Groupon - Social Saving

months now I have not really paid attention to the hub-bub of new web sites that are hitting the scenes.  It is only recently that I began to review some of these web sites.  The hot craze right now seems to be sites that lean towards the social side of advertising.  That is they use Facebook and Twitter feeds so that you can involve your friends in the purchase of some great deals.  It is through your own work that provides the opportunity.  By involving consumers and facebook we are pooling buyers to buy in bulk although all the buyers do not know each other.  Seems like an interesting concept. 

Let me disclose I am new at all of this myself but thought it would be interesting to provide some options that I have found.  Some I have enlisted and frankly just weighing out the advantages versus my time and others I have not had a chance to try.  It seems as though the most popular bulk buy social program is Groupon.com.  The sign up process is fairly easy with all these, only takes one minute and the toughest part of the entire process is remembering your password the next time an

Living Social

 enticing deal comes your way to take advantage of it.  A similar website to Groupon is Living social however at least at the time of this post there are less deals on Living Social.

So what does this have to do with Anna Maria Island Real Estate….absolutely nothing.  However, as information gets out maybe even a few of our dining establishments will sign up and you can save money on your trip to paradise.  In addition, thought it was an interesting twist to social media.  Have fun with it and happy saving.

Goldstar.com – this site offers reduced event tickets like sports, concerts, theater, etc.

Zozi.com – this website offers deals for outdoor activities like bicycling, kayaking, etc

Zozi Saving

TripAlertz.com – website offers discounts on accommodations and vacation tour packages

Mamapedia.com – website specializes in family friendly saving deals

RetailMeNot.com – this website offers coupons.  This is more of a search for specific discounts in a city.

Wealth thru Real Estate

 If you are currently renting out your home, the Federal government just made it a bunch harder for you to rent out your home annually or seasonally on or off Anna Maria Island.  Effective 2011, all landlords will be required to send out 1099′s to any supporting vendor that was paid more than $600 USD for the year.

That’s right, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has just made investing in real estate a little harder.  If you utilize a property management company such as Island Real Estate, no worries, they take care of the 1099′s.  This of course assumes that your property management company is paying your bills such as lawn, pool, etc.  This even goes for purchasing a computer from a small time store in Bradenton to help manage your vacation rentals.  If the computer was more than $600 then you must send that vendor a 1099.  A 1099 tells the IRS as well as the vendor the amount of income they received in the correlating tax year.

A few more details regarding 1099′s.  They must be sent to the vendor no later than January 31st, 2012 and the correlating 1099′s must be sent to the IRS no later than February 28th, 2012.  This of course assumes you have the vendors Federal ID number and if you don’t, then pull a W-9 form from the IRS.Gov website and send all your vendors the W-9 to be filled out and have in your records.  If you don’t get a tax ID from all your vendors you must with-hold 28% of their annual income and that is a whole-nother can of worms to deal with.  That is something you want to avoid!

Lastly, if you don’t handle this appropriately for your rental in 2011 and beyond, you could be facing civil and criminal penalties up to $250,000.  Most agree that this cross check by the Fed is fairly easy due to the rental income line on your 1040.

Of course this information can change at any time and I suggest you do one of the following…1) consult your tax attorney or call Island Real Estate to handle your property management.  Good luck and hopefully this information helps ensure you as a landlord don’t get into hot water with the IRS.  By the way, a great CPA firm that can help you with more question is Axiom which is located in Bradenton, FL.

Fantastic Pool and hot tub

There has been some great strides made in educating the marketplace on Vacation rentals versus hotels.   Each one has its place for providing good accommodations.  If you are staying on business or as a couple for one – two days then a hotel is probably the best bet.  You don’t need a ton of space and just one bedroom works fairly well for short stays.

Staying for longer than a few nights with multiple people makes a hotel room no longer the best choice.  Taking out multiple hotel rooms which are small and just not built to support multiple folks is where a hotel room no longer makes sense.  What does make sense is renting a vacation rental condo, home or villa on Anna Maria Island.  A few large vacation rental home networks have begun to show the drawbacks to renting a hotel room for a vacation.  On Superbowl Sunday several advertisements will be shown and expect the “Griswold’s,” America’s vacation family to poke a little fun at hotels versus Vacation Rentals.  This is just one post of many and hopefully very soon after the official commercials I will be able to post the videos.

For now I will wet your whistle with vacation rental commercial done by another vacation rental company.  Don’t forget if you are looking for vacation rentals on Anna Maria Island, look no further to Island Real Estate Vacation Rentals.  Enjoy the video!

Hidden Cove Gulf Front

Estate has a human voice answering their phones 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. No automated attendants allowed. In addition, Island Real Estate is one of the very few offices open 7 days per week on Anna Maria Island. This is to ensure that buyers, sellers, owners, tenants or guests can speak face to face with a resource required to help service their requirements. Island Real Estate realizes, without customers, there is no business!

Servicing customers when everything works correctly is easy. A company’s service is best defined when faced with adversity. The next review is a fantastic example of this fact….

“Nice house, great location, but no air conditioning”
“The house was nice and clean. It was warm when we arrived. We contacted the office the next day and they sent someone out to look at the air conditioning. It still hot the next day so they moved us at their expense and were very apologetic. We had a very nice stay and always enjoy the island. We appreciate the efforts that Island Real Estate went to to make our stay enjoyable.”

