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In the real estate markets of St. George Island and Cape San Blas, these years were the last ones of normalcy; they were a time, now lost, when real estate for sale was selling, albeit at a leisurely pace; they were days when lots for sale, unlike now,were actually selling, albeit slowly. They were the last of the Good Ole Days.
Here and there, rumors were beginning to emerge, whereby a sleeping giant would soonwake up - but no one knew for sure. After all, most rumors are just that: rumors!The giant was the conglomerate founded by Alfred du P...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
6/18/2010
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In the early 1990's I was doing some promotion leg work for Anchor Realty aboutSt. George Island, Florida in Atlanta. I was meeting localagents at rest estate companies to let them know about the superb opportunities offered by thereal estate for sale on St. George Island and Cape San Blas.I remember well asking waitersat numerousrestaurants in Atlanta the question: Do you know where is (what is!) St. George Island? In 1988 or 1989, the answers were unanimously the same: a blank stare, or is it in the Carrabeans? Beginning in 1991, more and more pe...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
6/2/2010
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Actually, Nothingness to quote Jean-Paul Sartre, is what qualifies this period best. Cape San Blas and St. George Island real estate salescame to an abrupt halt after the double hurricane hit inNovember of 1985. I remember this time verywell. Highway 98, between Carrabelle and Eastpoint, hadthe flavor of an African safari trail, with entire portions of the road gone, and with asphalt, when left,lookinglike a wildaccordion. The bridge between St. George Island and the mainlandfelt like an attractionat Universal Studio: it was destroyed in several se...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
5/27/2010
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St. George Islandwas first platted and lots offered for sale in what is nowits center in the 1950's; a ferry boat was then in operation between Eastpoint and St. George Island. You can still see the embarcadero to the immediate East of where the bridge leaves the mainland. The ferry landed near where theexisting bridge connects to St. George Island.It was also the era when Bob Sikes Cut was opened in order to procure faster access to the high seas for the Apalachicola fishing flotilla . The firstbridge to the mainland wasfinished in the 1960's - com...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
5/24/2010
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This is the first article of a set of seven. Theyhaveone ambition:placing the local real estate sales market into the perspective - and also thewisdom - afforded by time. St.George Island and Cape San Blas have changed much during this time span. Over this quarter of a century, the market of real estate for sale has experienced two full cycles of depression followed by prosperity, plus another depression - the last one and most devastating - that may not have ended yet. Understanding how the beach vacation markets of St. George Island and Cape Sa...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
5/20/2010
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Home Inspection: a Must Before Listing or Buyingon St. George Island, Cape San Blas, and other coastal areas:
Whether you are buying (or considering to list) a house on St. George Island, Cape San Blas, Indian Pass, Mexico Beach,Carrabelle or Apalachicola, there should be one common denominator to your approach: a competent home inspector!
There aremany ways toselect an inspector: (1) ask friends who have purchased or sold real estate and used one; (2) ask your Anchor Realty real estate agent; (3) but if in doubt, asking for a sample report is...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
5/17/2010
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Thisreport pertains solely to the Cape San Blas and Indian Pass areas inFlorida. Watch for the St. George Island, Apalachicola,and Carrabelle reports to follow within days.
As statistics can be manipulated in many ways to drive almost any point, so are the data relating to any market - and thereal estate in Cape San Blasis no exception to the rule. Yet, in simplifying the search by looking for the number of transactions; in reducing the territorial scope (here: Cape San Blas and Indian Pass, Florida), andin narrowing the time frame (here...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
5/13/2010
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In the past few weeks, the landscape of the St.George Islandcommercial district has changed drastically - and for the better.
As soon as you leave the long bridge, driving from the Florida mainland onto St. George Island, provided you are looking to your left, you will see, next to the St. George Inn, a brand new building: once completed in early September, it willbe shared by two tenants, Anchor Realty anda new grocery store.
