Saint Petersburg, FL

Saint Petersburg’s reliable appliance repair man, Lance Kimball, at Appliance Repair Specialists has a few tips to beat the manufacturers’ shrinking warrantees.

Appliance Repair Specialists have been a permanent fixture on West Kennedy Blvd since 1998. Lance Kimball offered advice to his customers that may take some of the anxiety away from the appliance manufactures’ latest blow. Lance suggests that big-ticket appliances be purchased with a credit card that offers product insurance.

In late 2005, appliance manufacturer including Frigidaire, General Electric, Maytag, and Whirlpool shortened their warranties on refrigerators, ranges, washers, and other major appliances from two or three years to only one year, and it appears they have no intention of reestablishing the longer coverage. And, as far as their appliance extended warranties are concerned, they will also be adjusted.

One-year appliance warranties become the norm.

Shorter warranties went into effect Nov. 1, 2005, for Whirlpool, Roper, Estate, and Inglis brands, and on Jan. 1, 2006, for General Electric, Hotpoint, Americana, Maytag, Amana, Magic Chef, Admiral, Frigidaire, White Westinghouse, Tappan, Gibson, and Kelvinator.

Pricier brands, such as KitchenAid, Jenn-Air and Electrolux, still offer longer warranties on some appliances and their parts. Viking offers a one-year warranty but doubles it if a Viking-certified installer does the work according to Consumer Reports.

In fact, all of the major manufacturers are looking at the data from their pricier competitors. If the numbers are going in the right direction, shorter warrantees may stimulate business for their GE Appliance repairs, their Whirlpool repair men and women; and, it may even bring the Maytag repair man out of retirement.

A typical warranty from an appliance manufacturer now covers parts and service for only one year from purchase. If a part breaks after that, you pay. Before the warranties got whacked down, pricey parts-refrigerator compressors and dishwasher tubs, for instance-were usually covered for 5 to 10 years. To get longer coverage today, you'll have to buy a separate appliance extended warranty, which will cost about $100 to $200 for three years.

Some appliance companies insisted that the changes did nothing more than make warranties simpler. One company spokesperson told us that consumers would benefit from this warranty change by having simplified terms and improved product quality and after-sales care. You're probably as confused as we are, but one thing is clear: consumers are getting less coverage for the same price.

Our Service Technicians are certified in all of these categories: small appliance repair, gas appliance repair, garbage disposal repair, electric dryer repair, washer and dryer repair. Please call me, Lance Kimball, at 813-288-1900.

A day in a Realtor's live here in Saint Petersburg Tampabay

I just have to write this. A few days ago we closed on a property in St. Pete for a client of mine and at closing when we talked about the little obstacles we run into during the process, my buyer said "I always thought it was easy to be a Realtor, I had no idea what you have to deal with" Ever since that conversation this sentence is stuck in my mind.

What do our buyers and seller think we are doing all day long?

I am one of the Realtor who tries to make buying and selling real estate in Saint Petersburg a good experience for the buyer and seller and therefore I deal with most of the "Little Things" myself instead of bothering the buyer or seller with it. I aim to have two happy parties at the closing table and not a buyer and seller that are mad at each other or mad at the banks or the other Realtor or the Title company or or or. But by doing so, my clients think the deal was a walk in the park and do not understand how much work, time and energy was involved.

So, today I will just give you a "list of thing that happened"

Original plan (so much for time management) was to work out of my house till noon and fine tune my new website so it can go live.

6.30 Woke up and had a cup of coffee while I switch on my computer.

7.00 I started working, have 57 e mails, deleted most of them.

Answer one property inquiry about a condo that is already under contract, did comparable sale on a listing inquiry, did a property search for a few clients, looked at the new bank owned and short sale listings in Saint Petersburg, started to write my newsletter for this month, added a price change to the MLS search, downloaded real estate pictures of waterfront home to my computer, e mailed a bunch of waterfront homes to a buyer up north. Printed an offer that I had received and started a file, forwarded this offer to my seller.

Called my seller and left a message to see if he got the offer.

Called the listing agent to see if water was on one of the properties here in St. Pete that we need to do a home inspection on.

Called Title Company to see if they had received one check I send yesterday and to find out if another one from last week had cleared.

Answer a call and gave a clients some phone numbers for home inspectors.

Answer a realtor's call about a listing that I had in St. Pete

Called one of my owners to set up a showing.

Printed a few properties and made 5 phone calls to schedule showings for my buyer and to get showing instructions

Answered a phone call about the condo budge of Seminole Isle.

Answered a phone call about rental restrictions in Sunset Vistas on Treasure Island

Made about 10 phone calls to mortgage brokers to find out who can still finance Condotel.

10am, left the house, got my Starbucks coffee, stopped at the bank to drop of a commission check. Run into a buyer that saw my car sign and had a few real estate questions about Madeira beach. Finally got to the office about 11.30 am

Made 12 phone calls to banks about short sale listings we have, faxed a short sale package for the 4^th time to the same bank (they lose them. . .)

Wrote up an addenda to a contract to get an extension for closing date.

Looked over a 30 page home inspection report. Called my seller to talk about inspection report.

Checked my messages on Listing book.

Talked to my website provider about a new feature.

Showed a condo in Sereno complex in Madeira beach.

