Archive for the 'Local Stories' Category
Manatee on Pensacola Beach?
July 15th, 2008 Categories: Local Stories, Pensacola Beach
That’s what it looks like in the photos.
Apparently before the Blue Angels performed at Casino Beach, a very special event was taking place down on the east end of Pensacola Beach.
Check out the pictures taken by the Barrier Island Girl on her blog; Manatee Pictures
I don’t think I would have had the patience to take pictures. I would have been running for the water just to see how close I could get.
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Mobile Alabama Needs Real Estate
June 27th, 2008 Categories: Local Stories
Alabama economic development officials are urging commercial real estate brokers and agents in Mobile and Baldwin counties to locate tracts of land that could be used by suppliers to the ThyssenKrupp steel mill and the Northrop Grumman-EADS aerial tanker assembly complex. Mobile has one of the fastest growing economies in the nation, and real estate will be at a premium as these developments move forward.
While recent government actions have put the Air Force contract on hold , Alabama intends to go ahead with plans to attract suppliers to the area.
If you are not familiar with the economic growth in Mobile, I refer you to these previous articles on Pensacola Real Estate News:
Boeing Wins Air Force Tanker Award Protest
Air Force Awards Tanker Contract
The Real News Is Next Door In Mobile 
Thyssenkrupp steel plant in Duisburg Germany.
On June 10, Alabama Governor Bob Riley met with over 100 Alabama commercial real estate brokers and agents. His message to them was that they needed to help find tracts of land from 300 to 400 acres to turn into industrial parks. Said Gov Riley, “You help us find it and we’ll help you sell it”.
The next big job is to go after the suppliers.
Gov Riley and the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama plan to start a large recruitment effort for suppliers. Part of this effort includes recruiting at the Farnborough International Air Show in England next month. According to Riley, “These will be some of the best jobs created in America and for the next generation”.
Boeing Protest Decision Spoils The Party
The one cloud looming over the tanker contract is the Boeing protest over the awarding of the Air Force contract to Northrop Grumman-EADS. This cloud has burst and rained out the ground-breaking ceremonies planned by Northrup Grumman. The Government Accountability Office has ruled in Boeing’s favor on this protest. This means the contract may have to be rebid.
The real estate agents were told that there could be between 15 and 35 different supply companies locating in Mobile to support the plants, but this was prior to the Boeing protest award. I expect there will still be considerable land requirements to support other growing industries in Mobile, especially the steel plant.
“In no form or fashion is this going to slow the momentum,” Mobile County Commission President Stephen Nodine said. “We have full confidence that when it’s all said and done, the (tanker) will be built in Mobile.”
“But while the tanker project grabbed headlines in recent months, the state already has a rich aerospace landscape, dotted with major names and a variety of products and services, from rockets and missiles to maintenance and engineering”, said Neal Wade, director of the Alabama Development Office.
Wade cited Alabama Aircraft Industries Inc. in Birmingham and Pemco World Air Services in Dothan, Lockheed Martin Corp. and Sikorsky Aircraft in Troy and GKN Aerospace in Tallassee and Montgomery as examples. But we need something a little closer to home to help out the Pensacola area economically.
Nearly 100 Alabamians led by Gov. Bob Riley still plan to meet with suppliers at the Farnborough International Air Show in England next month and continue to work with them in anticipation of a final contract outcome. Governor Riley and other members of the Alabama delegation have a full slate of meetings lined up with with tanker suppliers, as well as businesses tied to other projects and other parts of the state.
I will keep tracking the developments in Mobile and post articles as news develops.
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Could Pensacola Beach Be Facing A Tourism Disaster?
June 25th, 2008 Categories: Local Stories
What comes to mind when you think of problems that could cause a drop in tourism on Pensacola Beach and negatively effect the local economy?
Hurricanes? High real estate prices? Weak economy? High gas prices?
Pollution from offshore oil rigs? (Have you seen how ugly Texas beaches and water can be?)
Here’s one you may not have thought of. Jellyfish!!! Ouch. When most people think of jellyfish, they immediately think of pain. Tourists don’t want to fork out the dollars to stay in Pensacola Beach condos only to sit around nursing their burning jellyfish stings.
The jellyfish are very bad at Pensacola beach right now, and have been since late May. See the news article link below concerning the Pensacola Beach invasion:
Jellyfish Invasion At Pensacola Beach
What is wrong with this picture of Pensacola Beach? 
This picture was taken from the Emerald Dolphin Condos on the Sunday before Memorial Day. This is one of the most popular surfing spots on Pensacola Beach, and the surf was very good that day. On any other day you would see at least 30-40 surfers in the water, and plenty more people on the beach.
