Nautilus Cove Condo

2012-02-02T00:02:00.001-05:00

Information is provided on this site for owners or renters at Nautilus Cove Condos.

All of this information is from public records or condo records and is published on this site so as to centralize your efforts in finding these documents. Opinions expressed are those of the blog owner.

NOTE: This is a private site and is not associated with the developer or the association.

Contact Info: consumeractivist@hotmail.com

Blog Site Opened Dec 2007

The time in Panama City Beach - Central Time Zone

2012-02-01T23:29:00.005-05:00

1) If you are tired of reading about NCC you might take a look at a blog about the 2nd largest US department store chain at: http://targetfiling.blogspot.com/
or our neighbors across the street: http://bidaweeeasement.blogspot.com/
or even a large NJ insurance company that dosen't like to pay claims at: http://westernworldinsurancestinks.blogspot.com/

2) This Owners List is also found at: http://nccownerslist.blogspot.com/

Click on image to enlarge or print out:

Pssst - Wanna buy 56 slightly used condos

2012-01-31T00:00:00.002-05:00

. . . for $6,720,000? Suitable for rentals as 'low income housing'.
The Developer is again trying to unload his 56 unsaleable units with a bulk sale, this is what is being advertised to unload them.

"Description: 56 beautiful condos in the Nautilus Cove community. These are new construction (not condo conversion) condos with granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances. The mix is 33 four bedroom, three bathroom; 10 three bedroom, two bathroom; and 13 two bedroom, two bathroom."

Highlights:
1) Great Drive By Traffic for Rentals Huge
2) Potential for Selling as Condos when Market Recovers

Financial Summary 2011
Scheduled Gross Income $489,003
Effective Gross Income $520,834
Operating Expenses $364,614
Net Operating Income $156,220
Pre-Tax Cash Flow $156,220
Price: $6,720,000
No. Units: 56
Price/Unit: $120,000
Property Type: Multifamily
Property Sub-type: Garden/Low-Rise
Property Use Type: Investment
Commission Split: 1.5%
Occupancy: 86%
(see: http://tinyurl.com/893bdu2)

My Comments: Overpriced and unsaleable, even at a lower price considering this economy.

513 Ownership Changed

2012-01-30T00:03:00.003-05:00

Unit 513 has had a change of ownership, from Karen O. McRitchie to Julio and Ashley Rojas. The below quitclaim deed was filed with the County 1/3/12.

NCC has received all past due/delinquent amounts on this unit.

2012-01-30T00:03:00.001-05:00

1) The January 2012 NCC Owners List is now posted at:
http://nccownerslist.blogspot.com/

2) Some Owners put in their authorizations a year ago, if you did so it would not hurt to send in another form just to be sure the information is current.

Association v. Management Company - Who Controls the Complex?

2012-01-29T00:01:00.025-05:00

Cyber Citizens for Justice at http://www.ccfj.net/ bills itself as 'Florida's Largest State-Wide Property Owners' Advocacy Organization' and has been mentioned on the blog before (12/23/11). It deals with condos and related articles and it worth book marking for future reference.

It is particularly relevant with multiple articles that are cited below from the Orlando Sentinel which deal with CAM's and management firms.

As I pointed out in literature distributed at the 1/14/12 AGM, Concord Management is part of a larger group of companies that build and manage developments such as ours. The developer builds them and drops Concord in to manage them.

Take a look at: http://www.atlantichousing.com/ourteam.html whose introduction says:

"Atlantic Housing is the commonly used brand name for our family of companies working in a cooperative effort to develop quality multi-family communities and maintain them in a sustainable environment that enhances the quality of life for the privileged residents. The members of our team include Atlantic Housing Partners, Global Realty, CPG Construction, and Concord Management."

When our Association was under the control of the Developer, and even after turnover that control lasted until 1/14/12, Concord was working for the Developer and the Developers interests and NOT the interests of the Owners at Nautilus Cove.

Now that we have a true Owner controlled BOD we have the opportunity to move away from Developer control by virtue of having 2 of the 3 Board votes held by Owners that are not in the hip pocket of the Developer.

It is no longer necessary or desirable to have Concord Management as our management firm for our Association. Their contract can be terminated for cause or allowed to expire 20 months from now, either way, we need to bring in another management firm and get rid of Concord.

One thing that can be done immediately is to make sure that here at NCC the 'tail doesn't wag the dog'. The various articles cited below point out how many management firms and I include Concord in this category, think that they actually run the condo and here at Nautilus Cove that has actually been the case due to the relationship of the Developer and Concord.

Now that we have effective control of the Condo we will be moving away from doing what the management company wants and into areas where we will now be telling the management company what we want to accomplish and if they are not effective in moving in these directions then they will provide us with 'cause' to terminate their contract.

Here are 3 Orlando Sentinel articles bearing on the condo association/management firm relationships:
Community Association Manager - Right-Hand of the Board - Or Dictator?
http://tinyurl.com/77ry5xt
Just Who is Managing Who? http://tinyurl.com/6ua3b4k
Board Members Beware! http://tinyurl.com/85elbqf

Click on for larger image or go to: http://www.atlantichousing.com/ourteam.html

Bid A Wee Owner Acquitted of 3 Felony Charges

2012-01-27T23:18:00.001-05:00

You might recall the problems across the street at the 599 home Bid-A-Wee subdivision. They installed 6 locking gates to keep everyone but the homeowners in BAW from getting to the beach. The gates were vandalized, repaired and then the BAW President Jimmy Smith claimed to have been assulted by BAW Owner Martin.

This resulted in 3 Felony charges against Martin and a day long court case on 1/27/12 in which Martin was acquitted after the jury was out for only 45 minutes. Next comes the civil suit against Smith, the BAW BOD, the PCB PD and various others. Should be an interesting summer.

Full details at: http://bidaweeeasement.blogspot.com/

World Record Coming to PCB?

2012-01-27T12:48:00.001-05:00

Dan Rowe the head of the Bay County Tourist Development Council was forced to defend a TDC initiative Thursday that would bring the world’s title for largest bikini parade to Panama City Beach during Spring Break.

Police Chief Robert Harding and City Councilman Ken Nelson are concerned about security for the Spring Break walk-about.

"It has the potential for another Bikini Brawler or Girls Gone Wild,” Nelson said, referring to two recent incidents that have painted an unflattering picture of Panama City Beach.

Rowe defended the parade and friendly competition with Australia, calling it a “transglobal opportunity” to promote Panama City Beach. As head of the TDC, it is his job to protect and promote the city’s image, he said, and he is not going to do anything to hurt an image he has so carefully crafted.

Guinness Book of World Records representatives will be in Panama City Beach in March to record the number of bikinis and make the record official.

A Guinness World Record has been set on Australia's Gold Coast, the title for the world's largest bikini parade. In all, 357 women wore bikinis in a parade on Australia's Gold Coast in Melbourne. Four had to be disqualified for being overdressed.

The feat smashed the previous record of 331 set in the Cayman Islands last year, and previously the record was held 11/7/09 by Johannesburg, South Africa.

Photos- Top: Australia, Bottom: Johannesburg

Is the tail wagging the dog at Nautilus Cove?

2012-01-26T00:01:00.021-05:00

South and central Florida is really the eqicenter of the Florida condo market, all Florida has condos, but there are more there and they take condo situations far more seriously than we do here on the 'redneck Riviera'. You might keep some Orlando Sentinel items bookmarked for reading, here is one that has some bearing on our particular management company problem: http://tinyurl.com/6ua3b4k

The article points out that all too frequently the management firms are of the opinion that it is them, or their CAM, that runs the condo. Of course I know that is BS but you might take a look at the entire article, here is a quote FYI:

". . . in many associations the cart is leading the horse. Board members need to understand that your management company is there to assist the association in the day to day operations of managing the community. . . They work for the association and. . . the association is their boss and not the other way around. It is the Board of Directors, and not the management company who makes the decisions about what are in the best interests of the community. . ."

Those attending the 1/14 AGM/BOD meeting saw a good example of this when the issue of pool hours and access to the deck in winter came up and the CAM was inflexable on any change of hours etc.

So take a look at the interesting articles that come out of S. Florida, they apply to us here in the boonies just as much as the yuppies in Lauderdale. (see also: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/realestate/condos/)

Some Links for NCC Sites

2012-01-26T00:01:00.003-05:00

Below are 10 blogs which may be of interest to residents of Nautilus Cove, 8 have information regarding the complex, 2 are provided FYI:

185 photos of Nautilus Cove
http://nautiluscondo.blogspot.com/
Nautilus Cove Owners List
http://nccownerslist.blogspot.com/
Proposed new Management Company (Continental Mgmt)
http://nccmanagementcompany.blogspot.com/
Proposed changes to NCC Rules and Regulations
http://nautilusrules.blogspot.com/
Our former utility billinig firm American Utility Mgmt
http://aumsucks.blogspot.com/
A long running problem with individual grills at NCC
http://nccgrills.blogspot.com/
A bit of NCC history, our very own ‘Meth Lab’
http://nautiluscovearrests.blogspot.com/
Bid-A-Wee, the HOA across the street
http://bidaweeeasement.blogspot.com/
Medical Tourism, a trip to India
http://overseasmedicalcare.blogspot.com/
A 3 year suit against NCC BOD cost Owners $11,000
http://nautiluscovesuit2008.blogspot.com/

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NCC Condo Sales in 2011
(Due to the downturn in the economy the developer does not anticipate any further sales for their 56 unsold units, they will contunue to be rental units. The 'average' paid for a foreclosed/short sale is 42.7% of the units original sales price)

#308 WILLIAM MALCOMSON - 10-28-2011, 4/3
Sold for: $80,000 Originally sold for: $194,900 on 2/26/07
Current Owner paid 41.0% of original sale price

#1608 CLIFFORD MYERS - 10-7-2011, 3/2
Sold for: $67,500 Originally sold for: $169,900 on 3/30/07
Current Owner paid 39.7% of original sale price

#203 WILLIAM MALCOMSON, - 06-03-2011, 3/2
Sold for: $70,000 Originally: $159,900 on 10-20-06
Current Owner paid 43.7% of original sale price

#210 GEORGE GEORGEKOPOULOS, - 05-06-2011, 3/2
Sold for: $73,000 Originally: $179,900 on 5-25-07
Current Owner paid 40.5% of original sale price

#502 TED GEORGEKOPOULOS , - 05-06-2011, 2/2
Sold for: $65,000 Originally: $160,000 on 7/23/07
Current Owner paid 40.6% of original sale price

#102 EDITH A TRONCALE, - 03-28-2011, 4/3
Sold for: $90,000 Originally: $184,900 on 12-18-06
Current Owner paid 48.6% of original sale price

#1404 THEODORE SEXTON, - 03-28-2011, 4/3
Sold for: $110,000 purchased directly from developer

#1606 THUAN NGOC NGUYEN, - 03-24-2011, 3/2
Sold for: $75,000 Originally sold for: $164,900 on 4/27/07
Current Owner paid 45.4% of original sale price
-----------------------------------------------------------
NCC Condo Sales in 2010:

Unit - New Owners - Pur. Date - $ Amt. Paid
#604 MICHAEL COVINGTON, 12-30-2010 - $70,000 3/2
#716 JERRY R. CLAYTON, 09-09-2010 - $84,000 3/2
#512 MARK F. STITT, 07-08-2010 - $69,900 2/2
#710 WILLIAM R. COVINGTON, 06-17-2010 - $89,000 3/2
#714 RANDALL G. WRIGHT, 05-17-2010 - $89,000 3/2
#606 JOHN R. GUOTH, 05-06-2010 - $77,000 3/2
#305 KEVIN G. RILEY, 04-07-2010 - $110,500 4/3
#712 N. HOOKS, 03-08-2010 - $94,000 3/2

601 Karami Foreclosure Completed by BAC

2012-01-24T00:00:00.005-05:00

Unit #601's foreclosure has been finished and the condo will be auctioned off online on 3/5/12 at 11 a.m. The 3/2 was originally purchased by Alamdar Karami, 11/6/06 for $163,100.

The final judgment 1/23/12 in favor of BAC, was for $164,387.46. Nautilus Cove has a pre-existisng lien on the property of $5,142.26 from a 7/1/10 filing, the amount of delinquency is currently $10,638.

Typically the mortgage holder will buy the property and list if for sale with a realtor. Such units have historically gone for 40-50% of the original sale price.

Knology TV and Internet Service

2012-01-24T00:00:00.001-05:00

UPDATE of Jan 24th:
As of today we are still short 11 completed forms which are necessary for the BOD to authorize Knology TV to come onto our property and provide service. Please get these forms sent in, even if YOU don't want or like Knology it will allow us all to have a choice for cable TV and internet service.

In order to have Knology TV/Internet service at NCC we need 85 forms completed to allow them access to the property. Presently only 62 such forms have been submitted.

Completing the form has no bearing on whether or not you would change from your Dish TV or DirecTv service, the form only allows Knology to start service here. You would not be under any obligation to change to Knology, you can keep whatever service you have, you don't have to break your contract with them. Please complete the form and return it to the office so that other residents can use Knology.

Considerable other information on Knology is available at this direct link: http://tinyurl.com/73xgr3o

Nautilus Cove Condo Meeting dates for the year have been set

2012-01-23T00:00:00.003-05:00

FYI: Owners address list, delinquency list and past newsletters are available at: http://nccownerslist.blogspot.com/

Input needed on Pool Issue

2012-01-22T00:25:00.000-05:00

For those who did not attend the 1/14/12 AGM/BOD meetings, and that is most of you, as only 19 units were represented, there were several major issues taken up. Owners were not pleased at the pool opening hours and wanted it opened earlier and to remain open later.

