ISAAC, Video of Storm Surge

HAMMERHEAD REALTY GROUP 
A home video of Isaac and the storm surge. 1st it blew the water out, then it blew it back along with the help of the tides.

Rip Off at the movie theater and their response.

                                               HAMMERHEAD REALTY GROUP .COM

Took my family to the movies the other day and it was expensive....Really expensive. $10.00 for adult tickets, $7.00 for kids, but if you're a kid who is older than 12 you're not really a kid. Well, you are a kid, but you pay for being an adult. I know, confusing.

Anyhow, the ticket prices were high but I can live with that as it is a novelty and not something we do often. It was the prices at the concession stand that really piss me off upset me. Amanda bought 3 drinks, that's right, 3 drinks, and it came to over $16.00. Let me make that clear 3 FOUNTAIN DRINKS COST OVER $16.00!!! A small popcorn was $6.00 too.I was so turned off by this I decided to write them. ..."yes, I am that guy". I will also write you if the service is excellent or a underpaid employee went above and beyond!! I love my opinion and want everyone to know about it.

Anyhow, here is the response from Regal Cinema. I changed the font to red in my favorite sentences.

"August 27, 2012

"Dear Mr. Boley:

Thank you for contacting our corporate office to express your concerns regarding your visit to our location. I have forwarded your comments to the district manager directly over this theatre and the theatre manager for their review.

Please understand that our goal from a business perspective is to provide our patrons with a quality movie-going experience while at the same time making a profit that allows us to continue operations. We incur substantial costs in the operations and maintenance of a theatre that may not be readily visible to our patrons. In addition to high operating costs such as pay roll, utilities, rent, equipment, etc., we also must pay costly film rentals to the studios. Although prices at the theatre may seem high, and may increase from time to time, they have remained in line with the rate of inflation. In actuality, attending movies at the theatre is one of the most cost effective forms of out-of-home entertainment. 

Once again, I thank you for taking the time to contact us regarding your feelings on this matter. Your input is invaluable to us in our efforts to continually improve customer service and enhance the operations of our theatre operations. We value your patronage and look forward to your next visit. 

Sincerely,
Customer Relations Department
Operational Services
Regal Entertainment Group"

Now I know and it is common knowledge that the studios charge lots of money for the rental of their films and therefore I am OK with high ticket prices. However, when the movie theater tells me that prices may "SEEM HIGH but are actually in line with inflation" I realize how out of touch with customers that they actually are. So i now put them in the same league as major sporting events, and ticket master which I think is a even bigger rip off!!

Looking for home? You need to know this!! FYI

I am astonished every time that I hear someone is not using the services of a qualified Realtor. Do you know that I can send you FREE lists of foreclosures as soon as they come on the market, like the very same day!!! I can do the same thing with Short Sales, and Regular sales too. You can spend 15 minutes with me telling me what you are looking for and letting me ask you questions and we can narrow your home search down to EXACTLY what you are looking for. Did you know I can narrow it down to what street you are looking for? How about what the counter tops are made of, Square footage, even sailboat water vs power boat water, the list goes on and on.

Looking for the right home can be a time consuming, frustrating, experience if you go at it alone. A Realtor has access to reports and info that may take you days to pull up on your own if you even know where to begin. I can find and pull info from places you have never even heard of....Yep!!

Before I was ever in Real Estate I really had no Idea what a Realtor did other than open a door and let you in a home. Believe me when I say that you are nuts if you don't utilize their services and the tools at their disposal. It will save you money in the long run. ........................................Not my typical blog, I know. I was just a bit surprised earlier and felt the need to do a public service message.

Contact me here for your listing search: Hammerhead Realty Group

You don't even have to be in the market for a home. If you just want a general Idea what homes like yours are selling for. 

Cool Palm tree.

Went out with some clients a couple of days ago and I was a bit embarrassed by my lack of knowledge about the local plant life. Sure, I know what a palm tree is, a bird of paradise, a cactus, and an orange tree (if it has oranges) a few more maybe but not nearly enough. So I thought I would write a little about it. Makes me do some research, ya know!! Whats that tree your Standing under with the Coconuts? It's a coconut Palm!!

Did you know these grow anywhere from 12" to 20" a year and can get from 65' to 75' feet tall. How about the fact that Coconut Palm tree has between 2,000 and 4,000 roots that can grow as deep as 16 feet. . My kids favorite thing to do with a coconut bring them home and beat them off the ground, or beat them with a ball bat, or beat them a hammer, or beat them....you get the idea....I get tired of hearing the pounding so I grab my drill make a couple quick holes and they drink the Coconut Water out then I cut one or 2 in half and the kids eat em up. These things are all over Punta Gorda Isles and Port Charlotte My favorite thing to do with a coconut... Coconut drink (1) banana (1) Half a coconut and all its water (1) Half a lime (1) inch of fresh vanilla (2) oranges ...Rum....Rum.....Rum......Rum

Juice the oranges and lime and add the juice to the blender. Add all other ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth. Either strain or drink as is. If you have a juicer, juice the coconut and banana, and add the juice to the mixture, stirring back in as much pulp as you like for the consistency you desire. Brought to you by Hammerhead Realty Group

Foreclosures and Short Sales

Thinking of a foreclosure or short sale...Here is some info anyone can understand.

