Jon Zolsky, your Daytona Beach, Florida connection

What Would I Pay If I Buy A Condo in Daytona Beach Shores or in Ponce Inlet?

Simple answer: Maintenance (Association) Fee, Unit Owner Insurance, and Property Tax.

Maintenance fee does not depend on whether you are renting the unit out or not. It usually covers everything outside of the unit (upkeep of the grounds, common electric, elevators, pool, security systems, basic cable) and it includes water, so you pay separately your electric, telephone, and cable if you add some extra programming. For a modest 2 bdr/2 baths condo expect it to be in mid $300 to $400+ a month.

Insurance for the condo unit was not mandatory until just recently. Now you have to buy one, or the association will buy it and bill you for it. Because the major part is taken care by the association and the only goal is to protect the interior and content of theunit itself, it is not really too expensive. you can find a policy starting form under $200 to several humdred dollars a year. Read more here: Buying Condos In Daytona Beach Shores or in Ponce Inlet. Insurance

Property taxes in Florida are not included in the Maintenance Fee. Property tax is about 2%-2.2% of the value, but this is not the exact number, which will be calculated by the County Property Appraiser.

If you live in this unit 6 months plus one day, this is your primary residence, and you can get Homestead exemption, which will significnatly reduce your taxes and, what is even more important, lock the increase in taxes to no more than 3% a year. When the market heats up, the values go up double digits, so this becomes extremely important.

In some of the condo buildings in Daytona Beach Shores the manager would do rentals for the owners, but even if they offer that, you are not obligated to use them and you can use anyone, any agent, or do it yourself.

If you enter a rental management agreement, it will spell out the details how they operate, and what they charge. It usually depends on whether it is short term or long term rental. If you have questions about rentals, Vadim in our office can be a better source of information, as he is handling rentals of couple of dozen of condos, and knows it better than me. His phone #386-405-2156. E-mail: zolavadim@msn.com .

So, does it make sense to buy a condo in Daytona Beach Shores or in Ponce Inletnow? You bet. It makes sense not because of the maintenance fee, which is pretty much the same in buyers' and Sellers' market, but because of the price, a very low price of the units today. For more information on buying condos on the beachside, call me at 386-405-4408.

Here are a few links to a more recent information about Ponce Inlet: http://activerain.com/blogsview/1234881/evening-in-ponce-inlet-fl

Here's another very recent one: http://activerain.com/blogsview/1228638/early-september-sunday-on-the-beach-in-ponce-inlet-fl

And here is one from August: http://activerain.com/blogsview/1219029/magic-of-the-atlantic-sunday-in-ponce-inlet-

Everyone has to take care of someone. People have children, people have pets. Our children are already middle aged, and we do not have pets. So we are taking care of our guest from Moscow. She is a granddaughter of our friend back from the time in the Russian Arctic. It is not that we have to take care of our guest. At 20 she can handle it without us, but having a guest is is a perfect reason for us to go places.

There are places that we like, but rarely or never go to by ourselves. It is always when someone pays us a visit. Same this time. We are off to St. Augustine Alligator Farm, which is about 50 miles north of us. In Florida with its over 1 million alligators driving 50 miles and paying $20+ for an adult ticket sounds crazy, but in reality to see an alligator in the wild is not an everyday occurrence. It is not that there are not in the rivers, lakes and ponds, it is that they are masters of hiding from our eyes.

You can takeI-95, and it would be faster, but we prefer taking a scenic State Road A1A, which goes mostly along the ocean. St. Augustine Alligator Farm is right at the intersection of Anastasia Blvd and A1A. We first went to the Alligator Farm on our second visit to Florida. It was a surprise to me that there were plenty of other species besides alligators. They have 23 species of crocodillians, and this is the only place in the world that has all crocodillians in one place.

The farm is heresince 1893 and is one of the oldest zoos in the nation. When we came here first time, Gomek, the biggest crocodile on that farm, was still alive. Gomek was an 18' nearly 2,000 lbs. Now Gomek, or better say what the skilled hands have made from his skin, is on display at the farm, and in a pool that was his, there is another Australian saltwater crocodile, a 15' Maximo.

We came lateand missed the feeding frenzy. A 4 PM "show" was uneventful. A small young lady with a stick in her hands was walking between alligators, who paid no attention to her, and forcing them to move was not easy. The sure way to make them do anything were pellets that they feed to them. We could see the power of those jaws, - in reality the most powerful jaws in terms of pounds psf, comparable with a small truck.

With that power you can easily break the teeth if you get some wrong stuff in. And they do break teeth. But they have a terrific dental plan from the nature. They grow new teeth at any age. Their resource is about 2,000 teeth through their life. Pretty good allowance, I would say.

The culminationof our visit were not the crocodillians, and not the snakes, and not the birds, which are abundant there. It was watching the sex of Galapagos Tortoise. At 4' and over 600 lb, males take their sex duties seriously and do not rush. Actually it takes hours, so their stamina is enviable. What was funny is that males were moaning. I checked Wikipedia to make sure I am not making it up and taking something different for the sex game, but it only confirmed that I was right.

And yo can see it here: Sex In The City... In The Oldest City That Is

For Real Estate south of St.Augustine and in Daytona Beach area call me at 386-405-4408

Sex In The City...  What the Heck Is This?

Well, that's right, this is about SEX in the oldest city in the nation. Which happens to be in Florida. Which happens to be St. Augustine. And which happens to be a rather decent place... if not for this sex act... in public... in the middle of the day, which is a quiet Sunday at the end of a hot summer.

Or maybe because of it?

And because it is about sex in The Oldest City, be warned.

