, police station that looks very real, a dozen children at a time. Each event takes about 20 minutes. In the police station the adult cops divide the kids into cops and robbers. My son and his buddy were robbers. So they get to go rob the Wannado City® bank, ( just run in and steal the Wannado dollars out of the Wannado City® bank) then they try to hide as the cops come to find them and put them in jail It was so funny and the employees acting out with the kids seemed like they were really enjoying themselves.

The next really fun thing the boys did was CNN. Our son was the Weatherman! He had SO much fun with this activity. It was a real life sound stage with the green screens with the tele-prompters and all! Nestor ordered a DVD of his performance. This one is going to stick with him for a while. He still talks about it a week later!

Among the other events the boys did were:

the Firefighters,
Airline Pilots,
Newspaper Reporters and writers,
Candy makers, Bakers,
Pizza makers,
Bank tellers,
Cookie bakers,
Private Eye Detectives,
and then our son's favorite was mining for gems.

At each one of these learning stations they get paid in Wannado Dollars which are redeemed at the end of the day for junk toys or they can use them to do things like ride the bus around Wannado City ® or climb the rock wall. Well, in the mining trip, they got these fake gold nuggets that they then go take to the jewelry store to sell. It was such a blast!

What a great and fun way for kids to learn about the different careers in a very hands on way. We are going to go back to Wannado City® again!

The one thing that is kind of irritating is that for the parents: once you go in you can not leave. If you leave, you can not get back inside. Nestor was in Wannado CIty ® with us until after Lunch. That is when he told me, this is why mothers have more patience. He went shopping while we stayed and finished up our tour and activities at Wannado City.

12801 West Sunrise Boulevard

Anchor D

Sunrise, FL 33323

Main Phone Number

1-888-WANNADO

1-954-838-7100

Their website is: www.wannadocity.com

Let Us Sell your home and help you buy your home in Broward County and Palm Beach County Florida Call Us at 561-753-0135

T o view Florida Short Sales- Click here . We know Palm Beach County Short Sales, Broward County Short Sales and Port St Lucie Florida Short Sales.

We Are Cancelling Your Listing....

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:27:20 -0600

We regret to inform you that we are going to be canceling our listing contract with you. We have tried to do all that we can to help you including feeling sorry for you but you must be able to help not hinder the sale of your home.

When you first called us I felt so bad for you. My heart went out to you. You were no longer able to pay your payments. The first thing we do is have a telephone intake evaluation to make sure that your listing is one that we see being able to close as a short sale. You wanted to keep your home so we did the numbers for you to see if you could get a loan modification. You also tried on your own to get a loan modification. That was not possible as you have no income coming in except for some disability payments. You can not afford to keep your home no matter how low the payments could be adjusted.

We felt so bad for your situation. You really needed to talk to an attorney. You did not have the money to pay for the attorney. We even told you how to go get food stamps and get help from local churches. We did not want to see you homeless and you assured us that you had some friends who were going to let you live in their property. So we held a fundraiser for you. We collected donations from Real Estate agents around the country so that you could hire the attorney and be able to live in your home while we were doing the short sale for you.

I should have gotten a clue when you complained about the amount of money we raised for you! Where was the gratitude then? Well, we moved on and the next monthly payment to your attorney you could not make and now your lender filed foreclosure papers on you. This was over a year ago. SO we paid the monthly attorney payment for you.

Then you made if very difficult to show your house. No matter what we said to you about not following the buyers around the house you still did. You would beg them NOT to buy your house. When we started to get this feedback we told you then that we could not have your house listed if you were not going to sell it. So you laid off of the pestering for a while.

Then you got served after months of not paying your payments, a date for the foreclosure. We got an offer in time. You started to call us every single day about your auction date. What were we doing to stop your foreclosure? Excuse me? The question really is, what were you doing to stop your foreclosure!

We went all the way to the top management consisiting of hours and hours on the phone with your lender and the judge and the case worker to get your sale canceled on the courthouse steps. 3 days before the auction date we were able to get the auction canceled. So now you want to drag out the buyers offer and the processing of the short sale. You tell me your fax is broken, your internet was down, etc. This drags on and on and then the buyer finally realized that you have no intention of selling the house. You are just trying to live without making payments until the last possible moment.

So we place the house back on the market but there are no offers because prices are dropping like crazy in your area. We get you to reduce the price and then the showings started happening again.

Then you get a new auction date on the courthouse steps. You get served the notice of the sale date and call me yelling and screaming at me! Me! The one who raised money for you, who got you food, you held fundraisers for you! You are yelling about what are we going to do to stop the foreclosure this time. Let's see, now it has been 1.5 years that you are still living in your house- rent free.

