Mar-A-Lago might be worth One Billion

Real estate Agent Testifies Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Resort Worth Up To $1 billion

Earlier this year, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a civil fraud lawsuit against former President Donald Trump, alleging that he had overvalued his properties in order to secure bank loans.

The Manhattan judge (Engoron) deciding Donald Trump’s fate at his civil fraud trial Monday stood by the $18 million valuation of the former president’s sprawling Mar-a-Lago estate — despite real estate experts blasting the estimate as “utterly delusional.” However, if the testimony of one witness is to be believed, then the case may culminate in a victory for the former president.

Lawrence A. Moens, a Florida real estate agent, has compared Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort to the Taj Mahal in a deposition he made in July this year according to Bloomberg.

I used to work for a competitor company in Palm Beach real estate years ago and Moens is considered a top broker in Palm Beach properties.

Read what Larry Moens has to say

NAR socked with $1.8 billion for fee inflating

The National Association of Realtors got socked with a jury-awarded verdict of $1.8 billion yesterday after a trial found the organization guilty of conspiring to inflate real estate commissions.

The outcome of the trial will likely have far-reaching implications, not only for how real estate agents get paid by clients, but also in political terms: Realtors are some of the most politically active donors in Florida.

A federal jury in Kansas City on Tuesday found the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and some of the largest real estate brokers in the country guilty of colluding to inflate real estate commissions.

Why it matters: The verdict is a major shake up to the U.S. real estate market and could change how Americans purchase homes, or specifically, how they pay for broker fees.

When I was in the business, the fee was 6% for the sale and it was split between the listing agent and the selling agent. Rentals were at 10% and split the same way. Being out of the business for several decades now, I have been informed that the fees are basically the same.

Read about it...

It takes money to make money - Paradise Building for sale at whopping price

For Sale: The Paradise Building in downtown Lake Worth Beach, home to Bamboo Room, Rudy's Pub

THE PARADISE BUILDING, home to two popular downtown Lake Worth Beach music venues, is for sale.

The historic 1923 building at 17 S. J St., home to the Bamboo Room and Rudy’s Pub, went on the market Sept. 5 as “a new commercial listing,’’ according to the Facebook page of Simon Isaacs Real Estate, a Palm Beach broker.

Asking price: $2,975,000.

But the building’s owner, Gary Goldring, said the listing doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to actually sell. (Is he just screwing around wasting people's time?)

“We are seeing what the market looks like, which when you're in the real estate business is an OK thing to do from time to time,’’ Goldring said in an interview.

“We are listing it for sale just to kind of see what the market is and we’ll see what happens,’’ he said. (There's a sucker born every minute who might find this to be a wonderful buy!)

Goldring, a former Wall Street executive and a current part-owner of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team, bought the 8,142-square-foot building in 2019 for $1.3 million. He invested in upgrades and renovations.

Read Jose Capozzi's article

My comments in red. Eight years ago it sold for $710,000.

Home in College Park sells for $4.5M

Home sold for over $4M sets record as largest residential sale in Lake Worth Beach history

Chris Allen Realty announced the closing of the highest residential sale in the history of all sales in the city of Lake Worth Beach. The home, located at 2100 Notre Dame Drive, sold for $4,599,999 and is 4,592 square feet.

The home has five bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms and waterfront views from almost every room.

Read about it...

Maryann Polizzi, candidate for District 4 Commissioner Lake Worth, gets Realtors endorsement

From: Bryce Sartory
Date: February 10, 2017 at 12:51:59 PM EST
To: "poli510@bellsouth.net"
Subject: Candidate Screening - RAPB

Good Afternoon Maryann,

On behalf of the Realtors® Association of the Palm Beaches Board of Directors, we’d like to congratulate you on receiving the Realtors® endorsement for Lake Worth District 4! You showed exceptional knowledge of Realtor® issues and we believe you have the right vision for Lake Worth.

You can find our endorsement roster at http://www.voterealtorparty.com/pbc.

Your personal race can be found at http://www.voterealtorparty.com/polizzi.

Please contact me at 561-727-2762 or bsartory@rapb.com as soon as possible to discuss the next step. Expect a phone call from me at some point today. Congratulations again and I’ll talk to you soon!

