Venture Out Vacations Winter 2018 Newsletter

Newsle er Winter 2018

Dear friends,

vol.14

Many of us have heard or used the expression “What is wrong with people”.

2018 has been a very trying year for people here in Panama City Beach and throughout the panhandle. Hurricane Michael has devastated many areas and people are still suffering the effects. Folks with no homes, no jobs and loss of hope in some cases.

I have never witnessed so much love, care and inspiration in one place in all my life.

Just here in our Venture Out community everyone has given so much to help their neighbor, and in some cases neighbors they’ve never met. I cannot express my appreciation and gratitude for the help I’ve been offered and received from family, neighbors, friends, even renters that just showed up right after the Hurricane unannounced and said “ How can we help!!” The many truck loads of donations!!

Unbelievable!!

So I say “People are awesome!”

Thank you everyone for all you have contributed to help, it will never be forgotten.

Venture Out and Panama City Beach will return better and stronger than ever before. All of us here at Venture Out Vacations and Citistar Realty would like to say thank you. We wish you all wonderful holiday season and prosperous & healthy New Year!!

Love to all and Merry Christmas!!

Post Hurricane Michael Update Every year we have tropical storms and/or hurricanes that threaten the Gulf Coast, but for the most part, they all seem to miss us here in Panama City Beach. We have had a few tropical storms over the last few years and they have been pretty mild, with rain and a little wind, just enough to make the surfers happy and provide us with big beautiful waves and often times much needed rain. Well on Oct 10, 2018 that all changed, Michael came ashore and boy was it a doozy!

Every part of Panama City, Lynn Haven, Callaway, Parker, Tydall, Mexico Beach, Port St Joe on the coast and many of the small towns inland will be forever changed.

Panama City Beach got fairly lucky compared to Mexico Beach. The east end, where Venture Out is located, was the hardest hit area of PCB. Venture Out, the Navy Base on Thomas Dr and many of the residential areas on this end got hit pretty hard. Bay Point had a lot of damaged houses and the Bay Point Sheraton had damage as well. Part of the State park is closed, including the campground. That being said, there has been a lot of clean up with some still to come in the residential areas. Venture Out has made tremendous progress already. The clean up is done and the rebuilding has begun. Of the 735 lots in here about 50 are being torn down, some will rebuild, others are going to put Park Models on the lot and others will turn them into RV lots. Of the 50+, 5 of them are on our rental program.

I know 2 are planning on new Park Models, 1 is planning on making a premium RV Lot, 1 is building a house and the other one is unsure. We have several that had minor damage and a few with major damage. All of them are getting repaired as I am writing this.

The Lagoon pool is open and heated, the beach pool is closed for the season but it is fine.

The clubhouse, main office and bath houses are all open, some have tarps on the roof but they are going to be fine. The pier is fine and ready to be fished from, the pond, mini golf, shuffleboard, playground, new pool house in the back are all fine. The pavilion had damage and will be repaired soon. The boat dock had damage and is scheduled to be available for use again February 1st. The tennis court is fine other than the fence, but it is getting repaired as soon as material is available. All in all Venture Out is ready for you!

Winter Guest have started to arrive with more to come in the next 2 weeks. We are looking forward to having them here! We are taking reservations for Spring and Summer now.

We at Venture Out Vacations are all ready to see your smiling faces!

Panama City Beach is open and ready for you all too. Pier Park, most restaurants, shops and attractions are all open and ready for you to come on down! The little Village of St Andrews in Panama City (where Hunts restaurant is located) is open. Uncle Ernie’s had damage and is closed for now, they are planning on re-opening sometime this Winter. Hunt’s, The Shrimp Boat, Little Village, Enzo’s, Los Antojitos, Alice’s on Bayview are all open. The mall is closed, Dillards is open in the Mall but that is the only thing there right now. Some of the outbuilding shops are open. Best Buy opened back this past Saturday, so things are coming together and progress is being made, but there is a long way to go in town. As long as you stay over here on the beach side you would hardly know anything has happened.

Many of you have asked how you can help, the best way for you to do that is to come on down like you always have. Plan your family vacation, weekend getaways, your spontaneous trips and come see us! The businesses here need you, we want to see you!

The beach is calling and you must go!

New Website You may have noticed that our website has been redesigned and we have a great new video of the resort. On the “Units for Rent” page, you will notice that we have all units and RV lots listed in numerical order, making it easy to scroll to see your desired unit/lot. On the home page just under the video there is a quick search, where you can put in your dates and desired amenities and see a list of available units with those amenities.

The Calendars have been removed temporarily, we are still working on getting all of the current bookings transferred over. Once we have everything moved over to the new booking program, you will be able to book your stay online. Look for an announcement on our FaceBook page once it is live and ready to take reservations. The goal is to have it ready no later than February 1st.

