Real Estate Views from St Pete

In our slow market, several property owners feel that they can get more money if they divide their condo or their home into fractional interests. I received an e-mail this week from a waterfront owner in Tampa who wanted to sell 3 three-month interests in his property, and maintain one three-month interest for himself.

I haven't responded, because I don't have the expertise (yet) to handle these situations. If it were a condo, the condo association and their rules would probably determine whether this can be done. In a single family - what about the zoning requirements of a "single family home"? The zoners probably never considered four different one-at-a-time owners. What about deed restrictions?  Who's going to control the expenditures? Is it "Not a security" if none of the owners expect income from renting out all or part of their 3 months? What if only 2 or 3 of the shares sell?

Sounds like lots of issues and concerns. I'm wondering if any of you have been involved in these situations, how they were structured, and what the outcome was.

Sharon Simms, Real Estate Agent selling homes in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gulf Beaches and the Tampa Bay area.  

When you're pricing resort property, you naturally use local comps to set a price. Often, however, the buyers are comparing various locations - in Florida, it may be Tampa/St Pete or Orlando or Naples or Ft Lauderdale or Miami or Key West. Each has their own charms and advantages, as well as disadvantages. In the end the choice is lifestyle, not a particular house or condo. For many buyers, it may even be Florida vs Arizona vs California vs the Bahamas vs Mexico vs Costa Rica. You certainly sell your area as well as your property, but you can't change the lifestyle differences.

Since you can't keep the buyers in your area, develop a network of agents you like and respect in the other areas, so that you can share client prospects and get a little piece of the pie, as well as the client's appreciation that you're still taking care of them.  

Last hint - don't talk to them about "referring" them to another agent, talk about "introducing" them to a colleague who will take wonderful care of them. 

Sharon Simms, Real Estate Agent selling homes in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gulf Beaches and the Tampa Bay area.  

You've probably come across properties that have multiple owners - often siblings, sometimes extended family, and sometimes just business partners. When you're asked to represent a group in buying, usually there are one or two who do the search together, and then perhaps call in the others for a final determination. When you're asked to represent them as sellers, as individual owners this can get chaotic - spread all over the country, different schedules, different motivations. Before you list, try to get them all to designate a single person as your contact point. Ideally, this person would be given the power to sign documents for the group, so that you don't have to get multiple signatures from multiple areas. Taking too much time for a response can lose a buyer for the property. If each makes a single change, you don't have a contract. If they can't agree on one person to represent them, what do you think it's going to be like getting them all to make a joint decision and sign off on it?

Sharon Simms, Real Estate Agent selling homes in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gulf Beaches and the Tampa Bay area.  

With January 1st coming on a Monday this year, the last business day was yesterday, the 29th. Now we have 3 days to summarize all the year end data, prepare financials (easy with Quicken), and set up budgets for the next year - as well as compiling year end statistics on the marketplace - though I'm sure some of the 29th closings won't hit the records until Tuesday or Wednesday. And if you're taking Tuesday off as well (we're not - already set appointments with clients), you can even make sure you start the year with a clean desk (no stuffing other places allowed).

Sharon Simms, Real Estate Agent selling homes in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gulf Beaches and the Tampa Bay area.  

On Christmas morning, we had an unexpected storm come through, with heavy rains and winds up to 60 mph. Some parts of the Tampa Bay area even had tornados - some 400 homes were damaged in San Antonio, north of Tampa.

After such incidents, we always go around and check the properties that are vacant, or whose owners are away. Certainly part of it is to keep things in top condition while they're listed, which means taking care of fallen branches, torn or missing signs, screen panels hanging down, etc. It also makes the owners feel good when you call and tell them that you've checked things out and let them know of anything that needs to be done.

Sharon Simms, Real Estate Agent selling homes in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gulf Beaches and the Tampa Bay area.   

Here in Pinellas County, Florida, we can check the Property Assessor's website to check the taxes on a piece of property. An "extra" service you can add is to check the taxes on properties your buyers have bought, and check the prorated amount their sellers paid on the HUD statement, compared to the actual proration (naturally, be sure that the sales contract provided that these taxes will be re-prorated upon request). If the difference is a few hundred dollars or more, contact your buyers and let them know. It's up to them if they want to pursue it, but as the amounts get higher it's worthwhile. In any case, your clients will appreciate that you thought of them, and checked things out for them. That's service beyond the sale, and caring.