Watch at your own discretion. And make sure you are 18 years old, or, maybe 21, I am not sure. If you are not sure yourself, consult your attorney. If you do not have one, ask your mom. She may know a thing or two...

How big is love? It's big... Watch for yourself.

If you are interested in sex Real Estate just south of the Oldest City, give me a call at 386-405-4408.

Buying Condos In Daytona Beach Shores or in Ponce Inlet. What is new? Insurance

In good old days of before January 1 this year, there were fewer laws in Florida than today. We used to say that to own a condo in Florida it would cost you a Monthly Maintenance Fee and annual Property Taxes (and we all know about Special Assessments, which are as predictable as major hurricanes that they follow closely.) The new law adds mandatory insurance requirement, and it is called Homeowners 6 Policy. It forces condo owners to purchase a policy on the interior of their unit in addition to the Master policy, maintained by the Association, and which covers the building.

Here's how it is defined:

"Homeowners Policy Unit Owners Form 6 (HO-6)

Part of the Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO), homeowners forms portfolio, insures a condominium owner for direct damage to unscheduled personal property on a broad named perils basis. Personal liability coverage and medical payments coverage are also provided by this policy. The policy is designed to coordinate with a policy covering the structure and common areas that is purchased by the condominium association."

There is a Master Insurance Policy for the Comdominium Building, however it does not cover the damage inside the unit as a result of, for example, water intrusion during the Hurricane. The law immediately became very controvercial and some lawmakers are already working on bills to change these requirements.

However, for now the law is in force. The policies under Homeowners 6 are to cover the units' interior. It requires unit owners to purchase loss-assessment coverage, that would help to pay Special Assessment levied after a hurricane, which is applied to the insurance deductible. Many companies already had the requirement to insure up to $1,000. Now it is $2,000. It also requires condo owners to name Condo Association as additionally insured.

The conentious issue is that the new law makes it mandatory rather than voluntary. The Associations have the authority to enforce the requirement, and they have the right to buy a policy for the unit and then charge the condo owner if they fail to purchase their own policy within 30 days of notice.

In the newspapers I read that the policy can cost from $1,000 for a 750 sf unit to up to $5,000 for a larger luxury units. I do not know how they got those numbers. We recently helped our client to buy a policy after the demand came from the association, and she got it for $152 a year. I am guilty for not reading fine print or any print in this case at all, but the Association has accepted it.

The other problem that I read about is that Homeowners 6 covers owners residing in the unit, and in Florida we have sometimes close to half of the units as vacation properties. Though obtaining insurance for non-residents is still possible, it can cost even more money, because this kind of coverage is considered high risk.

If you are Buying Condos In Daytona Beach Shores or in Ponce Inlet, keep in mind that there may be a letter giving you 30 days to provide proof of coverage. And if you do not want it to be from $1,000 to $5,000 a year, call me at 386-405-4408, as somehow our clients are getting it for just a fraction of that amount (but do not ask me how).

Time for the update for Oceanside Inn in Daytona Beach Shores. Premier Cono-Hotel Resort

Oceanside Inn is one of the best condo-hotels in Daytona Beach Shores. This 192-room oceanfront resort was the last conversion before the price hike, therefore it was holding the ground pretty well, but economy sliding down caught up with it and today you can find deals for way less than what they were sold by the developer.

The resort is well set up for a condo-hotel. It is not surprising. John Rainey, the developer, is probably the most experienced condo-hotel conversions developer with Oceanside Inn being his 4th project. It is a modest property with a heated outdoor inground pool, a Tiki Bar, a popular 6,000 SF sundeck on the South side of the building, plenty of parking on two-level garage.

The building is in pretty good shape, though there are issues with their glass wall and water insulation. In plain English this means that when it is a heavy rain or a storm, water gets in. There was a lot of blame around, some "housewife" type cure suggestions like caulking with some magic stuff, which is supposed to solve a million dollar problem with a $50 patch.

September 14 was the Board Meeting. The unpleasant part of it was deciding on a Special Assessment. Special Assessments are never fun. Boards hate them, and condo owners hate them as well. But they are like flu. Always unexpected, make you feel miserable, and do not form immunity. This assessment is due to a sharply increased cost of insurance.

So, why is that suddenly the cost of insurance jumps tens of thousand dollars? No major Hurricanes since 2004. Well, the insurance companies reappraise buildings time from time to establish their replacement cost, so that they can calculate the insurable value. Last appraisal came very high, and the premiums went up immediately. My rough (very rough) estimate is that they somehow appraised it at around $200 per sq. ft., and in our area that seems a very high number for a relatively simplistic commercial structure, but it is what it is.

As for the rentals, Oceanside slipped about 5% compared with last year. It is not surprising in the declining tourism market. Overall decline for hotels/motels seems to be higher than 5%. I hear 20%, and it may not be unreasonable number. The town looks half deserted for this time of the year, even though it is the best time to be here. The weather can't be better, the summer heat has subsided, the water is 82F, it is just beautiful out there. However, immediate future looks not bad for Oceanside Inn. Reservations for the October, November and December are higher than for the same period last year.

The management is upgrading the rooms. They have replaced old rusty lamps with nice powder coated lamps. That in itself has made it look nicer. They put on hold replacing the art. It is needed, but the cost is more than what they want, so it is on the back burner for now. What's coming? In the near future they will replace the bedding, and make the units look a notch higher class. Then the drapes will follow.

Is it a lot? It all depends how we look. In 2005 I might say "no", But in a market that we are today every small step matters.

For availability and pricing of units in Oceanside Inn and in any other condo-hotel or residential condominium in the area call me at 386-405-4408, or drop me a line in the e-mail.