Fickling of Florida Blog

FREE MONEY on St. George Island in September 2010

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More incentive to visit beautiful St. George Island and earn free money! Our local Tourist Development Council has declared September to be Seafood Days in Franklin County and is putting their money where their mouth is – pun intended. Together with the TDC, we are offering anyone booking a vacation in September FREE money! This is good for a stay on St. George Island, Apalachicola, Carrabelle, Eastpoint, all of Franklin County.

Stay in one of our vacation rental homes on St. George Island for two nights and receive a $50 gift card, three nights receive $100 gift card, four nights receive $150 gift card, five nights receive $200 and if you stay 6+ nights you will receive $250 in gift cards!

These will be standard gift credit cards and can be used anywhere credit cards are accepted. You can enjoy that special dinner while watching the sunset on the Apalachicola Bay, order an extra dozen (or two!) of fresh oysters, rent a kayak or a bike, charter a fishing trip or buy a new fishing pole, buy that adorable sundress you’ve been eyeing in the shop window, or that amazing framed photo of the lighthouse… use your imagination!

Quantities are limited so CALL NOW TO BOOK YOUR STAY! We are also offering super discounts on many of our homes – low season rates for the whole month of September!

DETAILS & RESTRICTIONS:

Only good for nights in September.

Non-pay reservations excluded.

Reservations paid in full on arrival only.

Good for reservations booked prior to the special announcement.

While quantities last, so book NOW.

Pick-up in person from your accommodations provider.

Visit Fickling & Company SGI for all of your real estate needs.

08/04/2010 - Louisiana Deepwater Horizon Incident Update for St. George Island Florida

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View the Franklin County Daily Beach Report Video

Here on St. George Island our beaches remain beautiful, clean, and unaffected in any way by the oil. It appears that the efforts to cap the well have been successful and the permanent seal provided by the relief well will be in place within the next two weeks. The oil plume is being dispersed, collected or evaporating so the chances of our area being affected by oil grow slimmer each day. In fact, the majority of environmental clean up crews have left town and much of the precautionary boom is being removed.

State and Federal waters are open to fishing to the south and east of us. On July 22, 2010 NOAA re-opened a large portion of the southern Gulf to fishing after water samples consistently showed no signs of oil in that area. Local charter captains have been busy going offshore and fishing in the Bay – all reports are of limit reaching days! FL DEP continues to monitor local water and air quality, everything remains safe to eat and enjoy!

Visit Fickling & Company SGI for all of your real estate needs.

07/28/2010 - Louisiana Deepwater Horizon Incident Update for St. George Island Florida

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View the Franklin County Daily Beach Report Video

Here on St. George Island our beaches remain beautiful, clean, and unaffected in any way by the oil. We are all so thankful that the cap has been working and no oil has been leaking for several days now. In addition, the prevailing winds have been out of the southeast, pushing the oil plume even farther away from our beaches and the entire Gulf Coast of Florida. Many sections of boom that had been staged throughout the Bay have been removed as the likelihood of oil making it this far east have decreased.

State and Federal waters are open to fishing to the south and east of us. Last week NOAA re-opened a large portion of the southern Gulf to fishing after water samples consistently showed no signs of oil in that area. Local charter captains have been busy going offshore and fishing in the Bay – all reports are of limit reaching days! FL DEP continues to monitor local water and air quality, everything remains safe to eat and enjoy!

Visit Fickling & Company SGI for all of your real estate needs.

07/21/2010 - Louisiana Deepwater Horizon Incident Update for St. George Island Florida

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Here on St. George Island our beaches remain beautiful, clean, and affected in any way by the oil. We are very encouraged that the oil flow from the Deepwater Horizon spill has been stopped and sincerely hope that now all of the recovery efforts to our west have a chance to make a permanent improvement!

State and Federal waters are open to fishing to the south and east of us. All of the charter captains are reporting excellent fishing and red letter days so be sure to call your favorite captain when you are here! If you are more into eating seafood than catching it, don’t worry, there is a huge variety of local seafood for sale and it is fantastic. The local water and air quality are also monitored daily by FL DEP to make sure everything is safe.

We appreciate everyone’s understanding and patience during this summer of uncertainty. Our thoughts and prayers are with all the people and animals being affected by this disaster. The media is covering the situation to the best of their ability but we also communicate with our local agencies on a regular basis so we can provide you with current information and utilize several different websites which we encourage you to check as well.