We start to get the calls again from buyers agents saying that you are following the buyers around the house, telling them your sad story and asking them now if after they buy the house will they let you live there? Excuse me! Live there rent free while someone else is paying a mortgage? You are totally scaring the buyers away and we told you over and over again to stop doing this.

We just can not take it anymore. You are going to lose your house in foreclosure and there is no longer anything we can do to stop it this time. You are the one who created this. I am not going to take the blame nor am I going to accept the guilt. I feel bad. I feel terrible. But we did everything humanly possible and then some to get your house saved from foreclosure.

Sometimes you just need to take on the responsibilty for your own stuff and sometimes we need to learn when to let go.

Wellington Florida Real Estate News: Mortgage Fraud Comes To Wellington

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:19:17 -0600

Wellington Florida Real Estate News: Mortgage Fraud Comes To Wellington Florida.

We get asked quite often why the prices have dropped so dramatically in Versailles of Wellington Florida. Versailles in Wellington Florida was built right at the height of the boom and right before the bubble burst.

The homes are stunningly beautiful in old French Provincial themes and the most extravagant entrance probably in all of Wellington. The entrance alone cost the developer millions of dollars. This is a gated community with a resort style clubhouse and pool. You can read more about Versailles Wellington Homes For Sale on this post that I wrote.

By the time the building started you could not touch the smallest home in Versailles for under $600,000 with many of the homes selling between 1 million to 3 million dollars at that time. This attracted wannabe investors who were planning to flip these properties before the completion of the building. So what would happen is the buyer would go to the sales office, pick out their lot and their model to get built, then put down a very small deposit, usually about $10,000 To $15,000. The buyer did not have to go through the loan process until the end of construction. Some people bought two or more of these properties this way. Then the bust came and these buyers were stuck with having to close on the loans since they could not flip them during escrow because the values started to decline. Some people leased their properties and many just walked away and let them get foreclosed which drives the prices lower still.

A federal grand jury just indicted 8 South Florida licensed mortgage brokers, title agents and straw buyers. These people have all been indicted for committing fraud on buying five homes in Versailles of Wellington.

The indictment consists of 15 counts. The indictment alleges that these people flipped these 5 properties sometimes TWICE in the same day!!! And doubling the value of the property in ONE DAY! The group recruited buyers who did not have to bring any money to closing, took title to the property and then 24 hours later transferred the title. For doing this they each were paid $10,000.

Then when the second buyer took title to the property 24 hours later they were getting $437,000 of the mortgage money from Washington Mutual, WAMU. Then they walked away from all of these homes and allowed those homes to go into foreclosure and committing fraud against WAMU to the amount of $8.5 million dollars.

Please remember that all people accused of a crime have the right to defense and are innocent until proven guilty. The following names are in the indictment, a matter of public record and reported also in the local newspapers:

Most of the defendants are from Miami Florida and some also from Columbia, Rony Alberto Aguilar, Reinaldo Perez-Sanchez, Pablo Atouro Aponte-Torres from Puerto Rico, Fabio Salazar, Roger Omar Nunez- Murillo, Idalmis Arias, Ericson Perez of Georgia and Juan Carlos Lopez of Miami.

You can get a really good price on a magnificent mini mansion in Versailles Wellington Florida! Their loss is your gain!

Florida Attorney General Cracking Down On Debt Collectors

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:05:51 -0600

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum is asking the state legislature to pass some new state laws that will make it easier to regulate and prosecute debt collectors who violate the law in their collection practices. The Attorney General's office would like to be able to sue the debt collectors that overstep their legal bounds. He also wants to make it easier to pursue these collectors instead of having to pose undercover to catch them in the act of abusing their powers with consumers. He also wants to make it easier to connect the consumer who has a complaint with his office as well as passing that information and documentation on to the Office of Financial Regulation. It is cumbersome right now to lodge a complaint against a debt collector which keeps people from following through with the complaint process.

CFO Alex Sink will be asking to broaden the powers of the Office of Financial Regulation. The current complaint form needs to be notarized and she is asking that a consumer can file a complaint without notarizing the form. She is also seeking to increase the fines for debt collectors who keep breaking the law.

Consumers and attorneys have said that debt collectors have really gone overboard in this economy towards people who can no longer pay their bills. The state of Florida has received over 1,400 complaints so far this year and not one of those complaints has been investigated.

If you have been harrassed by debt collectors you can file a complaint by going to the State Attorney General's office website at myfloridalegal.com.

Here are the phone numbers for your convenience.

