Real Estate Video for Beautiful 3 bed, 2 bath pool home in Central Florida

Most of you know that I create full video tours for my real estate listings if at all possible, and have been doing so for about two years now. I've never been a fan of virtual tours because of the distortion factor, and could never understand why REALTORS® weren't just video taping their listings. Two years ago, the only place to host the videos was on You Tube (hardly the most professional platform). But now, we have a plethora of choices of professional real estate video hosting sites.

I have to admit, this particular video should have been done weeks ago. But for starters, I had to install a new hard drive on my computer, then get my video editing software up and running again. (It didn't want to cooperate!) But I also added a couple of features to this video that I haven't used before... and no, I'm not talking about accidentally leaving my camera bag on a chair when I was filming. D'oh! (I hate when that happens!) The extras I added were some royalty free sound effects, and it took me a while to find what I wanted. And no, I can't take the credit for this idea. I actually noticed in another real estate video here on Active Rain.

But that's enough of my rambling. Without further ado here's the video for my listing at 1808 Umbrella Tree Drive in Edgewater, FL. I'd love to get your feedback on the sound effects during the outdoor footage. I think this is the longest real estate video I've ever created, but that's because of all the outdoor footage. I rarely have a real estate listing with such a fantastic pool, spa, lanai, tiki bar, and lush landscaping. All that just HAD to be included.

After watching the video, if you need more information, follow the links below the video to read a couple of my previous blogs of this beautiful house.

Ultimate Florida Dream Home

New Smyrna Beach/Edgewater 3/2/2 Pool House for Sale

Move to Central Florida. Look at all these Beautiful MLS Real Estate Listings!

Now, if you have a house or condo for sale or rent, I'd love to help! We're still in a strong buyer's market and the real estate sales are few and far between. The only properties that do sell are the ones that are priced WELL below the competition! Without exception, there have been no other sales in a long time. But there have been rentals. Of course, the rentals still have to be priced competitively, but lately I'm leasing a lot more houses and condos than I'm selling. So if you need the help of a professional REALTOR® to sell or lease your real estate, make a Smart Choice and call Lisa Hill with Adams Cameron & Co., REALTORS®.

Get all your real estate info at www.DaytonaBeachRealEstateSales.com

Are you Going Green or Wasting Energy? Do you even know?

This post is going to address recycling, the ecosystem, saving energy, and associated "green" topics. Before I get started, I'd like to direct your attention to some of my previous posts of similar nature.

• Florida's Vanishing Wetlands
• Florida's Aquifers (Vanishing Wetlands part 2)
• Protecting Florida's Wetlands

Side note and Segue: As of today, June 14, 2008, I have 115 Active Rain subscribers to my blog, in addition to my clients and future customers who may not be subscribed through Active Rain, but are reading my posts through their computers' bookmarks/favorites...although I only get an average of about 4-10 comments per post, unless it was featured... But I'll get to the point =)

As my regular readers know, I blog about MANY different topics. But what is probably the most important topic I have blogged about is Florida's ecosystem and the associated problems. (And of course, my clients' listings that need to be sold. That's extremely important!) But today I'm going to briefly touch on a subject that is rapidly growing in interest, and that is, "Going Green". I'm afraid that many people have heard the term thrown around quite a bit, but don't really know what it means. Well, the bottom line is, our planet is increasingly entering a more desperate status, and we all need to do our part to preserve it. So how do we do that? Keep reading.

Most of us have been recycling for years. But did you know that there are still parts of the country that have no means to recycle? I'm sorry, but that is completely unacceptable. Recycling is the most basic thing we can all do to keep our planet "green" and healthy.

I recently heard some amazing statistics on the subject of recycling. Did you know...

1. Every time you recycle ONE aluminum can, you save enough energy to run a TV or computer for 3 hours!
2. For every 4 foot stack of newspapers you recycle, you save a 40 foot fir tree.
3. By paying your bills online, you can help to save over 1.6 billion TONS of solid waste every year!