Ordered condo docs for St. Pete Beach Yacht and Tennis club.

Called another agent to get a missing signature on a contract.

Answered a few more e mails that came in during the day.

Made a few phone calls to find a real estate sign that got lost.

Called the city of St. Pete to find out watering restrictions on a particular house.

Hunted down Title Company in Treasure Island which did not send the HUD statement in time.

It is 5.40pm now, leaving the office to check on a lockbox that is apparently not opening. Go to Silver Sands in St. Pete Beach to take some additional condo and beachfront photos for a buyer.

Made it home by 7 pm only to find more emails to answer and phone calls to return.

Being a Realtor here in sunny Saint Petersburg Tampabay and showing beautiful waterfront properties is fun and interesting and I love all the different things you have to do, but it is not a Walk In The Park. Long hours and lots of problems that need to be solved.

If you think about buying or selling a house or condo in the Saint Petersburg Tampabay Florida area, please give me a call. Ask me about waterfront homes or condos in St. Pete beach, Treasure Island, Madeira beach, Seminole and other Clearwater Tampabay neighborhoods. Find out what we can do to sell your home or condo and what the value of your property is. Check out great real estate deals or visit condo associations like Seminole Isle.

We also work with short sale bank owned and foreclosures. Find a property or go to my website for more real estate information or simply contact us. 727 409 8706

Recently listed by SI Real Estate Investments, this beautifully remodeled 4BR/2BA St. Petersburg home with attached garage will not last long. The single family home is situated on a large corner lot and has been fully renovated to include spectacular upgrades such as hard wood floors throughout, fresh interior paint, designer lighting and ceiling fans, and newly installed roof.

The upgrades in the kitchen of this St. Petersburg home are spectacular. With brand new 42" cabinets, new countertops, new ceramic tile flooring, and high-end stainless steel appliances, this spacious gourmet kitchen is a dream. Attention was paid to every detail in order to make this home shine.

Additional home features include formal living room, family room, open floor plan, ample closets throughout, master suite with walk-in closet and attached private mater bathroom, covered patio, fenced backyard and mature landscaping. There is also an area in the back of the home with additional parking room for a boat or RV.

New home owners will be able to walk to bus lines, shopping and great schools. The house is conveniently located in the quiet neighborhood of North Euclid in North St. Petersburg, just minutes from downtown St. Pete and the award winning beaches of Pinellas County. Commute to South Tampa, MacDill Air Force Base, and Tampa International Airport in less than 30 minutes.

This home is not a short sale and can close quickly, with buyer motivated and willing to offer concessions, including allowance for new exterior paint. The property is both FHA and VA approved and the seller will include home warranty to the new owner.

View other SI Real Estate property listings at www.SIRealEstateInvestments.com

Direct Gulf front condos or house in St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island, Madeira Beach, and Redington Beach

I have a lot of buyers from Canada or somewhere up north and most of them are looking for direct Gulf front condos or homes. Buyers find a lot of real estate listing for sale on the internet and sometimes the description can be confusing and you cannot figure out "Is it direct Gulf front or across the street"?

Here is a great thing to remember, look at the address. If the home or condo is located on Gulf Blvd and has an EVEN street number it most likely is a direct Gulf front condo or home. Only in a few cases do we have a tiny little road that runs parallel to the west of Gulf Blvd, but for most part Gulf Blvd here in St. Pete beach, Treasure Island, Madeira Beach, Redington, Indian Rocks and Shores runs directly along the beach.

If you think about buying or selling a house or condo in the Saint Petersburg Tampabay Florida area, please give me a call. Ask me about waterfront homes or condos in St. Pete beach, Treasure Island, Madeira beach, Seminole and other Clearwater Tampabay neighborhoods. Find out what we can do to sell your home or condo and what the value of your property is. Check out great real estate deals or visit condo associations like Seminole Isle.

We also work with short sale bank owned and foreclosures. Find a property or go to my website for more real estate information or simply contact us. 727 409 8706

Short Sale in St. Petersburg Tampabay. Start to finish in 3 month with Citibank.

As always, Real Estate Short Sales can be difficult, it depends on a lot of things but I have to say this one with Citibank was painless. We listed a Short Sale property here in Saint Petersburg Tampabay on 8/5/09 had some problems with showings because of renters but managed to get an offer on it beginning of September. BPO was done end of September, bank countered the offer buyer did not accept the counter, property went back on the market the second week of September. We got another offer on this Short Sale the first week of October Citibank accepted it the first week of November and we got a clear to close and Citibank is forgiving the significant difference between mortgage amount and sale price. So, Short Sale in St. Petersburg Tampabay, start to finish in 3 month with Citibank.

Citibank was great to work with on this Short Sale, not at all like Bank of America.

If you think about buying or selling a house or condo in the Saint Petersburg Tampabay Florida area, please give me a call. Ask me about waterfront homes or condos in St. Pete beach, Treasure Island, Madeira beach, Seminole and other Clearwater Tampabay neighborhoods. Find out what we can do to sell your home or condo and what the value of your property is. Check out great real estate deals or visit condo associations like Seminole Isle.

We also work with short sale bank owned and foreclosures. Find a property or go to my website for more real estate information or simply contact us. 727 409 8706