Best Regards,

Bryce Sartory | Government Affairs Coordinator
Realtors® Association of the Palm Beaches

Lake Worth, The General Obligation Bond and the Gulfstream Hotel

Kevin D. Thompson had an article in the Local news section of the Palm Beach Post wherein he cited several businesses that are or have moved into Lake Worth. I am curious as to how many have moved out. Now, even Callaros has their business up for sale. We had a huge slowdown in our economy that seems to be turning around.

Chris Fleming is correct when he says that the commercial real estate market is "on fire." Chris Fleming, a commercial broker with Strategic Properties, touted the General Obligation Bond in this article that is on the November 8th ballot saying that passing this will bring more investment into our city. This statement, as well as others he made, is subjective and made by someone with an interest in the bond's passage and, let's face it, selling more commercial property.

Businesses in Lake Worth, for the most part, are located either on county roads or state roads and will not be affected by the 29.72% of our residential roads that will be repaired under this $69 plus million dollar bond. All the businesses cited in this Post article lie within the county or state ownership parameters.

Mr. Thompson mentioned The Gulfstream Hotel with their purported $70 million project in limbo because of legal issues. As said a million times, renovating the existing hotel has nothing to do with this lawsuit.  It is the owner's (Hudson Holdings) excuse not to do anything and with a legal matter pending in court, they can't flip their property which must be their real business plan? People keep falling for the hotel owner's line, over and over again and the city has bent over backwards to give them waiver after waiver. They still do nothing.

Relevancy - Citizen suggests inflammatory charge

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It's all politics but the suggestion made by Mr. Ellis is ridiculous as politics often is.

All in the same breath he takes a swipe at the Lake Worth Tribune that does honest reporting and all of those running against the Trio that (real estate license or not), are involved in something nefarious. Heck, the Trio even had a secret meeting to give away our casino complex (a possible 99 year lease with renewals) to a developer involved big time in....you guessed it-- real estate.

Found on Facebook:

Ben Ellis If the Lake Worth Tribune really wanted to write a relevant article, maybe they could spend some time investigating why three licensed real estate agents are suddenly running for office, out of the blue, with no prior public engagement, and in some cases very short time as residents.

Like · Reply · 8 · January 17 at 8:17am

So, what are the facts?

DISTRICT 1
Scott Maxwell: Current Real Estate License thru 3/31/17
Ryan Hartman: No

MAYOR
Pam Triolo: No
Gary Antieau: Current Real Estate License thru 3/31/16
Diane Jacques: No

DISTRICT 3
Andy Amoroso: No
Frank McAlonan: Current Real Estate License thru 9/30/16

So, one incumbent has a real estate license and two out of the four candidate opposition have current licenses.  Neither one of the two opponents use their license to buy or sell real estate or work in real estate sales.  Gary Antieau might dabble in it but that's rare. So, three people running have licenses and four do not.

Of course, the implication is real estate salesmen have something to gain by running for office in Lake Worth against these incumbents and therefore we all need to be leery of these unscrupulous people.  Perhaps, they too, work for Hudson Holdings?

Want to buy Mayor Pam Triolo's house?

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Est. Mortgage:

$3,625 / mo

2417 N Federal Highway, Lake Worth

Asking Price: $749,900
5BR, 2.5BA, 2.436 sq. ft.

Listed for sale by Schelling & Associates

Loretta Sharpe, Broker Salesman

McVoy gets Realtors' endorsement

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Believing that Local governments should hold the line on spending and not increase their millage rates; nor increase other local government taxes, fees or assessments to offset mandated reductions in property taxes, and that there needs to be a comprehensive master plan for the undeveloped Everglades Agricultural Area to ensure smart growth in Palm Beach County, Commissioner Christopher McVoy just received the coveted Realtors® Association of the Palm Beaches endorsement.

Lake Worth Housing Report

Provided by Active Rain--Trulia and Realtor  Donald Urschalitz

Click on graphic to enlarge

Scam in Lake Worth

Scams galore and now Lake Worth Realtor, Brian Gleason, is inadvertently a part of one. 

Click here... to read about it.

Lake Worth Casino

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Lake Worth has finally reduced the commission agreement to writing on the Casino--

After certain conditions are satisfied, the following will apply:
Commission based on the total base rent to be paid during the initial term of the approved lease. The specific amount of the Broker’s Commission for the approved lease shall be negotiated by the City and Broker prior to the approval of the lease and shall not in any event exceed seven percent (7%) where there is a 50/50 commission split with other broker(s) or six percent (6%) for  straight Broker’s Commission; however the Broker’s Commission shall not exceed five percent (5%) for an approved lease with any existing tenant. Any Broker’s Commission for a month-to-month lease will be negotiated between the City and Broker prior to the approval of such lease and may exceed seven percent (7%) in the City’s sole and absolute discretion.