Do you find these statistics as amazing as I do? I think these numbers are almost unbelievable! But moving on... last month, our clothese dryer finally went to the home appliances graveyard. As usual with these types of things, it was unexpected. We had to make some quick decisions! I wanted to make sure we were doing our part to do more to go green, but we didn't have time to do any research. Thankfully, we found a helpful salesman at the Home Depot who was quite knowledgeable about his products. So we are now the proud owners of an high efficiency LG front-loading, Tromm washing machine (we went ahead and replaced the washing machine too), and an LG front-loading XL Load Capacity with NeveRust Stainless Steel Drum. Having our last washer and dryer for 10 years has given us an unbelievalbe comparison of how much quieter the new machines are! And our new LG washer and dryer more than comply with the new Federal Energy Efficiency Requirements. I could go on for quite a while, raving about my new washer and dryer, but I'll nip it in the bud right here and address my last points.

I don't sleep well, and have lately taken up walking in the middle of the night. As soon as I started my late night walking, I noticed how many home owners had left on their outdoor, decorative lighting. My first late-night walk was around midnight. I thought surely, these people weren't leaving their outdoor lighting on all night, but I figured they might be on timers that had not yet turned off. But my late night walking has continued. I have now walked at 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. (My husband says I'm a vampire.) Those same homes have still had their decorative lighting on. Considering I never run into anyone else out at these times, I think it's safe to assume that these decorative lights are not impressing anyone. And I don't work for Florida Power and Light, but exterior lighting that stays on all night, every night, MUST have an impact on the home owner's electric bills. Is it possible that this many people have not heard about "going green"? Or do they just not care? These are probably the same people that never change the temperature of their AC or heat, even when nobody's home. They must be leaving one heck of a carbon footprint!

If you've read or skimmed this post without knowing what the heck I'm talking about, try following the embedded links to learn more about going green, energy efficiency, carbon footprints, recycling, problems with our ecosystem, and what you can do to help save our planet.

Take this quiz to determine your carbon footprint.

If you're interested in buying real estate in the Daytona Beach area and want to buy a home that has been built with all the considerations of "going green", read my post about the beautiful community of Chelsea Place, located in fabulous Ormond Beach, just north of Daytona.

www.DaytonaBeachRealEstateSales.com

www.DaytonaBeachRealEstateVideos.com

Read many more blogs on my primary blog at www.RealEstateBlogConnect.com

If you're looking to buy a house in the Daytona Beach area, but aren't happy with all the Home Owner's Associations (HOA's) and restrictions, then Edgewater is the place for you. Most houses in Edgewater are on large lots with plenty of room for your boat, RV, or whatever you'd like to do.

This house at 2110 Sabal Palm Drive in Edgewater is immaculate and priced to sell! If you're not familiar with Edgewater, it's just south of the Daytona Beach area (just past New Smyrna Beach).

Rent this Outstanding Condo in Daytona Beach-Pool Clubhouse, Tennis, Park

This condominium complex in Holly Hill, just 1 mile from Daytona Beach, is absolutely beautiful and perfectly maintained. Where else can you rent a 1 bedroom condo for only $550 while also having access to the community pool, tennis, clubhouse and serene park right in the center?

Don't hesitate. Make a Smart Choice and call me today! Holly Square Condominiums is a wonderful place to call home!

www.DaytonaBeachRealEstateSales.com

Lisa Hill Daytona Beach real estate top producer

Blogging and Commenting Protocol: Know Your Netiquette!

Lately I've read several blog posts from Active Rain bloggers who are receiving derogatory comments on their posts, and are seeing them on other posts as well. I knew this would eventually happen as the site continues to grow, but I was hoping it would be later, rather than sooner.

The scenario I'm about to share, is not one that I had planned on sharing. However, in light of what seems to be a rampant problem, I'm going to do my best to do it justice and not offend the parties involved... well, actually only one party is aware of this particular problem and that party is the one who consulted me.

Not long ago I had a conversation with a local REALTOR(r), who asked for my opinion on a situation that was brewing between himself and a REALTOR(r) here on Active Rain. (The other AR agent is someone I know only through blogging.) At that time, the agent I know personally, wanted to give this other Rainer a piece of his mind, in comment form. I discouraged him from doing so.

