Living on A Busy Street
Yesterday, I got a call from someone driving by a home that I have for rent. The house is on a busy street. There’s great visibility when it comes to renting it, and it’s a great place to have a real estate sign. It’s free advertising for me. I get a lot of calls on this house. But, not everyone wants to live on a busy street. It has a big fenced yard, with beautiful big shade trees. But, for people with little ones they may be afraid that their kids may run out into the street. That certainly is a valid concern.
The tenants that have lived in the house throughout the years have varied. Most had pets, but when I think about it, none of them had real small children. One tenant brought home a pet cow one day. Boy, was my phone ringing off the hook with neighbors calling about that cow. When I saw it, I had to chuckle. Now, I have to admit, I’ve never had a tenant bring a cow into a residential neighborhood, before. Oh, but with rentals there’s a first time for everything.
None of the tenants that have lived in this house on the busy street seemed to mind the street out front or the traffic noise. I suppose that different houses suit different people.
Did I mention that the railroad tracks are 3 blocks away?
Sandy Shores REALTOR®, Melbourne/Palm Bay FL Real Estate
Brevard County Real Estate & Investing
I also buy, sell, rent, own and manage Investment Property.
What an Incredible Experience!
In the 35 years I have lived in Brevard County I have never seen anything like this before.
All of these pictures were taken in the backyard of my client’s new riverfront condo here in Brevard County Florida.
These guys were drinking fresh water from a hose. They couldn’t get enough of it.
They were circling and snorting and doing somersaults right in front of us.
They were so close we could reach out and touch them.
They just loved laying on their backs and taking in the fresh water.
My friend, Tony, indicated that the manatees are very active early in the morning. They love playing and and having fun in the water. Later in the day they usually are resting.
He has indicated that he can stand on his balcony and watch the porpoises jump, also.
Now this is what I call heaven.
Such an incredible sight to see.
My teenage daughters absolutely loved watching these playful, fun loving creatures.
My client, who has become a great friend of mine, has told us that anytime we want to visit, we are more than welcome to come to watch the manatees.
He absolutely loves his new home, as he says that everyday he feels like he’s on vacation.
This article is authored by
Sandy Shores REALTOR®, Melbourne/Palm Bay FL Real Estate
Brevard County Real Estate & Investing
I also buy, sell, rent, own and manage Investment Property.
Hotwire Says Orlando Florida Top Vacation Destination
Hotwire.com has voted Orlando Florida, located just 40 to 50 minutes from Brevard County, as the top 2009 Travel Destination for travelers. Hotwire comes up with a top ten list each year of destinations across the country that provide great value and entertainment.
So head on over to Orlando Florida just to get a glimpse of what we have in store for you,
Walt Disney World
Epcot
Animal Kingdom
MGM Studios
Islands of Adventure
Sea World
Wet N Wild
and all kinds of fun on International Drive
“The Hotwire Travel Value Index identifies the best destinations to stretch vacation dollars,” said Clem Bason, president, Hotwire Group. “With warmer weather and spring break coming up, it’s a great tool to use when looking for the best vacation and overall value. Orlando is this year’s city to beat and it shows through the amazing deals in this market,” said Bason.
Check out the most current deals in Orlando.
This article is authored by
Sandy Shores Realtor, Melbourne FL Real Estate
We Often See Different Things the Second Time Around
This morning I was out with a buyer. It was our third time looking at townhomes for sale. Some of the properties were second showings for us, as we had previously seen some of them one of the other times we were out.
It’s always interesting to see a buyer’s reaction when they are viewing a property for a second time, on a different day.
Homes look different the second time around. Rooms look bigger or they can look smaller. Or buyers didn’t remember certain aspects of a property. The property can look nicer the second time around or ‘boy this one was a real dog, what was I thinking?’ Buyers see things in homes the second time around, that they didn’t see their first time out.
Often times their perspective is different than it was the first time out. They have seen more properties for sale. So, they usually have different expectations after they have viewed several properties. Now they have a better idea of what their money can buy them. They are able to more quickly weed out the homes they just don’t like, the second time around.
I always like to hang back and watch the dynamics of a buyer taking a second look at homes. It’s a learning experience; they are growing and evolving and becoming educated buyers in our market. I LOVE IT!
This article is authored by
Sandy Shores Realtor, Melbourne FL Real Estate
Appraisals Will Be Done By AMC’s
According to Florida Association of Realtors, beginning May 1, 2009, a new federal regulation will mean that mortgage lenders will no longer be able to call or hire their own appraisers to do appraisals for them. The appraisals will be handled by a separate party, or an outside appraisal management company. Lenders and realtors will not be allowed to have any contact with these AMC’s. The theory is that a lender or realtor will not be able to put any undue pressure on an appraiser to make sure that an appraisal reflects a specific contracted sales price.