Main office telephone numbers
Switchboard: 850-414-3300
Citizens Services: 850-414-3990
ADA Coordinator: 850-414-3900
Florida Relay/TDD: 800-955-8771
Florida Toll Free: 1-866-966-7226

Tear Down That Wall- A Day Imprinted In My Mind Forever

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:32:28 -0600

The day the wall came down in Berlin was a day that I will never forget. My brother was in Germany for the historic event and as the wall starting being torn apart piece by piece he was on the phone with me. This was before youtube, before Iphones and Ipods, before the typical cell phones we have today. But he had access to a phone near the wall and I was able to be there in spirit and an earshot to this event.

Why would this event be so important to us? Memories flood my mind as I think back to this day and to the four years that we lived in Germany right near the border of East and West Berlin. The wall was a big part of our lives for those four years.

How many times we had walked along that wall- the wall between whether you could worship God or not, the wall between whether you could make money or not, the wall between whether you could voice your opinion or not. We were on the freedom side of that wall.

Just a few steps divided two very different worlds. I remember peering through the barbed wire sections especially near the guarded gates on occasion. My eyes were met with such contrast of seeing buildings and structures completely neglected, ugly and depressing and then turning around on our side of the wall to notice the wonderful German architecture with obvious care and attention to cleanliness. As a child things appear much bigger but also more obvious. This contrast affected me emotionally and the work my father was there to do became quite meaningful.

We went to German schools, spoke German in our home and socialized with Germans. Being integrated into German society was a part of my father's assignment in Germany as Naval Intelligence was a big part of encouraging the people of East Berlin to fight for their freedom. All of this helped to form my conservatism and love of our United States constitution.

As you witness what people will do to get just the chance of freedom; it is something you never forget. We saw on the news nearly every night people jumping the wall, ramming the wall, sneaking through in suitcases- knowing full well that they would be shot if they were caught trying to get to the west yet fully willing to take that risk. Being shot and killed for trying to escape the bonds of communism was better than living in the bondage and depressed state. Of course for a young girl to know this, to feel this and to witness this- one can not come away from this experience without having it mold a part of who you are.

My father had a dangerous assignment of smuggling intelligence and smuggling people over, around and through the wall. We were even able to meet some of these men who would hide in the smallest of compartments like only Houdini could do in order to cross the border. Without a full understanding of the nature of his business somehow I felt that he was doing a great duty to expand the love of freedom and help do his part to eventually bring down that wall. My experiences and recollections could fill a book.

So as my brother was giving me the step by step on the wall coming down he promised to bring me back a piece of that wall and he did. I have pieces of the Berlin wall that I treasure. I treasure these broken pieces of the wall because they symbolize that freedom can prevail. They symbolize the blood freely spent in order to bring many to taste the sweet savor of freedom. They remind me never to forget the sacrifices of many military and civilians who helped to break through the barrier and then to tear down the wall. They speak to me saying: never forget and never let it be in vain.

President Reagan did so much to help bring down the iron curtain and the Berlin wall. Below is his world famous speech to Russia's Gorbachev; Tear Down That Wall! Many of you were too young to remember or to young to care but this was one of the most important historic moments in history. Please take the time to watch and listen. This is important to understand the past so that we may have the strength and the fortitude to stand by those being oppressed, to make it possible for those oppressed to know that one day they too, can taste freedom and to never allow tyranny to come to visit us or those we care about. To feel what the people felt, to get a glimpse of what happens when the people have had enough, watch the video below President Reagan's speech. The video is 9 minutes long but very powerful about what happens when hundreds of thousands of people demand freedom.

Let us all remember the day the wall came tumbling down!

Tear Down That Wall- A Day Imprinted In My Mind Forever by Coach Katerina Gasset is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

By TwitterButton

8364 White Egret Way- Lakes Of Sherbrooke- Lake Worth Florida 33467- Not a Short Sale!

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:15:11 -0600

8364 White Egret Way- Lakes Of Sherbrooke- Lake Worth Florida 33467- Not a Short Sale!

Welcome to your lakefront home on expansive Lakes of Sherbrooke with miles of navigable lakes. Feel the warm South Florida breeze as you sail or kayak on your uncrowded waterways. The lake is 30 feet deep in the middle according to the current owners of this home. You can also use electric boats on this lake. No gas boats are permitted, no speed boats.

The community club house is great for hosting fabulous get togethers, birthday parties and gatherings. There are many amenities in the Lakes of Sherbrooke community situated just minutes from Wellington Green Mall- the largest mall in Palm Beach County and all the Equestrian activities held each winter season in Wellington Florida. You are also just minutes from the Florida Turnpike and I95 for your traveling and work preferences.

This brand new listing is tucked away neatly on a secluded culdesac on an over-sized lot that faces sits right on the wide part of the lake. Enjoy leisurely sunsets fishing off of your own dock. The views are expansive and tranquil.

The owner of this home loves trees and has planted many exotic species that all bloom with either purple or yellow blossoms.