Island Real Estate has a ton of reviews just like the one found below…

“Well looked after”
“Well looked after by Island real estate, going beyond the call of duty when one of our party had sun burn. Everything was clean and tidy, with key pick up and drop off easy. Will use them again on are next holiday Tony and Rosie England”

For more independent reviews of Island Real Estate’s services please visit Flip key which is the Trip Advisor of Vacation Rentals.

Private Heated Pool

lifts, docks, Gulf Front; Island Real Estate Vacation Rentals has your perfect holiday villa. It’s all just a touch away. Visit Island Real Estate’s website, enter your dates of stay and amenity expectations and quicker than a blink of an eye their premier website returns vacation rentals available for your exact stay. The scavenger hunt is over. Be sure to visit their 100% accurate on line available website for all your Anna Maria Island Vacation Rental needs.

Maybe you are looking for the impossible? Well Island Real Estate Vacation Rentals can make it possible. Their inventory of over 200 Anna Maria Island properties has every amenity imaginable. Looking for wireless Internet? No problem, more than 1/2 of their properties has wireless. Looking for an XBox or Playstation III for the kids? No problem. Clock radio’s that accept MP3 players? Elevators, Pet friendly, Multi-month friendly? Yes, they have them.

Outdoor Living Gulf Front

Let’s come up with something tough…restaurants just a walk away, holiday rentals close to trolley stops. Yes, yes, but still not hard enough. Outdoor bars, TV’s outside, outdoor billiard table, dining room tables with seating for 14. Yes to all. What about the most luxurious complexes, yup, yup, and yup. In fact, Island Real Estate Vacation rentals has at least one rental in each of the high luxury direct gulf front condominiums on Anna Maria Island. Bradenton Beach Club, Island Paradise, Vista Grande, L’Plage, Hidden Cove and La Casa Costiera. No other company has rentals in all these luxurious gulf front properties. In fact most if lucky, have a vacation rental in only one of the gulf front properties listed!

Visit Island Real Estate’s website and don’t struggle looking through properties too long. Island is the only rental company on Anna Maria Island open 7 days per week so call any day! (877) 778-6066

Direct Gulf Front

Holiday Rental

continue our positive trends. While the rest of the country is experiencing a recession, Anna Maria Island seems to be bucking the trend. Thanks to the Convention Business Bureau of Manatee county, the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce and the business leaders of Anna Maria Island we continue to present Anna Maria in the light it deserves. A simple, easy living, beach paradise and the rest of the world is finding this out, one visitor at a time.

The below video is of Mark Davis who runs Harrington House a phenomenal Direct Gulf Front Bed & Breakfast on Anna Maria Island. In fact, the only direct Gulf Front Bed & Breakfast on Anna Maria Island.

Take a look at the Anna Maria Island Video.

Vacation Rental

Looking for a vacation rental on Anna Maria Island? Look no further. Island Real Estate has over 150 hand picked vacation rentals on Anna Maria Island, Florida. Island Real Estate’s office is open 7 days per week to ensure any day of the week they service your vacation rental needs. Whether you are looking for an Gulf Front Beach Cottage or luxury accommodations Island Real Estate has the widest variety of Vacation rentals on Anna Maria Island.

Island Real Estate manages properties that can accommodate over 50. That’s right, over 50 guests. We have several options. Beach Cottages with Gulf Views, Direct Gulf Front Condominiums or a cluster of homes West of Gulf Drive. Visit their exclusive Vacation rental Last minute specials page for some phenomenal accommodation deals.

Be sure to visit the premier Anna Maria Island Vacation Rental website where accurate on-line availability can be found through simple or complex vacation rental searches. Most properties have virtual tours and all properties have received Island Real Estate’s exclusive rating from Bronze to Platinum to ensure all their rentals measure up to guest expectations.

More questions? Visit Island Real Estate’s Vacation Rental website or call seven days a week to speak with one of their knowledgeable Vacation Specialists.

Holmes Beach public Pier

All pictures of this blog are property of the author and should not be used without the permission of the author. Thank you for your consideration.

Tropical pool with spa

FPL Power Station

Here are some tips from the FPL Summer newsletter on how to reduce your use of electricity. Electronics continue to use energy even when shut off. If your Anna Maria vacation rental sits dormant for more than a few weeks you may consider putting electronics on power strips or on an outlet controlled by a light switch so you can shut the power off to electronics while it is not being used.

The trend in vacationing is large televisions. The larger the better. Unfortunately, many of these televisions use MORE electricity than your refrigerators. When purchasing a new television or any large appliance for that matter, be sure to look for the ENERGY STAR seal. The trademark ENERGY STAR means the product will use up to 30% less energy than a non rated appliance or electronic device.

If you supply a computer monitor in your beach rental home be sure to apply sleep modes from the settings menu.

Power Meter

You can shave up to $5 per month per computer by using the power management function on your monitor. This of course would apply to your hard drive and other processors in your computers.

One great idea for larger vacation beach rentals is an energy saving device that turns off the Air conditioning if any of your doors are open. All too often guests leave doors open and the air conditioning cranked down. There are literally dollars evaporating into thin air. This device ensures your rental villa is not leaking valuable cool air into the atmosphere because doors are left open. For more information email Larry@IslandReal.com

Be sure to have your air conditioning filters changed out monthly in your high heat seasons and be sure your cleaning crews clean out the lint trap after EVERY dryer load. FPL has lots of other saving techniques for your personal homes and there are a few more that can apply to your vacation rentals. Happy saving and more importantly your energy saving techniques will help us all to have a cleaner planet.

For more information on owner tips or Anna Maria Island activities visit www.Blog.IslandReal.com . If you are interested in Anna Maria accommodations or property for sale visit www.IslandReal.com