Although August and September are typically the busy months of the hurricane season, it is not too soon to put together your family's disaster plan, hurricane supplies and evacuation kit.


Disaster Planning

Every household should sit down and discuss what you will do in case of a hurricane (or other disaster for that matter, as tornadoes and flooding often accompany hurricanes).

You should pick out a "safe room" within your home in...

There are 2 important things going on in our area right now regarding flood insurance:
1) obviously, is the impact of the Biggert Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012
2) flood maps are being revised and updated in both Manatee and Sarasota counties
Regarding the flood maps.

Both Manatee and Sarasota county have been doing watershed studies and updating their floodplain uplift maps, doing redeliniation of what is floodplain and what is not. Manatee county is...

Manatee Technical Institutes's new campus at SR70 & Caruso Road will open January 7, 2013. The state-of-the art $44 million facility has 210,000 square feet of classrooms and labs for a number of programs, including architecture, automotive repair, welding, drafting, machining, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, culinary arts, hospitality, tourism, information technology, cosmetology, masonry and appliance repair.

MTI also has an East Campus located in Lakewood Ranch for medical &...

New College, a liberal arts honors college located in Sarasota, was recently rated by Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine as being one of the top 10 best deals in colleges in the United States.

The ratings were based on comparison of a number of factors, which included: SAT or ACT scores, retention rates, student - faculty ratios, graduation rates, costs and financial aid available.

The 115 acre campus is located on the bay, near the Ringling Museum.

Recently released statistics from the Sarasota Association of Realtors show October sales increased 24% over the same month in 2011 and sales were up 10.9% for October 2012 vs September 2012.

Pending sales also increased in October, putting the local market at a low 4.4 month inventory of homes for sale and a 6.4 month inventory of condos for sale.

It's interesting to note that short sales and REOS (bank owned) currently make up only 14.8% of available properties in...