There is a purple blooming wedding tree, Asian trees and Tiba China tree. There are also a set of 3 Palm trees strategically placed near the lake side that are perfectly spaced to hang two hammocks. Imagine taking a quiet nap in a hammock on the lake. Life does not get much better than this!

There is also plenty of room for a pool in this over-sized yard. Being situated on the culdesac gave this property a long irregular shaped lot that is perfect for living in privacy.

View of the lake greet you from nearly every room in the home even from the totally renovated master bathroom shower window.

The enclosed lanai overlooks the lake and the beautiful blooming trees in the yard. The Jennaire outdoor grill remains with the home so you can have outdoor cookouts and entertain your friends. There are roll down shutters to comply with hurricane warnings- just in case.

As you enter the front of your home you are greeted with front entry doors that cost over $8000. They are solid, custom made with leaded glass entry doors that are sure to 'wow' your guests!

You then are warmly welcomed with a sunken living room completely redone with real Brazilian hard wood floors. All the Brazilian hard cherry wood was imported from Brazil and is built up on a sub floor. Wherever you do not see the magnificently rich Brazilian wood floors you will notice the marble that was imported and very high quality. No detail was left unturned as you will notice that even the base boards are stained to match the marble or the wood depending on where the finishes are in the home.

Every interior door is new and solid with custom framing. These are not those cheap hollow doors you find in new homes. The owner went through to make sure that these doors are all sturdy and solid. The window sills were all replaced with real Mahogany wood. Real wood blinds adorn the windows and the sliders have verticals that match the finishes in the home.

You will love this kitchen that has been totally renovated. All the cabinets are hard wood and custom made and also including roll out drawers. Even the knobs have been chosen to reflect the style and just those knobs alone cost $15 per knob. The counter-tops are made from imported quartz that was imported from Australia. The sink is a real porcelain chef style sink that needed to have a special brace installed to hold it in place. The kitchen also overlooks the lake.

The formal dining room is an enclosed room that can be easily transformed into a 4th bedroom by adding a closet which the current owners will have built for you if you need to have 4 bedrooms. Double french doors can be opened for dining and company. There are antique chandeliers that stay with the home. Some of the chandeliers are real Survaski.

You will fall in love with the lake views and lake front living but you will stay because of the solid construction and brand new renovations wherein you do not have to lift a finger to do anything except move in! Enjoy the show below:

These photos are owned by Nestor and Katerina Gasset and are copyrighted including the Aerial Photographs. Do not copy.

Family Times- Sharing Time!

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:34:09 -0600

I wrote this post announcing our Trunk or Treat that we hold annually in our church parking lot.

We had a great turn out! Each year we have such fun and now that our son and our grand children are getting just a tad bit older it is becoming even more fun.

We must have had at least 300 children show up for the Trunk or Treat and they all got to go around the cars trick or treating at least 3 times. That really got their buckets and bags filled up with all that candy.

We also had a live band, a costume contest and the best trunk decorating award.

The best thing for me is that our son does not like candy very much. He loves to collect it all because he uses it for bargaining power trading it with his friends for Pokeman, Bakugan and Yugiho cards and fruit snacks.

Here are some photos of our family at the Trunk or Treat. Enjoy!

Lake Ida Delray Beach Florida Living- New Listing For Sale!

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:08:36 -0600

Lake Ida Delray Beach Florida Living- New Listing For Sale!

598 NW 45th Street in Delray Beach is now for sale and this is NOT a short sale. If you are looking for a brand new home in a well established secluded and private part of popular Delray Beach- this is it! While the lot and the exterior of the building is not brand new everything inside is. You will not be disappointed.

This home was originally built in 1979 when this neighborhood was being established however, the owner gutted the interior including even the dry wall in order to turn this home into a modern and new home.

Attention to detail is an understatement for this home.

But first, let me tell you, this home is a couple of minutes away from Lake Ida, one of the most popular lakes in Palm Beach County. It is also just a few minutes from the best beaches in the entire state of Florida. Delray Beach and Boynton Beach are popular beach destinations along with the very well known Delray Beach boardwalk which offers great eateries, on the water restaurants and anitque shopping. There is easy access to I95 and to the Florida Turnpike so you will be close to anywhere you need to go to get to work and activities.

When you look down the street where the house is; you will see large open green spaces and wide roads. There is plenty of room for entertaining and living the South Florida lifestyle.

The wooden floors are made of imported Brazilian Cherry Wood in rich colors and custom feel. The bathrooms have all been finished in luxury tile with added details such as upscale and modern lighting. All of the fixtures in the bathrooms are brand new. No one has lived in this home since it has been renovated.

