Year: 2009

Episode #21 – Gulf-front 4 Bedroom Condo $324,900

This week’s features:

  • Deal 1 – Gulf-front 4 Bedroom Condo $324,900
  • Deal 2 – 2 Bed 2 Bath Fully furnished Gulf-front Condo for only $229k
  • Deal 3 – Cute Cottage in Carillon WITH LOT steps from the private beach

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Call us at 850-527-5651 to see these properties or for anything else you need regarding real estate in Panama City Beach.

Show Notes

Deal 1 – Gulf-front 4 Bedroom Condo $324,900

  • List Price: $324,900
  • Square Feet: 1,586
  • Price/SqFt: $204.85
  • 4 Bedrooms, 3 Bath
  • Built in 2005
  • Majestic has one of the nicest sets of amenities on Panama City Beach with several pools, hot tubs, pool side grill, huge conference facilities and a huge movie theater. Click here to see the feature video we shot for it on SeePCB. This condo is huge and is really great shape. For a foreclosure, it’s near perfect. You just can’t get better than a gulf front condo this size at this price, you have to buy this condo now!

Deal 2 – 2 Bed 2 Bath Fully furnished Gulf-front Condo for only $229k

  • List Price: $229,000
  • Square Feet: 1,076
  • Price/SqFt: $212.83
  • 2 Bedrooms, 2 Bath
  • Built in 2005
  • Not only is this a great price for a 2 bedroom gulf front condo, this condo comes fully furnished! With great amenities and a central location just minutes from Pier Park, you can’t go wrong with this. Did I mention the price???

Deal 3 – Cute Cottage in Carillon WITH LOT steps from the private beach

  • List Price: $449,000
  • Square Feet: 878
  • Price/SqFt: 511.39
  • 2 Bedrooms, 2 Bath
  • Built in 1996
  • For those of you that are familiar with Carillon, you know that deals like this rarely come on the market. This is a two bedroom cottage with a full lot in front to build your dream house on. Only 5 houses from the beach, you’ll probably have some gulf views from the third floor when you build. The cottage that is there will be the mother-in-law quarters and as it stands, actually rents pretty well! Carillon has tons of great community amenities and if you are accustomed to high-end living, this community is the place for you.

Call us at 850-527-5651 to see these properties or for anything else you need regarding real estate in Panama City Beach.

CRA Kick-off Party for South Thomas Drive Construction

Charged with literally changing the face of Panama City Beach, the CRA is on the move again.  The next project on the table is the reconstruction of the South Thomas Drive corridor and tonight is the kick-off party for the public to come in and see what’s going to take place over the next 2 years or so.

The CRA, or community redevelopment area has swept through the area over the last few years completely changing the Churchwell Drive and R Jackson Blvd (formerly Beckrich) corridors with not only entirely new roads, but new infrastructures.  These projects included moving utilities underground and adding beautification accents such as sidewalks, landscaping and street lights – something our area has been badly in need of for years.

Churchwell Drive is the road that travels in between Middle Beach and Front Beach Road that plays home to the Beach post office.  Included in the project was a new bridge that required most of the budget and time, but the result was a beautiful 4 lane road with a center turn lane, sidewalks and these cool street lamps that make you want to walk everywhere just so you can look at them.

R Jackson Blvd, formerly known as Beckrich Road underwent an entire transformation expanding it from a two lane, heavily traversed, dangerous main corridor to a lovely, wide, beautiful road that enjoys pedestrians all the time.  If you haven’t driven down it lately, you should.  I experience that euphoria as often as possible, and sometimes even pull over just to walk it.

I remember the ground-breaking like it was yesterday, thinking to myself, “2 year? Man, that’s a long time for a road to be under construction.”  But man, did the time fly.  Fully opened in April of this year, it has serviced the area well and opened up a quick way to get from Back Beach to Front Beach Road.

Take a look at the progress over the last couple years:

———————————————————So, what’s happening tonight?  There will be a public event that will explain to the public just what will be happening over the next 18 to 24 months in the South Thomas Drive area.  The South Thomas Drive corridor is the area that is in between the Circle K (by Shores of Panama and Laketown Wharf) and Club La Vela.  If you’ve traveled down that road, you know that it is a poor excuse for a patch of pavement, much less an actual road and is badly in need of a complete overhaul.