This was a beautiful Holiday Weekend! Where are the people?
If the jellyfish can keep the surfers out of the water on a good day, imagine the effect jellyfish will have on tourists coming to Pensacola Beach.
What if the jellyfish invasion continues all summer long, and then continues every summer for years to come. Why would this be a concern? Recent news articles have pointed to growing jellyfish populations all over the world. The causes cited are global warming, overfishing, and increased pollution.
More and Bigger Jellyfish Could Be Spotted At Beaches
Now the Big Sting article linked above taught me something about jellyfish that I never knew. Their mouths also double as their anuses. So while they may have the advantage over us in the water, at least we can sit on the beach and make tasteless jokes about their anatomy.
Are humans to blame?
According to this article on MSNBC, ”Many scientists also believe that warming, overfishing and other stresses fuel jellyfish booms in many tourist destinations and commercial fishing areas. “These jellyfish-rich locations include Australia, the Gulf of Mexico, Hawaii, the Black Sea, Namibia, the United Kingdom, the Mediterranean, the Sea of Japan and the Yangtze Estuary” in China, the NSF said.”
My belief is that if the jellyfish continue to congregate at our beautiful Pensacola beaches year after year, our tourists could decide to stay home in their swimming pools and remain pain-free for their summer swim sessions. Let us hope this does not become a reality.
Maybe if the Red Tide came at the same time as the jellyfish, we could have a massive jellyfish kill. What are the chances?
Related Articles On Pensacola Real Estate News:
Building A Hurricane Resistant Home
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Pensacola Real Estate Breaking News: Boeing Wins Air Force Tanker Award Protest
June 18th, 2008 Categories: Local Stories
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said today in Washington that they are going to sustain Boeing’s protest of the awarding of the $35 Billion U.S. Air Force contract to Northrop Grumman-EADS. The GAO believes Boeing deserves another chance to bid on the contract because they feel the Air Force made a significant number of errors that may have affected the outcome of the awarding of the contract.
The GAO ruling is not binding. However, failure of the Air Force to revisit the bidding will not sit well with Washington politicians who were complaining about the award. Of course, all of these politicians were from areas of the country that stand to benefit from the contract award going to Boeing. Politicians in the Pensacola Florida and South Alabama area obviously will feel differently about this turn of events.
More on this story can be found at Bloomberg or MSNBC.
Anticipation of this contract has been high in the Pensacola Florida area. Real estate prices are moving up in Mobile Alabama, and the Pensacola area was hoping to reap some of the benefits of the large contracts coming into Mobile, namely the Air Force tanker contract and the new steel plant. It remains to be seen how this protest award will affect the movement of the economy in Mobile. Thus far the work in Mobile has not appeared to have any effect on Pensacola real estate prices.
The Mobile steel plant is already in the construction phase. They are currently hiring workers for the contruction of the plant. The pay scale looks good also. I know of someone who was offered $22 per hour to drive a dumptruck for the construction site. He would work 12 hours per day, 6 days per week. That is extremely good pay for our area.
In addition, the Alabama economic development council is looking for land for industrial parks for suppliers who hope to supply the steel mill and the airplane plant.
I will provide updates here on Pensacola Real Estate News as they become available. What is happening in Mobile will have an effect here. Let’s hope for the best.
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The Fruits Of Pensacola Florida - Pick Your Own
June 16th, 2008 Categories: Local Stories
Many people who I talk to are not aware that there are numerous farms and fields around the Pensacola Florida area where you can pick your own fruits and vegetables. And if you are not excited about getting out in the heat and picking yourself, these places usually have pre-picked fresh produce for sale.
Picking your own can be a very relaxing and nurturing experience. It gets you back into nature and connects you with the fruit of the earth, so to speak. I hear many pickers talking about how much they enjoy just being out in the fields. A friend was telling me that she went picking with her husband and he started reminiscing about picking in his childhood, and it ended up being a very bonding experience for both of them. Picking with your children can also be very rewarding. It is hard to explain the feelings that go along with picking. You just have to try it out for yourself and see if it works for you.
So where can you pick?
For more information on places to pick, check out the Pick Your Own website. This easy-to-use web site lists all of the known pick-your-own fruit and vegetable farms in the US. For farms near Pensacola Florida, check the sections for Northwest Florida and Southwest Alabama. 
Right now, blueberries are in season. The photo shows the fruits of my efforts earlier in the week. I have picked over 40 pounds of blueberries so far this year. And the cost is a fraction of the cost of buying in the stores. At Beulah Berries, my favorite local field, the cost is only $9 per gallon. Hillcrest Farms in Elberta Alabama also has blueberries now. Strawberries are no longer in season. They are available around Easter. BJ Farms in Elberta is a great Strawberry picking field.
