It's that time of year, warmer, spring like weather, and people swarm to the beaches. Now, Jacksonville Beach has a larger entertainment district that either Atlantic or Neptune Beach, and more public beach access, so we get much more traffic to our beaches. Contrary to popular belief, you cannot drink legally on the beaches in Jacksonville Beach.  Actually, you cannot drink legally on ANY of the area beaches.  There are beach side bars and restaurants where you can enjoy a cold beer, but you cannot leave said establishment WITH that beer. You have to consume it on the premises. Similarly, if there is a festival, as was Springing The Blues this past weekend, and there are beverage tents, there is a clearly posted area in which you may consume those frosty brews, and the beach is not wit... 04/05/2011

Even if you have not yet had the chance to visit this fabulous annual music festival, there is still one more day, today! I stopped by yesterday afternoon for a few hours, and the peoplewatching is incredible, as is the musician line up, and all the booths. There are, of course, food and beverage booths (food ranges from funnel cakes, to Italian sausage and peppers), and tons of vendors, with crafts, and clothing. Plus lots of kid-friendly events over by the west stage which is in Latham Park. Check out the lineup today, and if you plan to go, I recommend taking either the trolley or  a bicycle for easier mobility and parking. 2011 Artist Lineup: http://www.springingtheblues.com/index.cfm?page=schedule     04/03/2011

Last night was our final class prior to graduation next week, and we learned about sexual offenders and predators. The differences between the two classifications are filled with legalese, making it difficult to discern. The biggest takeaway is that we have the ability, via the Jacksonville Beach Police Department website to do a search, based on several different criteria to search for offenders/predators. One of the best searches is to search by your address, and see who is registered with the state, and who lives within a 2 or 5 or 10 mile radius of your search address, which in my case, was my home. I post this as an resource for home buyers, as Realtors commonly get these questions, and it's nice to have this resource. Search away, and share with your buyers: http://offender.fdle.s... 04/01/2011

Inspired by my recent shift back to the gym this week, after about two weeks off (not entirely by design, rather, an after product of two midnight ride alongs in 72 hours, which severely messed up my sleep schedule) I had to share that my workouts actually feel better, I'm working out stronger, and my flexibility is better.  Added benefit: I'm waking up BEFORE my alarm and not going to be any earlier! So, if you are not achieving your goals, whatever they be, you may want to consider breaking your schedule a bit, and taking some time off, or just doing your thing differently - it may help you get to your goal faster with just a brief respite. Good luck! 03/30/2011

As part of my class work in the Citizen's Police Academy, we had a day at the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office gun range, which is, very aptly, located on Gun Range Road. Ten of us had our range day yesterday, which was awesome!  Basic overview of gun, safety, Glocks, and I had learned more in the first 10 minutes about guns than my whole life. When we made our way to the range, each student was paired with an officer, and we were shooting their guns.  It was exhilarating, and a bit intimidating as all 10 of us were firing at our paper targets at the same time!  Distracting would be an understatement, as hot shell casings were flying all over the place in addition to the noise. We shot Glocks, and in the afternoon, shotguns, semi automatic and full automatic weapons - the semi and full aut... 03/27/2011

Last night at the academy, we learned from our local evidence technicians. First. all the officers on duty have MORE than one position, whether it be their second responsibility is Evidence Technician, Field Training Officer, SWAT, K9, you get the point. This is one way they totally dispel the rumor that CSI on tv is ANYTHING close to what our local police departments are like!  See, on CSI, they have a lab with evidence techs just WAITING for DNA samples to arrive, whereas in reality in Jacksonville Beach, we send DNA samples to the state lab, and wait months to find a match, if at all, just based on the sheer volume of samples being sent in from the state. We got to dust for fingerprints, and see what tactics they use to determine what happened at a crime scene, and they do re-enact t... 03/25/2011

This was indeed, a FULL MOON SPECIAL ride last night - my second midnight ride along in 3 days (I didn't really plan this, but it worked out this way, and I thought twice in such a short period of time would be truly interesting), and it was exciting again. Tonight's theme was drunks on the loose - Jacksonville Beach has several times the entertainment district of our neighbor's to the north, Atlantic Beach, and Neptune Beach, and our neighbor to the south, Ponte Vedra Beach. Jacksonville Beach also hosts more festivals (probably one per month these days), than the other communities, and we have more public beach access than the afore-mentioned towns, so we naturally attract more people, meaning we have to manage more people. Our first call of the night was a field sobriety test in a Mc... 03/20/2011