Sharon Simms, Real Estate Agent selling homes in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gulf Beaches and the Tampa Bay area.   

When prospects are looking for a neighborhood and a home to buy, they like to see the area amenities - as well as the people. So there is a desire for photos of playground with children playing, soccer fields with a game going on, schools with students so you can see what people are wearing in this area. But is this not an invasion of privacy? Many parents would not want to see a photo of their child on the internet, especially with the neighborhood noted. Blur the faces? Maybe that's not enough. Take photos early in the morning when no one is there? The photos don't come alive.

What do you do about this? How do you feel?

Sharon Simms, Real Estate Agent selling homes in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gulf Beaches and the Tampa Bay area.   

Many areas of Florida are objecting to short term rentals - those owners who rent their homes out for short periods of a week or a fortnight. Condos usually don't have this problem as the condo docs generally specify a minimum rental period. Homeowners associations generally don't and zoning regulations generally don't. They will specify that the property cannot be used to run a business. Is renting a home on an annual basis "conducting a business?"  I think not.  What about renting a home continuously for short periods?  That's the big debate.

Another aspect that will soon come into play is homeowners renting boat slips. It's generally been ok to rent your dock and slip out if you aren't using it - that's still kind of like one boat per property. But as marinas are closing and getting more expensive, we see more homeowners renting space to 2 or 3 or 4 boats. The same question comes up - is this a business?

Sharon Simms, Real Estate Agent selling homes in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gulf Beaches and the Tampa Bay area.   

A simple thing to do to save yourself time and perhaps embarrassment, is to confirm all your showings. When you make an appointment a day or three ahead of time, perhaps the agent forgot to call the sellers, or didn't remember that they were going to meet you, or wrote down the wrong time. If you're meeting a buyer somewhere (even at your office) it's good to call and confirm the time. This is a good task for your assistant. Just in case there's a confusion of day or time, it saves you driving and not being able to show a property.  Simple - but time saving.

Sharon Simms, Real Estate Agent selling homes in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gulf Beaches and the Tampa Bay area.   

At Christmas especially, we miss those we loved who are no longer here on earth with us. We talk about them, we shed a few tears. This year, my daughter, Tami, and I both had the same feelings. When I woke up yesterday, it was to say Happy Birthday to my Mom, who died a few years ago. Part of Christmas Eve was always taking a separate part of the day to celebrate her birthday, so it wouldn't be mashed in with Christmas.

After that, I decided to wear her ring, as well as my grandmother's, and put them on a gold chain around my neck. It just seemed the right thing to do. I didn't do that in prior years, but this Christmas it just seemed right. Tami was thinking of Aunt Lil, who shared over 30 Christmases with us - and put on her ring, and wore one of her necklaces. Strange that we both decided to remember in this way, and to take them with us to share yet another Christmas.

Our older son, Rusty, who is in northern California, chose an unusual way to be with us this morning. He sent a package to The Simms Clan, to be refrigerated upon arrival, with strict instructions, NOT to open it until Christmas morning, and to take it to his brother Rob's house for all of us to share this morning. It's a freshly smoked salmon, sent directly from the smokehouse. He told me it was coming from Trinidad, and I was trying to figure out how Trinidad would have cold water salmon....until I read the label, that Katy's Smokehouse was in Trinidad, California!

My daughter-in-law, Patricia, spent several Christmases a coast away from her daughter, April. Each year the two would set aside a couple hours for a phone call, and each open their presents from each other while on the phone. Too bad they couldn't be set up with cameras so they could watch each other as they opened them.

Enjoy your Christmas, and share it with those you love - wherever they are. 

Sharon Simms, Real Estate Agent selling homes in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gulf Beaches and the Tampa Bay area.   

It's Christmas morning. After a wonderful Christmas Eve with old friends and new, and yet another late night, I woke up this morning to see the dawn's light just piercing the darkness. Against the water, it was almost a firelight glow.  Our children and grandchildren are all in their own homes, some not far away. We'll join their world a little later this morning, but for now, with just the two of us, it is a quiet house, as he sleeps and I awake.

I've opened my first Christmas "box" and it's in the ActiveRain group of boxes. I've already watched Jeff's Christmas show that he made for us, and read Barry's greeting and wish for the world, read Bryant and TLW's Christmas comments - and now it's time for me to share mine with all of you as well.