Muscadines will be ripening in August/September. If you are not familiar with muscadines, I would recommend checking them out. They are reported to be one of the healthiest fruits on the planet.
Here’s a link for more info on Muscadines. Muscadine Grapes - A New Health Food And Alternative Crop
Happy Picking!!!
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Two Top Pensacola Real Estate Brokerages Announce Merger
June 15th, 2008 Categories: Local Stories
Pensacola real estate firm Top 10 Properties has announced its merger with ERA Beach Ball Realty. This merger now gives ERA Beach Ball Realty four office locations including; Gulf Breeze, Pensacola Beach and Downtown Pensacola Florida on East Gregory Street. The newest ERA Beach Ball office is the existing Top 10 Properties office in University Mall. This merger has made ERA Beach Ball Realty one of the largest real estate companies in the entire Pensacola Metro area.
This merger is huge for Beach Ball Realty, as they will now be acquiring Woody Wolden, owner of Top 10 Properties. For those of you who don’t know about Woody, he took second place as Pensacola’s sexiest man. You can read about that contest in the article “Is Pensacola Real Estate Really Sexy?” All kidding aside, Woody is a great guy and an asset to the Pensacola community.
“We are extremely excited to become a member of the growing ERA Real Estate worldwide network,” said Woody Wolden. “As an ERA affiliate, we will continue to provide our clients with the personal dedication they’ve come to expect from us, but will also be able to supply them with some of the best products and services the industry has to offer.” Mr. Wolden will continue to act as a consultant for ERA Beach Ball Realty.
ERA® Beach Ball® Realty is a proven leader in traditional as well as web-based real estate marketing. The company was founded in 2001 and is locally owned and managed by Kimberley Gibbons and James Hlubek. They serve the entire area with a philosophy of dedication to quality service while providing superior support and growth opportunities for sales associates.
And I would like to extend my appreciation to Kim Gibbons for providing most of the content for this article. I knew what I wanted to say, but she knew how to say it. Thank you Kim.
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DirectBuy In Pensacola Florida
April 12th, 2008 Categories: Local Stories, Saving You Money
I had never actually heard of DirectBuy, most likely because I don’t watch much television. But at the Pensacola real estate investors meeting last week, someone mentioned that a DirectBuy store had opened in Pensacola. It is on Navy Blvd, next to the Goofy Golf. This is just about a block east of Old Corry Field road.
If you want to know more about DirectBuy, just search for it on Google. They claim to provide you super savings on all sorts of home products, such as furniture, appliances, cabinets, and almost anything you need for your home. A nice lady on the web site tells you all about how you are being charged far too much money for standard household products and how DirectBuy can save you big money on almost anything for your home.
Once you’ve checked out the DirectBuy website infomercial, Google DirectBuy again and look down a few links to the Infomercial Scams link. I can save you the time. Here it is.
http://www.infomercialscams.com/scams/direct_buy_scams
Read up on some experiences people have posted on this site. Then make your own decision on whether or not you want to save money using DirectBuy. I personally do not like high pressure sales situations. That is one reason I like real estate. I offer guidance and support for people buying and selling homes, which helps to build real lasting relationships with clients. I could never be a high pressure sales person.
Being a neutral party who has no experience whatsoever with DirectBuy, I also recommend reading the defenses part of the web page, where DirectBuy members talk about their good experiences with DirectBuy. Follow the link below:
http://www.infomercialscams.com/defenses/direct_buy_scams
And go here for a Consumer Reports article on DirectBuy:
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/home/2007/09/with-directbu-1.html
As one commenter on the above linked blog wrote, “If your household income is less than $100-150K depending on where in the country you are, I’d recommend you don’t do it, as your expendable income isn’t going to allow you to spend the amount of money they you’re likely to want to recoup. ” Hmmm? How many people in Pensacola make over $150K per year?
As for the fees DirectBuy charges for the privilege of being a member? Their website won’t tell you how much it cost to become a member. You will have to go to a sales presentation. The scams website will give you a rough idea of the cost. I think I’ll take my money and invest in Pensacola real estate. The market is low and there are plenty of good deals available. I recommend holding your money for a down payment on a home, rather than spending it on a shopping club. But that is just me. I’m not big into shopping.
I hope this article will help you save some of your hard earned money. If you do choose to go for a DirectBuy presentation, let me know how it goes. I would love to hear about how the local Pensacola operation is run.
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