Chuck’s answer: I’m not sure why you would want to buy again when you can rent so cheaply.

Will you get enough use out of it each year that it is worth the hassle of maintaining it when you are not here?

Here are some things you need to ask yourself before you buy:

What makes the Gulf Coast better?

Is there a lesser chance of hurricanes in the Gulf Coast?

Is the insurance cheaper?

Is the rental season longer?

Is there less competition?

Are there more major airports with lower airfare?

Is the property there appreciating more quickly?

Are there more jobs and or tourism in the Gulf Coast?

Things may have changed since when I performed due diligence for some Gulf Coast properties a few years ago -

There was *a lot* of competition in the Gulf Coast.

The clientele in the Gulf *was* looking for bargain basement, at least as much as they were in Orlando and other vacation towns – the economy doesn’t make it easy to find premium guests in any region.

Insurance was even more in the gulf area than Florida insurance (because of hurricanes) and the rental season was shorter than Orlando.

Rental Markets (and the economy) can change from time to time, so I suppose your mileage may vary.

In short, when I was checking out the Gulf Coast, the grass wasn’t any greener.

We’re thinking of buying a condo or home on a beach near Lake or on an island. Any idea if they run well? Q. have any suggestions as to a good area where we should begin our search?
Chuck’s Answer: If it were me, I’d research the listings for your target city at the top sites (VRBO.com, Homeaway.com, etc.) Then I’d pick up the phone and call a few owners and be straight with them: “I’m considering buying a condo in your area to rent. Can you give me any advice?”

Naturally, some vacation rental owners won’t talk with you , but some will. And of the owners who talk with you, you’ll have to filter what they say because they may or may not be telling the whole truth. Still, at the end of your exercise, you’ll know much, much more than before you started.

The rental markets in different parts of Florida are considerably different (Keys, Panhandle, East Coast, Gulf Coast, Disney Area). For example, peak rental seasons in the Disney area are Summertime and school holidays when kids are out of school. But in most other parts of Florida, peak seasons are in the winter when travelers are trying to escape the cold.

Tell these people whose jobs are going overseas that it’s media driven.

Hey folks! have a nice day! Take a vacation, buy a pool!”

It’s absolutely not media driven. The media may be contributing to the fear, but they certainly aren’t *DRIVING* it.

It would be entirely irresponsible for the media to say to the public :

“*IGNORE* that you’re paying 30% more for gas. *IGNORE* that you have less money after paying your bills. Ignore that your pay has been declining for the past 5 years. *IGNORE* that you have no equity in your homes to take out home equity loans. You, the general public need to go out and spend the money you no longer have! Be happy, spend money! Get this economy rolling again!!”

Frankly, if you don’t have it to spend, and if you can’t get a loan against your assets, then you don’t spend.

In our corner of the world, it’s a 30% higher fuel cost, leading to higher transportation costs, higher heating costs, higher food bills and lower disposable income. It also doesn’t help that for 100 years, we had factory jobs that paid twice the national wage and those jobs have now gone overseas.

Feel free to complain about a “media driven recession,” but nationwide, people who follow the news – and those that don’t – are all feeling the pain of higher prices, lower disposable income.

Actually, Google maps works better than you know. Here’s the awful truth.
Google’s street view isn’t really new. It’s been around since May 2007, but they’ve been adding new cities.

Last Autumn, before my family vacationed in San Francisco, we used Google’s Street view to take a virtual walk from the Hotel we chose to Fisherman’s Wharf. We were able to “walk down the streets” in Google maps, look around at all the buildings, until we arrived at our destination. A few weeks later, when we were physically in San Francisco, the experience of *really* walking down the streets was eerily familiar compared to our “virtual walk” in Google Maps, weeks earlier.

Here’s a real-world example. Click the arrows on the street to walk down the street.

Here’s when you can see in which US Cities Google provides a photographic street view.

I agree.

Plug and play.

My only advice: Leave the router exposed so that the guest can unplug it to reset it, if needed. Or, so the guest can press the router “reset” button, in the case of an emergency. Sometimes, if the Internet connection goes down, you’ll just need a simple “power down, wait two minutes, power back up” to get it restarted. You can’t easily have the guests take care of it themselves if your router and modem are locked away in a cupboard.

In the past several years, several popular indoor water park hotels have been built very near Cedar Point. Recently we’ve stayed at the Great Bear Lodge and Castaway Bay, which have large indoor waterparks.

Check out these hotels near Cedar Point.

You are planning to travel the US and you need to keep the communication lines open online with a help of an AOL connected laptop. You already have AOL Broadband on your PC. Can AOL Broadband be transferred to the laptop while you’re traveling?

You no longer need to pay AOL monthly fees to keep up your AOL e-mail address. Here are the details.

Transfer your AOL e-mail address to a FREE AOL account that requires NO AOL software.

Then use your laptop with Internet Explorer and Firefox to see the Internet without AOL slowing you down.

And save hundreds of dollars per year that you’re paying to AOL that isn’t really necessary anymore. AOL’s catastrophic member subscription decline is a true indication that AOL was once a valuable product that has now been replaced by a better, free, non-AOL Internet.

