Happy Halloween 30A

Samhain was originally one of the traditional Celtic 'cross-quarter' celebrations; a time when the veil between the spiritual and the earthly realms could be lifted. Once it was a floating festival, anchored in the sea of seasons to this time of year, but with the actual date dependent on heavenly variation. Now, it is a fixed festival, tied to October 31 and known as Halloween.

Low crime Florida cities

A recent report from Morgan Quinto Press shows 3 Florida cities ranking in the top fifty
low crime cities....

10. Coral Springs

25. Port St. Lucie

50. Boca Raton

Vebal war among scientists

War of Words

Chain store blues

Starbucks at Watercolor is getting good reviews so far. This. Corp. store is larger than the store in Grayton.

The former pizza hut at the outlet stores will be a Starbucks with a drive through.

First the Subway shop near Grayton opens and now Starbucks (Rosemary beach location opens soon) and pretty soon we will have more and more "chain store" outlets dotted up and down 30A. The story used to be that "they don't allow those chain stores down on 30A"

And we all love our Publix at Watercolor.........

FOR SALE

According to our Local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) we have quite a few properties for sale.

In the 30A zone (areas 17, 18) which is one end of 30A to the other end and South of Hwy 98
there are for sale:

Single Family Homes - 962
Condos - ---------------- 699
Attached single Fam - 104
residential Lots ------- 1262
Fractional Units - ----- 34

We are not Florida

Just back from Miami Beach ... that Big Miami Vice city in South Florida, the un-offical capital of Central and South America. SOBE OR NOT TO SOBE that is the question.

After seeing Miami, my associate proclaimed " we are not Florida".

Interesting....
Most people in Miami don't know we exist and whatever.

It can be hard to explain.
" we are from North Florida.... TAMPA?? uh no.
And you don't want to say Pensacola or Panama City or Eglin, etc.
Not to be critical but it would not describe our little strip of Hip along what many still call the Redneck Coast etc.

So you try ever hear of SEASIDE? ... No Destin? ..... No New Urbanism? ,,, No

Well we have the Emerald water and powder white sands, the best in Florida?

That's nice.


I guess you just have to be here.

I also think we have the clear advantage when we talk about good family fun vacations.

Political Spot

We all have our "stupid moments" even Americans.

But we need to understand what those folks in the desert have understood for a long time.

Which goes like this: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend".

Lately I have seen otherwise intelligent people make this mistake in their dealings with others
because they don't understand this principle.

Let us remember, Saddam was our "friend" when he was fighting Iran "our enemy"
with our (US) help.

The enemy of your enemy is your friend. You don't have to love them.


Just my opinion, I could be wrong.

Investors Know how to Cherry Pick

Lately we talk a lot about "end Users" the people who want a primary home or second vacation home and who are are not in any hurry to sell anytime soon as the main group of buyers we agents have to work with right now.

And then we tend to lump Investors and Speculators together .

Investors look at the current market to cherry pick the good buys and can have a 5 year or longer time frame for holding a property for rental / second home use.

Speculators tend to look for the fast buck in a quick paced market.

And we have several agents and non agents who move from house to house every two years or so for Tax reasons.

We really have a varied market with several sub-markets and several types of buyers.

It keeps this profession interesting.

Happy super lucky 13

Headless Horseman Upgrades

I've heard from old Jack skellington that the Headless Horseman has upgraded his ride.
Our best information indicates a Black Lotus Exige

insane in the Hurricane

Check these two search engine results for "Sahara sands and hurricanes"
So these sands may or may not have much to do with Atlantic Hurricanes......
I am forming my own theory that High Taxes are the root cause of Hurricanes....

Results 1 - 10 of about 454,000 for sahara sands and hurricanes. (0.35 seconds)
Hurricanes in Africa - The Formation and Growth of Atlantic ...
Hurricanes start in the Sahara Desert. This exciting tutorial takes you through ... There are great swirling winds over the Sahara carrying sands over the ...weather.about.com/od/hurricane1/a/saharahurricane.htm - 25k - Cached - Similar pages
World Press Institute: Renown hurricane forecasters link North ...
The researchers said their work proved that the Sahara desert did not cause hurricanes. “Sahara sands contain little dust,” they explained. ...www.worldpressinstitute.org/bode3.htm - 12k - Cached - Similar pages

One Year of Blogging

I want to thank all of you who have read this blog.
we have had an interesting year allright.
But hey, aren't they all ?

Cheers,

Shawn

The Golden Pass

Clean Crisp Coastal Charms
Remember your mantras
And do no harm

Fire up your spirit
In the warm October sun
And shun all bores

Prepare the hearth
For Autumn 's brace
And give thanks

For you have been given
Times golden pass
To walk this path again

The Golden Pass © Coptright 2006 Shawn O'Neal all Rights reserved.

Rest in Blue

Rosey red
And cerulean blue
Like Tupelo honey
And fresh morning dew

Fire and water
Spirit and mirth
A boon to those
Who saw your true worth

Your storied life
Now shaded in sable
For all those who sat
At Lolo's table

Lolo's table © Copyright Shawn O'Neal 2006 all rights reserved.

Low priced lots in high end neighborhoods

The Four prices shown left to right are for May, June, July and October 4th, 2006



1. Cypress Dunes $240k $240k $239 $189

2. Draper Lake $499k $499k $499k $425

3. Forest lakes $279k $239k $199k $174

4. Lakeside at Blue Mt. $335k $335k $249k $249

5. The Preserve $299k $279k $260k $260

6. WaterColor $385k $285k $290 $290

7. WaterSound $490k $465k $285k $285

8. Seacrest Beach $319k $319k $319k $280

9. Rosemary Beach $595k $595k $599k $535

From west to east along highway C-30A

* numbers rounded up to nearest thousand.

Love... it's good for you

As Kurt Vonnegut said, make love while you can. It's good for you.

The Stand

If you don't stand for something you will lie for anything
-Shawn O'Neal

Driving in the OFF Season

Driving and Surviving is what I should say.
Driving on 30A has become much more dangerous for me since Tourist season ended or should I say Summer Rush?

You have to really pay attention unless you want to start paying more for car insurance.

Do Not Let YOUR GUARD down mates.

Think DEFENCE.

Super Luxury Home tour

Here is Donald Trump's Place "Maison de L' Amitie" in Palm Beach, Fl. Asking $125 Million
Maison de L' Amitie

Tommy Hilfiger's Place in Lake Tahoe "Tranquility" Asking $100 Million

Tranquility


Saudi Prince Bandar's Place in Aspen "Hala Ranch" Asking $135 Million

Hala Ranch

Now That's RICH

Taxes alone on Donald Trump's Palm Beach property if sold at its current asking price would amount to more than $2 million annually, according to the Palm Beach County property appraiser Web site.

Dude, the property taxes on your PB MANSE are more than I paid for my House !