But, the question being raised is, “Who will be monitoring the appraisal management companies?
This article is authored by
Sandy Shores, Melbourne FL Realtor
Just Tell Me No, It’s Not the Right House for You!
A very old friend of mine called me on Friday from Georgia to tell me that her friend was in our town for a couple of weeks, from Indiana. She said he was looking for a home to live in and one to buy to use as an investment property. She indicated that he loved our area of Brevard County. I thanked her very much for the referral and immediately called this friend of hers.
We spoke at great length, about the current market conditions and what his real estate goals are. He knows exactly what he wants and is pretty specific. He wasn’t sure about which area he wanted, as this was only his second time in the Melbourne / Palm Bay area of Florida. I e-mailed him a list of homes currently available for sale in the criteria that he requested.
We agreed to start our search yesterday with a hefty list of 12 properties, that he had chosen from the lists that I had e-mailed, all were in a 4-5 mile radius of each other.
We began looking, and hit house number one. This was the home he requested we see first. We went in, looked around, discussed the pluses and minuses in reference to his needs and wants, and moved on. We pulled up in front of house number 2 – “No,” he said, “I don’t care for the outside of the property.” Then, house number 3, “No”, I don’t care for the street this house is on.” Then, house number 4, “the yard isn’t big enough.” We moved through our list pretty rapidly. In all, we looked at the insides of 3 of the homes.
The houses on our list were all vacant, except for one, owner occupied. I carefully took the time to contact the listing agents on the properties that we did not look at, to tell them that we did a drive by and the buyer wasn’t interested in looking further.
I know that as we go out looking at properties with buyers their criteria must adjust according to homes available for sale and varying other factors.
At the end of our quick search he told me that he had no intentions of wasting his time, nor mine, as he knows just what he’s looking for.
I always find myself telling buyers,“don’t look at a house if you know that it’s not right for you, when we pull up to the outside of it. Tell me you don’t like the area, the street, the outside, whatever.” I need them to be frank with me.
It gives me a much better sense of exactly what they’re looking for.
It’s not going to hurt my feelings if they don’t like a property.
I don’t care which house they buy.
But, when they do find the house that THEY want to buy, I just want them to buy from me!
This buyer’s honesty and straightforwardness are so well appreciated! I love it!
This article is authored by
Sandy Shores, Brevard County Real Estate
Brevard County Real Estate Investing
7 More Things You May Not Know about Me
Here I am, I again got hit with the 7 Things You May not Know about Me Meme. This time Tony Orefice passed the honor along to me.
Again, in the spirit of being a good sport I am responding to this Meme. I had one heck of a time coming up with seven things you may not know about me, as I just recently did this one. So here goes,
1. I don’t watch regular television. I don’t really care for it and I really never have the time to watch it. I do listen to the News, CNN, & FOX and I listen to talk radio.
2. My biggest pet peeve is when someone knowingly tells a lie; a blatant, obvious lie.
3. Water is my favorite beverage. When I was young, my grandpa used to take my sisters and I out for pancake breakfast. He would order water to drink and say we couldn’t leave till we finished it. The waitress kept our glasses full. We were pratically floating by the time we left. I drink about 10 glasses of water a day, and I really like it.
4. I’ve never bought a lottery ticket in my life.
5. I love antiques. And I love old family pictures, that have a story behind them.
6. When I was a kid, up until high school, I was a nerd. I stood a head taller than the other kids my age. I was gangly, with skinny legs. My sister used to call me chicken legs. I had freckles all over my face. Kids used to call me freckle face strawberry. And, I had braces for two years, thus the name tinsel teeth.
7. I do love occasionally catching a great horror movie with my oldest daughter, Stef. She loves them. I never used to like horror movies at all. Psychological thrillers are my favorite kind of movie.
Again, I am not going to pass this Meme along, as we have so few hours in the day to accomplish all the things we need to. Our time is so very valuable to all of us in the real estate industry.
This article is authored by
Sandy Shores, Brevard County Real Estate
Melbourne Florida Real Estate News
Dealing with the “Hard Stuff” Builds Character
My 13 year old daughter has been studying for an upcoming History test. She is studying the Industrial Revolution. The information is very interesting and she has been doing beautifully in quickly remembering what she will need for her test. Her studying has been going quite smoothly over the past several days, at a quick pace.
Last night we started on a new Section 3, regarding Nationalism and Sectionalism. Our quick paced studying came to a screeching halt. We we discussing President’s Madison and Monroe and the Era of Good Feelings. And, we were reading about Henry Clay’s American System and the Monroe Doctrine, as well as the Missouri Compromise.