Also there is dissatisfaction in having the pool area locked up during winter. Obviously no one will be swimming with the water at 54 F but we do have 5,100 sq ft of deck space with nice tables and chairs available and many winter days are mild enough to sit at pool side and read or talk with neighbors.

The new BOD is interested in getting your input on our pool usage, its hours of operation and whether the deck should be open in winter.

Please contact our new BOD directly bbsr@knology.net, and edeetroncale@yahoo.com or leave your comments for Mrs. Simmons at: http://bbsr-babs.blogspot.com/2012/01/thank-you.html

Bridge Work Continues

2012-01-22T00:03:00.000-05:00

FDoT crews will begin pouring concrete into a defective joint on the Hathaway Bridge on Jan 23.

They have already removed damaged concrete from the joint in the middle of the bridge. The new concrete will cure for five to seven days, epoxy has been injected in the remaining joints to seal minor cracks.

Crews will be removing concrete from the joint on the outside lanes and pedestrian areas of the joint. The westbound side is expected to reopen in time for Spring Break 2012.

Information submitted to the new Board of Directors

2012-01-19T00:01:00.003-05:00

You might recall or read that during the AGM/BOD meeting 1/14 a committee was initially established to find out information on the controversial issue of returning the complex to its original co-metering for water and sewer billings.

Only myself and Paul Jones volunteered and the matter was 'tabled'. Nonetheless the information was gathered and has been submitted to the 2 new Board members. If anyone wants a copy of my submission just let me know and I will email you what I put together.

One thing you might rest easy about is the information put out by the CAM that doing this change would result in a $40 a month charge for each unit. This turned out to absolute nonsense.

The summary of the change to individual billing comes down to my summary to the new Board:
"Under either billing system the City gets their water/sewer bills paid, the only 3 differences that I can find in the two ways to collect the money is that by returning to co-metering:

1) the quarterly dues should go back to $537 from the now $675,
2) those using less water pay less by about $192 a year, and
3) those using more water will pay for what they use."

I really don't understand why anyone would oppose going back to the way it was originally. You should pay for what you use. Seems like a simple concept to me.

If someone who opposes doing this would like to opine about the matter and can do so in a couple of paragraphs, I will be pleased to publish it here as a rebuttal. Drop me a line at: consumeractivist@hotmail.com and let's get your reply published here.

Unofficial Minutes of the 1/14/12 AGM/BOD meetings now available:

2012-01-19T00:01:00.000-05:00

Click on this direct link to see the unofficial minutes for the 1/14/12 meetings: http://tinyurl.com/66zdaor
At the same link you can view condo documents as far back as 2006.

Meeting Summary:
The voting totals for BOD candidates were:
Simmons, Barbara - 22
Troncale, Edee - 17
DiGiacomo, Len - 12
Sexton, Theo - 9
Clayton, Pamela - 2
Webber, Jaime - 1

19 units attended:
104 R Jones, 107 Holloway, 202 Hallaway, 207 Stoll, 503 Davis, 514 Vanderwerff, 604 Covington, 608 Morgan, 616 DiGiacomo, 703 White, 704 Perry, 708 Harris, 709 P Jones, 710 Covington, 712 Hooks, 801 Webber, 802 Simmons, 1401 Rowland, 1404 Sexton.

The dates for future BOD meetings were set at:
April 7, July 14, Oct. 13 and Jan. 12, 2013 - for the Annual General meeting with BOD meeting to follow.

The major areas covered at the meetings were:
Gate repairs, Individual Water Billing, Pool complaints, Knowlogy TV and Delinquency Foreclosures.

For those looking in from out of town additional 20 photos have been added to: http://nautiluscondo.blogspot.com/

New BOD Email addresses FYI:

Barbara Simmons (Owner #802) is BOD President
bbsr@knology.net
Edee Troncale (Owner #102) is BOD VP
edeetroncale@yahoo.com
Norman Knight, Developer Appointed, Secty/Treasurer
nknight@ndkconstsvcs.com

My Comments: You will note that the 2 candidates who put out information about themselves in a Candidate Information Sheet got the most votes and won, those 3 who chose not to this did not do so well. As a historical note the most votes cast for anyone seeking office was tied by Mrs. Simmons at 22, and 63 votes were cast in total for the 2 openings, Jennifer Jones (#206) in the Dec 8, 2007 election also had 22 votes of 39 cast for only 1 opening.

Landscaping continues to be done poorly!

2012-01-17T00:03:00.003-05:00

While there have been some minor changes for the better around the complex, one thing that has not changed is the poor job being done in the landscaping department. Whoever we have doing the lawn work needs to turn their attention to getting the plants trimmed.

Last year we paid $39,348 for Grounds and Landscaping Contracts and another $39,600 is in the budget for this year (+12,000 for fertilization). We had exactly the same problem 6 months ago.

2012-01-17T00:00:00.000-05:00

Our Condos = "Prone to early collapse?"From News Herald Article of

If you have ever wondered what those red symbols at the corner of the building are, it is there per a 2009 requirement to identify structures so that firefighters are warned that the building has a light frame truss system as this type of construction is prone to early collapse based on how they are built.

So our buildings are flagged for the fire department as having structures with light-frame truss floor and roof systems and they are marked with the letters “RF.” Further details at: http://tinyurl.com/3zrwn77

August 17, 2011 12:01:00 AM

"Knowing immediately upon arrival that a particular structure is prone to collapse will allow commanders to make a more informed decision about the risk of sending firefighters into a building for an offensive attack during a fire."

Read more: http://www.newsherald.com/articles/fire-96142-rule-compliance.html#ixzz1VGGmquOt

Contact Those Running Nautilus Cove Condo

2012-01-15T23:51:00.000-05:00

Email addresses FYI:

Barbara Simmons, (Owner #802) is BOD President
bbsr@knology.net

Edee Troncale, (Owner #102) is BOD VP

edeetroncale@yahoo.com
Norman Knight, Developer Appointed, Secty/Treasurer

nknight@ndkconstsvcs.com

Concord Management at NCC:
Office Tel: 235-1009
Office Fax: 235-1282
Office Email: Roxanne.Turnipseed@ConcordRents.com

Concord's Regional Manager - Panhandle

Kenneth.Furtaw@ConcordRents.com

or: Concord Management, LTD
(407) 741-8600 Fax: (407) 975-9109
PO Box 940729, Maitland, FL 32794-0729
Contact Information:
Mr. Ed Kleiman (President)
Mr. Michael S. Yonge (Executive Vice President)
Mr Andrew Frye (Director of Credit and Collections)
Herbefex (the NCC lawn service company)

jgilliam@herbafex.com

Some Minor Changes at NCC

2012-01-15T00:01:00.001-05:00

For those living 'off campus' there are some changes from my last visit.

We have some new signage directions to buildings, and a sign identifying the red box on the clubhouse wall as an emergency phone and a small bulletin board.

Some new garbage cans and benches around the complex and finally after years of people requesting it a basketball backboard in the area of the maintanence garage.

The pool chairs and tables are piled up due to the pool area being closed for the winter.

Target/Wal Mart competition at Pier Park

2012-01-14T00:01:00.000-05:00

The Pier Park Target is getting ready for the coming Wal Mart competition by adding to their rather lame food section. They will add meat, fresh produce and a larger selection of those items already carried.

They are also getting a general remodeling after being open for only 4 ½ years. The work consists of painting, new isle layouts and redone end cap designs. All this should be done by mid-March, just in time for the Spring Break crowd.

The coming, 156,000-square-foot Wal Mart will be located just across Powell Adams Rd from this Target and its construction will start this spring with completion a year after that.

Of benefit to both stores is an addition of a traffic light at Powell Adams and PCB Parkway the street will have 4 lanes south from PCB Pky (aka: Back Beach Rd) to about halfway to Front Beach Road. The cost will be approx 1.9 million paid initially by Wal Mart and they will be reimbursed 1.54 million by the Community Redevelopment Agency.

Condo Records Are Available

2012-01-11T08:55:00.000-05:00

View condo documents as far back as 2006

Click on this direct link to see the meeting minutes for the last 3 years: http://tinyurl.com/66zdaor

. BOD/AGM Meetings 1/14/12
. BOD Meeting 5/12/11
. AGM/BOD Meetings (unofficial notes) 1/29/11
. Turnover Election 12/20/10
. BOD Meeting 10/4/2010
. AGM/BOD Meetings 12/20/2009.
. BOD Meeting 12/20/2008
. BOD Meeting 12/6/2008 (my notes - meeting adjourned – no quorum)
. BOD Meeting 06/10/2008
. BOD Meeting 04/16/2008 (2 minute Emergency Meeting)
. BOD Meeting 03/01/2008
. BOD Meeting 12/8/2007
. BOD Written Consent in Lieu of 1st Meeting 4/1/06
Condo Documents - Direct Links
By-Laws of NCC - http://tinyurl.com/37vbqkz
NCC Articles of Incorporation - http://tinyurl.com/34wp8pj
Rules and Regulations - http://tinyurl.com/39lbjwl
New 10/4/10 Condo Management Agreement - http://tinyurl.com/39sy3cy
Old Condominium Management Agreement - http://tinyurl.com/3x8963n
Balance Sheet of 10/2010 - http://tinyurl.com/2d4oh4j
6 NCC Newsletters: http://nautiluscondosrules.blogspot.com/2011/09/blog-post.html

Hathaway Bridge closes Westbound span until March

2012-01-10T00:01:00.004-05:00

Update: Department of Transportation officials say the bridge will remain closed until at least the beginning of March so crews can repair a defective joint where concrete is chipping.
==========================================================

Since Tuesday Jan 10th the Westbound Hathaway Bridge closed and will remain so until March and will reopen just in time for Spring Break. Westbound traffic will be routed to lanes of the eastbound side with 2 lanes of travel in each direction separated by barrels. Off duty officers will be on hand to oversee traffic problems.

For several months the Florida DOT initially tried to fix the 2’ ‘pothole’ on the westbound side with a steel plate between 2 of the bridge segments but that didn’t last and it was decided to close the bridge to find out what was causing the segments to move. The bridge was opened in 2004 and has a 10 year warranty.
Details at: http://tinyurl.com/6v7tjcg
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Wanna rent a condo? 1208 is available!

Bye Bye Kerry.

Date Entry
1/9/2012 CASE CLOSED
1/9/2012 WRIT OF POSSESSION
1/9/2012 FINAL JUDGMENT OF EVICTION - Recorded (OR.3377.1884 / 2012001206)
1/6/2012 MOTION FOR DEF/DEF ENTERED FOR FAILURE TO POST RENT AS TO KERRY FRANKLIN & MARLO HAMILTON
12/27/2011 DT SUMMONS / EVICTIONS SERVED 12-20-11 MARLO HAMILTON
12/27/2011 DT SUMMONS / EVICTIONS SERVED 12-20-11 KERRY FRANKLIN
12/20/2011 PAYMENT $205.00 RECEIPT #2011079517
12/20/2011 JUDGE WELCH, THOMAS F: ASSIGNED
12/20/2011 PLAINTIFF'S ATTORNEY: APPLEBAUM, STEVEN LAWRENCE ASSIGNED
12/20/2011 COMPLAINT FILED
12/20/2011 CASE TYPE : EVICTIONS
12/20/2011 CLK TF/DOR SUMMONS SC ASSESSED $20.00
12/20/2011 CASE FILED 12/20/2011 CASE NUMBER 11003064CC
12/20/2011 TENANT EVICTION ASSESSED $185.00

So you wanna buy a condo -

2012-01-02T00:00:00.000-05:00

In addition to those units being put on the market by owners and the short sales, we have 3 units already finished with the foreclosure procedures and being offered by various firms:

#205 by Fannie Mae a 3/2 at $74,900
#213 by EMC Mortgage, a 3/2 at $74,900 and
#405 by Flagstar Capital, a 4/3 at $94,900

These are the prices being 'asked' you can probably get a few thousand more off those prices, particularly #405 which seems a bit too high.

Here are what four of our 3/2's have gone for lately:
#604 - $70,000 on 12/30/10
#1606 - $75,000 on 3/24/11
#210 - $73,000 on 5/6/11
#1608 - $67,500 on 10/7/11

For the absolutely lowest sale price in NCC history we have:
#502 at $65,000 BUT this was only a 2/2 so it hardly counts.

One less Kmart in Bay County.

2011-12-30T00:01:00.005-05:00

The Callaway K-Mart store on Tyndall Parkway* is on the list of 79 K-Mart/Sears stores closing.
(*225 S Tyndall Pkwy, Callaway, FL 32404)

No other K-Mart or Sears locations in Bay County are effected, but this is just the first round of closings. The company’s web site says 120 Sears – K-Mart stores are targeted for closing. Today’s list included 79 stores which means there are still another 41 stores to be announced for closing.

K-Mart will still have 2-Bay county locations, one on the corner of Lisenby Avenue and West 15th Street in Panama City, and the other just west of the Hathaway Bridge in Panama City Beach.

Closings Announced in Dec. 27, 2011 Sears Holdings Update, click on the direct link to see the list:
http://searsholdings.com/about/122711_close.pdf

A Reminder from the Office:

2011-12-28T00:01:00.001-05:00

PETS FOR RENTERS:

Misc FYI:
6 NCC Newsletters are available at:
http://nautiluscondosrules.blogspot.com/2011/09/blog-post.html
Concord Renters newsletter at:
http://www.ced-concord.com/images/newsletter.pdf
or the 17 page Concord Residents Handbook at:
http://www.ced-concord.com/images/propimages/reshandbook_AHP_English.doc

What do you think of Concord Management at NCC?

2011-12-26T00:00:00.000-05:00

13 months ago a comprehensive management proposal was sent to the Owner members of the Nautilus Cove Condo BOD by an international management firm with regional representation in the panhandle. This firm currently represents the Westwinds on the Sandestin Resort, Majestic Sun, Destin, The Grand Sandestin, Ariel Dunes and Ariel Dunes II, Destin.

