As an old law enforcement type, I felt obligated to go to a memorial service for a fallen U.S Air Force Security Officer from Mac Dill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida.

It was a very sad occasion when I learned more of the facts of this great and untimely death. It was a loss that greatly affected the officer’s family and friends, and it was a loss to all of the U.S. military forces, and as I learned, it was the first U.S Air Force Security Officer lost since Viet Nam.

1st Lt, Joseph D. Helton, Jr. lost his life on September 18th, 2009. Lt. Helton was an honors graduate in high school, where he also led the soccer team for three years and was also the Commander of the JROTC unit at his high school. Joseph Helton graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy as a Distinguished Graduate in the upper 10% of his class in 2007. Lt. Helton was assigned to the 6th Security Forces Squadron at Mac Dill AFB and graduated from the Security Officer Basic Course as a Distinguished Graduate. Do you see a pattern here? This young man would have made any mother and father proud.

Lt. Helton sadly died during an IED explosion while advising the Iraqi Police in southern Baghdad. He was clearly one of best and brightest young officers in the military or what ever he chose to do with his life.

Lt. Helton was born in Milton, FL in September 1984. His parents moved to Georgia where he grew up, and yes he was only 24 at the time of his death.

Lt. Joseph D. Helton, Jr. will be missed and will not soon be forgotten for he has made the ultimate sacrifice.

            ”I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith”

Dave Tipton

Every year, countless people in the United States buy, sell or refinance their own slice of the American Dream.  Most, if not all, of these transactions include a simple line item for an appraisal.  It has become an understood and accepted part of a real estate transaction.  “Let’s bring in the expert and make sure we’re not spending too much on this property.” 

But is this the only reason to get an appraisal? Are there other times when the services of a certified, licensed, independent real estate professional might come in handy?  You bet.

PURCHASE OF A HOME- One of the most important issues involved in purchasing a property is developing an opinion of what it’s worth so that you can make an informed offer to purchase.  A professional appraisal report performed by a qualified, state-licensed appraiser can provide you with an objective, third party opinion of a property’s current Market Value.  And for the small price of this service, you can give yourself “peace of mind” prior to making an offer to purchase that you’re offering a fair price for the property. 

REFINANCE OR GET A HOME EQUITY LOAN- If you need to consolidate bills, have a college tuition to pay, or just want to tap into the equity of your home, you’ll need a new loan, which oftentimes requires a new appraisal of the property.
 
PMI REMOVAL- Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI is the supplemental insurance that many lenders ask home buyers to purchase when the amount being loaned is more than 80% of the value of the home. Very often, this additional payment is folded into the monthly mortgage payment and is quickly forgotten. This is unfortunate because PMI becomes unnecessary when the remaining balance of the loan – whether through market appreciation or principal paydown – dips below this 80% level. In fact, the United States Congress passed a law in 1998 (the Homeowners Protection Act of 1998) that requires lenders to remove the PMI payments when the loan-to-value ratio conditions have been met.

Many appraisers offer a specific service for home owners that believe they have met the 80% loan-to-value metric. For a nominal fee, the appraiser can provide you with a statement regarding the home value. Some will even take the next step and help you file a challenge with your mortgage company. The costs of these services are very often recovered in just a few months of not paying the PMI.

DIVORCE SETTLEMENT- A divorce can be a particularly traumatic experience for both parties and is often further complicated by the difficult decision of “Who gets the house?”.  In most divorce cases, the Court won’t usually force the parties involved to “buyout” the other party’s interest but it may however order the sale of the home so each party gets an equal share of the equity.  Regardless of the situation, it’s a good idea to order an appraisal so both parties are fully aware of what the true market value is.

If the parties want to sell the home, they’ll have a better idea of what price to set.  And on the flipside, if a “buyout” is the chosen option, both parties will feel like they’ve gotten a fair assessment.
 
ESTATE LIQUIDATION- The loss of a loved one is a difficult time in life and settling an estate from a death, or probate, often requires an appraisal to establish Fair Market Value for the residential property involved.  The ethics provision within the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) binds us with confidentiality, ensuring the fullest degree of discretion.