Thinking back on the year, I know some ARs have lost loved ones, and face today with tears; I know some ARs have been fighting illness, and a few we have lost to death. Hugs and love to out to those.  Others have shared the Christmas spirit all through the year, as we've read of how they've helped someone who needed it.

Some ARs are surrounded by family, or by friends, and some, I'm sure, are all alone today.  Our virtual world continues, however, and we are bound together, and wish each other well.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Year!

Sharon Simms, Real Estate Agent selling homes in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gulf Beaches and the Tampa Bay area.   

A Simms Christmas custom, as I mentioned in my last blog, was hiding Christmas stockings. It started way back when the boys were little, and eager to start Christmas morning before dawn. We got to sleep a little while longer, because they couldn't start opening presents or wake us up until they'd found their hidden stockings - and sometimes what's in them kept them playing even a bit longer.

Somehow this tradition, as traditions often do, had a mind of it's own, and the boys grew up and found more fun in hiding OUR stockings. As they grew into their teens and twenties, they become ever more clever. So, we had two groups hiding stockings, basically us older ones first, then after we were asleep the next generation started hiding. Could they find things that night accidentally - sometimes. The year I remember was when we pushed Uncle Chip's stocking up in the flue of the fireplace. The boys were hiding someone else's there, so just pushed Uncle Chip's higher. Typically they found easier to find hiding places for the oldest generation and some of the women.

There was the year they emptied a half gallon of ice cream, put a stocking in it, and put it back in the freezer.

There was the year they cut out the center of our BIG dictionary and hid Dad's stocking in it (that year they left for Chicago before he found it ... but were sure to have a new replacement dictionary as well as a bottle of whiskey to cushion their reaction from Dad.

One year in Gram's condo, with less nooks and crannies, they hid Dad's stocking in a suitcase, took off an air conditioning grill, put the suitcase in that space, and built a false floor over it.  

Another year Dad was on crutches (too much HonkeyTonk at a Christmas party) so the rules said it had to be below his head level  -  they opened (by ungluing the bottom) a new huge box of laundry detergent in the laundry room, emptied as much detergent as the stocking weighed, then glued the bottom back together so it looked like new, and put it back on the storage counter.

I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea.

So, years have passed, and for the last several years Christmases have been with one of the boys and their family, no longer at our house. Guess what - they don't want their house torn apart the way they tore ours apart!  One year of super tame hiding with lots of rules, and the tradition has died off  -  at least until we can teach our grandson to imitate his father!

Crazy family customs - it makes for wonderful memories.

Sharon Simms, Real Estate Agent selling homes in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gulf Beaches and the Tampa Bay area.  

When to open presents - Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? Much depends on your heritage or how things were when you were a child. It's a hard decision to compromise when two spouses disagree - you can't really choose 3 am which is in the middle.

When I was growing up, all of my grandparents being from Sweden, we celebrated on Christmas Eve. My grandfather would take me shopping on Christmas Eve Day - probably as much to get me out of the house as anything. All the presents were locked in a big closet under the stairs, so we never had a chance to peek. The whole extended family would have a smorgasbord dinner, some of which had been in preparation for weeks. After that, we'd all go into the living room by the tree, and then we'd hear the bells and see Santa Claus coming up the driveway. He'd arrive with a big bag of presents and pass them out, and then he'd leave before we opened them.  I'm told of one particular Christmas Eve when I whispered into Santa's ear as he was leaving, "Good job, Uncle Vin. Hurry back so you can open presents with Jon (my younger cousin and his son)"  Presents were opened, I think we then went to a midnight church service, and home to bed. Christmas morning was the time to get up and play with our presents and eat Christmas cookies.

My husband's family was from England originally, and he'd always celebrated and opened Christmas presents on Christmas morning.

So - who won?  This was long after my grandparents had died, by the way.  He did.  I even gave up on the smorgasbord because noone else in the family liked the Swedish dishes, other than meatballs and cookies.

But we made our own traditions. We hid stockings (even remember Christmases by where a particular stocking was hidden) and they all had to be found before we could open presents - and then we did them one by one, so everyone could watch. Coffee and eggnog, lots of cookies. By the time we finished it was mid-afternoon, so I guess there never would have been time to do it Christmas Eve.

Sharon Simms, Real Estate Agent selling homes in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gulf Beaches and the Tampa Bay area.  

Angus's blog on his meme made reference to Scots, kilts and haggis, which started me thinking:

A few years ago friends (and clients) invited us to a Burns Party they were holding in the common areas of their condominium.  Burn Party? Burns Party? What was that?

