The Florida Senate smacked Gov. Charlie Crist by refusing to confirm the governor's appointment of Steve Stevens of Pensacola as a member of the Florida Public Service Commission. The Commission is the agency that regulates utility companies and their rates in Florida. 
     The Senate also rejected David Klement of Bradenton, also a Crist appointee to the PSC.
     Stevens was rejected on a 23-14 Senate vote and Klement on a 21-17 vote.
     Stevens is the former chief financial officer for former Escambia County Sheriff Ron McNesby and before that was a budget officer for Escambia County. He is currently a partner in the ownership of the Cabana night club on N. 9th Ave.

      I can't tell you how many times I have talked with a prospective home buyer who waited too long to get information on a home for sale. Almost every day, we get calls from would-be home buyers who want to know the price of a home, only to find out that is already under contract. Typically, it is someone who is out driving around looking for "for sale" signs or someone who saw a home for sale a few days earlier. By the time they actually make the time to contact us, the property has gone under contract. That has happened twice already today during my hours taking floor calls.
     If you see a home that is especially attractive or appears that it could be a good foreclosure deal, check it out as quickly as possible. Don't wait because if it is a really good deal, it's going to be gone very quickly. Especially, if it's a foreclosure. Don't wait three or four days to call the listing agent or office.
     And, if you're serious about buying home, let an agent help take some of the work out of it. I can generate a search of all MLS properties based on your needs and email the results to you. It's quick, easy and painless.
     Let me know how I can help you find a new home.

  

Look for a great new restaurant option to be available in downtown Pensacola very soon.

     Wintzell's Oyster House which has three restaurants in the Mobile area  is expected to open in a few weeks in the old Copeland's of New Orleans building on 9th Avenue at Chase Street across from the Pensacola Civic Center.    
     Wintzell's owners have been looking to expand into the Pensacola market for a couple of years. This will be the11th store for Wintzell's which also operates in Orange Beach, Spanish Fort, Fairhope,  Montgomery, Tuscaloosa, Guntersville  and Huntsville, Al. and Hattiesburg, MS.
     Wintzell's has bee a landmark on Dauphin Street for decades in Historic Mobile, Alabama.  Wintzell's Oyster House was founded in 1938 by Oliver Wintzell. The restaurant chain is now operated by SouthernPointe Group, Inc. The restaurant is known far and wide for its "Oyster—fried, stewed or nude,"

                                  Aqua Pool & Patio

 

            A long time Pensacola area poolsupply company has a new name and a new home.

            Aqua Pool & Patio, formerlyknown as Jerry Lee Chemical, is holding grand opening festivities April 9 &10 at its spacious new store and showroom, 5904 N. Old Palafox Street,Pensacola. The store is just south of Airport Blvd.

            Business owners will be offering door prizes and freewater tests and cooking on the only American Made Ceramic Smoker "ThePrimo".  They will also have adrawing for everyone who makes a purchase for a new Aqua Rite Salt GeneratorSystem.

            Aqua Pool & Patio offers a variety of pool and spasupplies and equipment, maintenance and repair service, water testing, and hasa showroom of spa and patio furnishings.

Pensacola’s newest hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn, has opened its doors in the heart the fast growing Airport Boulevard business corridor between N. 9^th Ave. and Davis Highway.

The five story contemporary hotel has 137 guest rooms and suites. It includes banquet and conference facilities that can handle as many as 300 people. Owned and operated by the Highpointe Hotel Corporation, the Hilton Garden Inn features a full service restaurant and bar.

It is next door to Lowe’s Home Improvement and in close proximity to the Pensacola Regional Airport, Cordova Mall, Pensacola Junior College and the Sacred Heart Hospital medical campus.

Highpointe operates several hotels in Pensacola, Mobile, New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

 

 

              It was a sea of green as more than 10,000 walkers and runners crowded downtown Pensacola streets for the 33^rd annual McGuire’s Irish Pub’s St. Patrick’s Day 5k Run on Saturday. Under blue skies and bright sunshine, a record turnout of more than 9,000 registered runners and more than 1,000 military personnel hit Gregory St. for the popular 5K prediction race.