Unlike many wealthy individuals, the majority of Americans do not have dedicated estate planners or executors to handle these issues.  Also, in most cases, a home or other real property makes up a disproportionate share of the total estate value.

Here too, an appraiser can help.  Often the first step in fairly disposing of an estate is to understand its true value.  Where property is involved, the appraiser can help determine the true value.  At this point, equitable arrangements can more easily be arrived at among disputing parties. Everyone walks away knowing they’ve received a fair deal.

RELOCATION- We understand the stress involved with an employee relocation.  We take great care in establishing a convenient appointment time for the appraisal inspection. During our thorough inspection, we encourage relocating employees to provide input on the positive attributes of their property along with information about any recent sales or listings in their neighborhood that they want considered.

HOME IMPROVEMENTS TO ADD VALUE- Before you decide to sell your home, there are several decisions to be made. First and foremost: “How much should it sell for?”  But don’t forget there may be other equally important questions to ask yourself such as “Would it be better to paint the entire house before we sell it?”, “Should I put in that third bathroom ?”, “Should I complete my kitchen remodel?”  Many things which we do to our houses have an effect on their value.  Unfortunately, not all of them have an equal effect. While a kitchen remodel may improve the appeal of a home, it may not add nearly enough to the value to justify the expense.

SELLING A HOME- Whether you choose to sell your home on your own or use the assistance of a real estate agent, a professional appraisal can help you make a better educated decision when determining your selling price.

Unlike a real estate agent, an appraiser has no vested interest in what amount the house sells for.  It’s easy for them to step in and give you the information to help you make your decision.  Appraiser fees are based on efforts to complete the report and not a percentage of the sales price. So seeking a professional appraisal can often help homeowners make the best decisions on investing in their homes and setting a fair sales price.

Jon Tipton, Florida Certified Residential Appraiser

813-391-6121

If you were wondering, I was behind the wheel of the Lincoln Towncar for 57.5 hours over a span of 4 and a half days.  The average time driving the client per day was 2 hours.  The rest of the time is waiting.

The restrictions were greater than I thought they would be.  You have to be 2 to 5 minutes within range of when you are called by the client.  That gives them enough time to call down for their driver (me) and take the elevator to the lobby.

I had no surprises and if I had any disappointments it would only be that use of my lap top was more restricted than I thought it would be.  WiFi was never available and so blogging as the day would pass was not realistic.

Looking Back

The city of Tampa should be proud of itself.  I believe we really impressed our visitors.  You could actually see people were enjoying themselves.  Our downtown is fresh.  Channel Side was wildly popular and Ybor City was a great draw.  On one of my runs at midnight, we drove pass the exit for Hard Rock.  There were cars lined up back to and on I 4.

If you were a visitor to Tampa this week and you did not have fun, it was your own fault.

The Super Bowl Committee put together venues for all ages and preferences.  Concerts were very popular.

The security was prevalent and effective, but not restrictive.  Unless you are a trouble maker, then I suspect you would not have liked the security.  The police department showed more courtesy than I think I have ever seen.  At times, while I was sitting in my car in front of the Marriott, I would see drivers do really dumb things.  Not once did I see a police officer become belligerent.

If you are curious as to how I did …

The team owner that I was dedicated to for the weekend treated me wonderfully.  I don’t know whether I had any expectations of what it would be like to be driving around our city with a billionaire, but it was no different than if I had just met somebody for the first time at a business meeting and after three days together you have relaxed and enjoyable conversations.

I was tipped $300 and my driver pay will end up somewhere around $1500.  But, the experience will last a lot longer than the money quite frankly. 

Would I do it again?  Possibly.  Next year is in Miami.  I am thinking of asking the owner to request me for next year as well.

So could I get you to comment?

I would love to hear from you.  Our blog visitor count went up 5 times normal for this series.  I know that many of you followed along the way.

We have done blogs on special events and places to visit.  We will continue to put relevant real estate blogs on here.

But, what would you like to see?  Would you like to see more of these job impersonations such as the chauffeur?  More restaurant reviews? 