There you have it. Let's get it rented.

7.65 acres sold in Lake Worth

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Carmel Real Estate & Management, a full-service commercial real estate brokerage based in Delray Beach, successfully completed the sale of the Lake Worth Corners parcels, which comprise 7.65 acres – the equivalent of two city blocks – at the intersection of Lake Worth Road and Boutwell Road at the City of Lake Worth’s southwestern boundary.

Read more...

Paul Snitkin, Casino Real Estate salesman

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Paul Snitkin, of Anderson and Carr, has been recognized by the National Association of Realtors by winning the National Award for outstanding achievement in the commercial real estate industry.

Imagine this--He managed to get this award without even finding a lessee for our upstairs Casino space or even believing in the property owned by his client, the City of Lake Worth.  Way to go Paul.

Quote of the Day - Frank Cerabino

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And it's still tough to figure out what's really afoot with that one (Amendment 4), which can be simply boiled down to this:

Are you willing to help the Florida Association of Realtors sell homes by increasing the tax burden on existing homeowners so first-time home buyers, house flippers, snowbirds and businesses can get bigger tax breaks?

~ Frank Cerabino

Those who support this amendment are many of the very same people who support growing our downtown Lake Worth taller. It's all about money in their pocketbook, not the health and welfare or quality of life in this city.

Don't forget, it is candidate Jim Stafford who got the endorsement from the Realtor's Association and he is the one supporting taller buildings in downtown Lake Worth. The only benefit would be to all those in the development and real estate business, not to Joe Taxpayer or anyone who believes that our city, with its quaint downtown shops and restaurants, a look we have had for over 100 years, would be more welcoming or friendly or generate more money to the city or to the commercial businesses by building taller.

Amendment 4 - This time the vote should be "no"

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I get more embarrassed every day to admit that I was a Realtor at one time. Realtors say that a YES vote on Florida Amendment 4 will strengthen Florida's economy. What this means in actuality--it might put more money into their pockets.

How dare that these exemptions be on the ballot this year when Florida is struggling. Read up on all these amendments some of which are wrong for Florida's economy and will hurt local governments to provide basic services.

An outside group backed by real-estate groups has raised $3.6 million to support the proposed amendment. They say it is needed to encourage first-time homebuyers, get rid of the recapture rule, and help small businesses and renters. The latter could see lower rent after a property owner claims the exemption.

Where they stand:
Opposed: Florida Association of Counties, Florida League of Cities, Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida
Support: The Florida Association of Realtors, Florida Chamber of Commerce, Florida Home Builder's Association, Republican Party of Florida--Read more at The Florida Times Union.

Candidate James Stafford has the endorsement of the Realtor's Association and he has said that he agrees that our downtown should have building heights of 6 stories, (as tall as The Lucerne) conforming to the Realtor's position. Build higher, more inventory, more money for moi, is their battle cry and screw all of you who want a low-rise city.

County by County Impact if Amendment 4 is passed

The Center on budget and Policy priorities says this about Amendment 4 and says Florida's Tax Watch's analysis is flawed--read what they say below:

• Raise taxes on many established, year-round residents.  Property taxes in Florida are a key source of funding for local services such as fire and police protection, providing 60 percent of counties’ general fund revenues and 42 percent of cities’ revenues.  If Amendment 4 is adopted, local governments would have to raise property tax rates in order to preserve funding for these services.   This in turn would increase property taxes on those who benefit least from the amendment — established, full-time homeowners not affected by the recapture rule — in order to pay for tax cuts for those who benefit most from the amendment, such as part-time residents, out-of-state corporations and first-time homebuyers.

• Require local governments to make deep cuts in services.  To the extent that local governments don’t respond to Amendment 4 by increasing property tax rates, it would take a large and growing bite out of funding for local services like police and fire protection.  At current rates the local revenue loss from Amendment 4 would grow to $471 million by 2016— the equivalent of 7,656 police officers at the state’s average annual police salary.  And the revenue loss would begin phasing in at a time when local government revenues are already down as a result of the recession.
  Local governments would almost certainly respond to Amendment 4 with a combination of tax rate increases and service cuts.

