I grew up poor with an immigrant mother that was a master negotiator. You can become one too...in fact, I wrote these 13 easy steps just for you.At the age of 5, I started my “training”. Every weekend my mother took me to the Farmers Market to stock up on food for the week. She would buy everything from fruit and veggies to fresh-killed chickens or fish brought in right from the river.I watched as she got a discount on everything...I do mean everything. If apples were $2 a dozen, she ended up with 14 apples for $1.50...and they were always the biggest ones.If the chickens came with all their feathers still on, she would get them to pluck all the feathers off...they would do that for her...for free.It helped that she had a good personality, beautiful black hair and knew how to make every... 06/30/2020

Being ripped off is not fun. It’s not only about the money I lost…it was humiliating, insulting and left me feeling really stupid. Also, this was not my first Florida home purchase, so I really felt double dumb… I mistakenly thought I was smart enough to handle it. In hindsight, I was real estate “gullible”. I believed that most people tell the truth…for sure that is not true…at least not when buying Florida Real Estate. Here is my story and the reason for this “tell-all” webinar: It was 1991 when my husband and I decided to buy our first investor property. My dad owned some rentals, so that seemed like a good way for us to make extra money. We found a small condo for $40,000 with a nice location and called the listing agent…he was nice, and likable. In those days “Buyer Representation”... 06/10/2020

Real Estate conflict of interest is always downplayed, misunderstood, ignored or kept a secret. It is rarely talked about, not acknowledged, and for sure never admitted. What is a conflict of interest?  It is a situation in which a real estate agent in a position of trust has either a personal or business interest that makes it difficult to fulfill their duties to buyers or sellers impartially.Instead of me saying that a conflict of interest is “difficult”, a better description would be to say that it is “impossible”...because it is. No one can serve two masters with conflicting needs. The seller wants the highest price and the buyer wants the lowest price. Then you have the broker in the middle...usually saying whatever it takes to keep each party content...that is the poster picture o... 05/14/2020

If you are thinking about Luxury New Construction in the Orlando area, please put your seat belt on now. I am going to take you on a ride behind the scenes of buying a new construction home and it is not what you think. Here is a true new construction luxury buyer story: this one I call “bait and switch”. Buyer went to contract with a closing date of about 8 months out. The buyer was promised several “bonus” upgrades, but when I read the contract, only one “bonus upgrade” is mentioned...the builders representative forgot to include everything she promised. I remembered and made sure that it was added to the contract. During the signing of the contract, the buyer was given a “feature” sheet which shows the selected elevation (how the exterior will look) and lists all the features that ar... 09/30/2019

Day #6: Eyes that look like Heaven, lips like cherry wine... Elvira and Jai-alai...hard to have seen that one coming! I have to admit a couple of things here: I love watching jai-alai (especially doubles' matches). I remember watching that guy sling that ball on all of those Miami Vice intros and wondering what the heck all of that was about- but I've been to Orlando Jai-alai a few times, and it is pretty entertaining if you like the sport and/or betting on it. It's never all that crowded, parking is free and admission is as well- excluding special events like the following. The season starts in January. Oak Ridge Boys in concert, September 9th, 2011 | Show is at 8:00 p.m. - Theirs is one of the most distinctive and recognizable sounds in the music industry. The four-part harmonies and ... 09/06/2011