You won't need to do a thing in the kitchen - it is ready to be used for cooking and dining. All of the appliances are brand new. The counters have all been finished in granite tile. A new island was made and placed in the kitchen for the dishwasher and the new stainless steel dual sinks. All of the cabinets are custom made with top of the line real and solid wood.

There is a wonderful sun room for outdoor entertaining that opens up the the hot tub in the secluded back yard.

If you are a first time homebuyer or are looking for a second home and you want a home that is ready to move into- you will find that this house is the right fit for you. We can have a fast closing because this house is NOT a short sale. You could close in as little as a week so don't hesitate to call us for your private viewing of this home at 561-753-0135.

Asking only $249,777.

Enjoy The Show:

Can Short Sales Really Be Automated Like Cookie Cutters- One Size Fits All?

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:42:33 -0600

Can Short Sales Really Be Automated Like Cookie Cutters and become like one size fits all? I don't think so. Real estate agents along with NAR made their voices heard to the powers that be in Congress and in the banking institutions. Of course, it is a pain to not have guidelines and to be negotiating short sales in wild, wild west fashion but on the other hand the cream rises to the top so the agents with the talent of negotiating skills and the gift of listening and communication skills rise above the rest and have come to have very successful short sale businesses, they close their short sales and save many homeowners from foreclosure.

Be careful what you scream for, be careful what you wish for- it may just come back to bite you.

Let's look at what is really behind the automation so widely being sought after by agents and the NAR these days in regards to short sales:

California based Equator who changed their name from REOTRANS- has created and is implementing the very first short sale automation process for a large lender. The company will not come out and say in public who the lender is who they made this process for to begin with but anyone doing any number of short sales can see the obvious connection with Bank of America telling us that they are automating their short sale process and also with us already being given files to place into this automated system.

The company called Equator says the key to a successful short sale are:

accessibility,
responsiveness,
communication,
fulfillment

Equator says that by large lenders using their new automated system that the homeowner will have 24/7 access to their file and will be able to directly upload required documentation. They will also be given real time updates electronically.

They claim their system will comply with all governmental regulations and compliance, quick fulfillment times, faster turnaround times and will automate the decision making process.

Now that all sounds great and dandy but whenever you take out the human factor of emotions, making exceptions and taking the negotiations to another level you are not going to get the same approval ratios.

One size does not fit all. I am seeing the writing on the wall. You have several problems with this system even before they implement it.

First, you have to get all the processors and negotiators trained on the system. We are getting files already in this system but the customer service people at BofA and the negotiators are not even trained yet in using the same system. So chalk that one up to the learning curve.

More importantly when everyone starts to depend on an automated system there is less room for the human decision making process like for exceptions to the rule. We can not even count the number of times that a file did not 'fit' the system but we got the short sale approved anyways. When people depend on an automated system they tend to answer, " that is the way it is," or "sorry, the system says they are not approved," etc.

While real estate agents are screaming to streamline the short sale process homeowners may be pushed into foreclosure rather than doing short sale work outs just because some system says they are not approved for a short sale.

So at the end of the day the result may be faster approval times but a higher rate of rejections.

Can Short Sales Really Be Automated Like Cookie Cutters- One Size Fits All? by Coach Katerina Gasset is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

By TwitterButton

Duplicate Content- Should You or Shouldn't You?

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:32:32 -0600

Duplicate Content- It All Depends!

I wrote a post a few weeks ago about the truth about the duplicate content, you can click here to read it if you missed it. If you have any questions about duplicate content, this is a must read.

Remember that it always depends! What is your goal? Everything you do on line should be weighed and aligned with what your online marketing goals are. What works for one person may not work for another.

In that post I have a video with Matt Cutts directly from Google who clarifies all your concerns about duplicate content.

There are a few things that you need to take into consideration that go beyond my post about duplicate content:

1. The Google spiders will choose what they consider "THE BEST" of your content to bring to the searchers.

2. Duplicate content does dilute your link power which Matt Cutts talks about this in the video so if you are concerned you need to watch the video.

3. Links won't go as deep into your sites if you are having to divide them up.

And last but not least- you DO NOT get penalized for duplicate content.

How does your link power get diluted? If you have several websites and blogs and you have 20 links- you are dividing those links up between let's say two sites- you are giving each site only 10 links instead of benefiting one site with 20 links.

The other issue is that if you have 20 good links and you have to divide them up between your sites you are not able to go as deep as you need to go to bring your pagerank up where you may wish it to go.

The choice is up to you. Do you want to have a strong website with links to your site that will steadily climb to the top or do you want the quick hit and run type presence where your posts go to the top of page one for your keywords one day and then fall off the face of Google the next?

