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Category Archives: Latest News
Reimagining Your Kitchen For 2013
If you’re looking to remodel your kitchen, THE Gail Spada TEAM has good news and bad news for you. First, the good stuff. According to trend experts you don’t have to shell out major cash to add space. Instead, look to expand what you already have. Vault your ceiling, add windows, squeeze in clever storage ideas. Make the space work harder, not bigger. Plus, relax. Casual kitchens are trending, with doo-dads and gee-gaws (think elaborate trim and vent hoods that look like medieval castles) going away, and simpler, sleeker designs coming on strong. It’s all part of a new kitchen gestalt that described as the “prep-eat-play” triangle, with flexibility and casual living as key ingredients. The notion tosses the kitchen into a design blender along with living, dining, and family rooms, and frappes everything into communal happiness. Example: You can eat at a comfy banquette, or in front of the … Continue reading
In Most of U.S., Buying a Home Beats Renting After Only 3 Years
For most buyers who intend to live in a home for at least three years, buying is a better financial decision than renting, according to a new analysis by Zillow. Zillow analyzed the “breakeven horizon” in more than 200 metros and 7,500 U.S. cities to determine how many years it would take before owning a home becomes more financially advantageous than renting the same home. In more than three-quarters (75%) of metros analyzed, a home owner would break even after three years or less of owning a home. All possible costs associated with buying and renting were incorporated into the analysis, including down payment, mortgage and rental payments, transaction costs, property taxes, utilities, maintenance costs, tax deductions, and opportunity costs, while adjusting for inflation and forecasted home value and rental price appreciation. In some metro areas where home values fell dramatically during the housing recession, home buyers break even after … Continue reading
What Home Ownership Means to Me
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Good times, great education for Century 21 agents in NOLA
Q: What’s better than beignets and cafe au lait for breakfast? Or fried oysters and a cold beer for dinner? A: Not much, especially if you are enjoying those tasty treats with Century 21 colleagues from all over the world in the charming city of New Orleans! Gail Spada TEAM member Tina Schneegas and I just returned from New Orleans, where we attended the Century 21 2012 Global Conference, I cannot tell you just how inspiring and entertaining our trip was. The sights, the sounds, the tastes and the smells were a perfect sensory backdrop for the jazzed-up learning environment at the conference, which was held at the sprawling Morial Convention Center. (We certainly got our share of exercise by walking from our digs at the New Orleans Marriott to the convention center!) The atmosphere at the conference, which was dubbed “Energacity,” was like cinnamon, sugar and success all mixed … Continue reading
Continuing education for REALTORs® in New Orleans
“I don’t think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.” That is one of my favorite quotations by President Abraham Lincoln. And I share his sentiment wholeheartedly. Self-improvement, professionally and personally, is both a privilege and an obligation. I look forward to learning something new every day and I am thankful when it happens. At the same time, I pity the poor souls who are content to stop learning; they are denying themselves and those around them the opportunity for a richer, more rewarding life. That’s a long-winded lead-in to share with you that I am about to burst with anticipation of an upcoming learning experience. In about a week I will be in New Orleans for the 2012 Century 21 Global Conference! I’ve attended this event in other cities over the years and I always come away amazed at what I have learned, … Continue reading
Housing sales activity and trends show brighter future
I don’t mean to sound like a broken record, but everywhere I turn lately I seem to find more good news about better things to come in the real estate market. The evidence is both anecdotal and statistical. Anecdotally, I can tell you that for the first month of 2012, it is as if someone has opened a floodgate. After being in a wait-and-see mode for several years, sellers are racing to list their homes. Meanwhile, buyers who have been straddling the fence about making firm offers are leaping to take advantage of reasonably priced homes and low mortgage interest rates. Our TEAM, in our new space at our main office (13127 Spring Hill Drive, Spring Hill, FL 34609), is working overtime to meet the demand. My observations about this upsurge are supported statistically in a few reports about the national and regional housing markets. Chew on these newsy nuggets … Continue reading
Tampa Bay housing market has a sunny disposition
Maintaining a positive attitude is a way of life for me. Admittedly, I sometimes must strain my neck and eyes to find the silver lining hiding behind some of the darker clouds, but I usually succeed. But I didn’t have to look very far last week to find the bright side of some news about the sometimes gloomy Florida housing market. Two reports gave us a double dose of encouragement. For the first time in 5 years, more people moved into Florida than moved out, according to the 2011 Atlas Van Lines Migration Patterns study. The increase was slight — 5,636 inbound moves vs 5,269 outbound — but it is significant nevertheless. For decades leading up to the housing crisis in 2006, there were always more people coming to Florida than leaving. The Great Recession that ensued sustained that migratory downturn not only in Florida, but in most states. The … Continue reading
Congratulations to our photo contest winner!
Melissa Rodgers was already a fan of THE Gail Spada TEAM on Facebook. The 37-year-old Palm Harbor resident says she has two reasons for regularly reading The TEAM Works blog. First, Melissa and her husband own a home inspection and pest control business, and she finds the consumer-driven real estate information published here useful. Second, Melissa is an animal lover and “anytime I see someone who is donating their time and money to help the local humane society,” I try to support them, said Melissa, a native Floridian who is the human companion of Snowflake, a 5-year-old, 6-pound Maltese. Now, Melissa’s decision to be a TEAM fan has paid off in a new way. Melissa is the winner of our 2011 TEAM Christmas Photo Contest. Her winning entry earns her a 4GB Flip MinoHD Video Camera. The photo is of Melissa and her 7-month-old grand niece, Abby. The photo was … Continue reading
Support Occupy Hernando! Buy a house!
I’ve occupied a seat in a theater, a booth in a restaurant, a berth on cruise ship and occasionally a lavatory on an airplane. I have occupied my time while waiting to do something else. In novels and newspapers I have read about occupied territories. And, I will admit, my mind sometimes has been preoccupied by other thoughts as I go about my daily routine. But until recently, the word “occupy” just hasn’t cropped up much. That’s all changed now because of the Occupy Wall Street movement, which this weekend will mark the 3-month anniversary of its encampment in Manhattan. Since then the movement has spread across nation and around the globe. I won’t pretend that I fully understand what all the fuss is about. Like most of you, I glean what I can from media reports. But I do recognize that this protest is fueled, at least in part, … Continue reading
TEAM Christmas Photo Contest & Grand Prize
In my day, it was called a “Kodak moment.” These days, it’s more like a “digital nanosecond.” The technology of how we capture the images that tell the stories of our lives has changed dramatically. Darkrooms and film are artifacts, replaced by laptops and pixels. And just about everyone is walking around with a gadget in their pocket that not only is a camera, but a phone and a mobile computer. This is good news in many ways. Besides convenience, it gives us almost infinite opportunities to create art, visually record history and tangibly catalog our memories. The latter pursuit leads us to today’s topic. Did you know that more photographs are taken at Christmas than any other time of the year? That is not surprising when you consider that for most Americans, Christmas is the holiday brings loved ones — and magic — into our homes. Whether it is … Continue reading
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