Melbourne Real Estate News, Brevard County FL Real Estate by Sandy Shores REALTOR®

I love fruit.  And this is the time of year that I am able to pick the fruit from our trees that lasts us for the winter.  We usually have large juicy navels, grapefruit, tangerines and lemons bigger than softballs. 

Navel oranges are my favorite. I can pick them off my backyard tree.  The only problem is, sometimes I eat too many.

This year I have been able to go and pick some delicious fruit off the trees at some of our rental houses, after I ask the tenant's first, of course.  They are glad that I take it. 

In years gone by, my daughters and I have taken all the fruit off the trees and passed bags and bags and bags of it out at school to teachers and parents and friends. Some years we were blessed with over 50-60 full bags of fruit.  We picked every piece and none went to waste.  We even took some over to the local elder care facilities.

This year though, I have no navels... look at my tree... I am so disappointed...

It is so barren.

In 2004 we suffered losses with Hurricanes Jean and Frances.  Many around us did.  Many lost their fruit trees and many of the trees went into shock and were badly damaged.  We lost a grapefruit tree at a rental house.

In our backyard, we had no navels for the next 2 years. Then, last year there were our gorgeous navels again. We didn't have as many as usual, but we had a bunch and they were delicious. But, for some reason, this year again, we are without navels. I will have to talk to my friend that can tell me what my tree needs.

Our tangarine trees and lemons trees are beautifully stocked with fruit.  And, again all of that fruit will be eaten or distributed.  Many of the lemons that we cannot use quickly enough are squeezed into ice cube trays and frozen, and then put into plastic baggies. That way we can use them in drinks. For us it works out beautifully!

Brevard's Best Youth Entertainment kicked off their Christmas Show this week.  They performed their first show of the season at Courtenay Springs Adult Retirement Community on Merritt Island.  They are scheduled to perform their show of singing and dancing 16 more times between December 6 and December 21.

The girls range from age 6 and 16 years old.  They each volunteer anywhere from 75 to 150 hours of community service hours to give back to their community.

They travel from nursing homes to Alzheimers centers to libraries to perform.

If you would like a schedule of this year's Christmas performances here in Brevard County Florida, please contact me, I will be more than happy to provide you the list of upcoming show dates and times.

This article is authored by Sandy Shores, Melbourne FL REALTOR.

South Brevard County, Florida Space Coast.

According to a recent study, nearly 64% of homeowners relist their homes for sale with another real estate company within 30 days, after they have expired.

We are hearing that sellers that have homes that have not sold the first time on the market, are upset, disgruntled and often times, downright angry. Some are even looking for a scapegoat to blame it on!

So, the best advice for realtors when speaking to the owner of an expired listing is to LISTEN!  Let them speak first. Do not interrupt.  Let them let off some steam. They often have a load on their mind. They are angry at their lender, their Realtor, the market and some are just frustrated with the economy.  It is understandable for them to be upset.

According to the Realtor Conference and Convention expireds are often looking for agent that is completely different than the last agent they worked with.

This article is authored by Sandy Shores, Melbourne FL REALTOR.

South Brevard County, Florida Space Coast.

Yesterday, I had to run to the pet store to buy a 40 lb bag of dog food for my dog, Bailey.  I pick up a new bag every 3-4 months. 

I don't know if I'm becoming more of a wimp or the 40 pound bag of food is getting heavier.

I grabbed my cart, rolled it to the back of the store, and there was the food that I buy, on the bottom shelf.  It's always been on the bottom shelf. I don't know why.  Maybe they could put it at waist level for me.  Oh well,

I picked up the bag, like I always do, and shifted it over the side of my cart. Like I have always done.  And I heard it...plink, plink, plink...uh oh, I thought, I grabbed a bag with a hole in it.  Let me reposition it, so I went to shift the bag and then...plink, plink, plink, plunk, plunk....avalanche....OH NO! 

Tiny little pieces of dog food were POURING ALL OVER THE FLOOR - Ugh! 

My first thought was, 'how fast can I run the other way (LOL)?'  'How many people are looking?'

It seemed as if a million pieces of dog food were pouring all over the floor and rolling everywhere.

 I have been buying the same dog food for 4 1/2 years and have put the food in the cart the same way every single time.  Here I am standing in a mountain of dog food nearly up to my ankles and it was still coming out...AND NOT QUIETLY EITHER.

Why did I pick the 40 pound bag?  I could have grabbed the 5 pound bag, instead.

I grabbed the gapping bag with it's jaws wide open, picked it up out of the cart, as it poured all over me and  carefully (yeah, right) placed it on the floor. At least I could stop the avalanche, even though the bag was more than half empty.

I headed to the front of the store "I WASN'T ON AISLE 9, REALLY!" (kidding).  As, I am almost run over by a stampede of drooling dogs racing to the back of the store, as they heard that there was an all you can eat free buffet in the back.

I grabbed the manager, sheepishly told him I broke open the bag of food. "Oh, don't worry about it, it happens all the time, in the mornings before the store opens." Ugh, I thought.  He was so very kind.

"Here, let me get you another bag."  He was so helpful too.

