Florida is hot, in more ways than one

Despite being hit with a barrage of hurricanes and tropical storms every year, Florida still remains a hit for retirees and relocating families looking for warm climates and beaches.

Miami real estate is always hot, with many different amenities offered in the largest urbanized area in the state of Florida. I have never been to Miami, but we have enjoyed Orlando several times, and have relatives living in the western panhandle area of the state.

Something about Florida draws people there, much like Eureka Springs, the town I live in. No one can fully explain it, but you just feel like you have to be there and miss it if you aren't.

Housing market discrepancies

There is some buzz around town that the housing prices are on the rise, but what I've seen is prices all over the board. Some houses seem to be priced too low and we're worried that we paid too much for our house or the neighborhood values will decrease. Then there are some houses that are priced way high for the square footage, but since most are historic homes there are many improvement dollars to be considered. Still, a buyer would be ridiculous to spend over $250K in this market on a tiny house, even if it is a restored Victorian.

Before putting a house up for sale, the seller would be wise to conduct lots of market research before listing their home. Check out other homes near by, what they have sold for and when, improvements to the house and neighborhood, percentage of asking price sold for, etc. If you use a real estate agent, they will give you an idea of what they think you should list your home for, but you still make the final decision. The more information you gather on your own, the better prepared you will be to put your home on the market, get the money you want to make, but not take years to sell your house.

Re-thinking some choices

My hubby and I have both been feeling kind of "down" in our moods lately and we're not sure why. I think we are bummed since we've lived here and been self-employed for almost a year and we're still not making as much as we thought we would. We're making about half of what we need each month. And the other half? You guessed it, coming right out of our savings account. Even though this is what we were saving for, we didn't think we'd have to live on it for this long and we're getting kind of nervous.

Sometimes we wish we would've gotten a cheaper house, but then you never know what work it might have needed. If we decide we can't afford this in a few months, we will have to sell our house, which could take a year or more because that's how long houses are on the market around here. Even if we could sell it, we probably wouldn't get as much as we paid, plus the money we've put in it with updates and making minor repairs. Then where would we move? The only really cheap houses around here are in Berryville and we wouldn't be able to live our current lifestyle with the trolley and walking to town, etc. I have no idea. We're just starting to get worried and a bit stressed out at the moment...

A secret to managing your business remotely

I have noticed that there are many people who own businesses here in Eureka Springs but do not live nearby. In fact, some live in different states and run their businesses remotely with good restaurant and retail store managers.

One tool that would help these business owners immensely is a Real Estate Management Software. Siterra software is the only fully integrated online solution to help businesses plan, build, manage, and grow remote sites, assets, and leases. Sounds like a useful tool that would benefit many different types of businesses. It would also make tax time easier because you would have better records of all your real estate in one place.

Business real estate

Back in college, when I worked temporary projects at big companies, one of my more memorable projects was with USWest (phone company) in the real estate department. Mostly I was just there to file and try to organize all the paperwork. Let me tell you, it was a big mess! Maybe if they used a Real Estate Management Software like Siterra, their system would be much more streamlined and they could actually find what they were looking for.

Siterra keeps track of which leases are coming up for renewal, option dates needing to be addressed, and even when the elevators were last inspected. The software can figure out statistics of the per-employee cost of having your building in the suburbs versus downtown, or how much your company would lose if you were forced to postpone moving for a week, a month, or even a day. The system is totally web-based, so there is not even the hassle of installing it.