A tiny kitchen gets room to breathe with a higher ceiling, improved lighting, new cabinets and a porch-turned-pantry. Story [Times photo: James Borchuck]

Home Front
Briefs and news of note

Small victory
A tiny kitchen gets room to breathe with a higher ceiling, improved lighting, new cabinets and a porch-turned-pantry.

House Values
St. Petersburg

Homebuyer U
TOPIC: "Road Map to Ownership," free home-buyer seminar. SPONSOR: Century 21 East Lake and Abraham Mortgage. WHERE: Century 21 East Lake Realty, Shoppes at Boot Ranch, 782 East Lake Road, Palm Harbor. WHEN: 6:30-9 p.m. Tuesdays. COST: Free. CALL: (727) 409-4583.

Hey home buyers, 'buy green'
A free program for home buyers, "Anatomy of a Home: Buy Green and Save," will be presented from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sept. 21 at the Hillsborough County Cooperative Extension Office, 5339 County Road 579 in Seffner.

Community living
Compensation for board member may be illegal
Question: Our condominium documents prohibit board members' receiving compensation. A board member recently gave himself the job of maintenance supervisor, earning over $400 a week. Can a board member be a salaried employee of the association, performing work that normally is voluntarily performed by board members at other condo associations?

 

St. Petersburg Times real estate classified ads:

Regional real estate links:
Tampa Bay Homes - Search local MLS listings, a service of Tampabay.com.
Florida Home Builders - features Florida developers with Web sites.

Other real estate links:
Cost of Living calculator: compares the cost of living in any two cities. Also includes links to Salary Calculator and Moving Calculator among other tools.
Home Buyer and Renter Consumer Information: From the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Home Buying Tips: from the U.S. Government General Services Administration.
Realtor.com: includes info on buying and selling real estate, allows you to browse property ads in the U.S. and locate realtors.