• Harm Florida’s economy.  These tax increases and spending cuts mean that Amendment 4 is no free lunch for Florida taxpayers.  As noted above, any tax cuts for non-residents and out-of-state corporations that result from the measure would require offsetting tax increases or cuts in local services.  Either of these steps would remove demand from the economy, undermining Amendment 4’s potential to spur economic growth.
  
  Supporters of Amendment 4 cite a study by Florida Tax Watch, a Florida research organization, as evidence that Amendment 4 would benefit Florida’s economy.  But the study suffers from a crucial methodological flaw.  While the study takes into account the economic benefit of the taxpayer savings that would result from the amendment, it ignores the tax increases or cuts to local services that local governments would need to enact to pay for the tax cut.  It therefore gives a deeply misleading estimate of Amendment 4’s likely economic impact.

• Send millions of dollars in tax benefits out of state.  Much of the tax savings from Amendment 4 would be sent outside the state.  This is because out-of-state shareholders in major corporations with Florida landholdings and owners of second homes who may spend much of their time and money in other places would get a large share of the benefit from Amendment 4. As a result, the net effect would be to cost Florida jobs, not create them.


• Hurt new and expanding businesses — important engines of job growth.  Amendment 4 would ultimately place newer businesses at a competitive disadvantage by requiring them to pay more in property taxes than their more established competitors, even if the newer and more established businesses own identical properties.  Tilting the playing field against newer businesses makes little economic sense.  Important new research suggests that a small number of relatively new businesses create a disproportionate share of new jobs.  Making those businesses pay more property taxes than their competitors will further harm the state’s economy.

Realtors of PB County endorse Mack Bernard

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The Realtors Association of Palm Beach County has endorsed Mack Bernard for Florida State Senate, District 27. The Realtors cited Bernard’s record of championing home ownership as the deciding factor in the endorsement.

Read more...

Guess who's leaving town?

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Located in a highly desirable waterfront location on S. Lakeside Drive, guess who's selling their house?

Listed at $799,000, read the fabulous property description.

Ramiccio gets another endorsement

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The Realtor's Association has never seen a development that it didn't like. It is one of the most political groups in the State of Florida.

They are in bed with developers, big business and the Chamber of Commerce, Tom Ramiccio's former employer. The National Association of Realtors views mass immigration as the key to "a long-term strong housing market." They are only about making money. The heck with growth management in our State. They are against any restraints from the EPA or any other environmental group that would curb their objective of deeper money pockets for its members.

Today, Tom got the endorsement from the Palm Beach County Realtor's Association. Now what do they want from Tom?

Growth in Florida - Amendment 4 was an Answer

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"Florida should expand the use of two growth management pilot programs to provide the state with a new focus on large-range planning and the needs of critical areas, Department of Community Affairs Secretary Billy Buzzett said last Tuesday." Note: Buzzett is a former executive with St. Joe Paper Co, the largest land owner in the State of Florida.

"Nancy Linnan offered a presentation on behalf of a Florida Chamber of Commerce's effort to draft a proposal to reform state growth management laws. Other groups supporting the effort are Associated Industries of Florida, the Association of Florida Community Developers, the Florida Association of Home Builders and the Florida Land Council." Read more at The Florida Tribune.

Do you possibly think now that Rick Scott is Governor, that the State will be protected from sprawl? The deck is stacked against smart growth and protecting our State from developers and the Chamber of Commerce's greed on the pretense that growth will produce jobs and jobs are more important than our quality of life.

As George Niemann says, "Many communities are now suffering from congested roads, overcrowded schools, severe water restrictions, declining home values, as well as, real estate taxes that are still too high.

At the root of this problem is the fact that many of our elected officials base their growth decisions on extraneous factors, instead of focusing on what should be the primary decision-making factor — the desires and the best welfare of the citizens who already live in that community.

The vast majority of growth plan changes from the private sector are initiated by business interests, not by your average property owner. If the growth plan doesn't fit the business plan of the developer, they try to modify the growth plans to fit their business need."

Amendment 4 would have been a protection for all of us--we would have had the right to vote on the development if the land-use had been changed by politicians. Also, follow the money--look to see what organizations endorse a candidate. If it is the Chamber of Commerce, Realtors Association, builders groups and the like, run like hell.