Last night was my first ride along as part of the Citizen's Police Academy. The CPA runs from 6:30-9:30pm,  for 12 weeks, and my ride was right after our normal class.  I had planned to take a nap, but knew that might not happen (which it did not) so that I would not be tired during the midnight shift.  The shift starts at 9:30pm and runs until 7:30am. Our first call was to take a report from a homeless woman who claimed 4 other homeless people had hit her and stolen her items. We had two differing perspectives, and neither party was completely trustworthy. We were able to return her items, and give her a case number, and that was that. Our second call was a LIGHTS ON, SIREN ON , ACCELERATING UP A1A!  Talk about an adrenalin rush!  It was incredible!  This was a search for a barefoot fu... 03/18/2011

Yes, I'm Irish, despite the very Italian last name, so enjoy today with friends, and family - and of course, in moderation or with a designated driver. I'll be doing my Jacksonville Beach police midnight ridealong, and would hate to recognize any of my friends on any of our calls tonight! Here are a few Irish poems/blessings/prose for today: There are many good reasons for drinking, One has just entered my head. If a man doesn't drink when he's living, How in the hell can he drink when he's dead?   May your blessings outnumber The shamrocks that grow, And may trouble avoid you Wherever you go. May you live to be a hundred years With one extra year to repent. May your neighbors respect you, Troubles neglect you, The angels protect you, And Heaven accept you. 03/17/2011

I decided I would look at condos sold from 2004 to now to illustrate how the pricing and condos for sale have changed. These are all 3 bedroom condos, in Jacksonville Beach, closer to the beach, so should primarily be new construction. 2004 Total Condos Sold: 22 Lowest Price: $190,000 (Jardin De Mer) Highest Price: $1,727,500 (The Oceanic) 2005: Total Condos Sold: 112 Lowest Price: $406,000 (Laguna Villas) Highest Price: $3,150,000 (Marbella) You can clearly see the increase in units sold, and rapid price acceleration in these numbers. 2006: Total Condos Sold: 129 Lowest Price: $377,900 (NorthShore) Highest Price: $3,275,000 (Marbella) Prices have started to flatten a bit, and the year over year increase is much more moderate. 2007: Total Condos Sold: 96 Lowest Price: $350,000 (South Be... 03/13/2011

Hey, there, Mr/Mrs Buyer over there! Yeah, YOU! Want to see my secret squirrel list of homes NOT on the MLS yet?  The ones that are move-in ready with 3-4 bedrooms, 2000 or more square fee for less than $100,000 and a block from the beach?  Yes, with granite, and travertine and stainless steel appliances? Yeah, just follow me around this dark corner, and I'll show it to you.... No, don't worry, you'll be just fine, I don't want to hurt you or anything, I just can't let ANYBODY else see this list! I'm only showing it to you so you realize it IS REAL and IT DOES EXIST.... Just like Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Nessie (Loch Ness Monster) and Sasquatch.... Let's try this instead: Dear Mr/Mrs Buyer - there is no "secret list" of homes available that are move in ready with ... 03/12/2011

If you are a Florida Realtor, you should be subscribing to and reading the Florida Realtors daily news email, that contains interesting news and HTML links to the Florida Realtors website for the complete story, which is where I found this story. It's not surprising that the following send buyers in the opposite direction: No Photos Outlandish Claims Priced Too Low Listed "As Is" For the complete story, you can click here: http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?id=255965   03/11/2011

Last night at Cop Shop (my slang term for CPA!), we learned about the K9 unit. We have two full time K9 dogs, and handlers here in Jacksonville Beach, and we help neighboring Atlantic & Neptune Beach with their needs for dogs, whether it be for drug sniffing, or tracking suspects. The dogs are primarily Belgian Malinois, and Dutch Shepherd, both of were are very athletic, and about 80 pounds at the top end of the scale - I believe they are probably better suited to our hot climate, than larger breeds. Trust me, they are trained to grab and HOLD. Does not matter what part of you they are holding, arm, leg, etc: they will not let go. They go through intensive training, and their verbal commands are a mix of Dutch and German, so the offenders don't know what command the handler is communic... 03/11/2011

