Marco Giancola, Realtor (305)608-1922 Fort Lauderdale Beach Florida

Here we are on the Saturday after Thanksgiving hopefully unscathed by the madness of BLACK FRIDAY. Today we celebrate SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY. That's right yesterday was dedicated to the BIG BOX stores and chains and today the little guys get there turn.

This idea of naming shopping days is a bit weird for me. I had been living out of the country for almost a decade and not so recently return back to Florida. Before I left BLACK FRIDAY was know as "THE DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING, the biggest shopping day of the year SALE!" Ok, so I do realize that the much shorter version (BLACK FRIDAY) rolls off the tongue a bit easier but now we have to follow it with SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY? Why not call it SALMON SATURDAY?

A nice soothing color to separate it from the Black PLAGUE Friday as I call it. Personally I would much rather shop in a small venue than mix with the mad hoards or camp outside a box store to be the first in. Do they win a prize for that or do they really snag the catch of a lifetime?
If we color code the entire weekend I think we would be better off. BLACK FRIDAY followed by SALMON SATURDAY and maybe SAFFRON SUNDAY. Yes SAFFRON SUNDAY, as in "forgotten" herb or the"what am I supposed to do with it?" herb. I believe most American households probably don't have it or they can do without it even though it has great merit. SAFFRON SUNDAY could be the "maybe I need to rest from shopping day.

What do you think?

Today is the big day. The anticipation is still building, the 77th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is just a few hours away and it is almost time to pop the big bird in the oven. While every family has their own traditional version of Turkey day dinner the usual suspects are present in some form or another on most tables.
Living in Miami and surrounds most of my life I have had the great fun to experience many different cultures' version of "our" American tradition. Some disastrous, some fantastic and some, well one, hilarious. I am going to relate the hilarious one.

Thanksgiving dinner a La Cubana Style.

Ok first I was dating a Cuban at the time (early 1980's). Cubans are very family oriented and their family gatherings are not dissimilar to my own large Italian family gatherings. Abuela (grandma) was creating her fabulous version of Thanksgiving dinner known as el Dia de la gracia (day of thanks)

Ok, so far so good. Apparently Abuela loved American traditions and even though she could not read English she loved looking at the pictures in the magazines at the checkout counters and get marvelous ideas to put her own spin on American traditions. One of her favorites I found out was the baked ham with the pineapple rings and cherries in the middle I was told later. This was her signature holiday dish, but that was for Christmas. There was to be no ham today-it was turkey day and she had a real live Gringo sitting at her table!

After the usual amount of fuss and seating shuffle we were all ready, Abuela was in the kitchen behind a closed door and everyone started counting down from 10, as in 10-9-8-7 yes you get it, like New Years Eve.
As the "clock" struck the proverbial 12 and to thunderous cheers Abuela bursts into the room with the turkey covered in pineapple rings with cherries and Sparklers in honor of her first Gringo @ the table -a whole box of them!!
A sight to behold indeed. This marvel contained all our major holiday traditions in one, absolutely fantastic I thought in a semi state of disbelief. I started clapping and smiling (laughing) and realized I was witnessing something extraordinary and why didn't I think to bring a camera!
The point of the story is that we should all cherish our traditions no matter what they may be and respect others that may not be the same as yours but certainly enlightening if not a fond and hilarious memory.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE!

Sitting poolside on a mini daycay @ a local hotel this past Sunday my mind started to drift. Actually it started with my eyes drifting towards this young sexy couple enjoying themselves in one of the Cabanas. Not in a pervy way but it made me think of how fun it is to be on the beach in a hotel with all the other people having fun as well. This of course lead me to the idea of commandeering a Cabana for a day with iPad and iPhone in hand and putting a "Realtor on Duty" sign in front of it.

Vacationers do buy condos on the beach-lots of them. I miss my beach office, this would be perfect. I could work on my tan while working clients. I could entertain buyers right in my new office and refreshments or lunch is just a Miguel away!

Back in the day a decade or so ago when the South Beach condo market was smokin' hot I was known as the Condo King. Times have changed and so have I but once having had control of 30% of a marketplace was a special feeling. One that I will never forget. Lots of all cash buyers from the north, interest rates around 7% with 20% down for financed buyers and we sold out entire buildings in a weekend back then. They came in droves, now we have 3.79% interest rates and it is like pulling teeth to get someone in the door.

That leads me back to my Cabana office idea, even if no one comes in I have nothing to loose! Oh Miguel cocktail Please!

On a quiet day or maybe just when there is a lull in the afternoon I often find myself drifting off to a far away place. Somewhere that you leave your worries behind and that has friendly people, ocean breezes, swaying palm trees and a handy poolside bar. I have been fortunate enough to travel to many an exotic land and forget that ....I live in one of those places! A place where millions spend their dream vacations each year and it is in my backyard.

I called my hotel connections and made arrangements to be allowed a pool day in paradise and off I went. Arriving @ the National Hotel in South Beach I was greeted with warm smiles by my friendly valet amigos Wilfredo and Juan. As the doorman opened the door I was transported to a different time as this historic hotel maintains all the art deco charm from its original plans.

From there I sailed through the lobby and directly to the pool where the cabana boys were all smiles and had my favorite chaise positioned for the best sun and a glass of very cold fresh squeezed orange juice on a side table. That would soon be replaced by a margarita and the rest is well, you fill in the blanks!

Florida windstorm insurance is going up. The proposal is to shrink the Florida CAT Fund by $5 billion.

The Florida Catastrophe (CAT) Fund would shrink by about $5 billion over the next four years under a proposal submitted to the governor and Cabinet Tuesday that would raise Floridians’ average insurance premiums by about 10 percent over the next several years. Gov. Rick Scott, Cabinet members and the Legislature requested the recommendation from CAT fund Director Jack Nicholson. Up to this point of the announcement I am ok but then comes the scary part.

The Catastrophe Fund, which is paid into by insurers, is the state-backed re-insurance fund for insurance companies, which they tap when total claims rise beyond their ability to pay claims.

Nicholson outlined a series of proposed changes for the CAT fund, including a plan to reduce the state backup fund’s capacity from $17 billion to $12 billion by shifting that liability to the private reinsurance market.

At the time of the press release the CAT fund is about $3.2 billion short in its ability to pay its obligations, a deficit brought on largely by turmoil in the global investment market and the inability of the state to sell bonds if needed to pay off hurricane claims.

Among other changes proposed Tuesday was an increase in co-payments on CAT fund coverage from 10 percent to 25 percent.


Another cost-saving proposal would be to eliminate nearly $1 billion in additional coverage over and above the $17 billion mandatory level. This is what I call "the save now pay later plan" and in my opinion is a BAD idea.

Insurance industry representatives were cautiously supportive Tuesday, saying that state needs to address an insurance structure that currently does not have the ability to pay its obligation in the event of a catastrophic storm. That is not calming news to me. I was in Miami when hurricane Andrew struck and caused $20+ billion in damage and that was in 1992 dollars. It was estimated that if the storm had been 20 miles north it at that time would have caused an estimates $180 BILLION worth of damage!

One offshoot of the CAT fund’s precarious status is to push more policyholders toward the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which now has nearly 1.5 million policies.

What’s less clear is whether lawmakers will take up the issue in January. Most changes in the CAT fund would not occur until 2013 under the proposal, making it possible for lawmakers to postpone action until then to deal with the issue. Typical Governor Scott move-come up with a plan that will not benefit the people of Florida then postpone it so the next governor has to deal with it.