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How One Local Builder is Improving South Tampa October 20, 2011
By Kortney Gentry

In an effort to improve South Tampa homes, Tampa Realtor, BG Holmberg has teamed up with Martin Ryan, a 3rd generation spec builder of almost 30 years and founder of M. Ryan Homes. These two have known each other for nearly 7 years now, however, 2 years ago, they came up with a concept and started a plan that would keep growing families in the area they love.

The concept:

* All homes will be in the Plant High School district but will vary in elementary schools, giving families more options for younger children
* Homes will be located in various areas of central South Tampa
* The average price point varies from the high $400s to $600K
* 4 Bedroom minimum in each home
* Lot size will vary but will range from 50′ x 80′ to 80′ x 130′
* All are built following several consumer expectations: hardwood, granite, beautiful cabinetry, stainless steel appliances & double paned windows for energy efficiency. Many of the homes also feature tankless gas water heaters & gas stoves to reduce the use of electricity.
* While the homes all lean towards more of a traditional/mission style combination with a square shape & clean lines, there will be 5-6 different floor plans

The past two years….

BG Holmberg led Ryan to his first lot purchase in September of 2009 and the duo have since collaborated on 17 more lot purchases, 13 home completions (12 of which have already sold) and 3 homes are currently under construction. Since these are all built to specifications to remain in the realm of the original concept, very few changes are made by the buyers and the homes are not typically listed until near completion. That doesn’t mean you should wait until the last minute if you are looking to purchase one of these beauties; 10 out of the 12 that have sold were under contract before the home was even move-in ready.

What should you be looking for in the future?

Since Ryan oversees all of his projects on his own, he works on a maximum of 5 homes at a time, all of which are exclusively marketed by BG Holmberg via Smith & Associates Real Estate. The two plan on knocking out (or rather, building up) 8-10 homes per year with an undecided end point or until South Tampa meets all of their specifications.

If you are interested in one of these South Tampa homes, contact BG Holmberg to arrange a meeting.

What do you look for when it comes to purchasing a new home? Do their specs meet your requirements?

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Designer Thursday: Making Small Space Living Fabulous! September 15, 2011
By Kortney Gentry

When looking for a new home for sale in St. Pete, the option of small space living is often pushed to the back burner. Despite popular belief, it doesn’t have to be a downside to your new home! You just have to use your imagination & common sense, maximizing the use of the space. Work with it rather than trying to force it to work for you.

After an intense pondering session, I decided on 5 tips to maximizing small spaces. Here goes nothing:

Be flexible. Don’t define every room to a specific purpose, give purpose to every room!
Be functional. Just because it is called a “walk-in closet”, doesn’t men that’s all its good for. Make use of every corner and bare walls by adding an art studio or office.
Scale down. Why have a family room AND a sitting room (that no one actually sits in) with TVs in both? Designate one area for congregating, TV watching and video game playing. This will maximize family time as well!
Divide it up. Maximize large rooms by dividing them into sections for designated purposes. Use 3-fold room dividers or fancy curtains to really give it a “room-y” feel. (vintage room divider found on Amazon pictured right)
Bring it outside. If you have a porch, patio or yard, ad a grill, tables, tents and out door games. You now have the perfect place to entertain!

Still not convinced that small space living is fabulous living? Need an incentive to decorate a small space? A website titled Apartment Therapy actually hosts an annual “Small/Cool” Contest (yes, that is the name) for homes under 1,000 SqFt. The categories are (absolutely adorable) “Teeny-Tiny”, “Tiny”, “Little”, “Small” and “International”. Thousands of entries are received and there is one Grand Prize winner as well as one finalist picked per category.

This year’s winner was an amazing 460 SQFT, well lit apartment in Brooklyn (pictured thanks to www.apartmenttherapy.com). This teeny space has been completely maximized, allowing for a section for a bedroom (top left), living room (left), office, kitchen (bottom right) and bathroom. I am in love!

According to the contest rules “The home can be designed by a professional, weekend hobbyist or design enthusiast” so everyone is invited to participate & the prizes are pretty swell! Check them out for even more ideas on how to maximize your small space.

Whether you opt for small space living out of necessity or desire, there are so many ways to maximize the area and make it just as fabulous as an over-sized mansion! Not to mention how green you can be, reducing your carbon footprint by using less emissions to keep a small space functioning.

