Thursday, February 22, 2018

Clearwater beach -Best Beach For America

Clearwater white sand beaches has now topped the charts with Best American beach, and only Clearwater beach made the American beach ranks!

The list is as follows

Top Beaches in the U.S.:
1. Clearwater Beach - Clearwater, Florida
2. Siesta Beach - Siesta Key, Florida
3. Ka'anapali Beach - Lahaina, Hawaii
4. South Beach - Miami Beach, Florida
5. Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve - Honolulu, Hawaii
6. Fort Lauderdale Beach - Fort Lauderdale, Florida
7. Saint Pete Beach - St. Pete Beach, Florida
8. Hollywood Beach - Hollywood, Florida
9. Santa Monica Beach - Santa Monica, California
10. Lanikai Beach - Kailua, Hawaii
and International

Top Beaches in the World:
1. Grace Bay, Turks & Caicos
2. Baia do Sancho, Brazil
3. Varadero Beach, Cuba
4. Eagle Beach, Aruba
5. Seven Mile Beach, Cayman Islands
6. La Conca Beach, Spain
7. Clearwater Beach, Florida, United States
8. Seven Mile Beach, Jamaica
9. Bavaro Beach, Dominican Republic
10. Playa Norte, Mexico


If you are thinking of coming down to check out these beaches, perhaps you might want to see properties available for rent, or just for vacation, come quick, prices will be going up!

call 727.479.6413 for more information

see original article here:
https://www.abcactionnews.com/lifestyle/taste-and-see/clearwater-beach-named-best-beach-in-america-for-2018

Tuesday, February 20, 2018


Buyers-Useful information


TIPS ON NEGOTIATING WITH SELLERS



If you dread the negotiating process when buying a home, never fear. Your real estate agent is an experienced negotiator who helps keep the bargaining from becoming emotional and veering off track.
Your agent must know your desires by heart and have quick access to you if a negotiation point needs to be made. It's important to stick to the strategy you and your agent have agreed upon -- showing the seller how strong your offer is.
First, get preapproved for a mortgage loan. That means your mortgage lender has reviewed your credit history and assets, checked employment and income, examined your debt-to-income ratios, and has preapproved you for a certain amount, terms and interest rate so you know exactly how much you can spend.
Being preapproved shows sellers that you are prepared and able to buy. Before you submit an offer, ask your agent to find out more what the seller wants as far as terms. The more your offer matches up with the seller's requests, such as a closing date, the more likely your offer will be accepted.
Find out when the house will be vacated, if any repairs or improvements are planned, and if the seller has any pressure points such as a relocation deadline. Also, you'll want to review the seller's disclosure of the condition of the property.
Your agent must also find out if other offers are on the table. Your position is stronger if there are no other offers. The seller may be less likely to bend on price concessions or repairs if there are other offers.
Have your agent pull up the most recent CMA (comparable homes recently sold or on the market) within a reasonable radius of the home, so you can sculpt your offer price. Be sure that you are comparing apples to apples in terms of updates, size of the home, amenities, location, schools districts, etc.
Once these steps are made, you are ready to write an offer.
Making the offer
Make yourself think like the seller. It helps you anticipate what the seller will accept in price, terms, and other conditions. By considering the seller's position, you will likely create an offer that is either accepted or strongly considered.
Your offer should be clear on the terms, closing dates, repair requests or other conditions the seller needs to meet and it should be accompanied by a letter from your lender that you are preapproved to buy the seller's home. Include a cover letter summarizing your strengths as a buyer in terms of creditworthiness, flexibility in closing, and the strength of the offer.
Don't insult the seller with an offer that's too low or requires too many concessions. The seller may be nostalgic about his or her life in the house and may not like the idea that you want to remodel.
The only thing a seller can't argue with is a strong set of comparables that show the home is overpriced or out of date. These are homes that have sold that are nearby (within two blocks) and similar in age, size and features. If you can show that a similar home has sold within the last two months for less than the seller is asking, that's good.
Be sure all conditions, repairs, etc. are agreed to in writing. Some sellers may feel that a handshake covers a promise, but it's essential to be clear on paper what is expected and when. A seller's promise to paint should be included as an addendum to the contract and include all details, such as primer, exact color and type of paint, how many coats, and when the work will be finished for inspection.
Negotiating after inspections
The offer is negotiated and accepted, the earnest money is at the escrow agent's office. Now the inspections occur, and this is where the contract negotiations can break down.
No home is perfect, not even brand-new construction. During the inspection process, the inspector is usually required to tell you about any condition of appliances, heating and cooling systems, roofs, electrical and plumbing systems, etc, and if your future home is up to current city codes.
Sellers are usually not required to bring a house completely up to current local building codes. Negotiate a repair only when a system is unsafe or a major repair is needed to make the system operate effectively.
As long as the seller has a reasonable explanation of what your position is and why, and communication remains open, the seller should have as much desire to make the contract work as you do.

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Tampa Soaring In Wage Increase Data From 2007 Until 2016

Florida's popular county, Hillsborough, has the greatest whole number average wage increase over the 10 year period of 2007-2016.  Also, Hillsborough has the second-highest average annual wage, 50,768 - that was compiles by the Economic Development Corporation, of Tampa.
Anytime you have a question about this area, the homes and communities or anything that I can help with, please let me know.