Resort Fees The registration fees are changing for 2019. If you pre-register the fee is still $45 and includes the 1st vehicle. The 2nd vehicle (non motorcycle) is now $60. If you wait to register on arrival the fees are $50 for the 1st vehicle and $60 for the 2nd. Three cars are still not allowed. Motorcycles are $20 each after the initial $45/50.

Utility trailers, boat trailer and motorcycle trailers that you have to park on the curb up front are $6 a day in the off season and $8 a day during peak season. Off season for the resort is Sept. 16 until May 14, peak is May 15 to Sept 15. Boat fees are the same as last year, $25 a day and Jet skis are $15 a day each.

Tennis or Pickleball racket rental is $3 for 24 hour rental. Tennis balls are $4 for a package of 3, they will yours to keep. All other equipment (shuffleboard, mini golf, basket/volley balls) are still free to use.

Terry Forrest 850-774-5470 terry@citistarrealty.com www.ventureoutpcb.com

Stacy Ewing 832-477-2012 stacy@ventureoutvacations.com www.ventureoutpcb.com

Michael was big, but not too big for Venture Out. Venture Out real estate has survived the storm and the market is looking as good as ever. The market prices have held strong, and although the storm brought some damage, it also gave rise to some beautiful renovations and upgrades to homes in the community.

Construction is up on new homes and these new additions will increase property values as they come to completions. Today is an amazing time to buy or sell a home in Venture Out, and this years rental market is expected to set new records yet again. Please contact us for any of your real estate needs. We look forward to another amazing record setting year and hope to hear from you.

Happy Holidays from us here at CitiStar Realty at Venture Out.

www.ventureoutpcb.com

Prospective Buyers Frequently Asked Questions What are the HOA Fees?

The Associa on fees for Venture Out are $180.00 per month. That includes basic cable with Comcast, 3000 gallons of water per month, trash pick-up, and basic lawn maintenance.

Do I own the lot?

Yes, the land is deeded to you fee-simple.

I see the “No Pets” signs – can I have a pet?

Yes, you can have a pet here with you if you are an owner. However, if you are not here and you have a guest come, they cannot bring a pet with them – even family members. The only people permi ed to have a pet are the names listed on the deed or their guest only if they are present and in the same unit. Absolutely NO RENTERS are allowed to have pets– with the excep on of service animals.

Who do you recommend for insurance?

Here are two agents that write policies in Venture Out: - Florida Preferred Insurance – Brian Taylor – 850-249-8060 and Paul Harris – 850-872-0663 Is there financing available?

There are two banks that we now are currently doing financing for proper es in the park: On s ck built houses – Ameris Bank – Albany, GA – Deborah Dominey – 229-456-2697 On Trailers – People’s South Bank – Lynn Haven, FL – Jus n Hall – 850-265-1967 About how much annually are property insurance and property taxes? * Annual Property Taxes generally ranges from $1,500 - $2,500 * Annual Home Owner’s Insurance generally ranges from $1,500 - $2,500 * These are general ranges and are not quotes or guarantees - as Ci Star is neither insurance adjuster nor city appraisal district. These ranges are to give prospec ve buyers an idea of these costs , and are not binding.

Ci Star highly suggests that you contact insurance company and appraisal district directly to get accurate prices.

Terry Forrest – (850) 774-5470 terry@ci starrealty.com Stacy Ewing – (832) 477-2012 Stacy@ventureoutvaca ons.com 4341 Thomas Drive Box J-18 Panama City Beach, FL 32408 www.ventureoutpcb.com

Featured Restaurant This issue’s featured restaurant is:

Fatty Patty’s I’m pretty sure that I have written about Fatty Patty’s before. They deserve a re-mention. After Hurricane Michael, as soon as they regained power, Renee and her staff or should I say her family, (they are all like family there) got to work and starting serving the community. She opened her doors and served FREE breakfast for anyone that came in. She did this for a few weeks! They also had a FREE Thanksgiving Buffet and even delivered supplies to Fountain.

Their breakfast and lunches are always great, but their hearts are even greater!

Make sure you check them out next time you are here. Oh and let me tell you, the deserts are AMAZING!!

Follow their Facebook page to see the weekly Lunch specials www.facebook.com/FattyPattys/

948 Thomas Drive Panama City Beach, FL 32408 850)236-9276 Hours: Monday-Thursday

Breakfast 6:30-11 Lunch 11-2 Friday & Saturday Breakfast 6:30-2 Lunch 11-2 Sunday Breakfast 7:30-2 Lunch 11-2

www.vovpcb.com We have made it easier for you to get to our website!

You can now use vovpcb.com. The old address, ventureoutvacations.com still works also. The abbriviated one is to make it easier on you when typing.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

Contact Information Venture Out Vacations OďŹƒce 850-230-0676 Website www.vovpcb.com email

Mark Forrest: mark@ventureoutvacations.com Rika Boyd: rika@ventureoutvacations.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/VentureOutVacations

Address 4341 Thomas Drive Box J-18 Panama City Beach, FL 32408