The 24 page proposal covers all aspects of representation including costs. The proposal was ignored by the BOD.

You might recall that last year the then existing BOD, composed of 2 Developer members and our one Owner BOD member voted 3-0 to approve a sweetheart management contract for Concord Management. I was surprised that our own BOD member voted WITH the 2 Developer BOD members. He also voted with them in giving away choice office space in our clubhouse to the Developer to use until Hell freezes over with no compensation to the association. This Owner member is Mr. DiGiacomo, BOD member and Association President. The Board needs better representation than has been provided by this member and we need a new management firm.

Use the click on link to see what this new firm proposed to do for Nautilus Cove, then you can compare what we are getting from Concord Management Ltd. See: http://nccmanagementcompany.blogspot.com/ and also http://happiercondos.com/

My previous inquiries have indicated that the recently signed 3 year sweetheart contract with Concord Management could be undone in several ways.

2012 Proposed Budget and Expenses

2011-12-25T10:58:00.000-05:00

Most Owners already have their own copy of this item. In case you do not have it I am posting it here FYI.
Print out or click on for larger copy:

Association Foreclosures are NOT necessary!

2011-12-23T00:30:00.000-05:00

Lawyers all over the State are out of control in such filings. An attorney isn't making any money by NOT encouraging BOD's to file and those vulture lawyers who encourage Boards to jump in and file are doing so less because it is a good legal strategy than to make money for themselves.

We should not be filing these cases, 5% because it isn't real nice to kick Owners when they are down and 95% because it makes no sense to do it as we will never have clear title unless we want to pay off the existing mortgage, take over the taxes and refurbish the unit to rent it out. We do not have any funds to do these things. Like the below author I believe in getting rid of the current Owner BOD member and getting a new lawyer.

We have existing liens and can interviene to have any rental income from delinquent condos paid to us rather than the Owner. I am less impressed by the 'Let's be Neighborly' mantra, mine would probably be 'Let's not be Stupid'. Here is the article w/link to see the whole thing.

THERE ARE OTHER WAYS!

An Opinion By Jan Bergemann

see full article at: http://www.ccfj.net/CCFJOtherWays.htm

President, Cyber Citizens For Justice, Inc.- Published Dec 17, 2011

Sick and tired of a board that followed the "playbook" of liens and foreclosures established by the attorney. . . the homeowners of the community association in Orlando used the annual elections to remove the foreclosure-happy board members from office and replaced them with community members who ran on a ticket of: LET'S BE NEIGHBORLY!

And the new board members . . . didn't take long to start making the much-needed changes they promised in their campaign. They fired the association attorney and suspended all pending foreclosure proceedings. . . their first order of business: Talked with all the neighbors with dues in arrears and try to find solutions that enables these owners to catch up with overdue maintenance payments.

Many of the other owners, very happy with the changes in their community, joined a committee that will promote fundraisers to help neighbors in need to deal with the economic crisis. They revived the "NEIGHBORLY" spirit -- and promised this policy will continue -- not only being used for the upcoming holidays. . . (use above link to full article)

The Water Billing Issue is NOT Going Away

2011-12-21T00:01:00.001-05:00

Below is a post from Jan 14, 2011, about the possibility of saving some $ for Owners if we went back to billing for water/sewer on an individual basis. After doing the research I brought this up at the 1/29/11 AGM and information was provided to those attending (see below). As usual for the BOD nothing was done.

The CAM opined that it might not be 'legal' and it would have to be looked into, still waiting for that. Individual billing was in place, set up by the Developer and used for 3 years. Why it would suddenly not be legal dosen't compute, nothing further has been done in this regard and it is very disappointing.

I do understand that the Developer controlled BOD was so useless that you wouldn't really expect them to actually 'do something', but I had hopes that once the Board came under the control of the Owners (we now have 2 of 3 positions) that we would finally be in a position to make some changes.

Clearly we need to get an Owner controlled Board of Directors that is prepared to make some decisions, particularly if we can save Owners several hundred dollars a year. Here is the original post FYI:

Owners 'might' save $400-500 a year on Quarterly dues!*

We need to look into hiring another utility managing firm to bill units individually. There are many such firms, below is some information from one out of Sarasota. You will recall that we had quarterly dues of $537 which went up to $675 quarterly to cover water/sewer costs when AUM was fired as our billing firm 2 years ago.

I believe we can substantially reduce our quarterly payments by returning to what is called 'co-metering', where each unit pays its own water usage. I don't know that we can return to exactly $537 quarterly, but we can almost certainly get it back to the mid $500 area.

* Keep in mind that while 'dues' are reduced you will also gain a monthly bill for what water you use, but you should still save $ overall with this change.
For details on this firm see: http://web.amsbilling.com/WebUBS/index.php?hidAction=welcome
This potential savings for owners needs to be looked into by the BOD.

(Updated below)
Something to think about:
The 2010 Budget reflects $34,800 for Water and $29,700 for Sewer (total: $64,500), this comes out at an actual cost of $383 per unit yearly. When AUM left their quarterly billings to owners ceased and we went instead to an increased dues payment to cover the estimated water/sewer costs. Quarterly dues increased from $537 to $675 to cover the water/sewer city charges. This is a yearly increase in dues of $552 from the prior yearly dues.

We no longer get any quarterly water/sewer bills from AUM, our water/sewer is now incorporated into our quarterly payment of $675. Every unit pays the same no matter how much usage there is for water, a 4/3 with 8 people pays the same as an unoccupied unit with no usage. In doing the math each unit is paying $169 yearly more than the actual costs of water/sewer, or a gain/profit for the Association of $28,000 yearly.

As we have seen here at NCC sub-metering can be effectively employed in condominiums, however the choice of a reliable firm to accomplish this is needed. AUM had 67 complaints with the BBB over 36 months, another billing firm out of Sarasota that I looked at had only 5 in the same period. Clearly sub-metering will decrease what we now pay for water and one benefit for most owners is that those using the most water will pay the most, not the case as things are now, where the total billing is simply divided by 168. One firm that might be considered is: AMS Billing at: http://www.amsbilling.com/main/home.sfx?session=%{Session}% .

So we have something to think about:
1) Should we get a year end rebate for that $169 yearly water overcharge?*
2) Should we go back to metered unit billing where each unit pays only for the water used by that unit? (Obviously we would not use AUM but contract out to another utility billing firm.)
If we were to hire another utility billing firm we would pick up another bill every quarter, but we should also have a yearly drop of approx. $550 in our Association dues payments, plus you would not be subsidizing those units with more water usage
.----------------------------------------------
* The sewer charge remains constant, equally divided between 168 units, only water costs fluctuate.

Update: Some general information from a Florida utility billing firm I contacted regarding going back to the metering system:
The current meters can probably be used with this firms computers and billing system, they might not be used if AUM had some off brand meters put in initially but it is probable that the ones in place can be used, a contract of 3 years is standard but prices can be locked in with a longer 5 year contract, billings to individual units can be monthly or quarterly, the fee to the unit is $10 per billing period, past due fees can be applied and the amounts charged are up to the condo – a fee split is possible to the condo could make a few dollars on past due payments, meter info is gathered and forwarded to them via a dedicated phone line. They use both inhouse technicans/installers and also can contract with local firms as needed.
=======================================================

(photo) Meter is an ‘AMCO INSIDER’ Model C700 ¾” B

S/N 16037471

FA5230 FCC ID: HCQ306ABB

Made by:

Inovonics Corp, of Louisville, CO. 80027

B.O.D. Candidates - Is it
Time to Start Reading?

The State of Florida requires you to 'certify' that you have certain knowledge about the condo documents. The easy way to satisfy the Florida requirement is just to sign off on a form similar to this stating that you have read and understand the association's Declaration of Condominium, Articles of Incorporation, By-Laws and written policies.

The more professional way is to attend an approved class, those put on at BCCC cost $, every now and then free courses with certificate are offered by Continental Management. Those running for the Board might want to start reading now, the various regulations for NCC are long, complex and here and there contradictory. Obviously you need to also know the various Florida Statutes regarding Condominiums.*

Attn Candidates: Time to start reading! If you win then your first Board meeting is about 5 minutes after the Annual General Meeting ends on Jan 14, 2012. At the bare minimum you will be asked to approve the 2012 budget and deal with any other items the 'old' Board has put on the adjenda.

* Chapter 718 of the Florida Statutes, also known as the Condominium Act, is a chapter of law that governs condominiums in the State of Florida. The Condominium Act should be read in conjunction with Chapters 61B-15 through 25, 45 and 50, Florida Administrative Code.

These administrative rules are promulgated by the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes to interpret, enforce, and implement Chapter 718, Florida Statutes. Due to the numerous changes to the administrative rules, readers should inquire periodically to ensure that they are referring to the most recently revised copy.

Prices of Condos at Nautilus Cove

2011-12-19T23:46:00.002-05:00

Updated 12/25/11
Just in case you are wondering what the 'list price' is for the 56 developer units at NCC:
4/3 - $122,543
3/2 - $110,143
2/2 - $100,234

Of course no one pays 'list price', if Pelican Realty wants to sell them they will have to compete with the very low priced foreclosed units here and even some of the Owner units not in foreclosure are going for less than what Pelican will sell them for, plus their units are 'occupied' with tenants. At least the foreclosures are empty and available immediately.

click on for larger image

You can look up MLS #'s at: http://tinyurl.com/7ajxz5l
at realty listings: http://tinyurl.com/5utsegz

Please Note: Prices change, listings expire or are added; the below information is believed to be accurate and at one time all these units were on the market at the listed prices, however, they may now be off the market. This list should give you a good idea of the prices asked for condos here at Nautilus Cove. Remember: nothing is guaranteed, for current listings see a Realtor.
============================================
Misc: Only 4 of the below MLS #s are 'active' those are flagged in red as 'Active'

105 Cape Cod Dr (Owner: Turner)
Bedrooms: 4, Bathrooms: 3
Price: $93,000
MLS #: 501445 (Active MLS) (Short Sale)

106 Cape Cod Dr (Owner: Davis)
Bedrooms: 4, Bathrooms: 3
Price: $150,000 now: $99,000
MLS #: 399202 (Short Sale)

205 Cape Cod Dr (Fannie Mae)
Bedrooms: 3, Bathrooms: 2
Price: $79,500 as of 12/9/11 price now $74,900
MLS #: 501516 (Active MLS)

213 Cape Cod Dr (EMC Mort Corp - prior: Brian Clark)
Bedrooms: 3, Bathrooms: 2
Price $74,900 as of 12/11/11, now $69,900
MLS Number: #501798 (added 12/25/11)
Original Sale Price $169,900 (Active MLS)

405 Cape Cod Dr (old Owner Kennedy, Now Fannie Mae)
Bedrooms: 4, Bathrooms: 3
Price: $99,700 now: $94,900
REO ID: A102DC8, MLS Number: #411270

513 Lighthouse Rd (Owner: McRitchie)
Bedrooms: 2, Bathrooms: 2
Price: $72,900 was $75,000 - $128,000
MLS : #412461 former #394698

515 Lighthouse Rd (Owner: Hupp)
Bedrooms: 2, Bathrooms: 2
MLS: #413472, Price: $150,000, (Short Sale)

602 Cape Cod Drive (Owner: Blevens)
Bedrooms: 3, Bathrooms: 2
MLS ID: #500943, (Active MLS) Price $110,000

701 Lighthouse Rd (BOA Short Sale, Owner: Jarrett)
Bedrooms: 3, Bathrooms: 2
Price: $89,000 unfurnished
MLS: # 501891 (Active MLS) (updated 12/26/11)

708 Lighthouse Rd (4 sale by Owner)
Bedrooms: 3, Bathrooms: 2
Price: $90,900, 90% furnished w/upgrades, see:
http://708lighthouseroad.blogspot.com/

711 Lighthouse Rd (Owner: Ankoviak)
Bedrooms: 3, Bathrooms: 2
Price: $125,000
MLS: # 402980

802 Cape Cod Dr (Owner: Simmons)
Bedrooms: 4, Bathrooms: 3
Price: was: $149,900 then: $138,900 then: $119,900
MLS #: 502701 (Owner financing with 20% down)

905 Lighthouse Rd (Owner: Hooke)
Bedrooms: 4, Bathrooms: 3 Short Sale
Price: was: $114,900 then: $110,500, then $99,000, then $97,555 then:: $93,000, now: $80,000
as of 12/25/11 this was listed at $91,900, prices seem to change weekly with this one.
Video: http://tinyurl.com/3nq3y4m
MLS #: 412664 short sale, MLS: 548071 (Active MLS)

1603 Lighthouse Rd (Owner: Sheppard)
Bedrooms: 3, Bathrooms: 2
Price: $100,000
MLS Number: 419568

The lowest prices are always those from the banks or mortgage companies who are just interested in getting the foreclosed condos off their inventory. Their knock down prices make the sale of individual condos unlikely as most owners won't go down to 45-50% of what they paid for their units.
================================================
See: http://tinyurl.com/2eprjwj , http://tinyurl.com/39tl2oz and http://www.realestatebyamin.com/NautilusCove

What are 3 of the major things that a new BOD might take on?

2011-12-17T00:10:00.008-05:00

When you make your decision as to which of the candidates for the 2 open Board positions you will vote for, I hope that you will choose Owners who will make the below changes at Nautilus Cove. If a candidate does not tell you what they will try to accomplish here, then vote for someone who will:

1) Changing Management Companies.
Currently we use Concord Management which is closely aligned with the Developer and which manages their 56 unsold units. We pay a management fee of $39,000 and separately $31,000 and 18,750 for the CAM and Maintenance worker for 20 hours per week each. With additional fees we pay over $100 k a year for a part time, C- effort (see the 10 page Concord Mgmt contract at: http://tinyurl.com/39sy3cy).

