Red tide was a bit of a deal off Sanibel Beaches and a few others this year. Only seemed to be a problem for the vacationers - unless you can afford a $4mil. to $20 mil. home on the beach. It's nothing to be too concerned about.

I'd be more concerned catching pheunomia (sp?) shoveling all that snow up North.

Cosmic it dosen't seem like there is many jobs there. It does seem like there is some deals on houses on the west side. Not as much on the east.

kinda how the attittude is now in my town after the storm from 2 years ago...

Open72 I worked in Lake Charles after Rita cleaning up the city. Everyone welcomed us in the better areas and it seemed like in the poorer areas they acted like we were trash. In the better areas people would offer us their houses and food for being there. Several times in the poorer areas I told them we was only allowed to cleanup at the curb side and I would go beyond a little but that was not good enough for them. They seemed like we were against them when we was there to help.

la has attitude...i live in a town called mandeville , we now reffer it to as manhatten... we were gracious to have all the help to clean up , and belive it or not , they are still picking up debris here in my town , mainly trees that felled on right's of ways and clearing out water ways now... still , 2 years later..

yes , la has nice people but we have our share of azzholes too...

I was really suprised how nice Lake Charles is. I had no idea what I was getting myself into and it turned out a good town. Most of the people was great but there is always a few. I just learned from working in the different areas where most of the hostility came from. We have azzholes in the Midwest also. We also have crime here. And maybe I am no different then everyone else but I try not to be negitive.

as in everything it is what you make of it, i hope i never have to move back where it is cold,for every rude person i usually meet a couple of nice ones,plus once you have your circle of friends anyplace is a good place,the best thing about the dolphins/marlins is you never have to wait in line to use the restrooms or beer tender,i will eventually move towards cape coral(more golf courses than KW(1))

There were a few times we were out there and called it an early day. My older son is slightly asthmatic and he had breathing issues on those occasions, and I was even coughing and hacking myself. When red tide is heavy it can ruin your day.

Hey Mark, I've got a RE question for you. Would you mind PMing or emailing me so I can ask? Thanks...D

I agree with you Bobcat. Its that way everywhere. There are good people everywhere. I find Florida friendly when I do there but maybe its because I am a tourist. I didn't realize just how bad the economy has gotten on the west side. About all you see are short sales. Mark, are very many of the offers on short sales being taken or are the finance companies holding strong. Are there any owner finance opportunities or lease purchases going on? I would need to move a couple places up here to swing one outright.

In regards to Short Sales, no not many offers will be taken. You have to look at what they owe - NOT what it is listed for. Only expect to get a small amount off of what they owe. Plenty of owner-finance opportunities - if you don't mind over paying (bailing them out). It is sometimes hard to give you advice without knowing what price range you are in. There are many variables. As I've said before - starter type homes, wait - higher end waterfront, buy.