It seems that the agent who contacted me had very carefully worded a disagreeing comment on another agents' post. The local REALTOR(r) who contacted me, felt very strongly about this particular subject because he had just come be from a very specialized convention on the subject. So he disagreed, but he told me that he chose his words very carefully. He was now asking for my opinion because he knows I've been blogging for a long time and that I'm familiar with the "netiquette" in this arena. As it turns out, the other agent deleted his comment, which angered him and he now wanted to give her a piece of his mind.

First, let me explain his line of thinking, since if you only considered his side, sounds very logical and convincing. He felt that it was wrong to give the public the wrong impression of what was going on in the market. He was knowlegeable on this subject and wanted to make sure that consumers were not being misled. The public is already blaming everyone who has anything to do with the real estate industry, for all the problems that are happening in this time of crisis.

That seems pretty logical, doesn't it? Now I know that there are many unethical agents out there who will post anything to get business or points, and don't care if it's true or not. But in this case, I know enough about this other agent to know that was not the intention. It's my belief that the other agent was strictly sharing what was happening in their own neck of the woods. I don't believe there was any intentionally misleading information being given. But even if there was, here's the other side of the coin.

We each have our own blog that we use in hopes of gaining new business. I'd like to believe that most of us do our homework before we post to our blogs, and/or we speak from our own experience. So it's not about whether or not you intentionally hurt someone's feelings by deleting a comment from someone who disagreed with you. It's about being courteous to each other. You should do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Think of it this way. Would you want to spend an hour (or more) researching and writing a post, just to have another agent come along and possibly make you look bad, by posting a comment that told you you're wrong? I did not read the comment that was posted, so I can't say if there was a "tone" to it or not. I personally am sensitive to "tones". I don't think I'd delete a comment just because another agent disagreed with me. But I would expect them to be respectful of my turf. And I wouldn't take kindly to someone being disrespectful to me, or anyone else who had left a comment on one of my posts.

My mother raised us with the old adage "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all". Now, this is business, so it's not as simple as not gossiping or slandering someone. We really don't want the public to believe erroneous information. I'll refer to my mother once more, since she was big on communication. My mother told us that we could get away with saying almost anything, to anybody, if we said it in the right way.

So keeping in mind what I was taught growing up, if I felt very strongly about something, I might post a comment that disagreed, but unles the other person was a complete idiot (OK. I acknowedge that they do exist.) I would want to leave the person with their dignity intact. So somewhere in my comment, I would leave the other person an "out". Example: If I read a post that I disagreed with, and felt so strongly that I felt obligated to respond with a disagreeable comment, I would probably end the comment with something along the lines of,

• "but you are in a different area, so maybe we're not seeing the same circumstances."
  

Or, I could leave a comment like this.

• "You know, I haven't experienced anything like this in my area. In our area we're experiencing the exact opposite. Isn't it strange how drastically different things can be in different areas?"
  

Or...

• "Yours is the first post I've read that has this information. Where did you find out about it?"
  

I hope you get the idea. It's about being respectful of another person's "space". And for the record, the agent who contacted me, eventually decided to just write his own post on the subject, after he had cooled down ;)

People, let's keep a professional face on our industry. We're not always going to agree. There are now more business models than ever, and there's the ongoing debate of "national vs local brokerages", and then there's the "virtual office vs actual office" debate. And so on, and so on. But unless we want the public to have an even lower opinion of our industry, we need to behave in a professional manner. The key word in my last sentence is actually not "professional". It's "manner". As in, use good "manners". Some people have no class and that's unfortunate. But anyone with enough determination, can at least keep their mouth (or keyboard in this case) shut when necessary. Or we can always agree to disagree. That's usually the best course of action.

If you're a new blogger and are unsure about how to get started with blog writing and commenting, here's some good writing advice... Write better blogs!

Happy Blogging!

Buy Real Estate in Port Orange FL? I've Found Another Great Reason!

I never have to look very far to find something great about Port Orange, which is why so many people choose to buy real estate here. But yesterday, we gained another fantastic reason for people to move to Port Orange FL.

This weekend was graduation weekend for high school seniors all over Volusia county. My daughter was one of those graduating seniors.

