Gulf Coast OIl Spill Update

BP announced the availability of state-specific websites designed to offer information to residents of communities affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Residents are encouraged to visit these sites frequently and sign up for the mailing list to receive the most current information about the spill response.
These websites provide up-to-date information about activities and events most important to residents of each state. Residents can sign up to receive email updates, follow an RSS feed, a Twitter feed or a Facebook page with this information. The sites will provide updates on BP's state and local response plans, activities, information about opportunities to be involved in clean-up efforts and information from the many participating agencies and organizations in each state.  
Alabama: www.alabamagulfresponse.com
Florida: www.floridagulfresponse.com

In Pensacola we currently have the Perdido Beaches under a health alert and visitors have been asked to avoid contact with oil or the water, but Pensacola Beach is still open.  The oil slick is just offshrore so this may change by the weekend.

It is still too early to tell how this will affect our real estate sales values and number of sales inland, but I feel that the beach real estate which has already suffered over the past couple of years will continue to decline, and our local economy will be affected for a long time to come due to tourist eservations for this summer that are being cancelled.

I am happy to report we still have a very active rental market and we intend to continue to solicit new properties for our long term rental program. Clean up workers will likely need a place to live, and the military will continue to transfer people in and out of our area so there will always be a need for this type of housing.