The line of participants, beginning at McGuire’s Irish Pub on East Gregory Street, stretched nearly to the Pensacola Civic Center.

McGuire’s Perry Hunter, who has directed the McGuire’s St. Patrick’s Day Run for 10 years, was thrilled and said there were 9,100 registered participants and an additional 1,500 Marine and Navy personnel.

The race was really as much party as it was a run and many participants ran or walked in a crazy variety of costumes. But the 3.1 mile race, which began and ended at McGuire’s Irish Pub, was serious competition for many runners. Top awards went to Kyle Lewis of Oxford, Miss., with a time of 15:56, and Ilea Eskildsen of Fort Walton Beach, with a time of 18:42.

 

    

            If you are one of the millions of American homeowners whose mortgage is bigger than your home is worth, you now have some extra time to find relief. A federal mortgage refinancing program that aims to help distressed homeowners has been extended for another year.

The Home Affordable Refinance Program—HARP—is intended to help home owners who basically owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth. These are homeowners who cannot refinance because they are “underwater” on their mortgage or their loan-to-value ratio is too high. Under the program, homeowners can avoid many of the closing costs that are usually part of a refinancing.

A little over 200,000 Americans have refinanced through the program. It is intended to help 4 million to 5 million borrowers with loans through federal mortgage financing companies Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

Originally scheduled to expire June 10, the program has been extended through June of 2011.  Borrowers who owe up to 25 percent more than their homes are worth will have an additional year to take advantage of the plan to refinance to lower interest rates.

Please feel free to contact me further information about this federal program.

 

 

 

 

              

The Federal Housing Administration—the government agency that insures about 30 percent of all new home loans—is going to make it a little harder and more expensive for you to get a government-backed home loan in the near future. 

            The FHA is raising its fees and tightening up on lending requirements as part of a plan to build up its dwindling reserves.  FHA reserves have dropped well below what Congress requires because of significant losses from the foreclosure crisis and declining property values.

FHA has become one of the few ways people can buy a home. Banks have clamped down on conventional mortgages but are more willing to make FHA loans because the government covers the losses if the borrower defaults. And borrowers can more easily qualify for FHA loans because they only need 3.5% down and can have lower credit scores.

            The agency will increase the premium it charges for its mortgage insurance and require home buyers with weaker credit scores to come up with larger down payments. The FHA will also reduce the amount of money a seller can provide a homebuyer for closing costs, as well as tighten its enforcement of lenders.

            Buyers still will be able to roll these additional costs into the mortgage in most cases.

            The changes are expected to take place in the first half of 2010.

 

Florida homeowners facing foreclosure may soon get one last chance to work out a deal with lenders trying to repossess their homes, thanks to the Florida Supreme Court.

The Court has issued an order that requires a third-party to mediate all new foreclosure lawsuits against primary residences. The program is similar to one that is already in effect in the First Judicial Circuit that includes the Pensacola-Milton-Fort Walton Beach region.

The goal is to help get a handle on the state’s avalanche of foreclosures. It’s estimated that 456,000 foreclosure cases are clogging the state court system. Florida has the third-highest mortgage delinquency rate in the nation.

The mediation forces lenders and borrowers to talk to each other but there is no guarantee that a foreclosure can be avoided. Lenders have spoken out against mandatory mediation and said it would cause even more delays.

The program sends all cases involving foreclosure of a person’s home to mediation unless both parties agree to opt out. The program does not apply to cases already in the court pipeline.

           City of Pensacola voters have decided to abandon the present Council-Manager form of government in favor of a Strong Mayor form of government.

           Voters overwhelmingly approved the change by a 55 to 44 percent vote. A total of 7,762 voters chose the change in the city charter, while 6,308 residents voted to keep the present form.

           The change in the city charter comes after months of study and debate over the city’s form of government.

           Supporters of the new charter claimed that the present Council-Manager government of more than 70 years has failed to produce the kind of dynamic, aggressive type of government that is needed to produce economic growth. They believe a Strong Mayor---who has virtually complete administrative power—will be the foundation of economic improvement. Opponents warned that a Strong Mayor could lead to big city-type government corruption.

           The switch to the Strong Mayor will take place in 2010 when members of the City Council and the Mayor come up for election.