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Building your dream home – your main home or your vacation home – is not a fast process. We bought our lot 5 years ago and have spent countless hours designing, re-designing, detailing, changing drawings again and again to get to the stage where we are ready to start. Add to that countless hours getting quotes, discussing with builders and suppliers – and this is just getting ready to start – it is not a task for the faint-hearted.

But now we’ve chosen our builders – George Barrett of New Smyrna Beach Construction Company – the silt fence is up (this protects the river from the build) and the fill is coming in.

Follow us through the excitement and heart-ache of this new build – and if our ideas are tempting you – come and see us at the office. We can help you find your dream lot (either a green-field site or with something to demolish already on it) and share our experience and contacts with you.

The wintery cold rainy weather caused the January New Smyrna Beach Balloon Fest to be postponed to this month.  The events start on Friday, May 21, at 5 p.m. and continue through the weekend, closing on Sunday at 4 p.m. 

Approximately 25 hot air balloons will be glowing over the sky at the New Smyrna Beach Airport.  One may ride in a tethered balloon, an airplane or a helicopter …or all three! 

In addition to the balloons, entertainment includes music, skydiving demonstrations, aviation demonstrations, antique and classic cars display, and food. 

A sight not to be missed is the “Balloon Glow” at 9 p.m. both Friday and Saturday evenings. 

More detailed information is at NewSmyrnaBeachBalloonFest.com.

We’ve posted the latest beachside condo guide and you can download it from the website. If you are in the area without a printer, do pop in and we can run one off for you.

We have a new team member – Cathy – who’ll be looking after the office and the rentals from Wednesday to Saturday and she’ll be pleased to help you. Noelle or Neville will still be manning the office on Mondays and Tuesdays. Inevitably there will be times when they are out showing property – if we’re not in when you call, please ring the office number and it will forward to whoever is on duty.

We’re already receiving enquiries for Spring 2011 and so if you want a three month booking in New Smyrna Beach for next year – start planning it now!

We’re always looking for more properties to rent – both for monthly/3 monthly winter rentals and for weekly summer vacation rentals. If you are interested in earning some money from your second home when you are not using it just let us know.

If you’re reading this in the cold somewhere north – here’s what you are missing!

I’ve just uploaded the Silver Dolphin Beachside Condo Guide for January showing listings of the latest availability of properties on the beachside. A bit later than usual, but writing from snowy England at the moment. Even Florida has been colder than usual – but even if it’s too cold to swim or sunbathe, it is still beautiful to walk along the quiet beaches and commune with nature. If your New Year’s resolution was to get lose weight and get fit, what better start than a vacation at the beach with plenty of sea air, exercise and good food. There is still some rental accommodation available in January or February if you are quick.

We’ve just updated the Condo Guide to show the latest condos available beachside in New Smyrna Beach as at 30 November. You can download the guide from the website – click ‘home’ and you’ll see the button on the left – or if you are in the area and don’t have a printer, pop in to our office and we can run you one off.

There’s a huge selection of properties to suit every pocket – from huge luxury ocean front apartments to much less expensive properties just steps from the beach. Many have good rental histories, which can help pay your running and borrowing costs, making them great value for your vacation home.

If the guide hasn’t tempted you yet – have a look at the webcam at Flagler Avenue – http://www.volusia.org/beach/smyrna.htm – surely you can’t resist the beach? Start planning your next vacation now!

So many of the rental units available in New Smyrna Beach do not permit renters to bring their pets. This presents a problem to people wanting to winter in New Smyrna Beach and who cannot leave their pet at home.

We’ve asked local owners if they will permit pets – but most won’t.

So we’ve linked up with local business Coco’s Doggy Day Care – a new Canine Club for dogs up to 35lb. Your pet can stay in a beautiful ‘pet hotel’, you can visit and take him out and he’ll have luxury ‘slumber care’ – you can even book him a massage!

Coco’s have agreed to give our renters 10% discount off their published prices – just ask us for a voucher when you book your vacation rental with us. Have a look at their doggy day care facilities on their website.

Then after your stay send us some pictures of your happy pet having his vacation at Coco’s and we’ll post them here.

We’ve updated the condo guide as at the beginning of October and you can download a copy straight from our website or call into the office if you are in the area.

We’d like to showcase various condo complexes over the coming months – so if you are a condo owner tell us what’s great about your condo. If you’re looking to buy – tell us what attracts you to the different communities. If you are a realtor reading this blog – tell us about condos you have for sale or rent and what’s special about them. Once we’ve collected enough opinions, we’ll write them up here.

With winter approaching – wouldn’t it be nice to spend it in your own home in the warm and relaxing town of New Smyrna Beach? If you can’t come here yet, at least you can look and dream!

Keep watching for further news.

You can download the latest condo guide, showing New Smyrna Beach, Florida beachside condominium listings as at September, 1st.

If you want more details of any of the properties shown – or if you want us to check if anything new has come on the market, then do call us on 386 478 7810 and we’ll be delighted to help you choose your new home.

If you are looking for an investment with vacation rental potential, we can also help to look after your renters for you.

Summer 2009 has been very busy for rentals. Many renters are looking for shorter breaks, in the current economy – but equally we have more advance bookings for 2010 than ever. The secret seems to be to ensure the properties are clean, modern and well cared for, then renters return again and again. We’ll be happy to share our experience to help you maximise the rental potential for your property.

If you are buying your home in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, would your needs be best served by a Buyer’s Agent ?

The only way for a real estate agent to fully represent your interests is to act as a “Buyer’s Agent”. Florida Law only permits two types of representation , Single Agency and Transactional Agent.

A “Transactional Broker or Agent” owes no fiduciary responsibility to either buyer or seller and must not do anything that can be construed to be to the benefit of one side versus the other in the course of a transaction.

However, the “Single Agent” works for and owes a fiduciary responsibility to the individual for whom he is acting – either the buyer OR the seller.

Silver Dolphin Properties will work as a ‘single agent’ for buyer or seller and would revert to transactional status only when there may be a conflict of interest and then with full disclosure and consent of all parties.

Do contact Neville if you have any questions or to discuss this further.

People keep asking us if the market has reached the bottom yet – and the honest answer is ‘we don’t know’. Certainly many of the sales are still those of properties where the owners can no longer manage the mortgage and the property taxes – so it is difficult to see the trend of those moving out of choice.

Whilst there are properties that are at risk of foreclosure, this will keep prices from rising. However, there is only a finite amount of ocean front space – so ocean front property will hold its value in the long term.

The internet has now given owners the freedom to find renters for their properties and this has encouraged people to look at buying rather than renting themselves. If the rent can cover some of the costs (or even make a profit overall), then buying a retirement home now while there is plenty of choice can make a lot of sense.

It wasn’t long ago, that trying to buy an ocean front property was a question of just rushing into the next one that came on the market because they were so scarce. Who is to say when that type of market will return?

The August issue of the Silver Dolphin Beachside Condo Guide © is now available for you to download. Use this link to view or download our Florida Beachside Condo Guide in pdf.