The new South Thomas Drive will include (I beleive) four lanes with a center turn lane, sidewalks, landscaping, those cool street lamps and all the utilities moved underground.  This will be huge not only for the area but also for Panama City Beach as this is a heavily traveled area.  The unfortunate part is having to endure the construction along the way; but there’s nothing we can do about that and it will be very much worth the trouble.

You can bet you can count on us to keep you all abreast of every new little detail that emerges with this in addition to construction update photos and the like.  Stay tuned for an update about how tonight went.

By the way, the event is at the CRA office from 5 to 7 pm.  The CRA office is located in the old St. Joe building next to the Nextel call center on R Jackson BLVD.  Click here for a map.

4 Reasons Why Listing Your Home with a Realtor Works

I love my job and I think that is in part because of all the great people I get to work with. Active working Realtors are some of the hardest working most energetic people I have ever met. They love to share their knowledge of Real Estate with their customers and thankfully with each other. I enjoy working with my other Realtor buddies and so respect what they do so I wanted you to know what your Realtor can do for you.

Many people try to sell their homes themselves and that is certainly an option that all of us have, however when doing so you miss a valuable selling tool. According to the National Association of Realtors more than half of all home sales involve a listing agent and a buyers agent. The majority of those sales are made possible because of the all powerful MLS system that is blasted out to countless Realtors and people and reaches many web sites and locations across the United States. To add to that, many Realtors are a part of advertising campaigns through magazines and sites such and Homes and Land further putting your listing in front of even more people. Statistics show that nine out of 10 people use a real estate agent in their search for a home and adding to that, internet has risen as a mega tool from only 2% of buyers in 1995 to 79% in 2006 so you can imagine what the stats say now.

The MLS system is great but would be lacking without all the buzz that Realtors create when we are out and about sharing with each other. Realtors are really my best customers. One of my favorite sales happened when I was NOT WORKING. I went to Carrabbas and saw one of my favorite Realtors (you know who you are) waiting tables and I just happened to mention that I had a great listing with exceptional rental dollars generated. Ward had just the right buyer in mind!!! Needless to say that was an unexpected treat but that happens all the time. Listing with a Realtor is like the gift that keeps on giving. When you employ a Realtor to market your property you can get a lot of bang for your buck.

One of the most pertinent tangible things that your Realtor will do when listing your home is to give you up-to-date information on what is happening in your market and the price, financing and condition of competing homes. You need this information so you can sell your house at the best price and as quickly as possible. Your Realtor has vast knowledge of market values in your community and that is vital today in selling your home. Remember it does not matter what something is listed for what matters is what it is selling for.

Advertising your property is more than throwing a sign up and your Realtor will know how and where to advertise your property. There a is a misconception that you just have to advertise and that sells the Real Estate. The National Association of Realtors indicate that 82% of real estate sales are the result of agent contacts through previous clients, referrals, friends, family and personal contacts.

Your Realtor has spent years of training and learning how to market and sell what may be your biggest investment ever. There is so much more to Real Estate than making a sale; there are procedures for closing the deal that your Realtor will know how to guide you through. Zig Ziglar always said you have to close the deal to be a salesman, so with that in mind call your favorite Realtor and close that deal. Thanks to all my sweet Realtor friends out there for all your knowledge and guidance. . . you really are some of the best customers ever. And again, you know who you are!

Record Pace for Contracts on New Homes

The National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday that its index of pending home sales rose 3.2% in July from June marking the sixth consecutive month of increases. Though not quite as high as the 3.6% increase reported in June, July’s increase marks the first time the index has posted six months of increases since NAR began tracking pending home sales in 2001. Economists generally expected a July increase of only 1.5%. NAR Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun, said in a written statement that “momentum in the housing market has clearly turned for the better.” “The recovery is broad-based across many parts of the country,” Yun said. “Housing affordability has been at record highs this year with the added stimulus of a first-time homebuyer tax credit.”