In a nutshell Foreclosure is the legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments by forcing the sale of the home. In most cases it is very important to have your pre approval letter up front because the banks won't even waste their time looking at your offer if you don't. There often is little, if any, room for negotiation. All though a good agent can sometimes get the bank to negotiate ;-) Many times the home is in bad shape as it has been vacant for awhile, not always though. A positive note to buying a foreclosure is that they are vacant most of the time and that can speed up the time for closing and you moving in!! If you tend to get emotional about home buying a home then a foreclosure may not be right for you as you may have to write a dozen offers before you get one accepted. So don't set your hopes to high on a specific home. Remember, many investors are looking at the same homes you are in hopes of getting a good great deal. Be ready for the Grind. It is not uncommon for a good foreclosure to have multiple offers on it in just a few days. I wrote an offer on one not long ago and in the 1st 3 days it had 13 offers..Ended up selling for OVER asking price.

Short Sale is the sale of a property that sells for less than the balance owing on its mortgage.If there is a mortgage balance that is greater than the market value of the home, that property is a short sale. EX: a homeowner is in distress and can not make payments. Put home up for sale for less than they owe on it. Get an offer, submit offer to the bank. If bank approves price the buyer may purchase for said price. Very often it is cheaper for bank to sell as a short sale than go through the foreclosure process.

I'll be the 1st one to tell you that a Short Sale is a giant pain in the butt most of the time. You must 1st write your offer and submit it to the seller, the seller then accepts (hopefully) and then it gets sent to the bank where they take their sweet sweet time. It gets sent to a bazillion different departments, maybe it gets lost, maybe it doesn't, who knows!! The bank may very well tell you in 3 months that the offer was declined and you have to start over from the beginning. BUT, if you have a good agent who is skilled or is smart enough to let a title company or law firm do the negotiating on there half it can be a beautiful thing. You may possibly end up with a deal of a lifetime. Typically after the sale price is approved by the bank the normal time frame for a sale applies One of the best parts about a short sale vs foreclosure is that most of the time the home is in much better shape because it had someone in it that wanted it to show well so it could be sold. If you have any questions about short sales I have negotiated them from one end to the other and I have also referred them out. Feel free to ask anything and If you think a short sale may be in your future let me know!!

And Down Goes The Mohawk

Something new in the water always excites me. So when I heard the news that the retired 165 foot Coast Guard Cutter the USS Mohawk would be scuttled in about 90 feet of water in the neighborhood of some other reefs that I frequent when heading out of Boca Grande and Charlotte Harbor I couldn’t wait to learn a little more about it. Looks like the Mohawk attacked 14 different submarines in the span of about 4 years between 1942 and 1945. The Mohawk was the last remaining ship from the Battle of the Atlantic and Is now the Veterans Memorial Reef.

. Of course a great wreck is always going to be a tourist draw and make for excellent diving. The thing that most excites me is not the money and tourists it will bring in but the fish. I have not got to fish it yet as it was just dropped to the bottom on July the 2nd but the reports coming from divers and fisherman are amazing. Already Fantasea SCUBA in Port Charlotte have reported a Whale Shark being spotted on it. AMAZING!! Black fin Tuna and Amberjack have been caught already and the numbers of fish on it are really promising.

So if you are into fishing or diving you really need to check out South West Florida. In about a 18 Mile area South West of Charlotte Harbor and Boca Grande you will find approx 13 reefs to explore. I’ll be posting my own pictures of fish on these reefs soon and hopefully a couple in my cooler too!!

Hammerheadrealtygroup.com

Current Port Charlotte housing market Aug, 2012

Current Port Charlotte housing market Aug, 2012 AUGUST 14, 2012 BY HAMMERHEADREALTYGROUP LEAVE A COMMENT (EDIT) The Port Charlotte decrease of inventory was significant from July to August with an 8% drop in the number of homes. The median list price in August for single family homes in Port Charlotte is 147,146 as of today. The list prices increased by 4.26% from the previous month. What this means to me is that the market is without a doubt starting to turn or has turned and the inventory is certainly shrinking as a whole.

I am sure many of you investors or home buyers looking into foreclosures have become very frustrated as of recent. Seems like the banks have things figured out and they actually have for a while now. I tend to think that they price some of the foreclosures low to entice a auction/bidding war scenario and actually get more than they would had they listed it correctly in the first place. One thing about it, if you see a foreclosure come on the market and it is a good deal, you had better jump on it because in just a couple of days it very well may have a dozen offers on it. Although there are some phenomenal deals in the foreclosure area, many buyers tend to steer toward the regular sale so as to avoid the stress of a multiple offer situation on the home of their dreams. The median single family home price as of August 10 2012 for Port Charlotte, FL is $147,146.