VFR Flying in New York City at low Altitude

I had a great aviation opportunity to fly IFR with my friend Ron in his Baron B55 twin engine airplane. He had some business in Lebanon PA, and with a little convincing, we took a detour to experience the VFR Hudson River Corridor in New York City. This is an exclusion zone under the Class Bravo airspace in New York City. Designed to give an organized route to general aviation pilots who want to get a close up look at the downtown skyline. We went Memorial Day at sunset and there was almost no traffic in the air. The weather was beautiful and the trip was definitely a bucket list item we got to check off.

https://youtu.be/x3zYFdQ9FNM

The leaves keep falling in Tampa FL

It’s not fall but the leaves are piling up

Homes across the Tampa Bay area are fighting the battle to prevent leaves from overtaking their yards.

Hope is not lost if you are considering surrendering to the leaves that repeatedly take up residence around your home. You will eventually have to rake those leaves and an article on http://www.pennlive.com provides a bevy of tips to help you get the job done.

1.  Decide to tackle the leaves on a day when the wind isn’t blowing too much and the leaves are dry.

2.  Have a plan about where the leaves will go once you have that nice pile ready to go. You can place them in leaf bags, your garden or in the compost pile.

3.  Select a good plastic rake. The rakes made of bamboo can easily break and the metal ones are better for yard debris other than leaves. Use one that has a cushioned handle to be gentle on your hands, has a basket shape to gather even more leaves than a standard one and one that can tackle wet or dry leaves.

4.  Raking is physical activity similar to exercising so prep your body with 5 to 10 minutes of stretches, particularly when it’s not warm.

5.  Stand up straight when you are raking.

6.  When you need to move the leaves, pick them up and place them in your receptacle unit, don’t twist your body and throw them to the side or over your shoulder.

7.  Maintain a posture that allows the rake to stay perpendicular to the ground. This posture allows your body additional leverage on the rake and reduces friction between the ground and rake.

8.  Change sides every 10 minutes so muscle pain doesn’t sneak up on you.

9.  Don’t rush and pace yourself.

  10. Take a break so that the task doesn’t overwhelm you.

  11. Drink lots of water to make sure you stay hydrated.

You must be vigilant when it comes to leaves. Rake at least once a week to stop them from accumulating.

What are closing costs?

TAMPA REAL ESTATE - What are closing costs and what does it have to do with purchasing a home?

The term closing is used for the specific time that a property title is transferred from the seller to the buyer and a mortgage is given by the buyer/borrower to the lender.

Purchasing a home is a thrilling time and the more you educate yourself about the process, the more you will understand what is happening at each step along the way.

Information should be available to you about closing costs connected with the purchase of your home. If you are using a home loan to buy the house, your lender has three days from the time of the loan application to give you a Good Faith Estimate of your loan costs.

When the seller agrees to your contract, closing starts. A key element to a smooth closing is good timing. A seller can look around to find a settlement agent to arrange documents for closing or your real estate agent can suggest someone for you.

Once the settlement agent has been agreed upon, they will take care of the closing process. If you have given the seller good faith money deposit, the settlement agent will make sure it is deposited into an escrow account where the money is held until closing.

Now the settlement agent will ask for the preliminary title work. A title expert will search and examine public records for clues connected to your home’s title. This search can lead to title problems that must be handled before the property can be transferred from seller to buyer. An example of this could be the previous owner being negligent in paying local or state taxes or an outstanding mortgage or judgment on the property.

Lastly the settlement agent will be ready to prepare the HUD-1 Settlement Statement. This item breaks down every closing cost for the buyer and seller.

When the actual closing day arrives, the property will be transferred from the seller to the buyer. Many documents to signed that the settlement agent will explain to you.

When all of the signing is done – you are a homeowner.

But components associated with closing will continue after the official closing. The settlement agent will send the payment to any prior lender, pay all entities who worked during the closing process, pay funds to the seller and execute a final search of the title to your new home before recording all the documents needed to legally complete the purchase.

Vanilla Ice goes from flipping tracks to flipping out homeowners

Lutz Florida Real Estate – “Ice, Ice, baby!”

Everyone remembers that iconic phrase from the 1990s but today Vanilla Ice is known for working in the real estate industry.

The Vanilla Ice Project airs on the Do It Yourself (DIY) Network and captures Robert Van Winkle, Vanilla Ice, as he and his bevy of contractors bring their vision of home renovation to life. The show began its second season in January and will cover a variety of home improvement topics such as bedrooms, great rooms and kitchens.

The first season was almost the little show that could but it quickly became a ratings winner and transformed the rapper into a serious real estate weapon.