How have you maximized space in your Tampa Bay home? Do you have any small space decorating tips?

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Happy Earth Day! April 22, 2011
By Kortney Gentry

As humans, we love to celebrate birthdays. Sometimes there is a huge surprise party with cake, presents and people you may not even know while other times it may just be about spending your special day with the people you love. Regardless of the celebration method chosen, whether you’re turning 5 or 50, the day is yours and people want it to be your best birthday yet.

Today is not a birthday per se, but it is in fact Earth Day and all the same rules apply. Have you ever stepped outside of your St. Pete home and thought “wow, this planet is awesome” or “How can I better improve the planet on which I live”? Maybe you have though this and taken action. Maybe the thought has never crossed your mind. Regardless, of where you stand, today is the perfect day to show how thankful we really are for our incredible planet.

After speaking with a few Smith & Associates Real Estate agents and staff members, we came up with a few ways to show our appreciation this Earth Day:

1. Grow Food. According to St. Pete Realtor, Carolyn Robinson, “I have always wanted to grow my own garden but have found more excuses not to than motivation to start.” We have all experienced good intentions with lack of motivation. A fully functioning vegetable garden can be a lot of work and extremely intimidating. Start small- with one plant or a few herbs then take on more as you are able. You have to start somewhere!

2. Buy Local. All of the things we are unable to grow have to come from somewhere, and unfortunately, we often unknowingly look outside the Tampa Bay area for these items. Did those banannas travel thousands of miles, crossing country borders before making it to the grocery store? What about that new t-shirt? Where was in made? Where was the cotton grown? The more we think about these things, the more we realize how dependent we are on others for survival. Make a conscious effort to research where all of your purchases come from and give back to the local community by seeing what they have to offer- you will be pleasantly surprised as to what you can buy locally!

3. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. This is a big one- we have all heard about recycling but do we really do it? In our opinion, Smith & Associates Real Estate has one of the most fabulous Marketing Coordinators around, and she’s Earth friendly too! Alexis Bentivegna shared that recycling isn’t just tossing a soda can into the blue & green bins. “When shopping, take reusable bags!” Not only are you reducing the amount of plastic consumed but you’re reusing as well!

4. Respect the Ocean. Florida, being a peninsula, is almost completely surrounded by water; from almost everywhere in the state, we can get to the beach in under an hour. Living in the Tampa Bay area, we often take the ocean for granted. According to St. Pete Realtor, Drew Glaser, a great way to respect the ocean is to remember that “all drains lead to the sea”. This means that what we dispose of goes directly into our oceans, often contaminating the water and killing off thousands of sea life that we depend on to keep our Earth in balance. By purchasing environmentally friendly products free of harmful chemicals (or making your own!) and being conscious of what we throw away and where it is disposed of, we can keep the ocean happy. After all, the Earth is about 75% water so we don’t want angry oceans!

5. “Greenify” Your Home. This doesn’t require that everyone completely remodel their home, switch to solar power or even put your home for sale in Tampa to move into a more environmentally friendly place. Sara Houze, from Smith Title suggested a couple of simple places to start- Turn the air off on a nice day and enjoy the breeze through open windows or switch to fluorescent light bulbs that use about 1/3 the power of a regular bulb. Not only will this be great for the planet but it saves money as well!

6. Consume Less. We are consumers that often buy brand new things off impulse rather than necessity. According to The Urban Organic Gardner, “before you buy something, ask yourself if you need it. Then ask again.” New products use a lot of energy and resources to create. If you get bitten by the over consumption bug, no worries- it gets the best of us. If you really MUST have something, then it will be easy to try to find the same thing “slightly used”- they may be old to someone else but they are new to you. If it isn’t worth the time and effort of the search, then it probably wasn’t worth it to begin with!

7. Eat Less Meat. According to Environmental Defense, “if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off U.S. roads.” That is a pretty powerful statement and it doesn’t even mention the THOUSANDS of gallons of water used to raise 1lb of meat.

8. Play Outside. Drew Glaser suggest that people “take their kids outside to play rather than occupying them with television and video games”. Not only does it help create a healthy way of living by incorporating exercise and imagination into games, but it helps develop an appreciation for our planet that just wouldn’t come to life without experiencing all the Earth has to offer outside of the house.

While these are only a few simple ways to show your appreciation to the Earth, there are COUNTLESS other options. What are your favorite ways to give back to our planet? What are you going to do for Earth Day this year?