We should change firms and you can see a professional submission from another management company at: http://nccmanagementcompany.blogspot.com/ Concord manages only 41,000 units on 120 properties in 7 states, the proposed firm Continental, manages over 1,00,000 units worldwide. We need a competent and professional firm, not Concord.

2) Change Association Attorney.
The current lawyer seems to have given questionable advice in several areas, first in needlessly filing foreclosure actions on 11 Owners, 9 of which were already filed on by banks and mortgage firms, second keeping a suit against the BOD active for 2 days short of 3 years and only settling 2 weeks before trial. Between the payout to the Owner and his own charge for representation the condo was out over $10,000.

3) Water Billing.
3 years ago we changed from individual billing for water/sewer via a utility billing service (AUM) to having an increase in our dues of $676 yearly. Now each unit pays exactly the same for water whether it is a 2/2 or a 4/3, occupied by 1 person or 8 people.

We should have had a new billing firm take over and we would have avoided any dues increase. This was another Concord Management screw up and it can now be corrected, the dues reduced and those using the water will pay for what they use. I have verified that a new firm, American Metering Services, Inc., Sarasota, FL 34243, can take over with NO start up costs to the condo and use the already installed meters.

How are NCC tenants screened?

2011-12-17T00:09:00.000-05:00

Having gotten some negative feedback on the backgrounding procedure here, on Oct 28th I sent an inquiry, via Certified Mail, to the office, asking the one question allowed per month, that the BOD is required to answer within 30 days of receipt.

Here is the reply and some additional information on the firm doing the checks. This may be of interest to all tenants and most Owners as the complex is presently about 75% rentals.

This is what the Better Business Bureau says about the firm and you might notice that they rate them as a D-:

THIS BUSINESS IS NOT BBB ACCREDITED

CoreLogic Safe Rent, Inc.

Phone: (888) 333-2413

7300 Westmore Road, Suite 3, Rockville, MD 20850

See their web site at: http://www.fadvsaferent.com/index2.php

19 complaints closed with BBB in last 3 years 11 closed in last 12 months

CoreLogic Contact Information

Complaint Contact: Ms. Robyn Small, Consumer Relations Director

Contact via email: consumerrelations@saferent.com

Business Category

SCREENING - BACKGROUND and EMPLOYMENT SCREENING SERVICES

Alternate Business Names for Core Logic are:

First American Registry, Inc. and First Advantage SafeRent, Inc. both also rated at D-

Also 3 'Yahoo! Local' ratings found at: http://tinyurl.com/7ck7et7 were unfavorable to this firm. I also found them under First American Registry, with complaints on The Rip Off Report at: http://tinyurl.com/6wq9kkf, seems that they like using multiple names and don't like to correct errors in their reports.

CoreLogic, aka: First American Registry: This firm made a Class Action settlement in New York where Plaintiff renters alleged 7 routine violations of the FCRA, the NYFCRA, the firm settled rather than fight the charges. Details at: http://tinyurl.com/89rq6yj

Which firm Concord Management uses for backgrounding the Developer's renters is their business but the Owners should be using a more reputable firm for any such backgrounding of our tenants and not one rated at D- and who were subject to a class action suit.

Nautilus Cove is now the Plaintiff in 11 totally unnecessary court cases against other Condo owners.

2011-12-13T00:01:00.005-05:00

Today 7 more ‘Lis Pendens’ (Foreclosures) have been filed by the Assn. lawyer Applebaum. This seems like needless churning of fees and these 7 join 4 other Owners who we have recently filed foreclosure actions against.

Of the current 7 we filed on, 5 already have been filed on by banks or mortgage companies and we have liens on all of them, 3 on one condo, 2 liens each on 4 others and just 1 on one condo. Our claims for delinquent dues are protected on all of them.

The filings are needless and at about a profit of $1,500 per filing, lawyer Applebaum will make about $16,500 overall for about 8-10 hours work per condo. Over and above this $16,500, each lien filing has already earned the lawyer $250 or $3,250 for 13 filings. We do not need to be engaging in protracted court actions against fellow Owners.  9 of the 11 units are already subject to foreclosure actions by banks and mortgage companies. What we do need is a new BOD and a new lawyer.

Also see: http://tinyurl.com/6jfu6vk

Filed Unit# Owner Any prior foreclosure filed by

12/12/11 #506 Fred Glass, Prior Filing by Countrywide 6/20/08
   Our liens filed: 10/18/11, 12/20/10, 12/3/08

12/12/11 #615 Peachy Gayatin, Prior Filing by Fanny Mae 7/15/11
   Our lien filed: 10/18/11

12/12/11 #705 Juan Reyes, Prior filing by EMC Mortgage Corp 12/22/09
   Our lien filed 10/18/11

12/12/11 #106 Gulf Front/Jay Davis, prior filing by Wells Fargo Bank 5/24/10
   Our liens filed: 10/18/11, 12/10/10

12/12/11 #702 Norman Ussery, prior filing by BAC Home Loans 9/16/09
   Our liens: 10/18/11, 8/18/09

12/12/11 #701 Stephen Jarrett
   Our liens filed 10/18/11, 12/20/10

12/12/11 #401 John Thomas, this was filed on by a mortgage company but later dismissed
   Our liens filed 7/6/11, 3/15/10

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Misc: In an email to our BOD of 11/1/11 I quoted in part the below article asking that the BOD reconsider such foreclosures, I never got a reply. FYI:

Community associations and the rush to foreclose

by: Jean Winters, Esq., Ft Lauderdale Sun Sentinel
October 14th, 2011

"In recent years, no doubt association boards have heard that associations should “beat the bank” to foreclose on assessments. That has never made sense, legally, because a first mortgagee lender whose lien is in first position will have priority regardless of when the association files for foreclosure.

In the last few years, the “rush” to foreclose has looked more like Wile E. Coyote than Roadrunner: “Okay wise guys, you always wanted me to catch him. Now what do I do?” Associations foreclose and take title “subject” to the first mortgage – and cannot sell the property."

Full article at: http://tinyurl.com/85mdogo

2011-12-10T00:25:00.000-05:00

Misc Info FYI:
Look at various Q and A's from the Ft Lauderdale Sun Sentinel on interesting condo questions: http://tinyurl.com/coom4vr

Here is a seperate site for the 3 page Owners List, Delinquency List and 5 previous NCC newsletters: http://nccownerslist.blogspot.com/

You don't live in a Condo - You live in 'Low Income Housing'

2011-12-09T15:43:00.001-05:00

Although NCC condo owners thought that they were buying into a condo complex the facts are that this was never intended as a condominium. Today 112 people are owning a condo in a low income apartment complex. The 56 unsold units are being rented out by Concord Realty Ltd.

Nautilus Cove Floorplans: Rents: -

2 Bedroom Floor Plan Starting From $799

3 Bedroom Floor Plan Starting From $849

4 Bedroom Apartment Home Starting From $899

=====================================================

Affordable Housing Options: Concord Management, Ltd

Concord Management, Ltd. is a property management company with several beautiful, affordable housing, tax credit properties located primarily across the Eastern United States and in Texas.

Apartment Amenities

Concord’s apartments offer all of the amenities one would find in traditional communities with market rents (regular rent). Most communities offer swimming pools, on-site laundry facilities, car care centers, washer-dryer hookups, picnic areas, attractive landscaping, newer construction, updated appliances, the ability to make online maintenance requests, and the ability to make online rental payments.

Because Concord caters to families with low income, they also offer extra amenities that are not usually found in traditional apartment communities. Some of these extras include free after school kids clubs (Monster Club), family DVD lending libraries, and directories to free or low cost children’s healthcare plans for each state in which they are located.

Affordable Housing Eligibility

In order to obtain an apartment at Concord Management, you will need to complete an eligibility screening process (as with any tax credit apartment community) . The apartment’s leasing agent will request your financial information, and she will use it to see if your income falls within their specific income guidelines. – As long as your income falls under a certain amount, you should be fine along with all of the usual, standard apartment rental requirements. In each community, Concord Management usually sets aside a number of apartments for low income renters with Section 8 vouchers (Housing Choice Vouchers). If you have a Section 8 Voucher, you will need to contact the specific community in which you are interested in order to find out about availability.

Concord Affordable Housing Locations

Currently, Concord offers exceptional affordable housing communities for low income residents in the following states: FL, GA, IL, IN, MI, NY, NC, OH, SC, TN, & TX. If there is a Concord community located near you, contact the leasing office today to find out about current apartment availability and specific eligibility requirements.

*Most of Concord’s affordable housing communities are located in Florida

The original of this document is available at: http://tinyurl.com/3d5o273
See the 17 page Concord Resident's Handbook at: http://tinyurl.com/3fmay5y then click 'open'

Who is running for the 2012 Board?

2011-12-08T07:58:00.000-05:00

Registration for the Board of Directors Election now having closed, the candidates for the 2 Owner positions are:

Theo Sexton, (1404)
Pamela Clayton, (716)

Barbara Simmons, (802)

Edee Troncale, (102)

Jamie Webber, (801)

Len DiGiacomo, (616)

Hopefully all the candidates will make sure to put in a Candidate Information Sheet to the office ASAP. The Assn. is required to send out a one sided 8 x 11 candidate sheet for each person running for the Board when the ballots are mailed. Please do NOT neglect this!

I hope that each candidate will provide some background information and also let us know what they would like to accomplish during their term in office. I will be pleased to publish on this blog any such information the candidates might wish to supply.

It is extremely encouraging to find that we have so many Owners interested in taking on the problems we have here at Nautilus Cove.

Regular readers of this blog know that I have always thought that the 3 BOD members should NOT also hold the 4 Officers positions. These are seperate positions and the elected BOD of 1/14/12 will have a chance to in turn 'elect' the Officers (President, VP, Secretary* - Treasurer should probably remain with the Developer BOD member as it is a specialized position which may be better held by an experienced BOD member).

A good source for the Officers positions may well be those candidates not elected to the Board positions. This turnout for the election is very good news for Nautilus Cove.

* By Laws of NCC - found on this blog at: http://tinyurl.com/37vbqkz

6. Executive Officers.

6.1 The executive Officers of the Association shall be a President, a Vice-President, a Treasurer and a Secretary (none of whom need be Directors), all of whom shall be elected by the Board of Directors (which may create and fill other offices as provided herein) and who may be peremptorily removed at any meeting by concurrence of a majority of all the Directors.

A New Management Company for Nautilus Cove? Something for the New BOD to consider.

2011-12-08T07:50:00.004-05:00

In the closing days of 2009 NCC was reviewed by representatives of Grandshores Management (now known as the Continental Group) and in January of 2010 they put in a 24 page proposal to manage our complex. Unfortunately our Board of Directors took scant notice of this. The Board at that time had just come under the control of the Owners and could have taken action on the proposal, instead it was ignored and we remained with Concord Mis-Management Ltd.

Now we will be having another leadership change and the proposal remains available for review and potential action by our new 2012 Board. You can see their extensive review at: http://nccmanagementcompany.blogspot.com/

Nautilus Cove's Current Management Company

How is Concord rated on Glassdoor.com?

Cons: Support structures are not always as knowledgeable as would be expected, very little opportunity for advancement without intra- or inter-state moving if hired at a satellite property, no support structure for anonymously reporting unprofessional behavior, occasional hiring or advancement of employees on factors other than ability to perform functions of position (as anywhere), occasional failure of advancement for qualified employees (trading short term stability in one position for long term employee retention), stringent hierarchy (assumptions that titles translate to knowledge or responsibility), failure to acknowledge top on site performers in aspects other than leasing.

Concord Spends a lot of time in the Courts: http://concordmanagementltd.blogspot.com/

Where do our readers come from?

2011-12-07T00:00:00.000-05:00

Visits from 'Maitland Fla' are Concord Management keeping up on what I am saying about their 3rd rate management company.

Ruined Treasure Ship Restaurant torn down

2011-12-06T23:23:00.000-05:00

12/6 Update: A demolition permit was obtained and the damaged restaurant has now been torn down.

On 4/28/10, the Treasure Ship Restaurant, 3605 Thomas Drive, Panama City Bch, was badly damaged by a fire of undetermined origins.

The restaurant was built in 1978 and had over 100 eployees, it was never rebuilt and remained an eyesore for the last year and a half.

Owners Lisa and Jimmy Todd decided that the cost to rebuild was to great and it was finally torn down.

If you are being foreclosed you may be able to remain in your condo until Jan 2, 2012

2011-12-04T11:22:00.002-05:00

Various publications are reporting: "Fannie Mae, Banks halt foreclosures for the holidays"

Here is the link to CNN Money: http://tinyurl.com/7eqn7w3 they say in part:
'For homeowners with loans through Fannie Mae (FNMA, Fortune 500) and Freddie Mac (FMCC, Fortune 500), the moratorium will run from Dec. 19 to Jan. 2. During this time, legal and administrative proceedings for evictions may continue, but families will be allowed to stay in their homes, Fannie said in a statement.'

Among some of the major banks that offer mortgage loans, Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) Mortgage said it will not evict anyone between Dec. 22 and Jan. 2. Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) will also suspend evictions during that period, but will not shut down its eviction machinery entirely. The bank said it will observe the moratorium on foreclosed properties in its own portfolio but for loans it services for other lenders "foreclosure-related actions may still occur."

Get some use out of the NCC Library

2011-12-04T00:09:00.000-05:00

Located in the Clubhouse, no library cards or time limits on items you borrow. Thanks to several donations there are approx 175 books at present.

If you have any books to add please give them to the office staff so they can be stamped and put onto the shelf.

===================================

Owner Clubhouse Usage at the condo is zero. Most condos have after hours or weekend usage, however, for some reason the only use we get from our own clubhouse is housing Concord Management and Pelican Realtors. There is no reason that our 'common elements' should remain unused by Owners.