Before you think Van Winkle is Johnny Come Lately to the home improvement arena, you must know that he has been a remodeling expert for more than 15 years of hands-on home improvement. He has also been flipping house by purchasing them at low cost and improving them so that they sell at a major profit.

Viewers love catching Van Winkle’s serious skills on the Vanilla Ice Project.

Currently viewers have a front row seat as Vanilla Ice and his team renovate a 10,000-square foot, six-bedroom Mediterranean-style home on three acres in Legend Lake Estates, a residential development in Lake Worth, a city in Palm Beach County. Van Winkle secured the residence, which had been empty for three years, in 2011 for $575,000. The renovation for home improvement is a cool $1 million.

So you may not have a $1 million to sink into your own home improvement plan, it’s incredibly fun to see Van Winkle go to work. There are a plethora of home improvement shows out there but this is one worth watching.

Your family’s not the only ones trying to come in from the cold!

Carrollwood Real Estate – Even Florida has cold weather from time to time this time of year.

When your family seeks shelter from the cold inside your home, many times others are searching for warmth in your home as well, but they aren’t of the human variety.

The National Pest Management Association advises that rodents are also looking for shelter from chilly temperatures – in your home. The organization reports more than 21 million rodents make their way into homes every winter.

No one wants these unwanted pests as houseguests.

Their presence can result in property damage and disease. Mice carry diseases like salmonella and Hantavirus, which they distribute when they scurry across food and food preparation surfaces. Rodents can also munch their way through electrical wires, sometimes causing house fires.

If you catch a glimpse of one mouse, don’t think there’s no harm in that.

One female mouse can have as many as 12 babies every two weeks. Very quickly that one mouse can develop into a major situation.

The National Pest Management Association recommends these tips to keep mice at bay.

Close any cracks and holes outside of your home to keep rodents from finding ways into your home. Take time to inspect spaces where utilities and pipes come into the home. Restore loose mortar and weather stripping around the foundation and windows.

Keep shrubberies cut back from the house.  Keep the floor area clear of clutter, rodents seek cover in clutter.  Keep food in rodent proof containers.

If you locate rodent feces, hear sounds of scurrying behind walls or see additional signs of a problem, contact a licensed pest professional to inspect and treat the problem.

The National Pest Management Association, a non-profit organization with more than 7,000 members, was established in 1933 to support the pest management industry's commitment to the protection of public health, food and property.

IF YOU BUILD IT, IT WILL GROW

Lutz FL Real Estate - Now that you have the home that you’ve always wanted, think about adding a garden.

Even if you haven’t tried gardening in the past, gardening can be and a fun and creative hobby.

There are benefits to gardening – there’s the look of a garden, the smell of the flowers and the hard work to make a garden come into fruition. Gardens are always a conversation piece when people visit your home.

Florida is ideal for gardening because something can grow here throughout the year. So while fellow northern gardeners have to take the winter months off, your home garden can flourish and thrive.

If you have never attempted gardening in the past, start off slow and easy. Browse a variety of home gardening projects and decide on one that’s is simple and relatively fast. A more intensive project can become labor intensive and could easily lend itself to discouragement.

Your first home gardening project doesn’t have to be on a grand scale, small container gardens are authentic gardens and serve a purpose of their own. You don’t necessarily need hundreds of feet to garden – a windowsill is more than adequate for beginners.

The benefit of a container garden is that the flowers/plants are in individual pots and you have the ability to change areas and combinations of items. While container gardens are easy to start, the most important thing to remember is watering because potted items have a tendency to dry out much faster than flowers/plants in the ground.

Once you have gardened on a small scale, you are ready to move on to a gardening on a larger scale. The most important thing to remember with a larger undertaking is work in different parts so you don’t become overwhelmed with entire scope of the project. Gardening one section at a time will also boost your self-esteem so that gain confidence throughout the endeavor.

Whether you are gardening on a large or small scale, you must educate yourself about disease, pests and weeds.

For more information, visit gardening sites by Mary Hanna. She is an inspiring herbalist who lives in Central Florida.  My other Lutz Real Estate Blog

Tampa Real Estate on Facebook!

We've done it! It's now possible to do your Tampa real estate searching from Facebook. It's a new app that's connected to our Tampa MLS system. Give it a try and tell me what you think. To search homes now go to Tampa Real Estate

It’s time to get organized!

You’ve seen the television shows – people living with mounds and mounds and
rooms and rooms of clutter and trash.

Well, you may not be a hoarder or live in those extreme living conditions but maybe there are some areas in your home where you can be a little cleaner, a little neater. The actual work is not the hardest but getting motivated to tackle it.