"Let me help you," I said. 'No, I've got it," he graciously said.  He knew better than to let me anywhere near - he had already seen the magic that I could work.

I had other things to look for, found those items and went to check out.  As I was leaving I found myself glancing back over my shoulder to see if that poor guy was still cleaning up.

Well, he was. I felt terrible.

I was glad that I hadn't brought my dog, Bailey with me, as that would have been fun keeping him out of a mountain of his favorite food. It would have been an early Christmas for him.

As I left the store, I wondered just how many thousand pieces of dog food are there in a 40 pound bag of food?

I bet that nice manager could have told me!

This article is authored by Sandy Shores, Melbourne FL REALTOR.

South Brevard County, Florida Space Coast.

I have been tagged in the Christmas MEME by Ann Hayden.  I love Ann because she always stops by to read and comment on my blog. She makes me laugh and she presents new ideas and insights. I enjoy reading her blog and the interaction that we have.

Now Ann indicated that this must be something tangible that I really want.  So I racked my brain on this one:

Now I have to say that this is a really difficult thing for me, because if I need something I typically go out and buy it if I can find it on sale somewhere.  If I want something, I usually think about it for awhile. If I really, really don't need it, I don't buy it.

socks - nah - I have a drawer full - just need to take the time to find 2 that match

flat screen TV - nah - I never watch regular TV.   Actually, I don't really get the whole big screen TV thing anyway.  On Black Friday people were going nuts over them.  I occasionally stick a movie in, but I NEVER watch TV during the week,

GPS - nah - I finally, after a year, price shopped them like crazy and broke down and bought one for myself. OH, it has made my real estate career soooo much easier - a realtor without a GPS is almost like a realtor that doesn't have a car!

a new bathroom scale - nah - someone in the family dropped something on mine and broke the plastic front off it. They never seem to work right anyway - they never show that I've lost that last 5 pounds that I can't ever seem to drop.

a new computer - nah - my sister visited over the summer and tried for 2 weeks to get mine to do all the things it would no longer do, so she got sick of it - and the day before she left - she and my Dad went and bought me a brand new system - I was absolutely floored!  My life has been so much easier since! Thanks Jean and Dad!

Hmmm, what I really would absolutely LOVE to have more than anything in the whole world would be to take a weekend with my husband, Steve, my two daughters Stef and Sam and my dog, Bailey and go away somewhere, anywhere, I don't even care where - no phones, no instant messaging, no computers, no cares or worries of everyday life - just a weekend together laughing, hugging and enjoying each other. This Christmas we're going to take the time to do this.  - whoops - reality check - it has to be something tangible, doesn't it?  

Okay, I was cheating, wasn't I? (this is hard)

Okay, here it is, All I really, really want for Christmas is the movie, It's a Wonderful Life by Frank Capra, 1946, with Jimmy Stewart in it.  I don't want the colorized version.  I want the black and white one. I absolutely LOVE that movie! I think that there is such a message about life and living (or not) to all of us in that movie! I have watched it every year at Christmas for years. I usually go to the library and check out their old raggy VHS copy of it. They don't have it on disk.  Every year I look for it on sale somewhere, and I can't find it.  Okay, I'll admit it,..I'm cheap I don't want to pay over $10 for it.

So, that's what I want for Christmas.

So now, I am passing this MeMe along to:

Paul Henderson

Mary Douglas

Lou Ludwig

Now the only rules that I know that are associated with this MeMe is that it must be something tangible. Have fun and thanks for being my friends here on Active Rain!

Okay, let me get gushy here for just a second...wouldn't it be nice if this Christmas, for a change we all focused on the NON tangible things in life, and forgot about all of the material things, just this once? 

What a brighter place the world would be!

This article is authored by Sandy Shores, Melbourne FL REALTOR.

South Brevard County, Florida Space Coast.

I recently read an article indicating that Blogging = Marketing.  The article was included in the Florida Association of Realtors EarlyBird News.  It featured a handful of excellent points about the positive aspects of blogging.  It inspired me to combine my thoughts with the points in the article. 

I BELIEVE THAT A SUCCESSFUL BLOG CAN BE THE VERY BEST BUSINESS CARD THAT WE CAN HAND OUT....

A successful blog gives credibility to an agent.

A successful blog can showcase an agent's expertise in a local real estate market. 

A successful blog can reflect many different sides of agent, humorous, business, personal side, etc.

A successful blog can be warmer and friendlier than a cold, sterile agent website. However, it can be an extension of that website.

For an agent, a successful blog can provide  a "welcome mat" or "breaking of the ice" to people that come into our lives. I can't tell you how many times I have been involved in a conversation with someone, that relates to something I have just recently written about in my blog or that I have just recently read in another blog.  I mention, "I just wrote an article on my blog about that." of "I just read an interesting blog about that very thing."  It allows that person to go back and read further. And, if they need you in the future for a real estate transaction they may call you.

A successful blog gives readers the ability of getting "to know" an agent online.  Readers are able to read an agent's opinions and perspectives to see if they have an interest in working with them before contact. For the potential client, there is no initial contact from the agent until they are ready for it!