Matt Cutts talks about how you can point your links to one URL and tell Google that this is the site you want Google search engines to rank and pay attention to. There is a lot of information on how to do this on the Google Webmaster website.

So what is the best way for you to take advantage of duplicate content but yet make your website or your blog the main focus?

Use your Active Rain Blog to write your posts on and then link to your website and outside blog from your Active Rain blog. The search engines love Active Rain. Use this to your advantage. If you are not using Active Rain to link to your site or blog you are really missing out on an easy way to have your site rise to the top of the search engines.

Learn more about by taking my SEO TO THE TOP WEBINAR- Register today, next session begins January 13! Start the new year off empowered to bring your blog and website to the top.

Duplicate Content- Should You or Shouldn't You? by Coach Katerina Gasset is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

By TwitterButton

Wellington Florida Real Estate News- Wellington's Sign Restrictions

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:28:10 -0600

Wellington Florida Real Estate News- Wellington's Sign Restrictions

Finally the Village of Wellington town counsel has decided to visit these way old fashioned rules on anti business here in Wellington Florida. It is about time! But even though there is some friendliness towards business, there is also continued restrictions and more...

So in the last town counsel meeting the village town counsel members decided to loosen up these tight restrictions on businesses in Wellington being able to use signs to promote their business.

Banner signs have always been against the rules in Wellington Florida. But what a pain that was to businesses who are holding grand openings or just opened for business and don't have their permanent signs in yet. After all, you do have to order those permanent signs, they have to be approved by the leasing companies and the village code compliance before you can ever install them. So the village really does a new business a disservice by not allowing them to have a temporary banner ad.

Here is a photo of what our Wellington Florida McDonalds looks like. This is as big as the golden arches get to be in our town. It makes the town look uniform and like a town instead of a city. You will notice they do not have any signs on their building.

The village of Wellington just initiated a request for the use of banner ads for businesses in Wellington! YEAH! It is about time! They will be voting on the banner ad issue in 2 weeks. If you own a business in Wellington Florida please make sure you contact the village counsel members and show up to the meetings to let your voice be heard.

This is what our gas stations look like in Wellington Florida. The photo below this one shows you what one of our gas stations looks like from the road. You can hardly tell there is a gas station here and that makes us Wellington and I don't think any of us living here want to take away from this landscape but a small sign with prices would be very helpful to the residents here.

The proposed ordinance will also allow for window signage to cover up 50% of the glass. They are also proposing that you can have internal banners on the windows showing towards the exterior of your business. I can't imagine having all these restrictions to deal with when you are trying to run your business. Another part of the proposed ordinance will finally allow A-frame signs with the tenant names on them to help promote your business. Gas stations would also finally be allowed to post their prices which has always been banned in Wellington. While I understand how the village wants the town of Wellington to keep its' great look and feel, I would like to know the price of gas before I drive into the gas station! Gas stations would still not be allowed to do any promotions on their signage.

Equestrian Event Signage- There were different opinions from the counsel members as to restricting Equestrian even signs. They don't like that these signs are on public property either. That really makes no sense since the Village of Wellington benefits fro the income generated by Equestrian events. I wonder how mnay of these counsel people ever owned their own businesses? The counsel wants to make the Equestrian event signs, have them all uniform looking and post them for permanently with directional arrows on those signs to the events. One of the things that I like the most about the posting of the event signs is that it reminds me about the time and place of the events. Some of the members proposed giving the events permission to post the date and time of the event on directional temporary signs on the day of the event. Well, that is kind of like after the fact. That is inconvenient to the rest of us. One of the counsel members suggested putting a universal phone number on the permanent sign so you can call for the date and time of events. But that is also inconvenient because it is so much easier just to drive down the road and get reminded there is an event this weekend, that makes it front and center in your mind. When you have to remember to call you might even miss out on an event. Sometimes I think that the village counsel act like wannabe politicians who want to feel important and so they make up all this stuff that makes no sense making things more complicated than they need to be.

Commercial Signage- Most all the counsel members do not like the commercial real estate leasing signs that are popping up due to vacancies because of the economy. The mayor our town, Darrel Bowen even said that the commercial listing signs are, "ridiculous". While I agree that they are big and bulky I must stand by the land owners and leasing companies in being able to promote vacant spaces for lease. The Village of Wellington benefits from having businesses move into these vacant spaces so what is a little eye sore once in a while. It is not like these signs stay up year in and year out. It makes me wonder if any of these counsel members have ever owned their own businesses? If you are involved in commercial real estate leasing I would strongly suggest you to show up for the voting on these issues in 2 weeks to voice heard.

So make your voice be know, speak up, here is your chance to let the town counsel members know that you want to promote your business here in Wellington Florida!

Just A Note About What Is Up With Us...