My daughter suddenly hit a wall and had a complete mental block. We reviewed the info over and over and she still was not grasping it (or she had taken her brain out of her head). She was not getting it at all.
“What’s up Sam,” I asked her. “You breezed through the last two sections in no time.”
“It’s history Mom. I just really don’t like History! Besides, this is the hard stuff!”
Hmmm, I thought. “Well you had no problem with the first 2 sections, at all. You memorized those in no time. But, then you hit Section 3 and I lost you. You’re not focused. If you made an attempt at it, it wouldn’t be so hard!”
“I’m tired, Mom,” she replied.
Interesting as this is my daughter that gets up 3-4 mornings a week and is in the gym at 5:45 exercising. Her life is like a whirlwind. She tries to join every single activity she can. I have to remind her to go to bed at night. Otherwise she wouldn’t sleep! This teenage doesn’t get tired (until she’s studying for History).
It made me wonder. Was it really the “hard” stuff? Or was it that she just chose to “shut down” and not make the effort to memorize the info?
Is this any different than many other people? When it’s time to learn or to do the “hard stuff” they don’t have time 
to make the effort.
They shut down.
They get a mental block.
They tell themselves they just can’t do it.
Is this the “easy” way out?
I have to admit, I remember doing it in school, at times, when I hit a “hard” subject.
We wrapped it up for the night, as we were making no headway at all. Tonight, it’s time for her to put her brain back in her head and “get focused”.
I have been telling my girls since they were 2 years old, “If you say you can’t do it, then you can’t!”
Everyone of us, in our lives, at one time or another have hit a wall when we reached the “hard stuff”. If we learned to properly deal with it, get focused and trudge through it, we would see that it would make it easier the next time around. Dealing with the “hard stuff” builds character. And it allows you to be proud of your accomplishments.
Not dealing with it at all is a cop out.
This article is authored by Sandy Shores, Brevard County Real Estate
Melbourne Florida Real Estate News
West Shore JV Purrfections Dance Team
Today the West Shore Purrfections JV and Varsity Dance Teams competed in the 12th Annual Brevard County Florida Dance Competition held at Melbourne High School. Teams from across the county competed.
West Shore Junior Varsity picked up first place in the competition in the Junior Varsity Pom Dance Division.
The team’s coach is April Shaw.
The Junior Varsity and Varsity teams were also awarded the Spirit Award!
Congratulations to West Shore Purrfections!
This article is authored by Sandy Shores, Brevard County Real Estate
The Million Dollar Question Today Still is…
Has the housing market hit rock bottom yet? Consumers ask us this all the time. There are 7 pages of entries on Google’s search for this 
question, nearly 70 articles on this very subject.
We are getting close to the bottom of the market here in Brevard County Florida. But, often times when we finally do hit rock bottom, we are not completely aware of it, and then prices begin heading right back up again. So we wind up being a day late and a dollar short.
The next most popular question we hear is “Should I buy a home today or wait?” Google this one and there are over 40 entries on Google’s first 4 pages, nearly 40 articles.
We are currently experiencing a buyers market in Brevard County Florida. There is a large inventory of competitively priced homes available for sale. Prices are lower than they have been in the last 5 years.
Foreclosures are being aggresively priced, thus keeping the market at realistic levels. Some of the short sales are also quite aggressive, provided the bank agrees to that advertised price. There are some great deals available today. First time home buyers and savvy investors have jumped in and are scooping them up quickly.
For first time home buyers, now is a great time to buy a home. There are many first time homebuyer programs available today. Interest rates are at an all time low, providing a buyer more home for their dollar spent. Otherwise, they will need 3.5% for a downpayment on an FHA loan, plus closing costs. If they are opting for a conventional loan they will need 20%, plus closing costs. A good lender will be able to recommend the best type of loan for an individual buyer’s situation. And they will provide a Good Faith Estimate of anticipated closing costs. Another option, often available in this competitive market may be to ask the seller to pay some of the buyer’s closing costs. A good Realtor can advise if this is feasible with the home that a buyer is considering.
If a buyer has a home to sell before they buy, here in Brevard County, proper pricing is key in selling it quickly. Our market has begun picking up pace. More homes are selling each month. So, be sure that house is in “show” condition before placing it on the market. A reputable Realtor is essential to make this is successful transaction.
Hindsight is 20/20. None of us has a crystal ball.
‘We hear it everyday, I should have bought that house 20 years ago.’
‘I should have sold in 2005.’
There’s no time like the present.
Don’t look back in years to come, and wish you had taken advantage of these great buying opportunities – then, it’s too late!
This article is authored by Sandy Shores, Brevard County Real Estate
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