We are getting ready to launch foreclosure reviews of particular properties as they first come on the market.  What questions would you like answered regarding those properties?  What would you like to know most about a foreclosed property?

I want to thank all of my readers.  I received phone calls from several of you expressing your interest in the blog.  Thank you for those phone calls.

So this is the last blog of the Super Bowl Chauffeur driving you crazy.

Rick Frissell ~ 813 340 6828 Cell

Our friend and associate Lane Bailey of Diamond Dwellings Realty Lilburn, GA office (near Stone Mountain) was recently interviewed by the Atlanta Journal Constitution about his unique niche in the home market and his ability to market homes via the internet and social networking tools such as ActiveRain, Facebook, Twitter to name a few.

Lane also specializes in what he terms Garages with Homes Attached. In case you didn’t get it, Lane is a certified car nut, but all around good guy. In the area of web 2.0 and social networking, he is somewhat of a guru and has quite a following of others in the real estate industry who seek his thoughts and ideas.

The whole Diamond Dwellings Realty concept is built around the premise that in the “New Age” of real estate, internet marketing via what is termed web 2.0 platforms and the use of other 21^st century tools such as using video and social networking is the wave of the future, but it’s being utilized today by various Diamond Dwellings offices.

To hear more about the concept and how Diamond Dwellings Realty- Florida can market your home our assist you in finding just the “right” home for you, please give us a call or send us an e-mail. Careful though, this isn’t your grand daddy’s real estate company. Don’t expect the huge brick and mortar office or our agents to drive a Mercedes Benz, just expect great service utilizing all of the marketing tricks we have learned thus far and great service. If you are in the real estate business, we offer an unprecedented opportunity for you to be cutting edge and to control your market area.

Dave Tipton, Broker- Diamond Dwellings Realty- Florida

About the Author:  Dave Tipton is a Florida licensed real estate broker with Diamond Dwellings Realty- Florida. Dave’s office is in Brandon, Florida which serves eastern Hillborough County. Dave Tipton can be reached at dave@diamonddwellings.com or 813-653-1241.

If you are interested in a career in real estate or associating with Diamond Dwellings Realty, please contact Dave! All calls and inquiries will be held in the strictest confidence.

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I will be submitting as many posts as I can today, but it is shaping up to be a busy day for the Super Bowl Chauffeur.

Let me first begin by digressing.  Yesterday was my second day as the driver for the wife of one of the owner’s for a NFL team.

So what is it like to be plugged in to a super rich person that has come to town for the Super Bowl?  Well, it is just as if I were driving for any of you that read this if you were here on vacation.  You may question that, but in my two days with this lady and her friends, I have seen nothing but down to earth people on vacation.

We went to the mall to buy a sweater because it was cooler in Tampa than expected.  A birthday present for a friend was purchased while there.  Friends going out to see the sites.  Of all of the places that they could visit, Bush Gardens, Channel Side, Orlando mega monster mouse … they chose Lowry Park Zoo.  And, they were impressed.

Now, for today.  It is now 2:18 PM as I am writing at this moment.  The build up during the week is now about to erupt into what we usually expect on Super Sunday.

Earlier this morning I was asked to “stage” at the NFL HQ hotel Marriott Waterside.  The valet and hotel traffic managers who have been working hard and long have a noticeable increase in seriousness as everything begins to move.  Fans are milling about and buses that will carry the coaches and support staff to the stadium are in place for their cargo to be loaded.

The police have been surprisingly patient and courteous.  But security, which has been in the background, is now very visible.  Dogs are sniffing … and not for a place for them to park their thoughts.

Downtown traffic is nearly non existent.  I have spent two full days in downtown and the mob has been huge.  This morning, you could hardly tell there was an event in town except for all of the Pittsburgh jerseys.

And to that point, I would bet (and I am being conservative) that for every obvious Arizona fan there are 100 Pittsburgh fans.  And the bars are aware of it as well.  Every food and beverage location I have seen have banners stretched across their building shouting “GO STEELERS!”  I have yet to see a Cardinals banner.

