When is a house like a coffee cup? [Times photo: Brendan Fitterer] When the house is built with structural insulated panels with plastic foam cores, praised by a local builder for their strength, energy efficiency and cost effectiveness.

'No pets' can mean 'no deal'
3 BR, 21/2 BA, pets welcome.

Home Front
Briefs and news of note

Reminders of a miracle
Hanukkah, the Jewish Feast of Lights, begins at sundown Dec. 9.

Community Living: Not enforcing rules can be costly too
Question: I am on the board of our homeowners association. What recourse do we have to deal with infringements of rules and regulations? If there's no monetary loss, it's not worth a court case.

Homebuyer U
The Community Service Foundation offers three-part family budgeting classes for people who want to buy a house but are having trouble coming up with a down payment.

House Values
St. Pete Beach, Clearwater, St. Petersburg, Holiday

The intriguing houses of Safety Harbor
THE TOUR: Home tour sponsored by the Safety Harbor Museum of Regional History.

Tour Tarpon Springs' vintage homes
THE TOUR: Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society's annual Holiday Tour of Homes.

Other home tours, strolls for the holidays
Here are details of holiday house tours and neighborhood strolls:  

St. Petersburg Times real estate classified ads:

Regional real estate links:
Homeofmine.com - 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.