Mortgage rates have managed to ease slightly as bond prices have risen over the past few days as the Dow has shed over 200 points in the past two days in a sign that investors may finally be pulling back from what many have seen as a premature rally over the past six months. Thirty-year, fixed-rates fell to 5.25%, approaching a six month low and fifteen year rates hovered near 4.50%. We have yet to see any drop in jumbo rates which have remained above 7% for some time with little hope of relief in the foreseeable future as the secondary market for jumbos is nearly non-existent. Look for rates to remain in their current range with the possibility of further easing not our of the question over the coming week.

Labor Day Weekend: Last of the Summer Wine?

Recession considered, Panama City Beach has seen quite a summer. While the rest of the country has spent the summer struggling to turn water into wine, Panama City Beach, again, was blessed to drink from the ever-replinishing bottle that southern summers seem to always produce. Labor Day Weekend represents the end of summer for most businesses and the last hoorah before the season begins its decline. Just the same, tourists are gearing up to head to the beach for one last summer outing. The TDC and CVB are working hard to encourage Labor Day vacationers, more now than ever, to return to Panama City Beach for the fall. The question remains: is this really the end of the season?

For the most part, Panama City Beach businesses have remained in the black ink. In fact, year to date bed tax numbers from January through June 2008 are currently up 1.6 percent, or $4,158,268 to $4,091,591.

The TDC efforts have enjoyed considerable success, but it isn’t yet clear if that success will translate to the fall/winter season. This time last year, Panama City Beach was not as focused and organized as it is today; nor was it thinking as opportunistically as it is by way of the new airport’s buzz. Nonetheless, Panama City Beach is on the cusp. In fact, Panama City Beach, to date, has never had access to the type of database it has currently, never had targeted running advertisements in place, and has never been more ready to turn the fall season up a notch moving ever closer to the “mythical” year-round destination. Panama City Beach has a critical opportunity to turn a new leaf and it starts this weekend.

With several fall events lined up ranging from Thunder Beach, Taste of the Beach and the signature Seafood Wine and Music Festival, as well as an “Endless Summer” theme ripe for businesses to possess, everything is in place.

My opinion on the matter is that business, yes you businesses and business owners who’ve done well in the recession season, don’t fall victim to the past. Don’t stop advertising, don’t stop communicating with your clientele–don’t allow the summer wine to stop flowing. It isn’t up to the TDC or the CVB or anyone else. The plan is in place, the opportunity is available and people, believe or not, are traveling to places like Panama City Beach. Keep the wine flowing by staying up to date on the events and using them as a spring board to draw business your way. Think of it as a dress rehearsal for next fall when the airport is in place and Labor Day doesn’t have the stigma it has now. I can assure you, if you do what you do every season and withdraw your staff, stop advertising and close your doors you’ll be missing out on an opportunity you’ll be complaining about next year.

You’ve had a great summer. You can have a great fall/winter too.

It’s up to you.

Governor Crist Visits New Airport – Called It "Awesome"

Florida Governor Charlie Crist visited the Panama City-Bay County International airport today and upon surveying the nearly completed site, said emphatically, “This is awesome.”  With few invited to be in attendance, the energy was high in anticipation and excitement to see what the Governor thought of not only the newest airport in the state of Florida, but the first airport built from scratch in the USA in 14 years.

Hosted by the Economic Development Alliance (EDA), the Govornor was invited to tour the new airport terminal and the Naval Surface Warfare Center.

In attendance was Jerry Ray, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communication of St. Joe, Representative Jimmy Patronis, Representative Marti Coley, Airport Authority Chairman Joe Tannehill, Airport Authority Vice Chairman Bill Cramer, TDC CEO Dan Rowe, and various other local officials, board members and the like.  Everyone was excited to show of the growing new addition to Panama City that will open in just 8 short months.

The goal of today’s get together was to show the Govornor the “economic engine” that will not only catapult our little area to the big map, but also drive jobs and economic growth to Panama City Beach.  Representative remarked today that he had “goosebumps” as he had not been up there since they broke ground.  I’m sure it was an amazing sight to see having not been there for that long.  I feel honored that the airport authority has been so gracious in allowing pcbdaily to cover the progress so closely.