A successful blog can give readers the ability of interacting with the agent by making comments and receiving feedback.

A successful blog allows readers to subscribe to an RSS feed, so they are notified each time the author writes a new article.

A successful blog can provide EXCELLENT, up to date, information to other realtors, lenders, buyers, sellers and everyday consumers.

A successful blog can give agents buyers, sellers and can generate listings.

A successful blog can allow an agent to showcase listings of the homes he/she has for sale to buyers across the world.

A successful blog can help one realtor connect with another, across the country to get a home sold or bought.

A successful blog gives an agent the ability of meeting, interacting and networking with other like minded agents across the country.  The networking possibilities are limitless!

An active, successful blog typically boasts high search engine rankings, because of regular, fresh content.

A blog can cost an agent little or NO money at all, just their time and dedication.

I BELIEVE THAT A SUCCESSFUL BLOG CAN BE ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL TOOLS AN AGENT HAS TODAY IN HIS/HER MARKETING TOOLBOX.

NOTE: You noticed that I wrote the word "successful" blog before each of these points listed. I have read some incredible blogs in which it is obvious those agents that truly put their heart and soul and expertise into their blogs.

This article is authored by Sandy Shores, Melbourne FL REALTOR.

South Brevard County, Florida Space Coast.

The US Marine Corps Reserve will be collecting Toys for Tots for their annual Christmas Drive..

Toys that are donated must be new and unwrapped.

The Melbourne Association of Realtors will lend a helping hand by leaving a donation box at their Melbourne office at 1450 Sarno Road here in Melbourne Florida.

Some of these children do not have any family.

Toys must be dropped by December 14, 2008.

I went on an appointment to speak with a seller about professionally marketing her home for sale. 

I met with this kind gracious elderly woman that had lived in her home for nearly 30 years.  She had lost her husband and her house was filled with exquisite antiques. My recomendation to her was to have a large percentage of her hierlooms packed up, and stored away someplace.

She had a quaint, comfortable, nicely maintained home.  It was in the $150,000 price range. If priced properly I did not see a problem with marketing and selling the home for her.

I spent time going over my marketing plan, so she would understand what I would be doing to get her home in front of as many qualified buyers and as many buyers agents as possible.

I got to the preapproved and prequalified section of my marketing plan.  I explained to her that it is important that we be sure that buyers that look at her home be preapproved to buy in that range.  Now, mind you, I understand that there are always exceptions to every rule - an investor that can't decide if he wants to pay cash or to finance a portion of the purchase.  A buyer with over 50% down.  I understand that.

However, I also understand that over the past several years we have found agents that are putting buyers in their cars that are unable to qualify to purchase a home at this time or any other time in the near future.  So, I indicated to her that I did not want buyers coming in that could not qualify.

My concern also was that she was a much older woman with a house full of beautiful furnishings.

When I told her we would be showing the house to only preapproved buyers she was taken aback. 

She looked at me in disbelief!  I explained to her what I meant and that we must be cautious of who is coming through the home and I didn't want to waste her time.

'NO!'  I will not agree to that, 'ABSOLUTELY NOT!'

"I'm not sure that I understand." I responded.

'I want every single person that wants to look at my house to come in and look at it! Period!  End of discussion!'

"But," I tried to respond. I wanted to be sure she had understood what I was proposing.

'NO, DIDN'T YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID?'

"Perhaps you don't understand," I attempted to proceed on.

'NO, I think that it is you that doesn't understand!'  She was quite adamant!  Her mind was made up!

'I told you NO!'

I was a bit unsure how to proceed, but I did, with obvious tension in the air. I had never had a seller tell me they wanted anyone and everyone tracking through their home, no matter what!

I finished up with the presentation and kept it short. I asked if she had any questions.

'I will not have you, nor anyone else tell me who will or will not come through my home.'

"I understand," I responded, as I knew that she was not going to hear anything else about it.

I do have to admit, I did think back over the situation more than once.

Two weeks later the home was listed for sale, with another agent, at another company for nearly $200,000.

Ouch, at that price I would never have been able to sell it!

This article is authored by Sandy Shores, Melbourne FL REALTOR.

South Brevard County, Florida Space Coast.

All information is believed to be accurate, but is not warranted.

The Wickham Park LightFest runs from November 25 - December 28, 2008.  It is a one mile tunnel of lights that you drive through in your car. Hundreds of thousands of lights are displayed, even a Santa on a shuttle.

Proceeds go to charities such as Habitat for Humanity of Brevard, Eau Gallie High School, Florida Today's Reaching out Holiday Fund, Salvation Army and the Speace Coast Marine Institute.

Wickham Park is over 390 acres and is located in Melbourne Florida off of Parkway Drive, between Croton Roads and Lake Washington Road.

Times:  6:00 to   9:00 PM Sunday to Thursday

            6:00 to 10:00 PM Friday, Saturday and Holidays

Cost:   $10.00 per car load

Closed on December 21 for a hayride

This article is authored by Sandy Shores, Melbourne FL REALTOR.

South Brevard County, Florida Space Coast.

All information is believed to be accurate, but is not warranted.