For decades, this location has been occupied by Anchor Realty & Mortgage Co., recognized by many for its...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
5/10/2010
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The editor for the Apalachicola Times wrote in late December 2009 that the newSt. George Island grocery store's likelihood tobe built was comparable to the likelihood of peace in the Middle East. Unfortunately for the Middle East, but fortunately for island residents and visitors, the building should be completed in September 2010; and after sixty to ninety days of set up time, the store should open around Thanksgiving of the year!
The new building is located to your left when driving onto St. George Island - between the St. George Inn and the...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
5/5/2010
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THE END OF AN ERA:
(by Olivier Monod, CCIM)
The World Order Before the 1910's
Before the 1910's, the world was in many ways a juxtaposition ofseveral regional spheres of influence ; each with its own currency, its privileged trading partners, its language, its customs, and its political regime. The political landscape appeared stable and was comprised primarily of monarchies and republics with little involvement in the business world - what could be called early capitalism.
Extremes such as Communism, Fascism or Nazism did...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
10/9/2008
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CRISIS? WHAT CRISIS?
(by Olivier Monod, CCIM)
Crisis? What Crisis? This was the title of what we used to call an LP in the 1970's, by Supertramp. It could advantageously summarize the long arguments we hear daily in this election year. The most recent political battles for the presidency have revolved around (i) blaming the Republicans for all of our economic woesin the case of the Democrats,or (ii) softening the gravity of the situation in the case of the Republicans. Yet, can we in earnest blame the man in the White House (whomever h...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
10/5/2008
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INFLATION:
Turn a Problem to Your Advantage
The article which follows is simple and carries an obvious consequence. This is what makes its strength. This is what gives it its worth.By the way, do not share it with your banker!
Gas prices
To begin with a topic alreadyamply debated, each time I stop to fill up mytank with gasoline, I feel a sense of vertigo. In early June 2008, I paid $107; three weeks before, it was $99; five weeks before, $93; and seven weeks prior, a mere $89. Out of curiosity, I made the calculation - if...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
8/1/2008
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Strategic Considerations about Real Estate Risks
Real estate, by definition, is what does not move; it is what you cannot carry with you. This definition suffers no exception - to the extent that, a tree, when planted in the ground is part of the real property; only an act of severance (cutting it down or uprooting it) wouldturn it intopersonal property.
The French call real estate immobilier; to the Germans, it is Immobilien;and inSpanish, it is inmuebles. The three words stem from the same Latin root meaning does not move, immobile....
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
7/19/2008
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COMPARATIVE REAL ESTATE SALES DATA
(Part One) FRANKLIN COUNTY
This is the first of a series of four articles comparing three highly speculative coastal markets: from East to West, Franklin, Gulf and Bay counties - three contiguous counties bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, in the Florida Northwest. The first three articles will compare the volume and distribution of sales for the first five months of 2008 and 2007. The fourth and last article will attempt to discover patterns or trends based on the differences between these markets; t...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
7/13/2008
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Commercial vs. Residential Real Estate:
Part V - Synthesis:
This is the last of a series of five articles comparing the benefits and risks associated with four different types of real estate investments: commercial, residential, vacant land and development.
In the past four blogs, we have reviewed the signatures of four very distinct types of real estate investments. This time, we shall attempt to sort this information and assess what might be most appropriate for you.
Yet, before biting into the meat of the topic, let me ask y...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
7/1/2008
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Commercial vs. Residential Real Estate
Part IV - Lots and Land
This is the fourth of a series of five articles comparing the merits and drawbacks of different real estate investments. The nextarticle will offer concrete data, which should assist you in determiningthe type of real estate investmentbest suited to your needs, to your personality and to your pocketbook.
For the purpose of this article, lots and land will be taken to be for residential purposes. It will therefore exclude:
- Farm land, which can beconsidered a commer...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
6/26/2008
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Commercial vs. Residential Real Estate:
Part III -Residential Real Estate:
This article is thethird of a series offive comparing the advantages and risks associated with investments incommercial real estate, developments, residential real estate, and vacant land; the last article will establish a synthesis and a blue print of what might be appropriate for you.