Owners are reminded that they may use the clubhouse facility for fuctions which may include but are not limited to: bridge/canasta clubs, chess clubs, book clubs, political meetings, parties, etc.

By Laws of Nautilus Cove Condominium Association, Inc.

"5. Powers and Duties. (Board of Directors)

(q) At its discretion, but within the parameters of the Act, authorizing Unit Owners or other persons to use portions of the Common Elements or Association Property for private parties and gatherings and imposing reasonable charges for such private use."

(Kitchen facilities, a library and a big screen TV are available in the Clubhouse)

Access for evening/weekends could be arranged by management. BOD members or the Courtesy Officer could open/close the clubhouse or a system to check out a key to a responsible Owner might be arranged.

We all paid for the clubhouse and it should be used.

6 Nautilus Cove Quarterly Newsletters

2011-12-02T13:34:00.002-05:00

Something for Everyone!

Renters can see our NCC Newsletters on this site. Owners may be interested in looking at the Sept. Concord Renters newsletter at:
http://www.ced-concord.com/images/newsletter.pdf

or the 17 page Concord Residents Handbook at:
http://www.ced-concord.com/images/propimages/reshandbook_AHP_English.doc

Dec. 2011 (4th Quarter) NCC Newsletter
click on for larger images

In case you missed it, here is the official NCC newsletter for the 2nd quarter 2010. A good change is the online payment option. A seperate charge is made to use this payment service, the amount depends on the amount of the charge and how it is paid, an electronic check seems the cheapest at $1.95.

Double click for larger image or print out:

Nautilus News 2010
Click for larger image:

Official 4 Quarter 2009 Newsletter

Here is the October 4th quarter newsletter 2009, it went out with the somewhat delayed statements on Sept 26th. To avoid a late fees the $675 payments should be made by 10/20/09, the late fee has gone up from $25 to $33.75. If you would rather stop the paper Statements/newsletters they can be emailed to you if you advise the office of your email address at: nautiluscove@ced-concord.com.

Double click for larger image or print out -

NCC Newsletter 2nd Quarter 2009

Latest Developer Eviction Filed

2011-12-01T00:51:00.000-05:00

Kaesar Augusto Cabrera, 8/26/75, PO Box 18465, Panama City, FL will be leaving Nautilus Cove soon, Concord filed for an eviction 12/1/11

NAUTILUS DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS LLLP vs. CABRERA, KAESAR
Case #11002931CC
12/1/2011 PAYMENT $195.00 RECEIPT #2011075689
12/1/2011 JUDGE CAMPBELL, TIMOTHY C: ASSIGNED
12/1/2011 PLAINTIFF'S ATTORNEY: APPLEBAUM, STEVEN LAWRENCE ASSIGNED
12/1/2011 COMPLAINT FILED
12/1/2011 CASE TYPE : EVICTIONS
12/1/2011 CLK TF/DOR SUMMONS SC ASSESSED $10.00
12/1/2011 TENANT EVICTION ASSESSED $185.00
12/1/2011 CASE FILED 12/01/2011 CASE NUMBER 11002931CC

Nautilus Cove Was Always Meant As Low Income Housing - Not a Condominium

2011-11-24T11:01:00.000-05:00

Moved up the Blog: From the Archives 2004 - F.Y.I.
"Local: Income-based housing hits the Beach"

Local: Affordable housing at beach grows

Monday, June 21, 2004

By Cara New - News Herald Writer

747-5071 / cnew@pcnh.com

PANAMA CITY BEACH

Pricey beachfront condominiums are going up with a bang, but affordable housing options in Panama City Beach are growing too — albeit more slowly.

The Bay County Housing Finance Authority just applied for $7 million in tax-exempt bonds to begin its second multi-family affordable housing project. The first project was Andrews Place Apartment Homes on Frankford Avenue in St. Andrews.

The $7 million bond issue will cover much of the $11 to $12 million cost of the Nautilus Cove Apartments, a 192-unit, multi-family rental community to be located on the northeast corner of Back Beach Road and Nautilus Drive.

"Each one of our properties came with a market study identifying demand," explained Ben Johnson, chairman of the Housing Finance Authority, a public corporation that assists with affordable housing projects in Bay County.

Johnson said the apartments would help the many people who work in the service industry on the Beach and cannot afford to live there.

Because the apartments benefit from public funds, prospective residents have to meet income requirements and rent is adjusted to be no more than 30 percent of a renter’s income, Johnson explained.

The developer, The CED Companies, is based in Maitland and calls itself an "innovator" in the field of affordable apartment housing. The CED Companies also developed Stone Harbor Apartments, a 160-unit affordable housing community on Alf Coleman Road in Panama City Beach.

Johnson said construction on Nautilus Cove Apartments would begin late this year and would take 12 to 15 months to complete.

============================================
Other info about how our NCC complex is being marketed to low income housing applicants is available at:
http://www.floridahousingsearch.org/index.html and
http://www.socialserve.com/dbh/ViewUnit/463023?ch=FL&hm=dX7V0fsz

More construction on PCB Pky/Back Beach Rd.

2011-11-24T01:20:00.001-05:00

Back Beach Road is getting some new construction. West of NCC by a mile is the new 156,000 Super Wal-Mart which is just across Powell Adams Road and within a stones throw of the Target store in Pier Park. This new Wally World will open in the Spring of 2013.

A mile East of NCC a new Whataburger is being put up in front of the Lowe's Home Improvement (at Alf Coleman Rd), also coming to that strip mall is a new Hardees and across the street a new oil change place. Immediately east of the year old Publix (which is next to the Lowes) the Breakfast Point Medical Center with doctor’s offices is currently under construction.

Nautilus Cove Condo, Owners List - Nov. 2011

2011-11-22T00:06:00.001-05:00

Print out, or For Larger Image: right click and 'open link'

2 Message Boards FYI

2011-11-20T00:00:00.000-05:00

If you are interested in the folks across the street (Bid-A-Wee) and their Gates nonsense you can see their message board at: http://bidawee.proboards.com/index.cgi? and there is a message board for NCC at: http://nautiluscove.proboards.com/index.cgi

Delinquency and Owners Lists

2011-11-16T08:58:00.006-05:00

Delinquency List Historically:

11/16/11 - $121,044 2nd Highest
09/22/11 - $118,345
08/15/11 - $127,656 Highest Delinquency
07/08/11 - $106,220
05/06/11 - $112,033
03/01/11 - $118,867
12/03/10 - $112,415
08/12/10 - $101,594
05/19/10 - $ 84,581
04/23/10 - $ 85,428
01/21/10 - $ 86,298
12/28/09 - $ 95,753
09/28/09 - $ 82,501
04/25/09 - $ 35,920
08/28/08 - $ 18,440
=======================================================

   Updated Owners List Now Available:
A current copy of the NCC Owners List is available on a seperate blog site FYI. It runs 2 1/2 pages and takes up to much room to post on this site.

If you are interested in contacting the Owners you might find the list useful, however, keep in mind that those delinquent in payments to the Association can not run or vote in our elections. Click on this link to see/print the list: http://nccownerslist.blogspot.com/

Where do our Owners live?

   FL - PC/PCB 61,
   FL - Other 13,
   GA - 9
   TN - 6
   AL - 4
   2 each from:
   LA, NB, OH and
   1 each from:
   CA, NV, MS, VA, AZ, WI, MI KY

Note: total does not add up to 112 as 5 are deducted for units belonging to Banks or Mortgage companies.

Strategic Default is always an option:

2011-11-12T02:45:00.009-05:00

There have been several mentions on this blog site about 'Strategic Defaults'. I see that there is now a web site which has information on the subject: http://www.youwalkaway.com. If this option is under consideration you might take a look at their site but of course they are selling a service and you might just cut out the middleman and find a local attorney who handles property issues.

"A Strategic Default is when a borrower decides to stop paying a mortgage even though they may still be able to afford the payment. When the value of a property has fallen far below the mortgage debt and recovery of the equity lost is expected to take years, a borrower may elect to default. . ."

It makes no sense to me that Owners who have paid list price for something that is now worth about half that amount would remain in the property. It will be many years before your condo is worth what you paid for it initially and in those years you will be stuck with quarterly condo fees, your mortgage, insurance and taxes

Even renting out your condo will probably not provide enough income to cover the above costs. I am sure that the only happy owners here are those who took advantage of the very low prices on those foreclosed units. We have had 27 foreclosures filed so far with 8-9 units now with new Owners and the rest still winding their way through the estimated 2 year process.

Some new buyers are simply using the condos for rental income (ie: investments), this will work for them due to the very low prices they have paid to obtain the units. They are of course in competition with the developers 56 units which tend to rent first due to the low prices Concord is asking for them.

If you would like to see what rentals are going for here, go to http://panamacity.craigslist.org/ and under the 'apartments/housing' section enter 'Nautilus Cove' in the search bar and the last 45 days worth of advertisements for condo rentals here will be displayed (19 listings as of today). You will see Owners prices vs. Concord/Developer prices.

Also see these sites which are The Consumerist and CBS TV Sacramento: http://tinyurl.com/5rk4l76 and http://tinyurl.com/3jbanrd

Prior Posts on this blog are: "Is a "Strategic default" in your Future?" of 4/24/11 and "More on Strategic Defaults" from 5/8/11.

Are you paying your 6% tax for renting out your condo?

2011-11-12T00:02:00.002-05:00

All facilities that are rented for six months or less are subject to the tourist development tax.

These facilities include condominiums. The minium rental at NCC is three months. The tourist development tax is a 5% bed tax. For properties within the city limits of Panama City Beach there is a 1% city license fee.

The tax is calculated on the total fees paid by the tenant for the benefit of the accommodations. These fees include cleaning fees.

All owners are subject to the tourist development tax and are required to register the facilities and collect this tax from their tenants or guests monthly. Collected taxes are remitted to the Clerk of Circuit Court of Bay County, PO Box 1230, Panama City Florida 32402.

A tax return is due even when no rental activity has occurred during the reporting period. The tax return and payment are due the first day of the month following collection from tenants and are considered delinquent if not postmarked by the 20th of the month following the close of the reporting period.

Details at: https://www.touristtax.com/bay/#4, Email Tourist Development Tax: tdc@baycoclerk.com.

Bid-A-Wee is always entertaining

2011-11-12T00:02:00.001-05:00

After a couple of months without any news of the 600 home Bid-A-Wee subdivision, located just across the street from Nautilus Cove, they are soon to be back in the news with the coming Nov. 28th trial of a BAW owner who is alledged to have assulted the BAW Corp President Jimmy Smith. However the matter is not particularly convincing, as an earlier application for a stay away order by Smith against Martin was tossed out before it was necessary for Martin to testify. Dosen't seem the criminal case is much better.

The main thrust of this subdivision seems to be to isolate BAW from the rest of the County by putting up 6 controversial locking gates to keep the riff raff from using 'their beach'. Judging by press reports they seem to be doing a good job of annoying the rest of PCB.

The various reports can be found at: http://bidaweeeasement.blogspot.com/ and a message board is at: http://bidawee.proboards.com/index.cgi?

Littering Continues at NCC

2011-11-11T00:33:00.001-05:00

Owners are reminded that leaving 'garbage' outside the unit until you eventually head to the garbage dumpster is a violation of condo regulations and could result in a $100 fine for Owners and possibly eviction for renters.

Please do not leave garbage bags outside. Dogs and rodents may well tear open such bags looking for food.

2 Free Internet Sites for Bay County News

2011-11-11T00:05:00.000-05:00

I thought I would pass this along FYI. You can read both the Daily Bay News and the Bay County People online for free at: http://issuu.com/countypress and http://www.thecountypress.com/.

They have a lot of interesting info and even Owners looking in from out of area might find it worth looking at to find out what is going on in Bay County. You can also submit articles for their consideration. Two years ago I had one of mine run in the paper edition of the County Press and met the owners/publishers. Take a look and sign up for a free subscription.

Click on for larger image

3 out of 4 condos are tenant occupied.

2011-11-11T00:01:00.000-05:00

Out of 168 condos only 27 have a 'homeowners exemption', that is 16% of the units and it has held at this level for the last year. Some new registrations come on and others, through foreclosures or move aways are subtracted. It is reasonable to assume that we are at about the level of 75% rental v. 25% owner/owner relatives occupied. It is difficult to get a firm fix on this as the wildcard in the deck is the surge in 'lis pendens' (in foreclosure) which leaves some units empty for long periods.

There is a growing trend for buyers to pick up bank foreclosures/short sales at rock bottom prices and then rent them out as income producing properties. This works out fine if you purchase at 45-50% of the original sale price and you can make some money renting out such units. It dosen't work out nearly as well for those owners who paid full price before the housing bubble burst. The $800-1,000 they bring in monthly might not even be enough to pay the mortgage each month, let alone the condo fees, taxes and insurance.

So those who purchased here thinking they would be living in a community of other owners and enjoying retirement have found that they are owners in an apartment complex. Not really what they had in mind in 05-08 when they decided to buy here. New owners will continue to replace old owners and the complex will probably continue to be about 75-80% rentals. The 'good news' is: we won't have to rent a hall for the Annual General Meetings, we can just have them in the clubhouse.

Problems with Concord Management? Try the BBB!

2011-11-09T00:01:00.000-05:00

Since bouncing complaints up the food chain at Concord produces no results you might consider that Concord Management, LTD, is a BBB Accredited Business since 02/01/1997. They have an undeserved A- rating and you can complain to the BBB about many consumer issues with Concord. Those renting from Concord will be best served by a BBB complaint, Owners might also give it a try.

