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

The West Shore Junior/Senior High School Dance team traveled to the University of Central Florida in Orlando this week to attend UDA Dance Camp from Monday to Thursday. The girls stayed in the college dorms. There were 17 teams that attended, compared to just 8 teams last year. The girls practiced each day in the UCF Arena.

Dancers were divided into groups and their coaches could place them in 4 different level dances. UDA instructors taught the dancers 3 different dance routines throughout the week. The girls started dancing at 8:30 in the morning and finished at 9:00 PM. After they finished, they returned to their dorms and practiced some more. There were team building exercises and pajama parties, lots of giggling and little sleep. There was some real bonding going on between these girls.

On the last day of camp, parents were invited to attend and watch 2 of the routines that the girls learned over the course of the week.

There were some absolutely phenomenal dancers at this camp!

The girls (and some boys) loved the experience!

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.

I love dogs. Not all dogs, but some. I know that some people feel that their dog is a part of their family.  I know that is certainly the case for me and my family. We love our dog dearly.

We get calls on our rentals asking whether we will accept a pet.  Well, it really depends on what kind of pet it is. Our insurance will not allow us to rent to people with dogs on the dangerous dog list.

A client of mine is looking for a rental house. He has a couple of children and a 50 lb dog.  Everytime he finds a place he likes, the owners tell him that they don't rent to people with pets. Or, the owner won't rent to someone with a dog over 25 lbs.  Hmmm. I find this interesting.   Can't a 25 pound dog do damage to a property?  Or do only 50+ pound dogs damage properties? 

I suppose there have to be some type of limitations put on pets, somehow.

Funny, I haven't really had much of a problem with tenant's pets.  But, I've have had some tenant's children do some damage to properties.  In some situations some people's dogs are more well behaved than their kids. - oops, I'm probably not supposed to say that.

I remember years and years ago, when I was looking for my first rental. I had a Doberman - Great Dane dog. He was nearly 100 lbs. And, I looked for a long time before I found a place that was agreeable to accept my dog. He was a wonderful dog, well behaved and he was very docile.  We left after a year, with the property in the same condition as we rented it in.

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.

I just got back from an appointment with a client that has an interest in selling their home. The client and I were going through a list of things that should be taken care of prior to the house going on the market. 

They have several rooms that are very bright, bold and vibrant colors.  I recommended that they paint those couple of rooms a light neutral color before the house goes on the market. Then, the house will appeal to a broader range of buyers. And, painting won't be an item that gets put on the laundry list of items that a buyer feels he needs to do to the house.

Often times when rooms need to be painted the buyer automatically wants to take $5000 or more off the price of the property.  When in reality a paint job for a couple of rooms may only be $500, or even less if they do it themselves.

After the appointment, I headed back to my home office. When I walked through the front door of my own home, I had to stop for a moment. We are in the process of painting the interior, a room at a time. My 14 year old daughter keeps telling me, "Color, we need more color on the walls!"  So, we're starting to add some color, which we've never really had much of before.

In looking at the new colors in our house, I thought, well, obviously we won't be selling anytime soon.

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.

It's raining again this afternoon.  It probably means that the Shuttle Endeavour Mission up to the Kibo Space Lab will be scrubbed again this evening, as it has been for the past 2 evenings. 

Today was gorgeous, the sun was high in the clear blue sky. So pretty.  But, we're in the middle of summer when we get those late afternoon thunderstorms which last for an hour or two. They are pretty typical to our area of Florida.

A couple of months ago we were praying for rain, as we were concerned about drought conditions. And, finally we got 3 straight days of non - stop rain.  It was badly needed.

I wonder if it the afternoon thunderstorms slow the real estate market down.  Do less buyers want to go out looking when it's pouring rain?  We've had some pretty heavy thunder and lightning accompanying these rains. Many people look at houses after work, but do they cancel their appointments because of the wet weather. Some do.

I think taking buyers out to look at property while it's raining can tell a customer alot about a house. They can find where the problem areas are with standing water and they can find out if the house itself has water issues. 

With all the rain that we've now had, the grass is greener, the plants are thriving and our fire risk is down.

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.

We have a tenant that recently moved out. He was with us for a year and frankly, it became a tedious year towards the end. He paid on time for the first 6 months. 

He then lost his job for arguing with his boss.  Then, he had many excuses, as to why he didn't have the rent on time. 

He began avoiding us.

My husband I went to the house several times to talk to him. Long story short, it became a headache.

He couldn't keep a job after that, and it didn't seem to matter either.

Now, I knew when I rented to him that there might be a bit of an issue with him.  But, he was moving into a very low priced rental, in a lower priced neighborhood, and I know that people have to fit the neighbor they are moving into.

Money became a problem. Or, I should say, his lack of money became a problem.

