Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Briefs: Realtors are leaving, but they keep on learning

About 1,200 local Realtors have called it quits. The Greater Tampa Association of Realtors reports a 14 percent drop in membership this month.

By Times Staff
Published February 17, 2008

Realtors are leaving, but they keep on learning

About 1,200 local Realtors have called it quits. The Greater Tampa Association of Realtors reports a 14 percent drop in membership this month. The Hillsborough County association said rolls fell from 8,878 in December to 7,648 this month. That's close to the pattern elsewhere in the state. Tampa Bay area home sales are down about 65 percent from the peak in 2005, but most agents are staying accredited, hoping to resume their careers when the market picks up. The Pinellas Realtor Organization will assess the state of its membership this month.

Rough seas for cruise line charges

Some big fish in the cruise business have some 'splainin' to do about those fuel surcharges. Last week, Coral Gables attorney Harley Tropin filed a class-action suit against Carnival Corp., Royal Caribbean Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line and others for price fixing. He charges the lines coordinated with one another to set unreasonably high fuel fees. A week earlier, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum's office confirmed it was investigating some 150 complaints from consumers. McCollum is interested in whether lines including Carnival and Royal Caribbean charged customers who paid in full or put down a deposit before the charges were announced. Luu-ceee!

Get your NASCAR chips at Hard Rock

I'll see your Earnhardt and raise you three Gordons. The Seminole Hard Rock Tampa gained a minor distinction this month as Chipco International launched its new NASCAR-themed chips in its poker room. The $5 chips have photos of drivers such as Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Burton and the Dale Earnhardts, Sr. and Jr. The flip side has a picture of the driver's car and the Seminole Hard Rock logo.

Close, but not too close, to airports

Want to sell your house? Be close to an airport. Florida economist Hank Fishkind said one of the surest measures of housing health is whether a homeowner can reach a large airport within an hour or two. Fishkind said places like Vero Beach, about midway between large airports in Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, have suffered from their isolation. Closer to home, Hernando County, while closer than ever to Tampa International Airport after the opening of the Suncoast Parkway, still requires stiff drive times. But be careful not to live too close to the runways. Another home sales deterrent is aircraft engine noise.

[Last modified February 15, 2008, 20:21:05]