So picture this.  Pretend the Steelers were really the Redskins.  Who would the other team mascot be?  That mascot does not exist in the NFL.  It would be Custer and his 198 soldiers.

I can almost imagine what it would be like, after seeing the Steeler fans in Tampa, for General Custer.  The Cardinals are going to enter the stadium and they will look up as if they are in Little Big Horn.  And surrounding them will be thousands and thousands of Steeler fans with their yellow/gold and black war paint all over their faces.  Instead of tomahawks, their hands will be moving in a frenzy with Steeler towels.

Well, I won’t be able to see that.  Chauffeurs stay out in the parking lot.  But, good news!  They are putting on a tail gate party for the chauffeurs during the first half of the game.  Food, ice tea (alcohol would not be looked upon favorably for chauffeurs) and a giant screen TV.  We were told that we would need to be back at our cars following the half time show.

I hope to have another post before the game.  The balance of my posts will be via Twitter.  I will get as many Twitpics out to you as time permits.  You can follow me @RickFrissell

Until then, this is the Super Bowl Chauffeur driving you crazy!

Rick Frissell ~  813-340-6828 cell

Second, this will be a quick update as I am finding that although I have a lot of spare time as a chauffeur, it is not always easy to find a “hot spot” for blogging with the location restrictions I have in order to do my job.

I will be writing a detailed blog on what I have learned about this job.  It is not a matter of the do’s and don’ts that I will be discussing.  It will be more about my thoughts, feelings and observations from the front seat of a Lincoln Towncar.  I can only say at this time that I have really enjoyed this experience.

The hours are beyond description.  My day begins at 5:30 AM when I try to catch as many quick emails as I can.  Phone calls during the day are a much easier task, although when I am with a client the phone is OFF.

The last activity of the day is the washing of the only white, long sleeve shirt I own.  The first activity in the morning is to throw it in the dryer and to iron it.  I have been getting home between 11:00 PM and 12:30 AM.  I go straight to bed following the washing machine drop.

After the dryer action, it is time to shine the shoes.  Next is collecting items I wish I had with me the day before such as some hand towels to dry or buff parts of the car for a cleaner experience for my clients.

Now for a couple of quick updates that I am behind.  Wednesday night I had two clients.  Both were delivered to the Don Cesar Hotel in St. Pete.  Neither knew anything about where they were staying.  Someone else did their bookings and that was all they knew.  They were very pleased when I told them about the hotel and in particular, when I pointed out the hotel in the distance as we crossed the causeway.

My first client was a marketing exec with large beverage company and the second client was a pro NFL player with the Dallas Cowboys.

Yesterday, I hit the mother load and will have this assignment through Monday.

I will have to tease you a little with this blog because I don’t have time to do this subject justice.

But, I have been assigned as the dedicated driver for one of the owners wife of one of the NFL teams.  This is a jack pot assignment.  An unbelievable experience!

I have so much to share with you. I will report the complete day in a following blog.  But for short reference, I picked her up at 10:30 AM and my job was to take her to whereever she wanted to go, return her to the hotel and repeat that activity until she released me at 12:30 AM last night (or this morning.)

My next blog will be more of a “day in the life” of a very rich lady at Super Bowl.  I think you will be somewhat surprised.

Rick Frissell ~ 813-340-6828  Cell

The World cruiseship arrives in the Port of Tampa Florida as part of the Super Bowl XLIII week long festivities. This exclusive cruiseship has opulent suites for rent during Super Bowl week in Tampa for mega bucks and also houses suite owners along for the ride.

For you “average Joe’s” out there, The World cruiseship is a floating residential community owned by its residents (condos). The residents, currently from 40 different countries, live on board as the ship slowly circumnavigates the globe — staying in most ports from 2 to 5 days. Some residents live onboard full time while others visit their floating home periodically throughout the year.

The World has many facilities similar to those on board a regular cruise ship but are unique due to the residential nature of the vessel. Her amenities include a small grocery store and delicatessen, a boutique, complete athletic facilities that include a golf simulator, putting green, casino, full-sized tennis court, jogging track and fully equipped gym.