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:48:31 -0600

I only posted 2 posts to our blog last week. I have not gone anywhere and am working to get back into the swing of my routine. Both Nestor and I got sick about 3 weeks ago. We are still quite under the weather. I usually blog very late at night and over the past few weeks I have been falling asleep as I was blogging... not good!

At the same time as us getting sick which BTW- this is the first time we have been sick in several years- we started getting more calls than usual from our expired letter mailing program, past clients and referrals from local attorneys who send their short sale prospects to us. This was a very good problem to have and just getting the energy to talk to all these wonderful sellers, giving them our all- well, it was quite the challenge.

We also had 3 closings last week and then trying to save this Freddie Mac deal that we posted about- all the closings had issues and racing against time deadlines the short sale lenders place on our sellers- again, great problems to have- nothing to complain about- nevertheless, getting and maintaining the energy levels needed for all these tasks and situations even with our full time assistants was very difficult.

I am also running my SEO To The Top Webinar, Coaching and keeping up with our son's homeschool lessons and activities. I was almost thankful when my son also got sick so that I did not have to deal with the energizer bunny all day long on top of everything else.

We would do a couple of things, then had to lay down for 30 minutes, then do some more and repeat this process over and over again. Now we are detoxing our bodies to get all the junk out that is left behind when you get sick, building our immunity levels and staying away from crowds and shaking hands so that we don't get a relapse. Even the energy it takes to get well by preparing raw foods, teas, detox tonics, etc gets drained quickly!

I guess when you get past 50 it just may take longer to heal than when you are a spring chicken!

So hang in there with me- I am getting back to my routine of blogging- first I need to do some localism stuff for google juice then I will post the tutorials in between all of the local posts.

Thanks for reading!

Is Being A Real Estate Agent Holding You Back From The Mac?

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:20:20 -0500

Back in August we dipped our toes into the waters of the mac world. We wanted to start out slow and easy so in case it was not going to be a good fit we could swing back over to the Windows PC world which we were in since we got out of DOS mode.

Little did we know that the dip would turn into a major plunge, diving right in the deep end! Wow were the most often said words in our office and home! One of our daughters had a mac laptop and we got one of our sons who started college one in August. Little did we know how the mac was going to rock our world.

So the teachers and trainers at our local Apple store know us very well by now since the Apple store has become our new 'college'. The first thing we highly recommend for anyone moving into the mac world to make sure you buy your mac from the Apple store and pay the $99 for one year of unlimited one on one sessions with trainers and teachers. This also includes unlimited group classes on everything mac and then some and also the business seminars are great.

Many real estate agents hold back from embracing the power and ease of the mac world because you can't get on the mls with mac. But you can. The mls is run on Windows IE. ( Don't use IE for anything but mls even on a pc).

Let me first tell you that mac users are complaining to mls vendors that their antiquity online is just unacceptable. Our mls told us that making the mac work with Firefox or Safari is the most requested item. The mls vendors say that they are working on getting the mls to work with Firefox and that should be available by the end of 2010. In the meantime you have several options for living in the mac world and still being able to access the mls.

You can do any of the following:

Use Bootcamp on the Mac- This is done when you first buy your mac. You install a licensed version of Windows 7. You run two operating systems on the mac. When you want to use IE you just boot up your mac in Windows.

I don't like this way because you have to constantly reboot your mac to go between operating systems and you also would have to buy the windows license.

Use Parallels for Mac- This is software that is the most common among agents to use. This is software that cost $79.99 for one user and $199.99 for up to 3 users. We have not tried this software yet. We are going to try this on one of our macs and continue to use Crossover with the other macs and see which ones is better for us. You have to have a Windows OS license to add it to Parallels.

Use Crossover Software- We are using Crossover right now. You can buy a Pro License for $69 and use it on multiple macs. The developers of Crossover keep working out bugs and making it a better product all the time. I like their customer service also. They get back with help tickets within a day.You do not need to buy any Microsoft Windows products or licenses with Crossover. Thus, this is the reason I like it the best.

Crossover mimics Windows. So when you open up IE, Crossover opens it up and you will see a windows screen within Crossover. It is really very nice because I have a rule for our staff and family- go in and get on the mls with Crossover then close out as soon as you are finished. This will train you not to use IE for other purposes and it will keep your mac safe.

Make sure you follow the following tips when using mls on Crossover- when you add on the IE browser you have to choose IE6 not 7. Also, we had an issue with printing because mls wants us to install those unsafe active x controls that mac does not like. The way around that for us was to use the pdf print format. So that works fine. The one irritating thing Nestor does not like is that the mls will freeze up if you leave the computer and come back too much later.