Concord Management Customer Complaints Summary:
30 closed with BBB in last 3 years with 19 closed in last 12 months
Complaint Type
Advertising / Sales Issues 1
Billing / Collection Issues 7
Problems with Product / Service 22

The BBB is easy to contact to either file a complaint or look up their history of complaints. (online at: http://orlando.bbb.org/)

Once filed your complaint will be forwarded to Concord within two business days. They will be asked to respond within 14 days, and if a response is not received, a second request will be made. You will be notified of the company's response when receivedt (or notified that we received no response). Complaints are usually closed within 30 calendar days.

Concord Management, LTD
(407) 741-8600 Fax: (407) 975-9109
PO Box 940729, Maitland, FL 32794-0729
Contact Information:
Mr. Ed Kleiman (President)
Mr. Michael S. Yonge (Executive Vice President)
Mr Andrew Frye (Director of Credit and Collections)

Updated Version now available:

2011-11-05T00:01:00.003-04:00

On 6/21/11, Gov. Scott signed into law House Bill 1195, which amends various provisions of the state laws relating to condominiums and homeowners' associations. These changes cover issues, including official records; board requirements and meetings; collection of rent by an association and suspension of use rights.

Free Condo Info Available Request a CD - The Condominium Educational and Reference Materials" (rev 10/2011), contains these 35 condo revisions. To get a free copy use this click on link to email your request: condocd@dbpr.state.fl.us It may take 4 to 6 weeks to arrive.

Here is the DBPR site for information on various condo matters and to obtain other documents put out by the State: http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/lsc/index.html

Here is an example of one change:

Condo Q & A's

2011-11-03T23:34:00.001-04:00

Click on link for interesting articles about Condos in Florida, other states, condo stories and various Florida condo court decisions:

http://www.ccfj.net/condoaart.html

FYI: A condo advice column is available to read at:

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/condoblog/

and another is at:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sfl-consumer-vasquez,0,710891.columnist

Here is an example:

Can an owner banned from using community amenities get around the rules by using them with another owner?

No. Florida statutes allow boards to ban delinquent owners from using common areas, such as pools, clubhouses and tennis courts. The suspension of rights applies to the unit owner and their guests and occupants. A delinquent owner cannot do an end-run around those rules by being the guest of a neighbor.

NCC BOD files 2nd foreclosure action against an Owner

2011-11-01T21:59:00.001-04:00

For the 2nd time our Board of Directors has initiated a foreclosure against an owner. This time it is against Rodney Smith of unit #306, previously NCC has filed against Karen McRitchie Case 11001134CA.

In my opinion the NCC BOD should NOT be taking hositle actions against Owners in initiating foreclosures which will drag on for years and run up expenses we do not need to incur. We already have liens against delinquent Owners, some have 2 liens against their units and we do not need to take such hositle actions against Owners.

Smith has an existing lien for $3,6677.94 filed 12/20/10. We will eventually get our liens paid when the banks/mortgage companies file for their foreclosures, clear title can NOT pass until our own liens are paid off.

Let those holding the mortgages do the heavy listing, we do not need to get involved other than filing liens on the delinquent condos. This is a poorly thought out course of action and should STOP.

Recent decisions have been The BOD are continuing to make unfortunate decisions. Here are 3 examples:
1) Voting 3-0 to give Concord Management a 3 year sweetheart deal to act as our management company,
2) Voting 3-0 to give away valuable clubhouse office space to the Developer to use pretty much forever,
3) Starting the Association on the path of foreclosing on delinquent Owners

The first two items are unfortunately already done, the 3rd is underway with 2 foreclosures already filed and I have written both on the this blog and copied to all 3 BOD members that these actions are NOT in the best interests of the condo and should immediately cease and no more foreclosure actions should be filed. Try 'googling' the problem and you will come up with advice such as this:

HOA foreclosures climbing as associations seek 'revenge' on delinquents

May 11, 2011
By Kimberly Miller, The Palm Beach Post

Fed up with late dues and mounting maintenance bills, some homeowner associations are motivated by spite, over sound business sense, to foreclose on delinquent owners.

Property managers and condo board advisers say taking title to a property for a few thousand dollars in unpaid association fees in a "vengeance foreclosure" isn't always the best answer.

The association board also gives up its ability to put liens on the property when it takes title to it and must pay legal fees.

For example, if an association forecloses on a property with $5,000 in late payments, then pays $2,000 in legal costs and $1,500 in fees accrued during the months it takes to foreclose, it gives up a lien that would otherwise total $8,500.

Juan Parra, president of the CitySide homeowners association in West Palm Beach, said when he took the position, the board was paying $18,000 a month in legal fees and had lawyers advising it to foreclose.

"I immediately stopped that," said Parra."
Full article at: http://tinyurl.com/6jfu6vk
=============================================
Here are an additional 21 recent foreclosure filings:
(a few of these units have been resold (*) and belong to other Owners, another 3-4 will probably be in foreclosure by years end)

10/01/11 UNIT 306 Rodney Smith (by Assn.)
07/18/11 UNIT 513 Karen McRitchie (by Assn.)
07/15/11 UNIT 615 Peachy Gaytin
05/18/11 UNIT 206 Jennifer Jones
12/21/10 UNIT 601 Alamdar Karami
08/20/10 UNIT 607 Denis Varela
07/16/10 UNIT 905 Matthew Hooke
05/24/10 UNIT 106 Jay Davis
02/12/10 UNIT 205 Michael Reed
01/29/10 UNIT 610 David Ellingson
01/05/10 UNIT 213 Brian Clark
12/22/09 UNIT 705 Juan Reyes
10/27/09 UNIT 307 Jeremiah Cahours
10/09/09 UNIT 210 Dan Smith*
09/29/09 UNIT 402 John Crider
09/16/09 UNIT 702 Norman Ussery
09/03/09 UNIT 201 Joseph Kennedy*
09/03/09 UNIT 102 Kyle McKendree*
02/16/09 UNIT 401 John Thomas (filing dismissed by Judge)
10/22/08 UNIT 305 Patricia Kristoff*
06/20/08 UNIT 506 Fred Grass

#1608 Mullins no longer in Foreclosure

2011-10-28T00:05:00.001-04:00

==========================================================

Condo #1608, a 3/2 upstairs unit, purchased 3-30-2007 for $169,900 is the latest at NCC to go into foreclosure. This unit was available for a 'short sale' at $85,000, MLS: #411889 and was last reported as $1,833.75 delinquent in Assn. Dues.

BANK OF AMERICA vs. MULLINS

Case #11001396CA is now Dismissed
===========================================

Here are an additional 20 recent foreclosure filings:
(a few of these units have been resold (*) and belong to other Owners, another 3-4 will probably be in foreclosure by years end)
07/18/11 UNIT 513 Karen McRitchie
07/15/11 UNIT 615 Peachy Gaytin
05/18/11 UNIT 206 Jennifer Jones
12/21/10 UNIT 601 Alamdar Karami
08/20/10 UNIT 607 Denis Varela
07/16/10 UNIT 905 Matthew Hooke
05/24/10 UNIT 106 Jay Davis
02/12/10 UNIT 205 Michael Reed
01/29/10 UNIT 610 David Ellingson
01/05/10 UNIT 213 Brian Clark
12/22/09 UNIT 705 Juan Reyes
10/27/09 UNIT 307 Jeremiah Cahours
10/09/09 UNIT 210 Dan Smith*
09/29/09 UNIT 402 John Crider
09/16/09 UNIT 702 Norman Ussery
09/03/09 UNIT 201 Joseph Kennedy*
09/03/09 UNIT 102 Kyle McKendree*
02/16/09 UNIT 401 John Thomas
10/22/08 UNIT 305 Patricia Kristoff*
06/20/08 UNIT 506 Fred Grass

==============================================
NCC Condo Sales to date in 2011 - New Owners

#1606 THUAN NGOC NGUYEN, - 03-24-2011, 3/2
Sold for: $75,000 Originally sold for: $164,900 on 4/27/07

#102 EDITH A TRONCALE, - 03-28-2011, 4/3
Sold for: $90,000 Originally: $184,900 on 12-18-06

#1404 THEODORE SEXTON, - 03-28-2011, 4/3
Sold for: $110,000 purchased directly from developer

#210 GEORGE GEORGEKOPOULOS, - 05-06-2011, 3/2
Sold for: $73,000 Originally: $179,900 on 5-25-07

#502 TED GEORGEKOPOULOS , - 05-06-2011, 2/2
Sold for: $65,000 Originally: $160,000 on 7/23/07

#203 WILLIAM MALCOMSON, - 06-03-2011, 3/2
Sold for : $70,000 Originally: $159,900 on 10-20-06

-----------------------------------------------------------
Here is what sold in 2010:

Unit - New Owners - Pur. Date - $ Amt. Paid

#712 N. HOOKS, 03-08-2010 - $94,000 3/2
#305 KEVIN G. RILEY, 04-07-2010 - $110,500 4/3
#606 JOHN R. GUOTH, 05-06-2010 - $77,000 3/2
#714 RANDALL G. WRIGHT, 05-17-2010 - $89,000 3/2
#710 WILLIAM R. COVINGTON, 06-17-2010 - $89,000 3/2
#512 MARK F. STITT, 07-08-2010 - $69,900 2/2
#716 JERRY R. CLAYTON, 09-09-2010 - $84,000 3/2
#604 MICHAEL COVINGTON, 12-30-2010 - $70,000 3/2

Can you Display Your Flag at Nautilus Cove?

2011-10-27T13:02:00.000-04:00

Flags and Condo Regulations

There is an interesting news report out of Tampa where a HOA supposedly told an owner that she could not fly her American flag year around, the holiday was OK but not, she claimed, any year around display. Now the HOA is claiming they did not object. Story at: http://tinyurl.com/3q37jqq

Below is my Dec. 30, 2010 post on the subject of flags at any condo, I've moved it up the blog FYI.

Q. Are you allowed to display a Flag at Nautilus Cove?

A. Yes.

The NCC documents prohibit the display of anything in your windows, on doors or on your front stoop etc. However, Owners, and this applies specifically to Owners and not renters, may display the US flag at any time and various military service flags on certain holidays.

Both Federal and State laws protect those wanting to display a flag, you can read the details below. There is no provision for drilling holes in condo property or affixing permanent mounts. Here is the law on flag display FYI:

Florida’s condominium law was updated Oct. 1, 2008, and now provides in part:

718.113 . . . Display of flag; . . . display of religious decorations.--

4) Any unit owner may display one portable, removable United States flag in a respectful way and, on Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, and Veterans Day, may display in a respectful way portable, removable official flags, not larger than 4 1/2 feet by 6 feet, that represent the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard, regardless of any declaration rules or requirements dealing with flags or decorations.

Direct link: http://www.ccfjedu.net/condo718statutes.html#718.113

Also at Section (7): Unit owners are allowed to display religious decorations not to exceed 3 inches wide, 6 inches high, and 1.5 inches deep

Direct Link: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h109-42&tab=summary

U.S. Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005 says:

RIGHT TO DISPLAY THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES.
This bill became law. It was signed by George Bush. Last Action: Jul 24, 2006: Became Public Law No: 109-243.
A condominium association, cooperative association, or residential real estate management association may not adopt or enforce any policy, or enter into any agreement, that would restrict or prevent a member of the association from displaying the flag of the United States on residential property within the association with respect to which such member has a separate ownership interest or a right to exclusive possession or use.

(4) the term ``member''--

(A) as used with respect to a condominium association, means an owner of a condominium unit (as defined under section 604 of Public Law 96-399 (15 U.S.C. 3603)) within such association
===============================================

Here is a Hearld article about Flag Day and what it means: http://www.newsherald.com/news/red-94384-tuesday-beach.html.

Rental Competition Concord vs. Owners

2011-10-23T00:00:00.006-04:00

Owners renting our their units find themselves in competition with those 56 unsold developer units being rented out by Concord Management. Concord is both the Condo Associations management company and the developers rental firm.  In my opinion they spend far too much time working for the developer and not enough time working for the Association.

Generally renting from an Owner requires less paperwork and it will probably get you a unit in a nicer part of the complex, the lower prices of the Concord/Developer units give renters a savings and almost a half price Security Deposit making it cheaper for renters to go with the developer units.

The office has assisted owners in renting out their units, but their main interest is in getting the developer units rented and at the lower Concord prices/deposits those obviously fill up first. Below are links to various Concord sites including one with their 'Resident Handbook'.

Can an owner rent out their units? Sure they can, but probably not until the Concord units are full and if they go head to head in pricing it might be difficult to break even.  Owners renting out their units might mean taking a loss every month depending on what their monthly mortgage payment is.

For prices see Concord at:  http://tinyurl.com/3tmf5gl
and http://tinyurl.com/3z4nae7
See the 17 page Concord Resident's Handbook at: http://tinyurl.com/3fmay5y

Amendments Affect Ch 718 (Condo Act) and Ch 720 of the Florida Statutes

2011-10-20T06:56:00.005-04:00

Free Condo Info Available Request a CD - The DBPR will have a new CD next week. The Condominium Educational and Reference Materials" (rev 10/2011), it will contain this summers revisions. To get a free copy use the click on link to email your request: condocd@dbpr.state.fl.us

Here is Pull up this DBPR site for information on various condo matters and to obtain other documents put out by the State: http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/lsc/index.html

PCB Walmart construction to start in 7 months

2011-10-18T13:31:00.000-04:00

In the spring of 2012 construction will start for the 156,000-square-foot Walmart across the street from the Target store.

In addition to a traffic light at Powell Adams and PCB Parkway the street will have 4 lanes south from Back Beach to about halfway to PCB Parkway. The cost will be approx 1.9 million paid initially by Wal Mart and they will be reimbursed 1.54 million by the Community Redevelopment Agency.

The target date for completion of the Walmart building is spring 2013, There will be 3 PCB Pkwy entrance points into the plaza.