There are five restaurants that supplement the full kitchens in all apartments and the ever-changing variety of dining ashore as the ship travels. For on-board entertainment there is a movie theatre, library and music performances. In addition to shore excursions, classes are offered on board in dance, navigation, language, cooking, arts and crafts, music, computers, and photography. In addition, high-speed Internet access is available in each residence.

Dave Tipton ~ Realtor

About the Author: Dave Tipton is a licensed real estate Broker with Diamond Dwellings Realty- Florida. Dave’s office is in Brandon, Florida which serves eastern Hillborough County. Dave can be reached at Dave@DiamondDwellings.Com or 813-653-1241.

If you are interested in a career in real estate or associating with Diamond Dwellings Realty, please contact Dave! All calls and inquiries will be held in the strictest confidence.

At the training class we were told we needed a long sleeve white shirt.  I don’t own a long sleeve white shirt.  I prefer light blue for my dress shirts. So I run to the local department store to buy a shirt, five minutes before closing.

“Good evening shoppers, thank you for shopping at Steinmart.  We will be closing in 5 minutes.  Please bring your purchases to check out.”  Yipes, I just arrived.

Okay okay, let’s find the size and get out of here.  Rush rush, white shirt – check, 17 inch collar – check, 34 inch length – check … go, go, go, let’s get to check out.  All done in less than 3 minutes!!

So I get up yesterday morning with a full schedule.  I have to write a blog, answer my real estate emails, check new listings for my clients and iron my white “long sleeve” shirt.

So why do they fold new shirts with a hundred straight pins?  It must mean something when you can buy a shirt faster than you can open the package.  But, I am running behind so I have to get going.  The steam iron is now cooking, sending a spiral of steam from it’s nose and hissing at me as a cobra ready to go.  I always follow the same order.  Press the collar, nice and crisp.  Now the sleeves.  The sleeves.  The sleeves … oh no!  The sleeves have french cuffs!  I can’t use this shirt!

Thinking fast, I remember about the commercials of how Men’s Warehouse saves people that are in a jam.  I bought my black suit (also required and also something I did not own) from Men’s Warehouse.  I will take my new Men’s Warehouse black suit still wrapped by them and buy a white shirt there.  I can also have them press it (after all this is an emergency and it’s their advertisement, not mine) and I can get dressed right there in the changing room.  Well, that plan worked and the day is back on track.

Except.  Except that my Nextel phone they gave me does not have a signal.  Now Nextel is no Men’s Warehouse.  My family has been down that route when we bought two Nextel phones for my wife and son.  Same problem, no service coverage.  No sympathy.  No help.  No refund.

Let’s Get This Show on the Road

I get to “Command Center.”  No kidding, this is set up military style.  We even use military time and we have a field van called “Mobile Operations Center” or MOC.  I let Command Center know that my Nextel won’t work in Valrico (and likely a lot of the rest of the area) and they take it to check it out.  Well, it wasn’t the usual Nextel signal problem.  It was a “not working” Nextel phone.  Now how is one able to tell the difference?  Anyway, the “not working” part is fixed.  The signal part is a problem related to where my house is located and I am not going to move.

At 1:30 PM I get a contact from dispatch for a pick up at the airport, at 1950.  That is 7:50 PM.  “Stand by and we will be contacting you with instructions.”

Six hours of stand by?  That’s okay, I wanted this gig.

Another part of the training the day before is that we be ”in the cell phone parking lot 20 minutes ahead of arrival.”  I am there an hour ahead.  Thirty minutes to go and my personal cell phone rings.  It is dispatch.  They had called my home and my wife gave them my cell phone number.  This time the Nextel problem was the operator, me ! They had told us to keep the volume down so as not to disturb our clients.  But, they did not tell us to mute it.  They had been trying to reach me for an hour and were not getting a response from me.  Okay, un-mute.

Well my client arrives on time and I am taking one of the broadcast booth announcers from NBC.  Now I am not allowed to mention names, but there are only three, so you guess.