Sometimes it is easy to forget just how close we are to planes landing at the new airport.  Today, Chairman Tannehill made mention to Crist that the airport will open May 18, 2010.

“We are on schedule and under budget,” said Chairman Joe Tannehill to Governor Crist during the period he had to brief the Governor on what was happening on site.  “We are all set to open May 18th, 2010.”

“I travel the state quite a bit and to see what’s happening in Bay County is nothing short of phenomenal,” remarked Gov. Crist.

On a side note, I was able to get a little time with Chairman Tannehill, Board member Rick Koehnemann, and Jerry Ray and all three agreed that a new brand and name was needed for the new airport to depict a more regional presence.  Chairman Tannehill said that this was something that would be discussed in the near future.

Suggest your names in the comments section below!

Is the New PCB Airport Still on Schedule?

Panama City-Bay County International Airport is still on time to meet its completion date. Taken from a recent article on the NEW-PFN website, here is an updated rundown of construction on the new site.

Contract 1: Heavy Civil and Airfield Lighting
Approximately 91% of contract is complete with 80% of contract time used.

Pond C grading is 99% complete.
Installing Airfield Edge Lighting Conduit and Plazas
Continuing installation of Airside underdrain pipe
Terminal Apron concrete pad is complete
Morrell and Kelly Branch restoration continues

Contract 2: Terminal Building, ATCT and Support Buildings
Approximately 47% of contract is complete with 52% of contract time used.

Terminal:

In the utility area completed form work and compaction and preparing for concrete pour.
Continuing metal framing on 1st and 2nd levels.
In the baggage handling area continuing exterior CMU walls. Work is 60% complete.

Air Traffic Control Tower:

Preparing for concrete pour of stairs and deck Levels 2,3 and 4.
Installing decking and metal stairs floors 5-9.

Terminal Support Facilities:

Air Maintenance Facility – continuing electrical rough-in walls at maintenance office and bays.
Air Cargo Facility – continuing with the installation of MR gypsum wall board.

Rental Car Facility:

Beginning the erection of the pre-engineered metal building.

Public Safety Building:

Continuing block installation at 2nd level administration area.

Manpower:

An average of 155 personnel are on site Monday through Friday and approximately three workers are on site on Saturday.

Contract 3: Utility Contract
Approximately 57% of contract work is complete with 54% of contract time used.

3W2? Power Distribution Duct Bank is 95% complete; installation of wiring by Gulf Power is ongoing.
Street Light Duct Work is 98% complete; light poles being installed (approx. 6-8 per day).
6W4? Power Distribution Duct Bank is 100% complete.
Jack and boring on Main Access Road for fire hydrant installation.
24? Water Main is 98% complete.
12? water main is 99% complete.
30? water main is 90% complete; installation continuing on the utility road.

Lift Station:

Lift Station is 50% complete; plumbing is being installed.

Fuel Farm:

Fuel Farm is 25% complete; electrical work is in progress.

Booster Station:

Booster Station is 40% complete; concrete roofs are poured.

Triturator:

Triturator is 10% complete; vault installation is underway.

Contract 4: Landscape/Hardscape Contract
Approximately 7% of the work is complete with 11% of the contract time used.

Construction is underway on overflow weirs on Main Access Road
Performing soil preparation on Main Access Road.
Hydro seeding of Main Access Road is underway.
Installing aquatic plants at main entrance.

Pier Park's Fall/Winter Calendar of Events on Panama City Beach

What’s Coming at Pier Park

September

-Sept. 19th- Gulf Coast Community College Commodore Sun Run 5k, 10k & Fun Run

– Sept. 24th through 27th- Thunder Beach Fall Rally. Bike display and custom bike competition in the promo area.

October

– Oct. 3rd- Woodlawn Church Family Fall Festival. Rides, bounce houses, free food and drinks, contests and entertainment for the whole family. Held at Aaron Bessant Park. Open to the public.