For the purpose of this article, we shall call residential real estate any habitable structure owned and usedas a permanentresidence. It may be a single family house, a c...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
6/17/2008
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Commercial vs. Residential Real Estate
Part II - Developments
This is the second article of a series of five, comparing risks and benefits associated with commercial real estate (see my last blog), residential, vacant land, and (this week) real estate developments.
For the purpose of this article, we shall call a development the process which starts froma vacant land parcel and takes it to a finished real estate product, such as a mall, an apartment complex, a condominium building,retail storesor any combinations thereof. Permitt...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
5/19/2008
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Part I - Commercial Investments:
This article is the first of a series offive comparing the advantages and risks associated with investments incommercial real estate, developments, residential real estate, and vacant land; the last article will establish a synthesis and a blue print of what might be appropriate for you.
We shall call commercial real estatebuildings capable of yielding periodic revenues totheir owners. Examples include a strip mall, an office building, a shop, houses or apartments for rent. For the purpose of this article, i...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
4/15/2008
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Thereis a lot of bad news this yearin our world of real estate, and in the world in general. Yet, when everything is said and done, thereis also some positive news, which warrants a progressive market recovery.
One positive aspect of our new market is that speculators are gone , or at least are on the way out. Greed in the period 2000-2004was a key factor of our more recentmarket problems. In 2004 alone, prices of beachfront properties increased by 93% - almost doubling in one yearis insane and unsustainable.
A second key to a brighter futur...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
4/1/2008
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Preparing for D-Day:
D-Day , as we all know it, was the date of the landing of the Allied troops in Northern Europe. The massive action would seal the fate of the German Third Reich. Fortress Europe, or Festung Europa as Hitler had coined it, would soon be rid of its Nazi masters. The Empire, which was supposed to have lasted one thousand years according to its founders, was now eleven months from its absolute collapse. The Normandy landing started on the 6th day of June 1944. Operation Overlord was the code name for the Allied invasion in northwest...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
7/10/2007
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William L. Popham had moved to Apalachicola, seemingly from nowhere, in January of 1917, just as the United States were joining France and England in the war against Prussia, and a few months before the newly born USSR would leave the same battlefields, thanks to Lenin and the Bolshevik Revolution of October --- Red October. After preaching in one of the local churches, Popham became active in what were then, and still are today, the two most powerful lobbying forces in the county: seafood and real estate. He actually used the money he had raised in...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
7/6/2007
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Ted Rodrigue was the master of ceremony. A former football player for Florida State University and a contemporary of the actor Burt Reynolds, with whom he had played many a victorious game, Ted could have personified the famous Captain. Cavernous voice, tall, manly, dark haired and bearded, Ted was the perfect incarnation of Captain Haddock, the famous sailor in the adventures of Tintin , the European comics character, who made his debut in the 1930s and still carries today a well-deserved popularity.
Ted was operating the bar with the help of s...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
7/2/2007
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(Written by Olivier Monod, President/CEO of WEICHERT, REALTORS - Anchor on June 26, 2007)
It is a surprise for no one to hear that the real estate market has known better times. In the last two years, our coastal Realtors Association has registered a decrease in membership of 22% from a peak of 495 members to 387 as of 6/25/07.