Read more: http://www.newsherald.com/articles/pcb-97715-spring-walmart.html#ixzz1bB5kPfQY

9 Lien filings at NCC

2011-10-18T02:05:00.002-04:00

On October 18th Nautilus Cove filed one ‘new’ lien and updated 8 other liens. The total amount of the liens is $69,513.

Unit Amount Owner
615 $ 4,085 Gayatin
506 $ 9,991 Grass **
702 $ 9,622 Ussery *
106 $ 5,163 Davis *
205 $ 8,871 Reed *
307 $ 9,447 Cahours *
705 $10,428 Reyes *
610 $ 6,561 Ellingson *
701 $ 5,345 Jarrett *

* indicates 1 prior lien filed
** indicates 2 prior liens filed
=============================

Misc: The 5 page October Concord newsletter (‘The Concord Grapevine’) is available online at: http://www.ced-concord.com/images/newsletter.pdf

Ever see this kitchen before?

2011-10-18T00:01:00.002-04:00

No it isn't at Nautilus Cove, it is in Florida and it is a Concord Management apartment complex, but it isn't NCC.

What went on there landed Concord Management in Federal Court. Want more photos and a look at a copy of the 9 page complaint, plus other cases where Concord gets sued?

Take a look at: http://concordmanagementltd.blogspot.com/ the cases reported there are:
1) Fair Housing Continuum, Inc v. Concord Management, Ltd (Discrimination against famlies in rentals)
2) Raymona Tumer vs. Concord Management, Ltd. (Sept 2011 Racial Discrimination case)
3) Carmen Mims v. Concord Management Co, Inc (Employee Age Discrimination)

2011-10-17T19:01:00.000-04:00

Developer Owned Condos at NCC:

Q. Which of the 168 condo units are still owned by the developer NAUTILUS DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS, L.L.L.P (AKA: Gulf Boulevard Partners, Ltd)?

A. They own all of the condos in buildings 12 and 13. In buildings 10, 11, 14 and 15, they own almost all of them with only 8 being sold and individually owned. The other 8 developer owned condos are in buildings 6, 8 and 9.

The developer owned units are being rented out by Concord Management as low income housing and plugged as 'affordable housing' at: http://www.concordrents.com/?CFID=4110310&CFTOKEN=28972099.

Last October We had a new Management Agreement Signed:

2011-10-16T01:03:00.000-04:00

Moved Up the Blog From its original posting date of 10/13/10
The New Concord Management Agreement of Oct 4, 2010

This 10 page document is posted further down this blog and it can be viewed by clicking on this link: http://nautiluscondosrules.blogspot.com/2010/10/blog-post_13.html

Here are a few items of interest, note we get only 20 hours a week and we are locked into a 3 year contract by the outgoing BOD. This is called getting ‘screwed’ by Norman Knight and Paul Missigman, unfortunately our own BOD Owner member also voted to approve this contract. On pages 7 and 8 there is considerable detail on ‘Termination’ of the contract, it can be done but it won’t be easy. Hopefully the ‘new’ BOD will get rid of them ASAP.

2. TERM. The term of this Agreement shall be for three (3) years. . .

12. FEES AND COSTS.

(a) Manager’s Fee. As a fee for its service under this Agreement, Manager shall be paid $15 per unit per month payable in monthly installments of $2,520.00 ($15.00 per unit x 168 units) in advance on the first day of each month. . .

(b) Separate Cost Items. The Association will pay or reimburse Manager separately for the following services or costs:

(i) $25,000 plus 25% payroll burden for employee(s) who will be “on-site”, which shall include being in the clubhouse at least twenty (20) hours per week and will act as manager(s) for the Association. Any meeting starting after 5:00 p.m. shall have a charge of $75 per hour.

(ii) $15,000 plus 25% payroll burden for employee(s) who will be “on-site”, which shall include being in the clubhouse at least twenty (20) hours per week and who will act as maintenance/janitorial employee(s) for the Association.

15. MANAGEMENT STAFFING. Manager agrees to comply with Section 718.3025(d) of the Condominium Act which related to the minimum staffing required and agrees to have at least one person available a minimum of 20 hours per week for the purpose of management and/or maintenance.

Deed in lieu helps you stay away from foreclosure

2011-10-16T00:01:00.006-04:00

A Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure is a deed instrument in which a mortgagor (i.e. the borrower) conveys all interest in a real property to the mortgagee (i.e. the lender) to satisfy a loan that is in default and avoid foreclosure proceedings.

The principal advantage to the borrower is that it immediately releases him/her from most or all of the personal indebtedness associated with the defaulted loan. The borrower also avoids the public notoriety of a foreclosure proceeding and may receive more generous terms than he/she would in a formal foreclosure. It hurts their credit less than a foreclosure does.

For further info take a look at:

http://www.mortgagefit.com/deed-lieu.html

Your credit score and foreclosures

FICO credit scores run from 300 to 850. 650 and below is considered to be 'bad credit'.

Just how dinged will your score be if it started out as Excellent (above 780)?

Short Sale, deed in lieu of foreclosure, or settlement with balance
wiped out -115

Foreclosure or short sale with deficiency balance owed -150

Message Board/Rating Site

2011-10-16T00:01:00.002-04:00

An underused 'message board' for Nautilus Cove is available at this click on link - read old posts and leave your comments:
http://tinyurl.com/y9pxdzs

Also NCC is reviewed on this site: http://tinyurl.com/4jr6389

Tenants in Foreclosed Units Have 'Rights' To Remain

2011-10-15T00:01:00.000-04:00

Since we have more 'renters' in residence at NCC than actual owners in residence the below info might be of interest to a lot of blog readers.

The PROTECTING TENANTS AT FORECLOSURE ACT is a law passed by Congress and signed by the President in May of 2009 and provides protections for tenants whose landlords fall into foreclosure. See Nolo Press article 'Renters in Foreclosure: What Are Their Rights?' at: http://tinyurl.com/3my9svp

Tenants have the right to stay in their homes after foreclosure for 90 days or through the term of their lease. The bill also provides similar protections to housing voucher holders. These protections are now in effect but expire at the end of 2012.

So there should be no more instances of Sheriffs coming to the door to evict people after the judge gives title to a foreclosed condo to the mortgage company. Before this change renters in foreclosed units might well find their belongings being piled up at the curb with virtually no notice. and also take a look at 'Learn About Being Evicted or Breaking a Lease' direct link: http://tinyurl.com/3rob8dy

610 Foreclosed and to be sold at auction 11/16

2011-10-13T01:40:00.001-04:00

On 11/21/06 David Ellingson purchased condo #610, a 3/2 from the developer for $178,200. On 1/22/10 the Bank of New York filed a ‘Lis Pendens’ (Notice of Foreclosure).

On 7/1/10 Nautilus Cove filed a lien for $2,429.50 for dues delinquencies. On 10/11/2011 the Bay County Circuit Court issued a Judgment for $203,755.16 in favor of the bank and ordered a sale of #610 at 11 a.m. 11/16/11 to the ‘highest bidder’. From foreclosure filing to sale will be 655 days.

Click on for larger image:

The average time in Florida from filing to foreclosure sale is 749 days (2 yrs 2 weeks) and is clearly decreasing as banks and mortgage companies take a more active role in taking back properties that have turned into bad loans.

"A house can mean security, but don't run through your retirement savings in a futile effort to hold on."

2011-10-12T00:10:00.000-04:00

(Now and then I move things up the blog that I think are interesting

and relevant, here is one such post)

Original Posting date of: 5/26/11

In case you don't get the AARP monthly Bulletin here is a relevant quote from their May issue: #6. "Walk away. If you can't afford the house and can't sell it for enough to pay the mortgage against it, walk away and rent. Don't run through your retirement savings in a futile effort to hold on." This per Jane Bryant Quinn a finance expert writing for AARP.

This is something I have been saying for quite some time and also FYI is another quote on the subject:

"If you own a home that is 50% underwater, 70% underwater, it will never ever, ever come back to where you purchased it." said Suze Orman, consumer advice columnist, who continues, “Do the calculations everybody. How much is it costing you to actually stay in that house? How many years will it take for you to pay more than that house is worth? If it’s 3 years, 4 years, 5 years; are you kidding me? That’s a house you really need to say bye bye. It’s not worth the money.”

If you are paying a $1,000 mortgage each month for a 3/2, you have to add in costs that do not apply to renters:
1) Taxes, 2) Condo dues, 3) Condo insurance, so your real out of pocket expenses will not be the $1,000 but more like $1,350 a month. You can rent the same unit for $850, so each month you are $500 in the hole. If I hadn't paid cash for my own unit I would have been out of here a year ago. The realities of the situation are becoming evident to those here at NCC who are upside down with their condo units and we can expect many more units going into foreclosure. Pouring $ down a rat hole makes no sense, mailing in the keys or not paying until evicted is becoming more common all over the country.

These units won't remain empty, new Owners will pick them up at 50% discounts from banks and mortgage companies.

A lot of reading material here for you:

2011-10-10T00:00:00.000-04:00

This site has been on the blog for several years and worked its way to the bottom. I've brought it back to the top and made some changes. It is worth a look.

This is the main site, enjoy the music while you look at it. http://www.ccfj.net/

Condo News Articles: http://www.ccfj.net/PNEWS.htm

Click on link for interesting articles about Condos in Florida, other states, condo stories and various Florida condo court decisions:

http://www.ccfj.net/condoaart.html

================================================
Also FYI: A condo advice column is available to read at:
http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/condoblog/
and another is at:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sfl-consumer-vasquez,0,710891.columnist

TAKE ALL THE RENT - NOT JUST SOME

When the statute was originally amended in 2010, the law allowed the condominium association or HOA to collect the monthly amount of the assessment from the tenant of a delinquent unit owner. The statute has now been amended in 2011, to allow the association to collect all of the rent from the tenant and apply all of it to the outstanding sums owed by the delinquent unit owner. In order to make the demand on the tenant, the association is required to use a form as provided for in the statute. A lawsuit has been filed in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the statute alleging that the landlord is deprived of due process because he or she never gets the opportunity to dispute the delinquency before the association takes his or her rent.

CANT RUN FOR BOD IF DELINQUENT

Now, a unit owner cannot even run for the Board in a condominium if they are delinquent in the payment of any fee, fine, regular or special assessment to the association at the time they submit their Notice of Intent to Be a Candidate. It is no longer sufficient to allow a delinquent candidate to run for the Board when delinquent and then become seated by becoming current prior to the votes being counted at the annual meeting.

CREATING COMMUNITY DIRECTORIES

Unit owners have always been provided the protection under Florida Condominium and HOA law from ensuring that certain personal information like phone numbers, fax numbers and e-mail addresses were protected from disclosure to other unit owners by the association. The statute has now been amended to allow these unit owners to waive this protection and consent in writing to disclosure of this information to fellow owners. The primary purpose of this amendment is to allow communities the ability to publish a community directory.

Note: Another way to find Owner address and tax information is by using the Bay County Appraisers site at: http://qpublic.net/bay/index-search.html The easiest way to access all the records at once is to click on the blue "Search by Parcel Range" choice and put in Starting: 40000-100-000 Ending: 40000-100-170. Many owners do not live on property and this site will give you their mailing address as well as unit address and it is much more informative than our own records plus you can use the click on link to go directly to the County tax records.

BOARD MEMBER CERTIFICATION

The new law clarifies the certification requirement for Board members. Now, a Board member can get certified by attending a course one year before getting elected to the Board or within 90 days of having been elected. Moreover, recertification is not required if the director serves on the board without interruption. The Florida Legislature did not remove the ability to become certified by simply signing an affidavit.

------------------------------------------------------------
Misc FYI: My blogsite has 300 posts going back to 2007, most people just look at the top 5-6 items and never get any further, take some time and explore the whole site, there is a lot of information plus all the condo documents.

New Revised Condo Ref. Materials available "FREE" from State of Florida!

2011-10-07T02:08:00.000-04:00

Free Condo Info Available:

The Florida Dept of Business and Professional Regulation has a new edition of their CD "Condominium Educational and Reference Materials" (rev 3/2011). You can obtain a free copy of this CD and/or other materials using the below information. Those attending the Jan 2011 AGM/BOD meeting got the then current CD along with various other handout materials. Now a newer edition of this CD is available 'free'.

Request a CD - Condominium Educational Publications in English and Spanish are now available in CD-Rom format. You may request a copy by selecting this link. Please include your full mailing address and whether you are requesting the English or Spanish version. Here is the click on line to email your request: condocd@dbpr.state.fl.us"

Pull up this DBPR site for information on various condo matters and to obtain other documents put out by the State: http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/lsc/index.html

Florida Laws and that Affect Rentals and Landlords Legal Rights

Florida Landlord Tenant Law:
http://tinyurl.com/35v6xff

FLORIDA'S LANDLORD/TENANT RIGHTS:
http://tinyurl.com/35973uz

Florida Landlord Tenant Law from FL Consumer:
http://tinyurl.com/32q6rrg

For an article on how Foreclosure works go to:
http://tinyurl.com/be7uwk

What are a renter's rights in Foreclosure:
http://tinyurl.com/8r3mnt

=========================================================

If you are looking for interesting sites with condo information you might take a look at a site by south Florida lawyers Becker and Poliakoff. They handle a lot of condo issues and if you click on their 'Publications' link you will find links to Newsletters, Articles and blogs where you can spend hours reading up on various interesting topics.
See: http://www.becker-poliakoff.com/

Battery Case Disposed of:

2011-09-29T23:45:00.000-04:00

Hong Fang Yu was one of the tenants in #1405. Unhappy with being served with an eviction notice, she went to the office July 27th to complain and she was involved in an altercation with the CAM and was charged with Battery.