Oblige me with a brief history of my daughter's school years in Port Orange. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that I'm a Daytona Beach native. You probably also know that the Daytona Beach area actually includes 8 cities... Ormond Beach, Ormond by the Sea, Daytona Beach, Holly Hill, Daytona Beach Shores, Wilbur by the Sea, Ponce Inlet, South Daytona and Port Orange. I've lived in 5 of these cities at one time or another during my life.

Fast forward to 10 years ago. At that time, our family moved from South Daytona to Port Orange and my daughter Brittany began attending Sweetwater Elementary School. Sweetwater Elementary is a fabulous school with many specialized programs for the children, including a computer lab, music lessons and an art program. Brittany even won an award from Art Haus while she was there. She then had the privilege of attending Creekside Middle School in the first year it was built, making her among the first class to attend all of their middle school years at Creekside, beginning at it's inception. She then, after years of anticipation, began high school at the enviable Spruce Creek High School.

At the Spruce Creek High School graduation ceremony, held at the Daytona Beach Ocean Center on Sunday morning, I heard some spectacular news and statistics...

1. Of this year's graduating class, 51% graduated with honors! I thought that was an incredible number! (My daughter graduated Magna Cum Laude- of course I'm bragging!) =D Click here to read about the recent Spruce Creek High School Honor's Banquet.
   
2. SCHS is once again, among the top 100 schools in the nation, by Newsweek.
3. SCHS has the highest attendance rate in Volusia county, averaging over 96%.
4. It's once again, an A rated school!
5. It's ranked 2nd in the state by the Florida High School Athletic Association in the All Sports Category.

I could continue to tout the Spruce Creek High School accolades, but I think you get the idea. Port Orange has fantastic schools, which is a great incentive to buy real estate here.

If you're interested in buying or selling real estate in Port Orange FL, make a Smart Choice and contact Lisa Hill for all your real estate needs.

For more information about Port Orange, try some of my previous posts.

• Plan A Fun Outing in Port Orange
• Things to do in Port Orange
• Great Reasons to Move to Port Orange

Buy real estate in Port Orange FL. It's a smart decision!

Another Great Reason to Buy Real Estate in Port Orange, FL

Home buyers who are thinking about moving to Daytona Beach, make sure you don't overlook the beautiful city of Port Orange, just 7 miles south of Daytona. I'm a Daytona Beach native, I've sold real estate in every city in Volusia county, and I personally live in Port Orange. One of the best things about Port Orange is the City Center. I've written several posts about events happening at the Port Orange City Center. The event that most locals are familiar with doesn't happen until October, called Port Orange Family Days. So you'll have to wait a few more months to attend that event. But this weekend, May 18 and again on June 8, there will be Concerts in the Park, at the Kenneth Parker Amphitheater. Both concerts will feature "G and the Boomers" and start at 6:00 p.m. Aside from the great music, one of the best features of the concerts is that they're FREE! If you have questions, or need more information, you can call 386-506-5963.

Read more on: Another Reason to Buy Real Estate in Port Orange, FL

www.PortOrangeRealEstateSales.com

Daytona Beach 2 bedroom Riverfton Condo

This direct riverfront condo with 2 bedrooms, 2 baths has just been reduced to the same price as the other units that are NOT on the river! This is a superb opportunity to live on the Intracoastal for less than $200,000!. Asking price is now $194,900. Don't hesitate! I just sold another unit in this same complex for almost this same price and it had no river view at all, unless you went all the way to the edge of the porch!

Daytona Beach Real Estate Buyers and Sellers, here's another reason to live here!

A few days ago, during the course of one of my typical real estate days: show houses, go to condo project office, run errands, eat, etc., (I had to type "eat". Now I'm hungry!) ... I decided to stop by the Riverfront Veterans Memorial Park in South Daytona to call a few clients and enjoy the view while doing so. That's one of the perks of being a real estate agent. I can work from wherever I want to work =) And this gorgeous park is located directly on the Halifax River/Intracoastal Waterway.

As I made my phone calls, I got out of the car and started wandering around the park and noticed quite a few things have changed since the last time I visited there. Some of the updates, I was already aware of, like the new bathroom facilities and children's play area. But those are the things I noticed just from driving by. But as I was walking around I noticed a new boat ramp! Awesome! And there are plenty of extra long parking spaces, to accommodate your vehicle and boat trailer too!

