Florida Gulf Coast University - Southwest Florida's Emerging Institution

Florida Gulf Coast University, or FGCU, is one of the newest universities to make its debut in academe, opening its doors in August 1996.  Much of the impetus behind its incorporation was the overwhelming desire of Southwest Florida residents to host a world-class university in their midst. Not surprisingly, the allure of a mild climate, lots of sunshine and nearby beaches has helped FGCU more than double its student enrollments every year since inception to more than 10,000 students for 2008-09.  In an era of college educations that cost upwards of $40,000 a year in tuition, FGCU is a relative bargain with out-of-state annual tuition averaging $17K.

Located on 760 acres in the heart of Southwest Florida, FGCU has carefully mapped out its location to maximize the surrounding wildlife and nature preserves and offer a "living laboratory" to students, faculty, and alumnae.  True to this mission, FGCU is heralded as one of the most ecologically sound campuses in North America.  The University recently purchased waterfront property in Bonita Springs with the intention of developing a marine research laboratory to further capitalize on its coastal location and the abundance of marine and bird life.

A co-ed institution, FGCU is four-year with accreditation to award associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees.  As of the fall of 2008, the University offers 51 undergraduate and 31 graduate degree programs in Arts and Sciences, Business, Education, and Health Professions. With the plethora of resorts and restaurants in the region, the Resort and Hospitality Management program is one of the more popular majors.  Students can participate in an active internship program at some of the world's premier resorts located just minutes from campus.  Biology and criminal justice are also growing programs.  The Division of Justice Studies is in its first year of offering a Master of Science in Criminal Forensic Studies, paving the way for future CSI investigators.

Students praise the small class sizes and individual attention with an 18:1 teacher/student ratio at the undergraduate level. FGCU is also one of the most technologically advanced campuses in the world with a campus-wide high-speed Internet network.  Classrooms all feature fully equipped multimedia instructional systems that include Internet access, cameras and audio and video presentation capabilities.   Capitalizing on its expertise, FGCU has hosted an Informational Technology (IT) forum for the past eight years, connecting area experts with MBA students in Germany.

While many students barely tolerate dorm or off-campus living during their college years, the 2,400 students who live in FGCU campus housing enjoy a comparatively luxurious existence.  Residences are apartment-style, completely furnished and wired for high-speed Internet access.  Full-size kitchens, spacious living rooms overlooking the lake, and automated laundry facilities are additional touches that give new meaning to the college experience.  Other amenities include a swimming pool, barbecue areas, beach volleyball, and easy access to lake water sports.

Athletics are an increasingly large part of the FGCU program and encompass baseball, men's basketball, men's golf, men's soccer, men's tennis, softball, volleyball, women's basketball, women's cross country, women's golf, women's soccer, women's swimming and diving, and women's tennis, among others. The women's teams have performed especially well, despite the newness of the programs with the women's basketball team ending their 35-1 season with a loss in the Division II National Championship.  As of the 2007-2008 academic year, FGCU moved to Division I sports.

Despite its sunny climate and laid-back atmosphere, FGCU offers a solid classroom experience.  While students can take courses in paradise, graduates are well prepared to excel in today's tech-savvy and increasingly green environment.

Negotiating a Real Estate Deal - A Brief How to Guide

If you go with a real estate agent, they will usually handle the negotiation process for you. You will want to have a basic strategy in mind for how you will handle this process. If you don't have a plan in place, you might end up paying more for you home than you should. Here are some recommendations for getting the best deal you can on your real estate purchase:

Don't fall in love. There's never just one property available at any given time. Unless you have a load of cash and just don't want to think about life without the home you've stumbled upon, then pay what you need to to get it to happen. Always remember thought that there are other great properties to be had and you can find them if you need to. If you can find one of these backup properties before you start negotiations, it might help you keep your emotions in check.

Do your homework. Get some research done on the property you are negotiating on as well as the owner of that property. If you can get an understanding of the seller's motivation to sell, as well as all of statistics on the property itself, you can propose a good deal that will be agreeable to all parties. If the seller got a job in another city and is moving soon, this makes them a motivated seller. If they inherited the property and live out of state they may also just want to get it off their hands. If the property has been on the market for a long time and has some major flaws, you can use this information to your advantage.

Get comparable information. Find out how much similar homes have sold for in and around the same area. This will help you set your price point, and you'll have the data available for the seller in order to justify your price. There are many websites online now that will give you a map view of an area with current selling prices of homes and properties.

