Halfback

Halfback does not always mean Football’s running play. The word is also used to label long time Florida residents who are moving to the Carolina's upstate region, since it means they have moved halfway back North.

The Herald Tribune, based in Southwest Florida ran a story about those in that area who are migrating to the halfway states. There are many who are moving from Sarasota and Manatee Counties, but in general it is retirees who are seeking retirement havens. The reasons for the move vary, but halfway states provide a different lifestyle. There is much less congestion with people and traffic, and above all it is less expensive as well as easier to live.

Some may wonder how different it would be to move from a happening city to a rural area, but South Carolina’s region is not all rural. And for the areas that are rural, half of the Hispanics who migrated in the past few years moved to the rural areas. In addition to this, there are many people from around the world, especially corporate retirees who crave the relaxing atmosphere and mountain views.

There are also many international companies including BMW’s plant near Spartanburg.

Properties are much more affordable and though there is a state income tax, the low property taxes make up for it. It is also a buyer’s market in South Carolina, but they have not experienced the over or under stock of inventory that South Florida has.

Green guidelines

As the century continues and the risk for Global Warming increases each day, it’s good to know that some companies are taking measures to become environmentally friendly.

According to The Boston Globe, Boston is in the process of requiring private development firms to follow “green-building” standards.

The purpose of these strict standards is to make Boston buildings more energy efficient and friendly to the environment by using recycled materials as well as resourceful heating and cooling systems. In today’s world of hybrid cars and solar powered gadgets, I think it is only time before more industries try to convert to more environmentally friendly resources.

I am the Graphic Designer here at Homekeys, and having been raised in Boston, I think they are proposing a great requirement for private builders. Being energy conscious, I think this is a step in the right direction for everyone’s future. I wonder how things would be different today if we had only known to be more energy conscious 30 years ago? Either the heating or cooling system is used year round in Boston and wastes a lot of There are currently many U.S. cities that have adopted green building standards, but only for public buildings and development.

When the Boston Zoning Commission adopts these standards next month, Boston will be the first major market to require private builders to follow these guidelines.

This affects real estate in many ways because developers will now have to certify that they have met the green-guidelines and the city will have to confirm. Developers are worried that it will be more difficult to start projects this way.

In other news, here are the pictures from yesterday’s Secret Santa.


Pictures From The Party

55

Is the number of pounds we gained as a team as all 13 of us gobbled our way through all the pork, ribs, and flan one could think about. After stuffing our faces and most of us having seconds, we finally exchanged presents.

The list goes like this: Manolo had Bill, Bill had Ally, Ally had Carlos, Carlos had Mario, Mario had John, John had Robert, Robert had Manolo, Jose had Mary, Mary had Yani, Yani had Rick, Rick had Jen(me), Jen(I) had Vivian and Vivian had Jose.

We got all sorts of gifts, but at least 4 of us got some type of liquor. Like Los said, it was no secret and a few minutes after the gifts were distributed, everything was figured out and in the end we all knew who our Secret Santa was. I never knew that once we got the gift, that it is still a secret and we are still not supposed to say whose Secret Santa we were. So as one can imagine, I was one of the first to confess.

After the food and presents, our CEO Manolo gave a speech about how Homekeys is getting better every quarter and about our plans to expand for the future. Soon after that, we were ready to bring out the dominos to give Manolo and Mario a chance to regain their title as champions that Yani and her friend stole during our Christmas party. As for real estate, we are now ready to tackle the phones and our individual tasks with satisfied bellies and happy faces.

Homekeys Secret Santa

After waiting a year, time has come for the annual Homekeys Secret Santa. I really don't understand why the word "secret" is involved because minutes after the names are distributed, I (LOS), know just about who everyone has. I have been called a sorts of names, "Splinter" and "Scrooge", to name a few, however its not my fault I always have time to consult a fellow colleague. Tomorrow, at 12:30, we will be exchanging gifts and stuffing our faces thanks to Yani (not the greek singer) a.k.a. "Danger", who always manages to be in charge of every Homekeys event. By the way, if anyone knows where I can get free ringtones for my new "Treo" I would greatly appreciate it. My wife couldn't keep a secret and gave it to me last night.

Happy Holidays!

THE LOS

ValueSearch™ Feedback

If you have taken the time to use ValueSearch™ I hope you have had some of the same experiences other people have written to me about. It feels good when you get positive feedback, especially when you have spent such a large amount of time doing your best to get it right. This current version is very powerful and easy to use.

The press and news stations in Hillsborough County have scheduled time to talk to us about ValueSearch™. Hopefully early next year you will see us on the news and in the paper. They are excited to have our tools available in their county.

We are still working on Orange County and it is going well. We can't wait until most of Florida can experience and leverage our power search.

Do what you say and do it right

Problem 1:
I take my car in today for an oil change and tire rotation. Several hours later I get a call that the car is ready. I pay and get my keys and go to my car. As I pull out of the parking spot I hear my passenger side rear tire banging against the wheel drum. I immediately stop and notice they never tightened the lug nuts on the wheel and one is missing.

Question 1: Didn't he hear that when he pulled the car out of the bay?
Question 2: What else did he forget to do?

So I carefully drove the car back to the bay and they re-tightened all the tires. I have to wait until Monday for the missing lug nut.

Problem 2:
My partner hires a roofing company to replace his roof. The roof was damaged during the 2005 hurricane season. The roof was started several months ago. To make a long story short. Half his roof is done and now needs to be pulled off and re-done from scratch.

Conclusion:
I could continue with these stories all night. How is it possible that quality and customer service does not exist anymore? Everytime I do something or go somewhere I have to worry what problems I am going to have. If I ran my business like this I would be out of business. Needless to say I won't be going back to this mechanic ever again. As for the roof, these guys just started my roof so please pray for me.

New Counties Coming Soon

For those of you who are waiting with great anticipation we are currently working on Orange and Pinellas counties in Florida. We are expecting to have one of those two counties available in the application late January early February. The next county following very soon after.

For those of you outside the state of Florida don't despair. We are currently looking at which state will be next. Here are the leading candidates in no particular order.

Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, and Seattle.

I will let you know when we finalize our decision.