Cynthia Ewer writes about home organization over at the organized home. There are tons of helpful hints there. A recent post is a blueprint for people seeking a more stream lined home.

According to Ewer step one is the actual organizing, not spending money on cute, well-coordinated items. While those are tempting on the purse strings, it’s not necessary in the very first step.

Ewer’s rallying cry is, “Organization is a process, not a product.” She suggests thinking past labels for organizational items such as using a lipstick holder to hold sewing thread instead of an expensive “thread organizer” from the craft store.

That’s what Ewer refers to as making use of common products. There are also tricky ways that retailers will try and sell the same item at three different price points.

A good example of that is a plastic box with dividers in it that can be labeled as (1) a box for fishing tackle, (2) a box for small hardware items and (3) a box to hold cross-stitch thread. All three can be found in same store and that’s why Ewer suggests people on an organizational
hunt “cross-check” before they make any purchases.

Ewer noted that a fellow frugal organizer desired a cross-stitch pattern organizer in a crafts store. Each pattern leaflet was threaded onto a plastic bar with three holes. The entire unit could be stored in a large three-ring binder.

At home the frugal organizer realized that the expensive plastic holders weren’t necessary and she used a three-hole punch she already had at home on the pattern leaflet itself, thus saving money she would have spent at the craft store.

When searching for Tampa Real Estate you need a real estate professional that know the market. The Tampa Realtor team Eric Frantz has assembled has been selling real estate in Tampa Florida for 16+ years now. Give them a call today.

That’s why it literally does pay to be creative when it comes to organizing.

Another tip that Ewer suggests for those wanting to organizer on a dime is yard sales. She said organizer products are like curtains – they go with the house so that smart wall-hung mop-and-broom rack that worked so well in one house is replaced by a smaller version in the next
house.

Between moving from one house to next and unplanned, impulse purchases, organizing products are a yard sale staple, Ewer said.

“If you know what you need, you're likely to find it at a yard sale sooner or later,” Ewer said. “Don't be put off by dust and stains; plastic products clean up nicely in the dishwasher. Make your list and hit some yard sales. You'll get organized . . . for less!”

Home Buying Tips

TAMPA – Location, Location, Location.

That’s what everyone has heard about buying real estate but there are other options to consider.

Yes, real estate is the single largest investment a person will make in their lifetime and that’s why it requires a great deal of research. Price is another factor to consider when considering whether or not to venture into the real estate arena.

After location and price, think about the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, if it has upgraded features such as stainless steel appliances, granite, a garden tub in the master bathroom, pool or crown molding.

All of these items and more are in the real estate market but it requires potential homeowners to do the research to find them. When considering what a large investment real estate is to the average family, you owe it to yourself to think about adequate living space, space for entertaining if that’s something you look forward to doing, time and effort required for lawn maintenance, commute to work, neighborhood school performance, even if you don’t have if you have school aged children, it will be a factor for resale value and proximity to arts, entertainment and shopping.

So while a hot real estate location may be all the rage for those around you, it may not be for you if it doesn’t meet all or the majority of your needs.

This can be a long process but in the end, it’s all worth it. If you put in the research it can lead you to your dream home with little or no regrets.

But before you can turn that key in the door that leads to your very own nirvana, you have to get financed. There are a slew of online sites that provide helpful advice of what to do before you even begin to look at houses so you know what you can afford.

Once you know what’s in your price range, look at as many houses as possible. That way you get a real feel for what you can afford in today’s real estate market.

Take your time and don’t be in a rush to purchase a home within a week or even two. An ideal person to travel the real estate road with you is a patient real estate professional. He or she will be essential to your home ownership goal. You will need someone who will look at your wants and needs and be genuinely concerned about what works best for you and not just view you as another commission.

Also when it comes to finding the right real estate professional, consider that you will be spending a great deal of time with this person so make sure it’s someone you like, as well as someone that you can trust.

A Tampa real estate professional will make the entire process of finding a Tampa home a pleasant one so that when you lay your head on your pillow at night, your time spent house hunting will evoke pleasant dreams and not nightmares.

Tampa Real Estate

This is the initial enrty for the Tampa real estate blog. It's January 2007 and showings and calls from marketing are starting to increase. We've really been in a slow period the past few months. I'm hoping that the increase in interest isn't just a false recovery on our way to even lower home prices. We still have an over supply in the new home and condo markets. And i don't think we've even seen the bulk of forclosures get through the system yet. In the coming entries i will provide charts and graphs to help visualize some points in this discussion. Eric Frantz - Tampa Real Estate