A few blocks away from the condo, we began hearing bagpipe music. The bagpiper was playing outdoors near the pool, and the sounds carried across that part of downtown St. Petersburg (Florida). Most of the party guests were from Scotland, so the majority of men were wearing kilts - in a variety of plaids, depending on which clan the wearer belonged to, or which part of Scotland he came from.

Later there were traditional poetry readings from Robert Burns poetry (thus the name, Burns Party) and the accents and brogues became thicker as the evening went on. Different guests played different parts, or did specific readings. Yet later there was singing of old Scottish songs.

The buffet dinner had many choices, including traditional Scottish favorites. I was urged to try haggis, and I did, a small piece. I guess like Swedish lutfisk, it's an acquired taste!  It's good I didn't know at the time what was in it. I don't want to upset you on a day of Christmas cookies, but wiki tells you the ingredients as well as the history. 

Obviously it's a fun night, because now we have choices for Burns parties. The city of Dunedin, here in Pinellas County, has Scottish ancestry, and retains that flavor, including Scottish bagpipers, Scottish arts and crafts, Highland Games, and of course, Bobby Burns Parties.  Even our own St. Petersburg Yacht Club has instituted a Bobby Robbie* Burns party each January. A minority of the men come in kilts, but there are always some. The lasses often have Scottish costumes or accents.

Sharon Simms, Real Estate Agent selling homes in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gulf Beaches and the Tampa Bay area.  

*Correction made 12/16/07 pursuant to a comment made below. 

Most of us check around to get the lowest prices for things, as I did recently looking for the new software Adobe Photo Elements 5.0.  If there's a small difference, I'll still choose a known internet supplier.  I bought my copy from Amazon, not at the lowest price advertised 2 days later, but that's not really a big deal.  I think mine was $69 less a $20 upgrade = $49. After I had bought one, I noticed that the $20 upgrade coupon was in the box and the "proof" was on the box flap.

Searching around a week or so later, I found that Software Surplus had the program advertised at $49.95. Thinking this would net $29.95, I ordered two more copies so that I could put them in Christmas stockings for Tami and Rob.

    Lesson 1:  don't assume the coupon is everywhere.  ASK.  There wasn't one. Nor was there a Getting Started Guide.

The software arrived in a timely fashion, days before Christmas. When I opened the bubble envelope (didn't really think or remember at the time that my one copy from amazon came in a box) out fell two circuit board strips. Hmmm, that's odd.  Then I shook out 2 CDs of the software, each in a sealed envelope, but with the CDs marked "FOR BUNDLES ONLY. Not to be sold separately."  Then there was a folded piece of paper on which was typed: "Thank you for your software purchase, we hope you enjoy your new program. You will notice that your program came wth a piece of computer hardware. This hardware has nothing to do with the program you purchased and can be thrown away or sent back to be recycled. We are required to sell these bundled with a piece of computer hardware for license reasons at our end.  If you would like to have the piece of hardware recycled please send it to: Software Suplus, 3010 S Hennepin Ave, Suite 144, MinneapolisMN 55408"

I felt a mixture of emotions - ripped off, cheezy, an enabler to a scheme. This company may be totally within the rights of its licensing contract with Adobe, but it doesn't seem to meet the spirit of the licensing agreement. I'll be contacting adobe later today just to let them know. I would have liked for the company to tell me what it was selling before I bought it, just like relabelled parts or rebuilt computers should be labelled as such.  So - the vendor got what they wanted, I didn't get what I wanted, and I don't think Adobe got what they wanted.

Lesson 2: if you're dealing with a vendor that you don't know, ask questions before you order. They didn't lie to me - I just didn't ask the right questions.

Customers think the same things when they're looking for real estate. They want to know the things they don't know to ask. They rely on our integrity, on our putting their interests above our own. We want them to feel good about their transaction and about their experience with us.

Sharon Simms, Real Estate Agent selling homes in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gulf Beaches and the Tampa Bay area. 