As, they were getting later on their rent, their lease was expiring. We mutually agreed that it would be best that they leave at the end of the lease. They begrudgingly agreed.  We told them that they could have an eviction on their record or they could go on their own accord.

They left, 1 day after their lease was up. They left us the keys and called and told us they were out and the house was ours. When we went to the house, there were many items left...clothes, shoes, furniture. The refrigerator was full of food. The pantry was full of canned goods. 

And, there was loose change laying all over the floor. (Silly, because, if I'm walking down the street, I will bend over to pick up a penny.) 

How can tenants afford to leave items of value behind? They can't afford the rent. It never makes any sense to me.

Each tenant that I have put in a house, that had a difficult time paying the rent, left items of value behind when they moved out.  Each left coins on the floor. In one house we picked up over $25.00 in loose change.

I guess people with little regard for money, typically have little or no money.

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.

The shuttle Endeavour was scheduled to lift off tonight at 7:39 PM, but has been delayed due to bad weather.  Right now we are hearing that the launch will go tomorrow at 7:13 PM.  This mission has been scrubbed twice already in June.

Endeavour will take a 16 day mission with 7 astronauts, up to the Kibo Science Lab at the International Space Station, currently orbitting the earth.  There will be 13 astronauts at the lab. There is much work to be done when they arrive, including building a front porch to the Kibo Lab. Then, certain experiements will be done, to see the effects of the atmosphere in space.

So, let's keep our fingers crossed for good weather for this launch tomorrow.

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.

Today, 7/11 marks the 82nd birthday of 7 - Eleven Stores. The stores will be offering a free 7.11 oz. slurpee in honor of this special occasion, and also a chance to win free Live Nation concert tickets.

When you pick up your free slurpee today, go to Slurpee.com and check the code on the cup to see if you are a winner. 

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.

There are concerns with buyers of foreclosures here in Florida.  Apparently, there are people that can afford the reduced cost of these properties, but they are finding that their taxes may be based on the original value of the property, and not on the discounted purchase price of the property (especially in the case of foreclosures bought at auction). This is because the taxes are based on the area in which a home is located, not necessarily on the individual property, itself.  This is creating havoc with some buyers right now.

In South Florida taxes and millage rates are going up due to huge deficits, even if property values are going down.

How will this affect the market in the future?  And will we wind up with a glut of foreclosures on the market because buyers cannot afford or refuse to pay the taxes and the higher prepaid costs?

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.

The other night my family and I decided to take advantage of our local zoo special, Free Summer Saturday Nights. On Saturdays from 5:00 to 9:00 PM in July and August the Brevard Zoo will have free admission.  I wanted to go and have a look and see the animals.

It was a very mild evening, with cool temperatures, but I was surprised that there weren't a lot of animals out this evening.

This guy was taking an early evening siesta. But, we didn't see any of the other alligators or crocodiles.

This little monkey was all over the place. He was putting on a show for the audience that had gathered in front of his cage to catch a glimpse of him.

Now my favorites are the giraffes.  They are so grand, and tall, too. Our timing was perfect, as the zoo keepers were feeding Jojo and Stephanie.

The momma giraffe was very friendly and curious.

Although the baby giraffe, just 14 months old was very timid and shy.

My teenage daughter, Stephanie was laughing each time the zoo keeper called for Stephanie, the baby giraffe.

After about the 6th picture of the giraffes, my camera died. It just stopped working.  I had just finished charging the battery. This was the second camera in 10 days that did this. So I took out my new cell phone and started taking pictures. I got some great close ups of the momma giraffe, but I have to figure out how to load them or send them to my computer.

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.

This morning I went to check on one of my short sale listings.  The owners moved last week, so the home has been vacated.  I always make it a point to check my vacant listings regularly, to be sure there are no problems, and to be sure the doors are locked and the lights are off.

When I walked into the kitchen, I noticed the blinds blowing in the breeze.  Huh?  How can that be, when the air conditioner wasn't currently running?  Uh oh, there was a broken window.

A new pane of glass will need to be put in that window.

Often times we see short sales or foreclosures with windows that get boarded up to protect the home from the weather/rain. However, in many cases FHA or VA will not allow their buyer to purchase a home with broken or boarded up windows, because the short sale or foreclosure lenders are not favorable to doing repairs on these properties. So, often times the house will not pass an FHA or VA inspection.

NOTE: On every short sale and foreclosure, for a buyer, I always ask the lender to do the needed repairs.  And often, they won't agree to it.  However, I will say that on a couple occasions the lenders have done regular repairs and some necessary FHA repairs. One lender fixed some broken windows, one put a stove in and another gave a credit to the buyers for an A/C repair. We don't always know what they'll agree to do, until we ask.

So, the key here is to never assume they'll do nothing.

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.