Florida Emergency Management Map

NOAA’s daily 72 hour trajectory map

Ocean Circulation Models

Federal Fisheries Closures

Unified Command’s Deepwater Horizon Response

Florida Dept of Environmental Protection

Please remember that your reservation with us is GUARANTEED. If our beaches are closed, we will refund your rental monies less 10% of your initial deposit. Since our beaches are NOT BEING AFFECTED AT THIS TIME, any refunds will be based on our rental refund policy that was in effect at the time of booking. We will also work with any renter to reschedule their vacation.

As always, if you have any questions regarding your stay with us or what is happening locally, please do not hesitate to give us a call! 877.927.2218

Visit Fickling & Company SGI for all of your real estate needs.

07/14/2010 - Louisiana Deepwater Horizon Incident Update for St. George Island Florida

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Our lovely St. George Island beaches remain beautiful and clear! We have been unaffected by the Louisiana oil spill and our vacationers are enjoying gorgeous weather for kayaking, fishing, paddleboarding or just reading a book on the beach. The majority of the eastern Gulf of Mexico is still open for some fantastic fishing so don’t hesitate to book an offshore charter while you’re here!

While there is still boom deployed in and around our Bay, it is a precautionary measure only. We understand our vacationers concerns and we really appreciated everyone’s patience and understanding during this uncertain time. We are staying in close contact with our local agencies so we can keep you updated on the situation. Since we realize that the media is not always specific, we hope that you will check on these websites below, just as we do, so you’ll have the most accurate scientific data at your disposal.

Florida Emergency Management Map

NOAA’s daily 72 hour trajectory map

Ocean Circulation Models

Federal Fisheries Closures

Unified Command’s Deepwater Horizon Response

Florida Dept of Environmental Protection

Visit Fickling & Company SGI for all of your real estate needs.

07/07/2010 - Louisiana Deepwater Horizon Incident Update for St. George Island Florida

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St. George Island beaches remain beautiful and clear! The water is clear and refreshing and there has been some great fishing from the shore. We had a great 4^th of July – the Blue Parrot had a fantastic fireworks display and so many of our vacationers brought their own – it was a lightshow from one end of the beach to the other!

The winds are continuing to blow from the east which is keeping the oil even further from our beaches. We understand our vacationers concerns and we really appreciated everyone’s patience and understanding during this uncertain time. We are staying in close contact with our local agencies so we can keep you updated on the situation. Since we realize that the media is not always specific, we hope that you will check on these websites below, just as we do, so you’ll have the most accurate scientific data at your disposal.

Florida Emergency Management Map

NOAA’s daily 72 hour trajectory map

Ocean Circulation Models

Federal Fisheries Closures

Unified Command’s Deepwater Horizon Response

Florida Dept of Environmental Protection

Visit Fickling & Company SGI for all of your real estate needs.

06/30/2010 - Louisiana Deepwater Horizon Incident Update for St. George Island Florida

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St. George Island beaches remain beautiful and clear! The water is warm but still refreshing and there has been some great fishing from the shore. There are lots of people on the beach but still plenty of room to set up your umbrella/chairs/fishing poles with at least 100’ clear beach on either side of you at certain spots – stake your claim!

Needless to say, we’ve been watching Hurricane Alex. It’s far enough south to not be much of a problem except a little rain. We’ll take the rain since the winds are blowing out of the southeast which has pushed the oil plume even farther from our shores. You can see the ocean current and wind model here.

The fishing reports are excellent! There are charter captains still going offshore and catching snapper, grouper, amberjack, cobia plus flounder when they’re in closer. To ease your concerns about the water quality – FL DEP is testing water samples on a daily basis so rest assured the situation is closely monitored. Also, scallop season has now been open for a week and a half – reports are that they are plentiful if you know the secret holes!

We understand our vacationers concerns and we really appreciated everyone’s patience and understanding during this uncertain time. We are staying in close contact with our local agencies so we can keep you updated on the situation. Also, see the websites below for the most accurate, up to date information regarding the Deepwater Horizon Incident. There is no substitute for info straight from the source!

Florida Emergency Management Map

NOAA’s daily 72 hour trajectory map

Ocean Circulation Models

Federal Fisheries Closures

Unified Command’s Deepwater Horizon Response

Florida Dept of Environmental Protection

Visit Fickling & Company SGI for all of your real estate needs.