I look forward to helping you find the right home!                       Jill Grodin Realtor - Tampa Bay Florida

727.479.6413

www.sellinghomesjillspropertysearch.com




-AA+A Cities Breaking Records for Price Appreciation

From Realtor Mag:

Strong demand and low inventories fueled home prices to record highs in 2017, as the median home price in the U.S. reached $235,000, up 8.3 percent from 2016, according to real estate data firm ATTOM Data Solutions. Still, annual price appreciation showed signs of slowing; in 2016, the national median home price jumped 8.5 percent year over year, according to ATTOM’s latest housing report.
Sixty-four of 112 metros—or 57 percent—set a new record for metro-level home prices in 2017, including Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, and San Francisco. Among those 112 metros, each with populations of 200,000 or more, the cities with the biggest year-over-year price increases were Ocala, Fla. (up 14.3 percent); Kansas City, Mo. (13.4 percent); San Jose, Calif. (13.3 percent); Salem, Ore. (12.9 percent); and Nashville, Tenn. (12.5 percent).
Among major metro areas with populations of at least 1 million, the cities that posted double-digit gains included Las Vegas (up 12.3 percent); Salt Lake City (10.9 percent); Seattle (10.8 percent); Orlando, Fla. (10.7 percent); Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla. (10.7 percent); Portland, Ore. (10.5 percent); and Jacksonville, Fla. (10.1 percent).

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Hemp Homes - New- Spark Building Interest





As more states legalize marijuana for recreational and medical purposes, the housing industry is increasingly looking to embrace it as a building material too, The New York Times reports.
North Carolina boasts the first modern U.S. hemp house, which was constructed in 2010. About 50 homes in the country have since popped up with hemp built in.
Hemp structures date back to Roman times. But now, some builders want to bring it back to their markets, since it’s known for being a fast-growing, sustainable product.
“Mixing hemp’s woody fibers with lime produces a natural, light concrete that retains thermal mass and is highly insulating,” The New York Times reports. “No pests, no mold, good acoustics, low humidity, no pesticide. It grows from seed to harvest in about four months.”
As for the smell? “It smells a little like lime,” says Sergiy Kovalenkov, a Ukrainian civil engineer who has built hemp structures in the Ukraine. “We’re using the stock. You cannot smell cannabis—it has nothing to do with smoking weed or cannabis plants. It’s an industrial agriculture crop.”
To clarify, industrial hemp is not the same as the product that can give you a buzz. It contains only 0.3 percent of the substance THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol.
But builders are finding hemp houses can be difficult to build. Even in areas that have made marijuana legal, developers still often must have special permits to build with hemp. International standards also still do not exist yet for building with hemp or codes that regulate how it should be used structurally or safely.
Source: “High Times Beckon for Using Hemp to Build Houses,” The New York Times (Jan. 29, 2018

Monday, January 15, 2018

Facebook changes affecting everyone!

SAN FRANCISCO – Jan. 12, 2018 – Facebook is radically altering the formula that determines what bubbles to the top of people's news feed, part of sweeping changes the giant social network has planned to address growing controversy over the role it plays in people's lives and in society.
Soon, Facebook says you will see more status updates from friends and family that spark meaningful social exchanges – parents discussing what bedtime stories to read to children, a friend seeking advice on places to travel or a newsy article or video on a topic you care about. What Facebook wants you to spend less time doing: passively scrolling through updates on your timeline, reading articles and watching videos, but not interacting with others.
"Recently we've gotten feedback from our community that public content – posts from businesses, brands and media – is crowding out the personal moments that lead us to connect more with each other," Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post. "I'm changing the goal I give our product teams from focusing on helping you find relevant content to helping you have more meaningful social interactions."
Zuckerberg has been laying the groundwork for making that fundamental shift in all of Facebook's products. He recently told investors he wants Facebook to encourage "meaningful social interactions" and downplayed the importance of how much time people spend there.
That's because the move could come at a high price. Zuckerberg anticipates Facebook's 2 billion-plus users will spend less time on and be less engaged with the social network – including watching videos, a lucrative new revenue stream. But, he says, "if we do the right thing, I believe that will be good for our community and our business over the long term, too."
Pressure has been building on Facebook and its CEO as toxic content flowing through Facebook – the spread of violent live videos, fabricated news articles and divisive messages on hot-button social issues from Russian operatives to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign – has been blamed for ripping holes in the social fabric.
Another sharp wave of criticism has pummeled Facebook – some of it from former executives – who say the company's products exploit vulnerabilities in human psychology to hook people on social media, hijacking their time and attention and undermining their well-being.
Facebook recently acknowledged that some social media use can be harmful to mental health, a backflip for the Silicon Valley company which, until recently, rejected a growing body of research showing that Facebook use can generate negative feelings.
Last month Facebook released its own research demonstrating that when people connect with each other on social media, it has a positive effect. On the other hand, passively scrolling through social media does not.
The concession did not happen in a vacuum. In November, Sean Parker, the founding president of Facebook, took aim at Facebook in an interview with Axios, saying he and other executives created a "social-validation feedback loop" to make Facebook psychologically addictive.
Early Facebook executive and former vice president of growth, Chamath Palihapitiya, also accused Facebook of creating "short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops" that are "destroying how society works." He later softened his remarks.
Mounting difficulties for Facebook prompted Zuckerberg to declare last week that his personal challenge for the year – which in the past had been visiting all of the states, learning Mandarin and slaughtering his own meat – would be to fix what ails Facebook. A big part of that effort would be "making sure that time spent on Facebook is time well spent," he said.
Facebook constantly tweaks its computer algorithms to maintain interest in its news feed, the company's main attention-getter.

kkkCopyright © 2018, USATODAY.com, USA TODAY, Jessica Guynn and Florida Realtor

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