– Oct. 9th, 10th & 11th- Seafood Wine & Music Festival. Held at Frank Brown Park. Gates open at 4pm to 11pm on Friday, 11am to 11pm on Saturday & 11am to 6pm on Sunday. For more info. please visit http://www.panamacitybeachfest.com or call 1.800.PCBEACH

– Oct. 10th- Breast Cancer Awareness Day. Pink ribbons will be hung in the promo area in remembrance of Cancer victims and in support of Cancer survivors. Ribbons may be purchased at Unique Boutique by Irene & Co. After the ribbon hanging ceremony, there will be pink cookies, cupcakes and pink lemonade served at Unique Boutique.

– Oct. 15th- Treasa Foundation Walk. Charity walk to benefit research of still-born babies. Walk begins at 4 pm

– Oct. 16th- Heart Walk- 2.75 mile route will go through Pier Park. Registration begins at 5:30 pm. Walk begins at 6:30.

-Oct. 17th- Girls Inc. Half Marathon. Join Girls Inc. for our Inaugural Half Marathon & Relay at Pier Park in Panama City Beach. The run begins at 8:00 am. For more information contact Girls Inc. at (850) 769-6703 or girlsinc@girlsincofbaycounty.org. To register go to http://www.active.com

– Oct. 24th- Boo at the Beach. Bring the kids out to the promo/green grass area to enjoy a hay bale maze, pumpkin carving, spooky stories, arts & crafts and a pet costume contest. 11 am to 2 pm.

-Oct. 24th- Rescues & Runways. Hosted by Maurice’s this fashion show will benefit the local Humane Society.

– Oct. 31st- Malloween. Trick or Treating throughout the property, hay bale maze, and costume contests for the kids. 6 pm to 8 pm.

November

– Nov. 6th-Taste of the Beach. This venue will be an international wine tasting experience with over 300 wines to taste and food samplings from various Bay County restaurants. Proceeds from the tasting go to benefit various local charities dedicated to helping underprivileged children. 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm.

– Nov. 9th through 15th- Emerald Coast Cruizin. Classic car show to be held at Frank Brown Park.

– Nov. 11th- 4pm. Emerald Coast Cruizin Parade. Parade of classic cars down the Pier Park boardwalk.

-Nov. 20th-22nd- Modonarro. Italian street painting fair featuring 3-D sidewalk chalk art. Presented by the Visual Arts Center of Bay County.

-Nov. 21st- St. Jude 5K Run

– Nov. 27th- Black Friday- The busiest shopping day of the year featuring lots of special sales and door busters.

– Nov. 27th- Santa’s Arrival and Breakfast. Santa will arrive on property at 10am for cookies and hot chocolate with all the naughty and nice boys and girls. He will then be available for pictures at the Santa House located on the boardwalk.

– Nov. 27th-2nd Annual Mayors Tree Lighting. The PCB Mayor will light the 20ft. Christmas tree located in Town Center at 6 pm. Holiday carolers will also perform to help ring in the holiday season.

– Nov. 28th- Rescue Mission Festival of Trees. Christmas trees that have been decorated by local businesses will be on display and auctioned off in the promo area. All proceeds go to benefit the Rescue Mission.

December

– Dec. 5th & 12th- 5pm to 7pm. Pet Photos with Santa. Bring your furry friends out to have their picture made with Santa at the Santa house on the boardwalk.

– Dec. 5th & 6th- Run for Redfish Half-Marathon

– Dec. 12th- 4pm. Panama City Beach Christmas Parade. Parade will begin in Town Center and travel throughout Pier Park down the Boardwalk to Front Beach Road.

Massage Envy hosts Massage for the Cure benefitting Susan G. Komen

Massage Envy at Pier Park hosts Massage for the Cure benefitting Susan G. Komen for the Cure on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

During this one-day event, Massage Envy will offer $35 one-hour therapeutic massage sessions, with $10 from each massage being donated directly to the Panama City Beach, FL affiliates of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

The event is open to the public, but does require an appointment with Massage Envy.

Since the first Massage for the Cure event in 2005, Massage Envy has raised more than $800,000 for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Appointments can be made by contacting the Pier Park Massage Envy at (850) 563-0070, or visit www.MassageEnvy.com.