Congratulations, you’ve found the one, said your vows, and you’re ready to get out of your hometown and have a great honeymoon. While you’ve been getting lots of marriage advice from everyone and their mother, here’s a good tip that you might actually use. When couples go honeymooning, a hotel seems like the inevitable. There is, however, another option. You can live in a gorgeous vacation home during your honeymoon.

There are many great reasons to choose a vacation home over a hotel. First of all, you’ve just had to endure every one of your friends and family probably since the moment you started planning your wedding. The two of you could use some serious alone time. In a vacation home, there is no one but the two of you. No 12 o’clock ‘housekeeping’ calls, no distracting noise from the next room, and no snobby hotel clerks to answer to. It’s just you and your sweetheart.

Many great vacation homes offer a pool just like a hotel, however, the pool is all yours. You don’t have to share it with other guests, or wait until midnight to take a romantic swim together. And, if you decide to have guests on your honeymoon, with a vacation home, you will have plenty of room. You won’t be cramped up inside a stuffy hotel room.

The good vacation homes are located in the perfect place. You will be just a few minutes away from all of the great places that you might want to visit. Then, when you’re ready to give up on the sights, you can return to your vacation home and enjoy the peace and quiet with your spouse. The homes are beautiful as well, and offer the finest amenities, like big-screen televisions with DVD and cable. They are beautifully furnished and you will be surrounded in luxury. Guys, this is definitely a winner and your woman will love you for it. She will feel like a queen in the vacation home you choose.

You don’t have to stay in a stuffy hotel where you will be surrounded by hotel guests or shut up in your tiny room. A vacation home offers an affordable, lovely atmosphere to spend your honeymoon. After all, before long you will be back in your real home and back to the jobs, family, hustle and bustle. Make this time of your life memorable. Forget the hotel, and get an amazing vacation home. You’ll thank yourself later.

            The blue man group is the newest group to hit Universal Orlando, and it’s a show that you certainly don’t want to miss.  The show has an ‘out of this world’ quality.  That’s not a bad thing by any means.  You will most definitely be entertained.  The show is a combination of music, lights and some comedy. 
 

            At one point in the show, you may feel as if you are in some other world, with the amazing colored lights flashing and bobbing, and the drumming.  Then at another point, you find yourself laughing at these incredible blue men.  There is a point in the show when the blue men interact with a couple of members of the audience, and it makes for some great laughs.
 

            The costumes the blue men wear are comprised of latex caps which make them look bald, and tons of blue paint on their faces and heads.  They wear black clothing as well.  The blue men work with fluids, lights, and some unidentifiable things.  They make such a great mess that the people in the front row are given plastic coverings to protect themselves from flying liquids, paints and food.  Food?  Yeah.  In one past show, the Blue Men Group actually made an attempt to provide an audience member with a romantic dinner using a Twinkie.  This should give you some idea of what it’s like to see them live.
 

            If you’ve seen the Blue Man Group before, you will be pleased that along with their own theater in Universal Orlando, they have come up with some new acts for this venue.  The Blue Man Group never talks.  Throughout the whole performance, they manage to entertain, make people laugh, and create a spectacular show without uttering one word.
 

            One of the greatest things about the Blue Man Group is that you can feel free to take your entire family to the show.  There is nothing that is ‘adult’ about the show.  You don’t have to feel nervous about taking the kids to the show, unless they are very young and might be scared of big blue guys who play with colored lights and paint.  Most children actually love it because of the bright color and unusual sounds.  This is one show that is unlike any other.  If you haven’t seen this show, it is most definitely something that you should do.  It’s a guaranteed good, unique time! 

Sea World in Orlando, Florida is a 200 acre marine life park that features daily animal exhibits, attractions, and many other amazing things. If you’ve never considered visiting Sea World, then you most definitely should. There’s good news for those of you who have been there before as well. There are some great new features that are remarkable.

This is one of the greatest places to take the family when you’re on vacation in Orlando. Kids love seeing the scheduled animal performances and interactive lessons. The adults will be surprised at how much fun they will have as well. At the waterfront, there are several places to grab some good food, take a minute to rest your feet, and catch a street performer doing his or her thing.

If you decide to visit, one of the things that you must do is visit the ‘Journey to Atlantis.’ This is a water splashing water coaster that features 2 steep drops. These are guaranteed to get your heart racing and your blood pumping. Sea World is also one of the best places to see endangered Manatees. These gentle giants are dying in large numbers due to the injuries from boat propellers. The people at Sea World rescue Manatees and give them a great home.

One of the greatest parts of Sea World is The ‘Odyssea.’ This is a half hour long show that features an acrobatic show that’s sure to delight the kids and the adults. It’s an underwater themed show, and has been compared to Cirque de Soleil. Kids will love posing a picture with beautiful Clydesdale horses, and being able to feed the dolphins. At the ‘Dolphin Nursery,’ tourists can see the newly born baby dolphins, and watch them swimming around in the water.

The best thing at Sea World, and something that all families and individuals should see is the ‘Pets Ahoy’ display. This show features all different kinds of animals, from dogs and cats to skunks and pot-bellied pigs. They put on a great show that is funny and charming, and show off many learned behaviors. Many of these animals were rescued from the local animal shelters. It truly is one of those things that you just have to see to appreciate it. It’s incredible. Sea World is an amazing place to visit, with so many great things to see. This place definitely gets an A+.