Use Teamviewer, Yuuguu or CrossLoop to access a pc remotely. Some agents keep a pc running with mls and then use the screen sharing to maneuver and use the mls on the pc from their mac. I have tried this and it is too slow for us. There is a short delay but it gets kind of irritating.

The last option is to keep a pc around to get on the mls with. This is great for agents who are not having to use their laptops to get on the mls out in the field. This gets very irritating because once you get used to mac speed and simplicity you can really tell the difference. We kept our pcs because I have not had the time to move files to external hard drives and I chose not to do a file transfer as many of our files may no longer be needed. I will take my time sorting through the old files.

So you see, there are several ways to get into the mac world even as a real estate agent who has to rely on archaic mls systems.

FTC Disclosure: This is my own opinion. This is not meant to be professional advice. I am not getting paid by Apple to blog about my opinion nor do I derive any benefit from so doing that I know of. If I do ever get any gain in any way or fashion because of writing this post, that is not my intent.

Is Being A Real Estate Agent Holding You Back From The Mac? by Coach Katerina Gasset is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

By TwitterButton

Freddie Mac- SOS- HOMEOWNER Needs Your Help!!!!! Part II

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:43:42 -0500

Freddie Mac still does not come clean. They keep passing the buck. They keep making up excuses as to why they can not even just give one simple answer. They make empty promises.

Read Freddie Mac- Does Anyone There Know How To Read- Part I, to understand the history of this short sale file.

We have never lost a short sale due to our negotiations. Every listing we take goes through an intake evaluation to get everyone on the same page, to make sure the seller understands what a short sale is, to analyze the seller's commitment to the short sale process and to evaluate the chance for success of the short sale.

We have a 100% closing ratio because we do not give up on our sellers no matter what monster shows up. This would be the very first file that we will lose to a short sale rejection.

So here is the update to what is going on:

The homeowner wants to know why her short sale was rejected when she meets all of Freddie Mac's guidelines.

The seller has been on the phone with Freddie Mac every day trying to get an answer.

She finally reaches a supervisor who promises to help her find her answer. All she wants to know to begin with is why she was rejected. She has now gone through 3 employees at Freddie Mac with not one of them giving her the reason for the rejection. The last person says to her:

This is directly from our seller as to how she is being treated:

"Freddie Mac- Terence-who said "trust me. someone will call you back TODAY" who said "I'm going to call you back in a few minutes" -NOTHING

When I was on the phone with him- he kept putting me on hold- he told me he had e-mailed several people at Freddie and Chase- "I promise to get you an answer. I have all these people working on it and someone will definitely call you today"

There seems to be a pattern at work here- The 3 FM reps we had contact with- Katie Givens, Ron Williamson, Terence ( don't have last name on hand) Upon first contact- appear to be willing to do their job- helping the customer- but somewhere along the line- they are instructed not to release the information. They probably can't officially refuse ,so they are told to stall, make promises, never call back and such tactics.
The first time I spoke to Ron, he said he would have an answer by the next day. After he did not call I called him, left a message. Nothing

Katie- same thing"

The good news is that we are still in the fight. Freddie Mac was quick to follow through with the foreclosure and our seller's house was sold back to Freddie the other day. But our seller's attorney is going to be filing an objection and will be able to get the foreclosure reversed because Freddie Mac never notified him of the sale date. This will buy us anywhere from 3 weeks to several months time to resolve the issue and maybe be able to get this short sale approved.

We have 4 offers sitting here from buyers who want this house. This is such a shame to have this property ever go to foreclosure when buyers who are ready, willing and able want to move into this vacant property straight away. It makes absolutely no sense. You have to read the first post I wrote about this case in order to understand where we have come from and where we are trying to go.

In the first post we wrote about how we notified all the senators in New York and Florida. We have alerted all the media to this but for some reason they are not interested in this news story!

The homeowner has been on the phone for hours every day with Freddie Mac. First Freddie Mac says that Chase is the one that needs to tell the seller why she was rejected. Well, our negotiator at Chase ( who happens to be a Freddie Mac short sale trainer) told us she never got a reason why. She was shocked as we were that it was rejected by Freddie. Freddie never supplied the reason to Chase. So our seller asks, who turned down the short sale- Freddie or Chase? Freddie says it was Freddie who turned down the short sale. So our seller says to Freddie, "you are the ones that turned down the short sale and you have the reason why right in front of you. Why can't you just read off the computer screen what the reason I was turned down is." To which they say to her, "hold on, I have to ask a supervisor." HELLO! It is right there, in front of you. Read what is on the screen! Then she gets put on hold for 30 minutes and more- only to be told- "we have to get back to you on this."

So what is Freddie trying to avoid? What is the secrecy behind the rejection?

Please reblog so maybe someone who has some kind of authority over Freddie Mac will find this call for help and do something!