South Pasadena, FL

Debbie Flay Realtor in Saint Petersburg Tampabay.

We at South Beaches Real Estate Professionals are very happy that Debbie Flay just joined our team as a Realtor. I am very much looking forward to working with Debbie Flay; she is a great addition to our team of local Real Estate experts. Below is a little more information about Debbie Flay the Realtor and Debbie Flay the private person.

Hi, I am Debbie Flay and this is my story. I was born and raised in Pa., and moved to Florida in 1977 with my husband Tim, and our sons Tim Jr. and Kevin. Tim and I both became Realtors in 1980, when interest rates were high and property values were low. We both worked for a Real Estate firm that mainly sold FHA and VA homes, but we did very good. We did our deals together and found that it was great, cause Tim and I have different approaches and each have our own specialties! Caring for ill parents, curtailed our desires to stay in the business fulltime, but we kept our licenses and continuing education up to date, never knowing when we would use it again.

When Tim's job moved us out of town, I became a licensed assistant to a top producing Realtor family in South Florida. By handling their paperwork and maintaining their listings, I became more efficient in the other side of real estate that some agents find time consuming and boring. My approach was different as I knew without proper paperwork, there would not be a closing! We made our way back to the St. Petersburg Tampabay area and I continued to work for top producing real estate teams as their assistant, and found great enjoyment, but was missing the personal gratification of finding people their dream homes. After Tim & I both retired from our 9 to 5 jobs, we were approached by a first time home buyer and that threw us into the real estate whirlwind again. We worked with this couple, found them their dream home, which was a short sale, and 4 months later we saw the smiles on their faces and were hooked again into helping people.

Being involved in many charity and scouting activities while our boys were growing up, we found that we love helping people in general, and what a better way to help people than real estate, which is a lasting gratification for buyers, sellers, and us!

We want to focus on Harbourside, South Pasadena and St. Pete beach. We have lived in Harbourside 12 years and love the community and what it has to offer, and know our neighbors and friends at some point will need help selling their homes, and we are here for them.

We enjoy Real Estate cause it gives us the flexibility of working, but also visiting our 4 beautiful grandchildren, and our sons and their wives. We also share our life with our beautiful 11 year old poodle, named Brandie, who is known in Harbourside, and we are known as Brandie's Mom and Dad!

Debbie Flay Realtor in Saint Petersburg Tampabay.

Ever heard of Ted Peters here in South Pasadena?

If not, you have to come and taste their smoked fish and fish spread. It is one of a kind place with awesome food. Make sure you get here early, they are not open late. It is right on Pasadena Ave, just north of the Corey Ave bridge.

You can eat right here or go to their "smoke house" and get some fish to go.

The "O" Bistro. I love this place. It is in South Pasadena, on the corner of Central Ave and Pasadena Ave. I believe they are open daily. I go there a lot for lunch. It is upscale and the food is very creative and really good. Just reading their menu is a pleasure. The prices are reasonable the service is very friendly and everything just fits together. They have a variety of different item, like vegetable wraps or a quiche of the day or a pot roast, or smoked salmon. Everything I have had at the "O Bistro" was very good. The place is perfect for a business lunch

Harbourside is a gated condo community in St. Pete beach, South Pasadena.

This is the right time to buy, prices are down and inventory is declining.

Don't miss the boat, give us a call today if you are interested in a great deal or if you want to sell your condo.

Nearly all units have a fantastic water view and you get a sunset or sunrise everyday.

Harbourside has a little over 800 units and feels more like a vacation resort than a residential community,

it has 5 pools, tennis court, a fitness centre, shuffle board

and long walking trail and and and, too much to list.

Only a few minutes from the beaches, shopping, hospitals and restaurants.

Harbourside is the place to live.

If you think about buying or selling a house or condo in the Saint Petersburg 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

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Note that The Villas of Date Palm have been taken off the market and will probably be rentals. But, you can still read about the construction of them.

I'd like to shed some light on precast concrete construction. This is also called Tilt-Up construction. In this method, buildings are constructed from cement panels that are poured either onsite or at a factory. The panels have iron loops on them for the crane to be able to lift it up and set it in place. The panels are extremely heavy as they are 5-6 inches thick. I recently watched an addition to a wine warehouse go up. It was amazing to see this crane pick up something so heavy and pivot the panel as workers guided it into place. In this case, the panels were two stories tall and about 6-8 feet wide. Panels are made to specification. Door and window openings are left open when the panel is poured. This method of construction saves a lot of time. Panels go up quickly and can cut construction time by 1/3. Once up, they are joined together with plates and bolts and the seams sealed.

There are alternative exterior options. One such option is to make it a brick pavered facade. Pavers are laid down then the wall poured on top. You can see the application via this link. http://www.tiltupnews.com/tilt-up-articles/tiltup-construction-masonry-brick-wall.asp

It's a wonderful development where the builder "did right". It's called The Villas of Date Palm. They are 3 BR / 2.5 Bath and 2 car garage. Attention to detail is obvious and a year was spent researching what buyers wanted in a townhouse such as a master on the main and a closet beyond the bathroom. There is are two laundry stations, one on each floor. Some units have elevators and thus have all the bedrooms upstairs.

The exterior walls are 6 inches thick with 3/4 inch rigid foam insulation and 5/8 inch drywall on the inside. The 3 unit building went up in four days.

The Villas of Date Palm

The end units have 2075sf, Middle unit with elevator has 2590sf.

790 LaPlaza Ave South in South Pasadena, FL 33707 ( Pasadena Ave to East on Date Palm to end of street )

The building has a wind rating of 295 mph. Let us pause and bow and say Wow. Isn't that amazing ? To "dry in" the building took half the normal time. The concrete panels make for a quiet building and provide a two hour fire rating. This type of building is also very energy efficient - R-18 to R-20 when normal is R-13. It would take more hours in the day to get the walls heated through and through by the sun...so keeping cool is easy in a concrete home. Also, you don't have to worry about termites. Yayyy ! I know when I was in the unit, it was so quiet. How nice. It is estimated that a concrete home is 5-7 percent more expensive than a block built home, but the benefits are many and would pay for itself. I'm Sold !!

If you would like to read the full article published in the St Pete Times about this project, then click on http://www.sptimes.com/2007/10/13/Homes/Precast_concrete_wall.shtml

Barry Smith, Realtor, St Petersburg, FL 727-773-6677