VERY nice people!  We are driving to the Harbour Island Westin.  I grew up in Tampa.  Been to downtown Tampa probably thousands of times and in thousands and thousands of times I have only gone the wrong way on a one way street once.  Now let’s make that two.

What a headline:  “NBC Super Bowl announcer did not make the game and is in the hospital after a head on collision by a local Realtor pretending to be a chauffeur at the Super Bowl.”

Well, thankfully there was no oncoming traffic, no accident and no tip.  I would not have accepted one after I could feel the death grip on the back of my Lincoln Towncar luxury leather seat by the announcers wife.  What does it mean when you stop the car and your clients run?  They did not teach us THAT in chauffeur school.

So my second day as a chauffeur and my first day of driving was over. Tired, embarrassed and down, I went home and thought of the less stressful days of real estate.

Rick Frissell~ Realtor

Day 1 as a chauffeur is all about training.  Would you believe there are over a hundred Power Point cells for training.  Thank goodness the real estate exam was easier.  (Just kidding)

Some rules are obvious, such as, no smoking in the car.  Now I have never smoked so that is no big deal.  But, would you believe we are not to offer our hand for hand shake to greet our client?  The reasoning:  There is an increasing concern about the spreading of germs and we are to never put our clients in an embarrassing position of refusing or not wanting to shake our hand.

Dress attire.  Now that was an interesting exercise we went through.  Our email and phone communications made a big deal of bringing our black suit and white shirt (they provide the tie as part of the standard uniform.)  Many of the people got the message to wear their suit.  I couldn’t believe how many different suits there could be that are black.  The inspection consisted of making sure the suit was solid black.  No pin stripes or patterns of any type were permitted.  But that was it.  I’m looking around the room and some of these suits look like they have been slept in for days.  Maybe they’re the professional chauffeurs.  White is not always white either.  There is gray white as in worn out.  But, those were the exception for sure.  There were hundreds of drivers and I would say 95% or more looked great.

There was one major snafu for the day.  There were four sperate training classes for the day and I was in session 3.  After an afternoon of training, they discover, suddenly , that there are not enough cars to assign to every driver.  On the surface that would seem solvable and it is.  But not until the next day. Well, they instructed us to be dropped off because there was not enough parking for our personal cars and we would be getting a car anyway.  So now there are probably 50 people without transportation home and the day is over.  I got a car!  As I was leaving, quickly I might add, staff was on the phone making shuttle arrangements for the shorted drivers.

Day 2, today as I write this, is a little confusing.  We are supposed to be ready for airport shuttle runs, but there was conflicting information as to whether we will actually be dispatched today.  So, I will let you know.  Remember, you can follow me on Twitter @RickFrissell

Rick Frissell ~ Diamond Dwellings Realty

The idea for this blog began when I got an email from our local association of Realtors® (GTAR) announcing that there was a need for chauffeurs for Super Bowl week.

“Drivers are needed as chauffeurs for VIP, entertainers, NFL players/Cheerleaders and celebrities.”  Wow!  What a blog I thought.  I sent a communication of my interest in working that week.  After all, who would I possibly meet and why not make some needed money at the same time.

I submited my paper work and was invited to an orientation.  Paperwork, background check (FBI) and drug test and you’re hired.  So they tell you to come back for training, which will be on January 26th and at that time you have a car assigned to you, a dispatch radio, a gas card and notification that you are on call 24×7 for the next week.

So what will the blog look like?  Well, I’m afraid that part of the paperwork was an affidavit that we will not disclose any client names, events or conversations.  Well, that sounds like a boring blog.

So, here is the alternative.  I will be sending pictures of sights and destinations that the partiers will be attending.  Which bars, dance clubs, parties, restaurants and attractions will be captured is yet to be known.

The pictures will be delivered from my cell phone through TwitPic and on my Twitter account.  You can follow me @RickFrissell.  The first three days were explained to be between the airport and hotels and everything else is beginning Friday.  We will at least record the day of a chauffeur through our Twitter blog.  I hope to see you following me!

Rick Frissell~ Diamond Dwellings Realty

813-340-6828 Cell