On another, yet related register, anyone who has done business in Indian Pass and Cape San Blas in the1990s and through 2005 knows Margaret Fletcher. Her knowledge of the area, her insights into the local real estate...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
6/28/2007
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Crossing the Bay of Apalachicola:
My first visit to St. George Island was shortly before Christmas of 1981. A long and narrow bridge was the only way in by automobile. It was interrupted half way by an S shaped causeway one mile long, nick-named bird island. The five-mile journey across the bay of Apalachicola started by a mandatory stop at the toll booth: $2 per round trip. Late at night, after the second shift of toll clerks went home at eleven oclock, payment followed the honor system: you stopped, placed your two dollars in an envelope,...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
6/15/2007
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A public workshop and hearing were held on May 22, 2007 on the topic of the Erosion Control Line at Cape San Blas. If you go to www.savethecape.com and click the workshop link you will find information concerning the meeting time and date and if you click at the bottom of this notice, you will find a letter that was sent to all affected property owners. This information also states, These meetings are relative to the establishment of the Erosion Control Line (ECL) and not the Coastal Construction Control Line (CCCL). This web site will event...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
5/25/2007
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In todays extra-ordinary market, sellers must, in order to sell, face three realities:
Quality. Because of the large nationwide inventory of houses for sale, buyers have much choiceand in many cases, too much choice to digest efficiently. Consequently, they are likely to buy on impulse the nicest looking property they have seen. Thus, sellers should aim to offer, within a given price category, the nicest property. Therefore, pay attention to details: landscaping, exterior and interior paint, etc.
...
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Posted by:
Olivier
Monod
Posted:
5/24/2007
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Olivier Monod
Contact
Olivier
:
Email: olivier@anchorfl.com
Office (local): 850.927.4000
Office (toll free): 800.525.4793
Olivier Monod first visited the "Forgotten Coast" in 1981 and relocated permanently in 1988, joining Anchor Realty & Mortgage Co. as a real estate sales associate. He became Anchor Realty & Mortgage Co.’s broker and president in June 1990, overseeing three real estate associates and one employee in the single office on St. George Island.
Through Olivier’s vision and under his leadership, Anchor Realty & Mortgage Co. did grow to multiple offices, located along 85 miles of the "Forgotten Coast" and north to Tallahassee. With up to 80 real estate associates at the peak of the real estate boom, Anchor Realty & Mortgage Co. posted sales of $235,932,037 in 2004.
During the same years, Olivier oversaw the development of Anchor Vacation Properties, Inc.; a company that managed and rented over 400 beach houses. The Gulf County Division was sold in 2005 to Pristine Properties, Inc., and the Franklin County Division was sold in 2006 to an unrelated entity, named Anchor Vacations LLC (this last entity ended up filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2008).
In 2001, Olivier earned his designation as Commercial Real Estate specialist: CCIM (see ccim.com) - a testimony to his experience, track-record and knowledge in the field of commercial real estate.
The drastic downturn in the Forgotten Coast real estate sales did force Anchor Realty & Mortgage Co. to downsize, going from eleven to three offices. Many Realtors had to find other jobs and eventually left the profession. Olivier was left with a small core of experienced veterans, whose loyalty to his leadership was only matched by their in-depth understanding of the market.
In 2010, it became obvious that a new business concept was needed. Real estate, like the rest of the world, had changed. In the 1980s, when Olivier started in the profession, sales contracts were just a few words on a letter-size page; they have morphed with time to six or more legal size pages. When he started, there was no Multiple Listing Service on the island; now, the listing inventory is available online. The number and size of offices is no longer a determining factor, but rather the ability to provide quick and professional service in the medium chosen by clients: internet, email, telephone or in-person. This new reality brought about a fresh start as the broker of a new company: Anchor Realty of St. George Island, Inc.
Olivier and his team have developed or sold many planned communities, including Gramercy Plantation, a 400-acre, low density, private community, with retail and residential areas in a high-end low density planned neighborhood. Gramercy Plantation was executed carefully to preserve the character and spirit of the area through dedicating substantial acreage to conservation and common grounds. The 110 home sites are scattered on minimum one-acre sites throughout the development.
Olivier, who grew up in Paris, first visited the U.S. in 1975 on a high school graduation trip; he fell in love with our country after touring from New York to San Francisco in a Greyhound bus. He subsequently moved to Florida and became a U.S. citizen in the 1990s.
A community leader, Olivier shows a keen interest in education and culture for our children through sponsorship of the ABC school (his two children attend this local public school), and classical music programs for high-schoolers. Olivier and his family make their home in historic Apalachicola, in the Forgotten Coast.
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