Negotiate all aspects. The price you pay for the home is just one of several factors that come up during negotiation time. It can be the case that a seller wants to sell for a specific price. Maybe they don't want to sell it for less than what they paid for it. In this case you can ask the seller to make repairs or additions to the house that will bring the value of the property up to their asking price. You can also ask them if they'd be willing to give you better loan rates than the bank if you buy at their price. And don't forget that the real estate agent's fees are negotiable as well.

Real Estate and the Thanksgiving Turkeys

It has 2 shocking moments in its life. Its birth and the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. This is a summary of what happened the days between.

The farmer would walk to the pen each day and feed it. The turkey looked foreword to the farmer coming each day. Until, the shock of that eventful Wednesday. Now, we know what was going to happen to the Turkey due to history and exposure. The turkey did not. Had the turkey been exposed to the "five simple truths every thanksgiving turkey should know", things might have happened differently.

This is very true of the Real Estate market as well. We had a few shocking moments. The realization that houses were selling for more than they were listed and selling very fast. This was shock to most. This went on long enough for compliancy to set in. Many linear models of value were made and floated around town. History tells us, life is a series of up and down cycles. Few of these cycles are linear. Many of us choose not to see that fact or, were not aware of it. Then, like the Thanksgiving Day Turkey, the market changed and we were shocked. Many tried to act like nothing happened. Now we have a feeling of the market betrayed us.

People are looking for someone to blame. History and Human Nature are to blame. This market can be a little discouraging. One thing I am excited about, look at what happened to the Turkey! Take heart I the fact that. You have a place at the table not on the table. We will live to prosper another day.

Jeff Tumbarello

Union Savings Bank, http://www.getaloanfromjeff.com

Co-Founder South West Florida Real Estate Investment Assoc., http://www.swflreia.com

How Smart Florida Landlords Protect Themselves From Liability in an Unstable Real Estate Market

As a landlord I currently have multiple homes for rent in the South Florida real estate market.

Each day, phone calls come in from tenants asking about one of the homes for rent. With each new phone conversation, prospective tenant provide shocking revelations about the sloppy, unethical, and risky business practices used by Florida landlords in today's troubled real estate market:

Collecting advance rent and security deposits while concealing the fact that their rental home is in foreclosure - leaving the tenant without any deposit money to use on another home

Offering below market rent to attract tenants with full knowledge that they intend to let the home slip into foreclosure

Combining security deposits and advance rent in their own personal bank account

Not collecting any security deposit

Failing to pay their Florida property taxes on time

Allowing trampolines, above ground swimming pools, and vicious dogs on the property - taking on liability for risks that might not be covered by their Florida home insurance

Not having enough or the wrong kind of Florida landlord insurance

Last but not least, failing to maintain their rental home

With all of this going on, it is no wonder that tenants seem to have the edge over their Florida landlord when a dispute with their lease arises and the case is heard by a judge in court. If you were a judge hearing a case in your court where a landlord had demonstrated the kind of incompetence and mismanagement described above, wouldn't you be inclined to be on the side of the tenant and not allow that tenant to be evicted?

So what can you do as a landlord to protect yourself in today's volatile Florida real estate market?

Here's the way knowledgeable Florida landlords operate their rental homes and minimize their risk:

Always collect a security deposit that is equivalent to two months rent at a minimum. In most Florida counties it will take almost two months to evict a tenant that is behind on the rent. Having one additional month of security deposit will provide you with an additional cushion to cover the time required to evict and will give you some additional cash to cover damage to your home. Keep tenant security deposits and advance rent in a separate non-interest bearing bank account

Let current and prospective tenants know if you fall behind on your mortgage payments for any reason. A sheriff showing up at your rental home demanding that your tenants collect their belongings and be out of the house in 15 minutes is not the way your tenant should find out that your rental home is being foreclosed on.

Whether you are paying your Florida property taxes directly or into escrow, make sure they are paid by November 30th each year to get the maximum discount. If your property taxes are paid from escrow, contact your Florida mortgage company and make sure they've received the bill and have it scheduled to be paid on time.

Talk to a home insurance agent about the right kind of insurance to have on your rental home. Usually a rental home will require dwelling fire or Florida landlord insurance.

Put at least $300,000 worth of liability coverage on your Florida dwelling fire insurance policy. Require your tenant to carry renters insurance with another $300,000 worth of liability coverage. That will put $600,000 in total between a lawsuit and your own personal assets.

If your insurance policy prohibits certain high risk activities such as trampolines, spell them out clearly in your lease.

Put all maintenance and rental home safety instructions in writing for your tenant. Provide your tenants with a written manual that explains how to operate everything in your rental home.

Document and respond immediately to all maintenance requests. If you can't fix the item promptly, send your tenant written updates on the status of the item and when you expect the repair to be completed.