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Everyday Solar Power Possibilities June 16, 2010
By Stephanie Streeter

Solar power is unfortunately often thought of as something that’s not practical for mainstream usage. But, there’s good news! Companies like Lennox Industries are creating attainable everyday systems for harnessing this free green energy source. The creation of practical systems for average home owners will assist in bridging the gap between green-friendly and green-affordable.

Lennox Industries has introduced a solar powered central heating and cooling system called SunSource. The main platform of the system consists of a solar ready air conditioning system, heat pump, and roof-installed solar modules. The best news regarding SunSoure is that the system can be phased into an existing home gradually. Anywhere from 1 to 15 solar modules can be installed, and both the panels and A/C or heat systems can be added separately. This will allow St Petersburg home owners to convert to the system at their own pace and, more importantly, according to their own budget.

In addition to powering heating and cooling, SunSource also has the potential to provide electricity to power appliances and the lights in your St Petersburg home. The more panels added, the more power available. Another great feature of the product is the communication panel, which allows a home owner to view the performance of the system and its various elements. A curious home owner can easily track home much energy their solar panels are producing with 24/7 access, and also see carbon offsets.

Interesting in learning more about SunSource for your St Petersburg home? See a sample home setup and view an informational video from Lennox here.

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Keeping Cool…Efficiently April 21, 2010
By Stephanie Streeter

It’s hard to believe, considering the abnormally cool weather we’ve had so far this year, but summer is coming. With temperatures already on the rise, our A/C systems should be stretching their legs and getting ready for another Florida summer marathon. It’s hard to believe that we once lived without them, but now air conditioning systems are indispensable. Unfortunately, so is both the environmental impact and the financial cost of running them constantly. Here are some tips to stay cool in your Hillsborough County home this summer while still reducing energy costs and being kinder to the environment.

Become A Fanatic. Ceiling fans require much less electricity to operate than your central A/C system. While they may not be able to actually lower the room temperature, the air circulation they create makes the room feel cooler. Most homes already have them, and if yours doesn’t they’re very easy to install.

Shut It Out. When trying to keep your home cool on a hot Florida summer day, the sun is your worst enemy. Be sure to close your blinds and drapes – especially those that face direct sunlight during the day. This will assist in keeping most of the heat out and take some of the load off your poor A/C system. Also, keep in mind that white reflects sunlight. Draperies backed in a light color fabric will reflect sunlight rather than absorbing it.

Fiddle On The Roof. Properly ventilating your attic can mean a serious dent in cooling costs if it isn’t already. Heat is absorbed through the roof of your house, and this source can amount to approximately 30% of the warmth in your Hillsborough County home. The addition of a ridge vent, attic fan, or more vents in the eaves can better ventilate your attic and assist in circulating hot air back outside where it belongs.

Get A New Toy. While going retro can sometimes be a good thing, it doesn’t apply to your thermostat. Upgrading to a programmable version can help you lower your energy costs. Raising the temperature for a few hours during the day can make a big dent. Experiment with your comfort level until you find the right settings.

Go Green-er. We all know that the air temperature is cooler in the shade – apply the same theory to your home! Increasing the amount of trees and shrubs around your home can help to reduce the effect of the heat of the sun, keeping your home cooler naturally.

Get Unplugged. Our homes are filled with gadgets these days. From tv’s to computers to stereo equipment, we can’t seem to live without them. Unfortunately, even when they’re not in use they generate heat while plugged in. Consider unplugging items that aren’t essential, or switching off the surge protector when items aren’t in use. Less power means less heat – as well as a lower electric bill.

Call For Help. Just like your car, an A/C system requires regular maintenance. Calling your preferred company for a regular checkup before the worst of the heat hits can help you make sure that things are running as efficiently as possible. Changing your air filters on a monthly basis is also extremely important.

Stop The Leaks. One definite way to decrease your cooling costs is to reduce the amount of leaks in your Hillsborough County home. Anywhere heat can enter or cool air can escape is a place to look. Check weatherstripping around around your doors and windows, and replace old or damaged bits. Also look into sealing places where utilities enter the home – everything from plumbing to cable and electricity. Last, but not least, call in an expert to check your ducts for leaks. Most electric companies offer a ductwork efficiency evaluation service to customers as part of an energy audit.