Castles in the Sand
August 4, 2025
The property closing dance
There are all kinds of issues that can arise between signing a contract for sale and the actual closing. Realtors always say don’t spend your commission ‘til the check is in your hand, and that is g…
July 29, 2025
Why aren’t we a boomtown?
Looking for a boomtown? Then look in the South. Eight of the top 10 U.S. metro areas ranking as boomtowns are in the South; five are in Florida. But there’s not one in Manatee or Sarasota counties or…
July 15, 2025
Look to the future
Time to talk about Cortez again in view of the monumental changes being made on the Cortez peninsula and, by extension, within the fishing village. The changes will affect all Cortez residents and ma…
June 30, 2025
Big holiday, not so big housing market
July Fourth is this week, so fire up the grill and hang up the flags, but go easy on the fireworks. You may not need real fireworks after reading the May sales statistics for Manatee County and the g…
June 9, 2025
Are you tired of homeownership?
Everyone who has owned property – whether it’s a condo or a single-family home or investment property – has had those days when you have no idea why you’re doing this. Isn’t renting easier, less str…
June 2, 2025
New take on hurricanes
I love to write. I didn’t come to writing from anything I learned in “J” school, where I never went, but rather in the school of hard knocks, working in business in New York City. Funny thing about w…
May 20, 2025
All real estate is local, especially now
My favorite real estate expression is “all real estate is local,” which I have used in this space many times. But what exactly does that mean?
Essentially it means that real estate markets are signi…
May 11, 2025
Florida condo owners getting a break
It hasn’t been pretty for condo owners in the Sunshine State since the collapse of the Champlain Towers South in 2021. After this tragedy, laws were passed requiring “milestone inspections” of older…
May 6, 2025
The end of another era
I live in Cortez and was never a fan of the Seafood Shack restaurant, although it did come in handy on occasion. Well now, if you didn’t already know, the “shack” has been demolished. It sustained a…
April 22, 2025
Tariffs: The great unknown
No one likes uncertainty, not stock investors and certainly not homebuyers. Nevertheless, here we are, six months after devastating storms and facing another, what appears to be active hurricane seas…