Then I decided to take some pictures of the river, from the dock, where you'll always find people fishing. There was only one couple there on that day, and since I was on the phone, I didn't get a chance to ask if the fish were biting. Although I doubt it, since just a few yards away, several young girls were excitedly screaming and frolicking in the shallow water. I asked them what the were finding and was informed that there were tiny baby crabs under all the rocks. I wanted to kick off my shoes and join them! No, I'm not kidding. That is totally something I would do! As a matter of fact, when my daughter was much younger, we had one of her birthday parties in this riverfront, South Daytona park. They have picnic areas and pavilions for cookouts and parties.

And then I found something really cool! They now have a canoe and kayak launch! I'm sure there are more in the area, but this is the first one I've seen.

So if you're interested in buying or selling real estate in South Daytona, FL, make a Smart Choice and call me today. I'm a Daytona Beach native, selling real estate all over Volusia County. And if you already live here, the Riverfront Veterans Memorial Park in South Daytona is a great place to spend some time!

All about Lisa Hill.

View Daytona area MLS real estate listings.

On the 50th Anniversary of the Daytona 500: Remembering NASCAR's 1st Woman Driver

NASCAR’s First Woman Driver: In doing my research for this blog, I was surprised to discover that women had been competing in Daytona Beach racing since the 1940's, when it was held ON Daytona Beach.

But one woman stands out from all the rest; Janet Guthrie. Talk about an overachiever! Janet was a pilot, a flight instructor, an aerospace engineer, a technical editor, passed the first round of eliminations for NASA's Scientist-Astronaut program, and had 13 years of experience on sports car road racing circuits, while building and maintaining her own cars, all before 1976, when she was invited to test a car for the Indianapolis 500.

Janet Guthrie was the first woman to win a starting spot in the Daytona 500, in 1977, once it had moved to it's new, official race track. She was in 8th place, when 10 laps from the end, her engine went bad. She finished in 12th place, and won Top Rookie. That same year, she won the North Atlantic Road Racing Champion title. In 1978, she finished in 9th place in the Indianapolis 500. But sponsorships and funding were hard to find for a woman at that time, even after placing in the top 10 in a number of races.

According to Janet, as can be expected, many of the men from the “good ole boys” club were not willing to accept a woman on their turf. But as Janet accumulated years of experience under her belt and gained experience on major tracks, including the Brickyard at Indianapolis she felt that most of the tension between her and the men eventually abated. But, Janet always felt that one driver never accepted her; Richard Petty. However, she actually qualified ahead of Richard at Talladega one time. In Janet’s words, “I thought that was just delicious. I really enjoyed it.” On the flip side, some of the men were more welcoming. Janet says that Donnie Allison was very kind and helpful. And Buddy Baker offered some helpful advice.

Janet continued to look for funding, and continued racing, and placing well. But was never able to make it to victory lane, primarily because she didn’t have a fast enough car. Janet raced in the Daytona 500 one more time, but did not have nice things to say about her crew chief that year.

According to the Daytona Beach News Journal, Janet raced a total of 4 years in NASCAR. She started 33 races and finished in the top 10, 5 times and earned $78,309 over those 4 years. Her helmet and driver’s suit are now on display in the Smithsonian Institution and she was one of the first woman athletes inducted into the Women’s Sports Hall of Fame.

Since Janet, only one other woman, Shawna Robinson has driven in the 500, which is NASCAR’s premier event. And Guthrie’s record still holds.

Janet is now living in Aspen, CO and says she only follows NASCAR races now, if a woman is competing.

(Sources for this post are The Daytona Beach News Journal, Janet Guthrie's web site, Wikipedia and Nascar.com. I'm citing all references because I ran into quite a few contradictory dates and statistics.) But you can buy Janet's autobiography, "Janet Guthrie: A Life at Full Throttle" and get the facts straight from her!

If you're in Daytona Beach for NASCAR, Bike Week, or any other special event. You should consider buying real estate for the time you spend here, I'm a Daytona Beach native and would love to help! Make a Smart Choice and contact Lisa Hill today!