This was disposed of on 9/27 with an amendment to the charge to: Disorderly Conduct with a $400 fine to be paid by 2/27/12 (if not paid then to serve 30 days), to pay court costs, and to have no contact with plaintiff.

click on for larger image or print out:

How responsive is your BOD/Management Company?

2011-09-29T00:01:00.000-04:00

Here is the result of six months of inquiries as to the costs involved in only the 2nd suit that I know of* against the BOD. Asking questions of the BOD is usually a waste of time. After five months I sent off a certified letter which forces the BOD to furnish a reply within 30 days.

If you have a serious question for the Board probably the only way you will get a reply is if you send it via certified mail, this is limited to one question every 30 days.

So the answer on costs to the Owners for the 3 year suit is $10,644.50. This could have been avoided if the various BOD's over this period had simply enforced the documents regarding the rentals of condos at NCC.

Case Details at: http://nautiluscovesuit2008.blogspot.com/

* The other suit was handled by our insurance company at no direct cost to us. It involved the theft of 2 expensive motorcycles here, from 2 seperate owners, during a time that the front gate and cameras were not working. The suit resulted in an unpublished settlement by the insurance company.

New Liens and Judgements at NCC

2011-09-26T09:22:00.008-04:00

Nautilus Cove has filed the below Lien against Owner Neicy Diniz of #103. This 4/3 unit was originally purchased 11/22/06 for $183,500 (yearly taxes are $1,082).

============================================================

EMC Mortgage Corporation now has gotten its Final Judgement against Brian Clark #213, of Sacramento, Ca. and/or Minneapolis, Mn. and the Court has authorized the sale of #213 to the highest bidder at 11 a.m. on 10/31/11. The Judgement is for $176,124 and the proceeds of the sale will be applied to the outstanding balance. The unit is a 4/3 sold originally for $183,500 (yearly taxes $1,082).

Mr. Clark is on the Delinquency list at NCC for $6,993.75. The Foreclosure started 1/5/10 and by the end of the process it will have taken 667 days from initial filing to sale.
(click on for large image)

12/21/10 UNIT 601 Alamdar Karami

08/20/10 UNIT 607 Denis Varela

07/16/10 UNIT 905 Matthew Hooke

05/24/10 UNIT 106 Jay Davis

02/12/10 UNIT 205 Michael Reed

01/29/10 UNIT 610 David Ellingson

01/05/10 UNIT 213 Brian Clark

12/22/09 UNIT 705 Juan Reyes

10/27/09 UNIT 307 Jeremiah Cahours

10/09/09 UNIT 210 Dan Smith*

09/29/09 UNIT 402 John Crider

09/16/09 UNIT 702 Norman Ussery

09/03/09 UNIT 201 Joseph Kennedy*

09/03/09 UNIT 102 Kyle McKendree*

02/16/09 UNIT 401 John Thomas

10/22/08 UNIT 305 Patricia Kristoff*

06/20/08 UNIT 506 Fred Grass

Under the Heading of 'Old Business'

2011-09-25T00:06:00.001-04:00

Every now and then I bring up to the top of the board something that you might have missed when it was originally posted. Here is one such item tucked away in the Concord Management Agreement.

Update of 1/24/11: The reply to the below request for disclosure is now on hand and it is that Mr. Knight will not disclose how much or why he is getting paid by Concord Management while he is a Board member here at Nautilus Cove.

Compensation for NCC BOD
Member - How much/why?

An inquiry is pending with the Concord Management company as to what compensation is going to our Developer appointed Director Mr. Norman Knight. If/when an answer is provided it will be published here. Of course any Owner can make this inquiry at the Annual General Meeting on 1/29/11.

The above is from the ten page, 2010 Concord Management Agreement, which was approved 3-0 by our Board of Directors which included Mr. Norman Knight. (See any conflict of interest there?)

718.3025 Agreements for operation, maintenance, or management of condominiums; specific requirements.—
(1) No written contract between a party contracting to provide maintenance or management services and an association which contract provides for operation, maintenance, or management of a condominium association or property serving the unit owners of a condominium shall be valid or enforceable unless the contract:
(e) Discloses any financial or ownership interest which the developer, if the developer is in control of the association, holds with regard to the party contracting to provide maintenance or management services.
(f) Discloses any financial or ownership interest a board member or any party providing maintenance or management services to the association holds with the contracting party.

See the New 10/4/10 Condo Management Agreement at - http://tinyurl.com/39sy3cy

2011-09-22T00:01:00.001-04:00

In an ABC news interview ‘Time to Buy, Sell or Walk Away’, Susie Orman said it could be decades before home values start to rise and predicted that more than half of Americans will be renters instead of homeowners. A staggering 1 in 4 homeowners are underwater, and many experts, including Orman, often recommend just walking away. http://abcnews.go.com/WN

For well over a year I have been pointing out on this blog, that to continue to pay mortgage rates from 2005-8 in the face of condo prices at NCC being 50% of what you paid for them was foolish.

Orman continued: “People who are 20 percent or more underwater should ask the bank for a short sale, or selling the house for market value, even if it is less than what is owed . . . If the bank won't work with you stop making payments and save that money until the bank forecloses. . . Of course, you should walk away if the bank isn't willing to help you”

==================== From 6/19/11 ===================

Prices here will never get back to the 2006-7 level

I look at prices here weekly and see some unrealistic expectations in how owners price their condos. One 2/2 is on the market for $150,000, you can get a 4/3 for $99,700 (#405 formerly belonging to Kennedy), 50k less than that and for a much larger unit, so why bother listing at a price no one would even consider?

I paid $165,900 for my unit 5/07, paid it in cash, no mortgage. The condo upstairs of me was one of the Waterstones 4 foreclosures and it sold 9/9/10 for $84,000, or 50.6% of what I paid. All it needed was a paint job and the carpet cleaned. The other 3 Waterstone units went higher, but all in the 80-90k range.

Realistically my unit is worth 50% of what I paid for it and yours is also! If you paid cash you can probably sell immediately (3-4 months) for half price, if you have a mortgage you can just live in it, 'try' for a short sale or just mail in the keys and walk away from it. The condo above went for 40% of the original sale price and the market will continue to decline into 2012.

Some owners rent them out or try to. They are in competition with the Developers 56 unsold units which are priced as low income housing and will rent first. Even if you do rent it out you won't make enough rental income to equal your mortgage payments each month. Every month you will be in the hole. This is called deficit financing and when the government does it, they just print more money. When you do it you will find it to be a short term solution that will go on until the market recovers or you run out of savings to make up the difference (guess which is going to happen first).

Keep in mind that there are many more foreclosures to come at NCC and your pricing will always be in competition with these. There is no light at the end of this tunnel. The 'old' owners who purchased at list price, or close to it, will be replaced by a new crop of owners who come in at the much lower foreclosure prices.

Nautilus Cove isn't going away, it is just going to be owned by a new crop of people who paid a lot less for their condos than we did.

Just a reminder FYI:

2011-09-18T12:01:00.000-04:00

Don't be a pig, take your garbage to the compactor and if you have your kids take it for you then make sure they take it all the way and don't just dump it in the bushes or leave it at a pet waste station.

Not sure what our Rules and Regulations are? Click on this link to find them: http://nautiluscondosrules.blogspot.com/2006/09/note-these-rrs-have-been-in-force-since.html

The ‘Best Time to Buy’ a condo?

2011-09-16T00:20:00.000-04:00

Every realtor will tell you ‘now is the best time to buy’. Of course that is nonsense, and it won’t make them any commission to tell you that it is next year when the foreclosure market really gets into high gear.

Due to the major banks screwing up with the ‘robo signing’ nonsense the sales of foreclosed units has slowed and banks and mortgage companies have been reluctant to put more homes/condos into ‘lis pendens’ status as they could not handle those they were already foreclosing on.

This situation is now about to change and experts predict that in early 2012 not only will foreclosures rise, but those already filed will be put back on tract to the banks taking possession and marketing those condos. Presently the Florida ‘average’ length of time between filing and taking possession is about 850 days. This gap should be steadily closing and in 2012 it should be a much more reasonable time frame for the banks to take over a unit from a delinquent owner.

This is a mixed bag for condo owners. On the plus side the currently empty condos will be sold and new faces will appear in the previously empty units, bargains will be had by the new owners who will come in at prices 50% of what the original owners paid.

The downside is of course this coming flood of foreclosed condos will make it almost impossible for current owners to sell at any reasonable price. The foreclosed units now available are priced to sell, those coming next year may even be cheaper plus there will be a greater selection for new purchasers to choose from.

More info at:
http://con.st/10022898 and http://www.cnbc.com/id/44533588

2011-09-13T21:16:00.002-04:00

Just in case you are wondering which shell the pea is under, for a quit claim deed and $100, Fannie Mae has turned over to Flagstar Capital Markets Corp the old Joseph Kennedy 4/3 condo #405. It went originally on 7/26/07 for $176,900. It will soon be available at the usual foreclosure knock down price.

Also we have Fannie Mae, via Green Tree Servicing LLC, as temporary owner of the old Billie Lambert condo. This 4/3 went originally on 2/26/07 for $194,900. It will soon be marketed at the usual half price and both referenced units will likely sell quickly due to being priced well under the ‘market’ prices.

The good news on these units is that they will sell quickly and we will have some new owners in the units, the bad news is that the greatly reduced prices continue to make sales by individual owners unlikely as most owners can not match the foreclosed unit’s prices.

For Info see: http://www.fanniemae.com/kb/index?page=home

2011-09-12T17:45:00.002-04:00

Misc Info FYI: In my 9/7/11 post below I mentioned that in Florida the average foreclosure took 853 days (2 yrs 4 months).

I don't know that this is the longest one running here, but I noticed that John Thomas #401 has been in foreclosure with HSBC Bank since 2/13/09 with the next hearing set for 9/28/11. So on that date it will be 867 days in foreclosure (2 yrs 4 months 17 days) and last I heard he is still living in the condo and he still owes over $7,600 in Association dues.

#09000716CA, HSBC BANK USA NATIONAL ASSOCIA vs. THOMAS, JOHN JR
6/30/2011 NOTICE and JUDGMENT / DISMISSAL TO ANSWER PRIOR TO 09/28/11
2/13/2009 COMPLAINT FOR FORECLOSURE

Rental Condos: Concord vs. Owners

2011-09-12T00:01:00.000-04:00

If you are an owner trying to rent out your condo you will find that you are in serious, and probably losing, competition with prices as Concord is asking less than owners for the Developers unsold 56 units.

Although renting from an Owner requires less BS and paperwork and it will probably get you a unit in a nicer part of the complex, the lower prices for the Concord/Developer units give their renters a $150-250 a month savings and almost a half price for the Security Deposit.

Can an owner rent out their units? Sure they can, but probably not until the Concord units are full and if they go head to head in pricing it might be difficult to break even. Owners renting out their units might mean taking a loss every month, some Owners just can't hang on and have to let them go in foreclosure.

For Concord prices see: http://www.nautiluscove.com/Apartments/module/printable_brochure/property[id]/20254/ and http://www.rent.com/rentals/florida/panama-city-and-vicinity/panama-city-beach/nautilus-cove/664494/

'Living in Limbo'

2011-09-07T07:53:00.003-04:00

Our condo has the same problems as all the Florida condos, many units are now in foreclosure and more will be going into foreclosure soon.

Under 'normal' circumstances you expect Owners to live up to their agreements with banks and mortgage companies and faithfully make their monthly payments. To be a deadbeat and not do so was once a major black mark not only on your credit report but also in the community generally, now, as the AARP article cited below says: "homeowners are doing what is in their own best interest."

Clearly remaining in a condo which is worth perhaps 50% of what you paid for it is not in an Owners 'best interest'. Many Owners, here at the condo and in homes all over the country are simply not paying their mortgages or their association dues. Some simply mail in the keys, others just remain until the foreclosure process forces them out. Others try to rent out the condos but usually find that the rental income won't equal the monthly mortgage, taxes, association dues and insurance costs, it just delays things and drains away their savings.

Here in Florida the average foreclosure process takes 853 days (2 yrs 4 months). Banks are not quick to add to their inventory of repossessed homes/condos which is now at 862,000 nationwide, and Owners may remain in possession for extended periods of time. There are an estimated 4 million loans now in some stage of delinquency.

We see the effects here at NCC in our own delinquency list which is at a historic high of $127,000. This is an impressive amount to be behind when you consider that the yearly dues for our 168 units should generate $453,600.

Ownership here at NCC is being divided between the 'old' (pre slump) Owners, who are usually unhappy to be here, and the 'new' Owners, those who have come in and scooped up bargain basement priced condos. Eventually, like the dinosauers, the 'old' Owners will be gone, either through short sales, foreclosures or just mailing in the keys. One thing is absolute, condo prices here will NOT return to the 2007-8 levels in the next 12-15 years. Taxes, insurance and condo dues will generally remain the same.

If you are not an AARP member you probably missed the article in their Sept 2011 Bulletin which deals more extensively with the matter. If you would like to read the entire article you can see it on one of my other sites, just use the click on link to view it:
http://nautiluscoverentals.blogspot.com/2006/09/delinquent-homeowners-many-americans.html

Delinquency List Past 3 Years:

08/15/11 36 Owners - $127,656 past due
07/08/11 24 Owners - $106,220 past due
05/06/11 24 Owners - $112,033 past due
03/01/11 41 Owners - $118,867 past due
12/03/10 43 owners - $112,415 past due
08/12/10 45 owners - $101,594 past due
05/19/10 42 owners - $ 84,581   past due
04/23/10 31 owners - $ 85,428   past due
01/21/10 55 owners - $ 86,298   past due
12/28/09 43 owners - $ 95,753   past due
09/28/09 38 owners - $ 82,501   past due
04/25/09 36 owners - $ 35,920   past due
08/28/08 21 owners - $ 18,440   past due