What do buyers think when they step inside your listing?

CHICAGO – Aug. 16, 2017 – If an interior designer walked through the front doors of your listing, what would their first impression be? Traffic flow “The first thing I notice is whether or not the furniture placement promotes good flow of traffic,” says Lorelie Brown, a Showhomes franchisee in Charleston, S.C. Open floor plans
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Study: Best U.S. cities to flip homes

NEW YORK – Aug. 1, 2017 – More than 126,000 U.S. homes were flipped last year – the highest rate since 2007, according to a study by WalletHub. The average gross profit on a single home flip? Nearly $63,000. Overall, Florida metro areas ranked in the top 25 percent for home flipping, with only cities
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Florida’s back-to-school sales tax holiday starts Friday

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – July 27, 2017 – Starting Friday, Aug. 4, Floridians won’t have to pay state sales tax on certain clothes ($60 max), school supplies, personal computers ($750 max) or other items. According to the Florida Retail Federation (FRF), this sales tax holiday is the state’s second busiest shopping “holiday.” It predicts “near record-breaking
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Hughes Shelton Realtors – Mike Hughes, Jeff Shelton, Andrea Webb & Team members were Named to the 2017 REAL Trends America’s Best Real Estate Agents

TAMPA, Fla. – July 6, 2017 – PRLog — Hughes Shelton Realtors of Coldwell Banker was named one of America’s most productive sales agents as a part of REAL Trends America’s Best Real Estate Agents, the newly issued ranking report produced by REAL Trends and sponsored by Zillow Group.  Hughes Shelton Realtors is now a member of the “America’s Best Real Estate Agents,” and ranked number 15 for the state of Florida.
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Former St. Pete Beach estate of beer titan August Busch Jr. fetches $5.4 million

ST. PETE BEACH — Nearly a decade and one scrubbed auction after it first hit the market, the former winter home of beer and baseball magnate August A. Busch Jr. sold today for $5.395 million. That is the second highest amount paid for a residentially zoned property in the Tampa Bay area this year. A
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25 tips for first-time home buyers

Buying a home can be a nerve-racking experience, especially if you’re a first-time home buyer. Not only is it probably the biggest purchase of your life, but the process is complicated and fraught with unfamiliar lingo and surprise expenses. To make the first-time home buying journey a little less stressful, NerdWallet has compiled these 25
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This Tampa Bay beach is No. 1 on Dr. Beach’s Top 10 List

Siesta Beach in Sarasota County was named the top beach in the country by coastal expert Dr. Beach. Also known as Stephen P. Leatherman, Dr. Beach, a professor at Florida International University, released his 27th annual Top 10 Beach list on Thursday morning. VIEW SLIDESHOW 8 photos People entering Siesta Beach on Siesta Key through
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Survey: Rising mortgage rates worry young buyers

CHICAGO – May 24, 2017 – Brokers should be happy to know that consumers are optimistic about both the U.S. economy and the real estate market, according to the latest Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices quarterly Homeowner Sentiment Survey. However, the possibility of rising interest rates has many potential homebuyers concerned – especially millennials. According to the
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NAR: International sales to shape future real estate demand

WASHINGTON – May 22, 2017 – U.S. real estate markets are becoming increasingly international. Two trends – changing demographics from immigration and a growing interest from foreigners – are positioned to bolster home sales activity and prices, according to speakers at an international real estate forum organized by Realtor® University’s Richard J. Rosenthal Center for
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Study: Tampa Bay is nation’s second best area for first-time homebuyers

For first- time homebuyers, you can’t beat the Orlando and Tampa Bay areas. Despite steadily rising prices, both are relatively affordable compared to the West Coast and Northeast at a time when nearly half of all buyers are first-timers, a new Zillow report says. As millennials — those in the 18-34 age group — “reach
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