Life is about family, and I'd never begrudge anyone time off on Christmas, or even Christmas Eve - but today's only the 22nd.  We're still writing offers and showing property - and having problems because many agents with homes  "shown by appointment with agent only" and "agent must accompany" are nowhere to be found. The office phone, and agent cell phones have messages, we will reopen on Tuesday. Can't they take their cell phone on shopping trips? If they've gone out of town, isn't someone covering? Are we unreasonable to think that since we were still working today that others should be as well? Have their Sellers said, it's ok not to answer your calls or have someone else do it? It's ok - with 10,000 plus properties on the market, if one doesn't want to sell, lots of others due. You have to wonder, though, if the owners know their home is "unavailable".

Sharon Simms, Real Estate Agent selling homes in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gulf Beaches and the Tampa Bay area.   

So many people think that Florida doesn't have seasons.  Wrong!  We may not have the BIG signs, such as dogwoods blooming in Tennessee or the colorful leaves falling in New Hampshire...but we have seasons.

You may wake up in the north and know when you step out the door that it's Indian Summer, just by the air. When we wake up and walk out the door, we know it's time to turn off the Air Conditioning and open all the windows, so that fresh air blows through. We love the middle seasons of fall and spring - and generally don't have any leaves to rake.

When we walk or drive down the streets, we know the seasons by watching the trees. In spring the flowering trees glow pink or lavender or flame red, and then cover the ground in color as well.

When a Canadian chill comes through, for a few glorious evenings we can sit in front of a fire in our fireplaces - and know that the next day it's likely to warm up to the 70s or even 80s in the afternoon.  In the summer, we can light candles in our fireplaces for a romantic glow.

We know the seasons by the fragrances - of the orange blossoms, or the gardenias.

I like to watch the plumeria or frangipani trees, because they do have bare branches in the winter. To see and smell the beautiful flowers as they come out in spring, and watch them bloom all summer and well into November. These remind me of trips to Hawaii and the Caribbean...and when they drop their leaves and blossoms, remind me of New England as well.  But we don't have consistantly gray skies - we have blue ones, with sunshine.

Not to mention that we know it's winter when the pale skinned Snow Birds arrive on our beaches. 

I'm sure many of the other Florida bloggers can add their impressions of the seasons as well.   

Sharon Simms, Real Estate Agent selling homes in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gulf Beaches and the Tampa Bay area.  

Recently I wrote about a St. Pete neighborhood called Kenwood. I just learned about a holiday tradition in historic Kenwood:

The Kenwood Elves are an incognito group of pranksters who scout the neighborhood and decorate homes whose owners have made minimal or no efforts to decorate their homes. They string strands (often used) of lights, garlands and trim around the porch and yard. From these they hang unique items, such as empty cans, old socks and underwear, plastic or foam cups, broken ornaments and tea towels.

So far, the dozen plus elves have never been caught.

Most recipients accept this as neighborhood spirit and welcome, rather than an antagonistic attack.

Read the St Pete Times archives for more details.

Sharon Simms, Real Estate Agent selling homes in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gulf Beaches and the Tampa Bay area.   

As promised in my recent blog, here are the results of the holiday sign post contest:  No winner.  There were no holiday sign posts entered (mine was the enticement, not an entry).

However,  there are two Honorable Mentions: 

Michelle Connors from Atlantic Beach, NC, wins Honorable Mention for her decorated crabpot. 

Jason Price wins Honorable Mention for his daughter's doll house.

Sorry for not providing links to Michelle and Jason's home page, but that function of ActiveRain isn't working this morning.

Sharon Simms, Real Estate Agent selling homes in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gulf Beaches and the Tampa Bay area.   

I love books, and since my children heard and read books from their infancy, they love books, too. I hate to get rid of books - passing them on is ok, but that's mainly fiction. The nonfiction I keep because I may want to reread them. Over the years of our moves, our books have added tons of weight, and finding places to put and/or build bookcases in the homes we've lived in hasn't been easy. 

For Christmas, we often give each other books, along with other presents. Our family, however, has a unique twist to giving books. We test them. We wouldn't want to give someone a book that wasn't a good book, would we? So we buy the book, read it to make sure it's good, and then wrap it up and put it under the tree. Kind of crazy, but we all do it, so it's ok.  Now when we open one, we ask, "And are you sure this is a GOOD book?"  Then after we've read it, we'll usually pass it around, as many of our tastes are similar.

Starting about December a "DON'T buy" list appears with various books on it. Since we share the books, we don't want someone else to buy one we've already bought. So - even though you know a certain book will be under the tree, you don't know who's getting it, so there's still some surprise. 

Sharon Simms, Real Estate Agent selling homes in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gulf Beaches and the Tampa Bay area.