6/21/2010- Louisiana Deepwater Horizon Incident Update for St. George Island Florida

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St. George Island beaches are beautiful and clear! You can see your feet (along with blue crabs, hermit crabs, lightning whelks, and other treasures) in 5’ of water, so bring your mask and snorkel to look for critters. Plenty of people are out enjoying our lovely beaches, so pack up your car and make a plan to join them! As clear as the water has been, you may want to try a stand up paddle board – they really give you a birds eye view of what all is living under the sea.

While there are reports of tar balls in Panama City Beach, the weather is shifting today – winds are expected to come out of the east/southeast for the next week which will be pushing the oil plume back to the west. The first stages of boom are being set around the passes and in the bay as a preemptive measure. The county has also received state approval to place a barge across Bob Sykes Cut to help block pollutants from entering the Bay. This is a huge step in protecting our Bay!

FISHERMEN! C’mon down! I won’t go so far as to say they are jumping in the boats but I did hear of a bay fishing charter that limited out so just had to go a few miles offshore where they surface fished for mangrove snapper. Limited out there too! To ease your concerns about the water quality – FL DEP is testing water samples on a daily basis so rest assured the situation is closely monitored. Also, scallop season opened up this weekend (two weeks early) so when you get tired of catching dinner on a pole, head out to St. Joe Bay or Lanark and gather up some blue-eyed rascals.

Florida Emergency Management Map

NOAA’s daily 72 hour trajectory map

Ocean Circulation Models

Federal Fisheries Closures

Unified Command’s Deepwater Horizon Response

Florida Dept of Environmental Protection

Visit Fickling & Company SGI for all of your real estate needs.

Louisiana Deepwater Horizon Incident Update for St. George Island Florida June 14, 2010

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Let us reassure you that St. George Island beaches remain pristine and unaffected by the oil spill. Nothing on the beach but umbrellas, beach chairs, flying kites and sandcastles! We realize that the media is making blanket reports and rumors are flying but please be aware that the Florida Wildlife Commission dispatched a flyover off our beaches yesterday (Sunday, June 13, 2010) and saw no signs of oil.

If you have any concerns and want up to the minute live info, just give us a call at the office! We’re happy to answer any questions you may have. We certainly understand that your summer beach vacation is precious and that most of you consider St. George Island your home away from home. So many of our guests have called wondering if they could volunteer for cleanup or to prepare in advance and we so appreciate your concern and generous offers! At this time, we’re all working to keep the beaches trash free which is the most we can do. Booms have been put into place on the east side of the St. George Island bridge as well as several areas west of us as a precautionary measure. Since the Bay will be protected by three tiers of boom, it was decided to install the first tier early.

We are constantly researching websites covering the oil spill in search of the most accurate, up to date data. Here are the websites we monitor so you can check on the information that is most relevant to you as well:

NOAA’s daily 72 hour trajectory map

Ocean Circulation Models

Federal Fisheries Closures

Unified Command’s Deepwater Horizon Response

Florida Dept of Environmental Protection

Visit Fickling & Company SGI for all of your real estate needs.

1st Quarter Sales Reports St. George Island, Florida and surrounding area

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1st Quarter sales results are showing some positive trends! Sales have increased over last year. There was a 27% increase in the number of transactions on St. George Island and a whopping 48% increase for the local association as a whole (encompassing Mexico Beach to Alligator Point).

Sales volume has also increased quite a bit in all areas. On St. George Island, the total amount of sales volume has increased 40%. If you consider that transactions increased only 27% it is obvious that home prices have increased. If you click on the graph above to view the whole report, you will see that average and median home prices have increased on St. George Island for the first time in four years. These are averages, so certainly there are individual homes that have sold at great discounts, but the overall trend is one of increasing averages.

Nineteen homes sold on St. George Island during the first quarter and ten of them were distressed sales. There are currently thirty-one homes under contract on St. George Island, twenty-six of which are short sales or foreclosures.

Seven homes sold in Apalachicola during the first quarter, three of which were distressed sales. There are currently nine homes under contract, six of which are short sales or foreclosures.

Five homes sold in Eastpoint during the first quarter, two of which were distressed sales, and there are currently three under contract, two of which are distressed sales.

Seven homes sold in Carrabelle during the first quarter, five of which were distressed sales. There are currently twelve homes under contract, six of which are distressed sales.

Visit Fickling & Company SGI for all of your real estate needs.