Every landlord should become familiar with Florida Statutes Chapter 83 which covers landlord/tenant relationships in Florida.

As the Florida real estate market continues to be depressed, savvy Florida landlords will follow these principles - not just to protect themselves in case they ever have to appear in court, but your professionalism will help you win the battle to get new tenants each and every time.

7 Tips to Real Estate Agent's Success: Tip #6 - Make Managing Yourself a Priority

Building a real estate business is not easy. You, as a real estate agent, must learn how to manage yourself especially in the area of time management, ongoing real estate sales training (continuing education units), real estate coaching and personal life balance. Real estate is said to be a 24/7 business much like any small business. However, it is important not to lose sight of your personal life including family, friends, physical health, etc.

Being a real estate business owner has many benefits from setting your own time to conducting business over lunch or the golf course. Yet, time becomes an even more precious commodity and other aspects of the real estate agent's life can suffer. Meeting clients during dinner can potentially harm family dinner time. Attending education classes can interfere with the children's or other family or social plans. Therefore, the real estate agent must make self-management a priority for 2 reasons: business success and personal success.

When individuals are focused and understand all of their priorities, they take the appropriate actions to ensure that their lives are in balance. From my experience as a performance improvement consultant and executive coach, I have personally witnessed over 90% of my clients having lives that are out of balance. Additionally, many of my clients and those to whom I speak have consistent issues of time management from "How can I take these classes?" to "How can I continue to make sales?"

During the last several years, I have asked the following question of small business owners from real estate agents to other professionals such as accountants, engineers, executives, financial advisors and lawyers: Do you waste 12 minutes every day? What is very interesting to note is most people say yes even if they have already acknowledged that their plate is full.

From this simple question, I know that self-management is really self-leadership: How do I lead myself to achieve my goals? Self leadership is both a skill and a habit that requires ongoing development. Learning these strategies or techniques requires not only new knowledge or refreshing old knowledge, but the help from a mentor and possibly even a real estate sales coach. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, but rather of strength. Failing to ask indicates a potential for living Einstein's definition of insanity:

Doing the same thing over and over again hoping for different results.

When you have learned the art of successful self-management which is really self-leadership, then you will begin to achieve incredible results and having an amazing real estate business.

P.S. Read the previous tip 7 Tips to Real Estate Agent's Success: Tip #5 - Create a Financial Budget

Deep Creek in Punta Gorda, Florida

Deep Creek is a deed restricted community in Punta Gorda, FL. It is made up of approx. 80% single family homes, but nice condos and villas are available as well. There is a public golf course, 2 distinct community shopping areas, and a playground with tennis courts.

Brooklyn Real Estate Agents And Apartments For Rent

Looking for a place to live in New York City? If so, join the crowd. New York's five boroughs are home to millions of people - and if you try to navigate the crowded streets on the first of any month, the lines of moving trucks make it seem that half the city is packing up and heading across town.

When it comes to hunting for real estate or finding an apartment to rent, then, New Yorkers have their hands full. One of the most popular boroughs today is Brooklyn, which by itself rates as one of the largest cities in America. New Yorkers seeking a home in Brooklyn have a wide choice of Brooklyn Real Estate Agents (if they're buying) and Apartments for Rent to choose from.

In New York City, looking to purchase a single-family home or apartment to fill the needs of a growing family or a growing lifestyle is a tough task. The best way to hunt for real estate in New York is with Brooklyn Real Estate Agents. Why? Simple. As we've already established, looking for a place to live in a major city like New York is tough. It gets harder when you're looking for a place to purchase. Chances are good that you've created a laundry list of things that you need in your new place: three bedrooms, a yard for the dog, central air conditioning, a dishwasher, or enough space for a grand piano. When you open the newspaper on Sunday morning, however, the options are overwhelming: there are literally thousands of listings in tiny print, each giving only the faintest bits of information.

With the assistance of a real estate agent, the job of searching through those ads for the one that actually will work for you becomes much easier. Real estate agents have advanced tools and sources of information that allow them to search for appropriate properties efficiently and effectively. Plus, many real estate agents will take it upon themselves to drive you around from property to property - a service that is of great value in a city like New York. Using a real estate agent in your search will help you narrow your options and make smart decisions.

If you're not up for buying a property yet, Brooklyn offers a wide variety of apartments for rent. From small, budget-friendly studios to four-bedroom family pads, there is something for everyone in the Brooklyn rental market. Here, you can live your life in comfort while you build up the savings you will need to purchase a home or apartment of your own.

In the land of Brooklyn Real Estate Agents and Apartments for Rent, there is a lot if information floating around - and it's your job to find a way to filter it to find the place of your dreams. Good luck!