I blogged the other day about motivated, qualified fun buyers I'm working with, and how we narrowed it down to two homes. I called both listing agents and asked for the following information: Seller's Disclosure to see what has happened to the home since they have lived there. Whether either property was in a flood plain, and if so, which plain. Does the seller have flood insurance, and if so, how much is that policy. Days on market for both homes. One agent already has faxed me the seller's disclosure, the other, I'm going to have to follow up again today (original request was Saturday), and this is for the house that has been on the market for 8-9 months. Don't you think if you were the listing agent you would have gone directly to the office (schedule permitting) and sent me the sell... 03/07/2011

Last night,  we learned about the Detective unit and what they do, and they catch so many cases, from personal property damage to murder investigations, which I'm not proud to report, we've had more than one in the past 5 weeks in Jacksonville Beach, FL. The good news is, all suspects are under arrest, and on their way to trial. They discussed items about past cases (since we can't talk about the current cases just yet) and even showed past crime scene photos (graphic is an understatement), and it is truly amazing to gain greater understanding of what they actually do in a given day/shift/week.  Their ability, in any faction of the police department to go from zero to 100 is incredible; we have virtually no idea how few "routine" traffic stops they truly encounter, and how someone can g... 03/03/2011

I have to say, I was BLOWN AWAY by this thank you note I received in my office today.  It was so simple, and yet so powerful, and it made me stop and ask other agents in my office to see what had made me stop and go "Wow". I immediately decided to blog about it, and publicly congratulate the individual who had made my day with such a simple, yet meaningful way.       Thanks, Geoff - you have given me the fabulous idea of using Send Out Cards as an extraordinary way to stand out in a competitive marketplace. http://mailing2.dc1.activerain.com/geoffgrist   03/03/2011

Here are the 2011 stats and 2010 for comparison - 2011 12  Homes Sold Lowest price: $70,500 Highest price: $330,000 Shortest Days on Market: 3 Longest Days on Market: 248   2010 14 homes sold Lowest price: $162,000 Highest price: $660,000 Shortest Days on Market: 9 Longest Days on Market: 280 So, year to year, things appear from a movement perspective fairly flat, with 2 more homes being sold in January 2010 than 2011, which equates to a 14% decrease, which may or may not be statistically significant (if you read my posts, however, you are aware I would be in caps and bold if this was an increase year over year!). The great thing about Jacksonville Beach, however, when compared to Atlantic & Neptune Beach is that we are a larger community with more diverse housing and therefore, we are ... 03/01/2011

Another installment in my travels along the Citizen's Police Academy - this week, we learned about communications and covered the DUI Task Force. Amazingly, communications is WAY more complex than we could ever imagine.  There are two different phase cell phones, for example, that produce different results when you dial 911. The "phases" differ based on carriers (and I suspect, your phone); so in Jacksonville Beach, with Phase 1 phone, you may well be routed to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office first, then re-routed to Jax Beach, while a Phase 2 phone will route your call to the Jacksonville Beach Police Department. DUI, or driving under the influence is a major threat to ANYONE driving. We watched videos of drivers pulled over for DUI, one who actually fell asleep at the wheel and was ... 02/27/2011

I read the first two chapters of Surviving the Serengeti, like most others on this site did, and found them compelling, probably because the Serengeti simultaneously seems so familiar and so alien to Jacksonville Beach, FL.    Swanepoel is well known and respected in the real estate business.   He issues the Swanepoel Trends Report annually, which details the real estate industry, simply put. There are seven different animal "types" we can be: Wildebeest, Lion, Crocodile, Giraffe, Cheetah, Mongoose, and Elephant. I'm a Elephant, and it surprised me a bit;  I have often thought I excel at communicating, and I enjoy (well, LOVE people watching) so I do pick up on non-verbal communications.  Communication is a strong key for the Elephant, and once you take the quiz, you will get tips on ho... 02/25/2011

It started with a flash bang, the lights went out and the SWAT team came into the room demanding we drop to the floor - That's how the CPA class started last night -and one of the ladies at my table was halfway to the floor! The rest of us barely moved (I, for some reason, had a feeling they might enter that way). We saw a ton of videos about SWAT tactical entries into local homes where people had barricaded themselves inside or taken hostages - some of which made it to CNN. The flash bang they started with is actually a distraction device, and they demonstrated another one outside, by the side of their Special Ops truck (which was customized at a fraction of the standard cost by inmates - how ironic!). The flash bangs, or DD's come in 4 gram weights and up. The 4 gram made enough noise... 02/17/2011