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Susan Taylor Martin - Real estate reporter
Susan Taylor Martin

Real estate reporter

Call me a nosy neighbor. I’ve always liked checking out Sunday open houses, especially houses for sale around my area of St. Petersburg. And I’m a huge fan of HGTV shows like “Flip or Flop’’ and “House Hunters.’’ Maybe that’s why why I ended up four years ago as the Tampa Bay Times real estate reporter.

  1. St. Pete apartment complex sells for $54.6 million
    Yesterday• Business
    West Port Colony apartments in St. Petersburg
    The complex off Fourth Street N is convenient to both Tampa and downtown St. Petersburg.
  2. He thought he won a Tampa Bay gulf-front condo. Turns out he lost big
    Yesterday• Business
    Joseph Erickson, 53, won a foreclosure auction for a condo at Happy Fiddler Condominiums in Indian Rocks Beach last year only to have a man claim he is the true owner of the property and should get the $350,000 that Erickson has already paid for the condo.
    A Land O’ Lakes man had already spent money on renovations when he got two shocks about his new condo.
  3. Tampa apartment community sells for record $131.5 million
    Yesterday• Business
    The pool area at ICON Harbour Island
    ICON Harbour Island is adjacent to the $3 billion Water Street development.
  4. Pinellas homeowners say they weren’t told of plans for a Topgolf in their midst
    Nov. 7• Business
    Topgolf has sports entertainment complexes in Brandon and more than 50 other locations worldwide.
    Residents of the Carillon Office Park say the city of St. Petersburg didn’t properly notice them.
  5. Can’t afford the downpayment for a Tampa Bay house? Now your rent can go toward it
    Nov. 7• Business
    Home Partners of America will buy this St. Petersburg house listed at $279,000 and rent it for $2,000 a month with an option to buy.
    A San Francisco-based company enters the Tampa Bay market with a rent-to-own program.
  6. Florida is one of nation’s ‘tax friendliest’ states
    Nov. 7• Business
    A lone tourist ventured onto Hollywood Beach. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter | 2014)
    Wyoming is the friendliest of all states when it comes to tax burdens.
  7. Are you equity rich? Homeowners in these 25 Tampa Bay ZIP code areas are
    Nov. 7• Business
    A home on St. Petersburg's Snell Isle, where nearly one of every four mortgaged homes is worth at least 50 percent more than the amount owed. [SUSAN TAYLOR MARTIN | Times]
    Overall, Pinellas County has the most equity rich homeowners, Pasco the fewest
  8. Sentencing date postponed for Tampa Bay man in college admissions scandal
    Nov. 1• Business
    Sentencing for Mark Riddell, a key figure in the college admissions scandal, has been rescheduled for March.
    Mark Riddell was a director of IMG Academy in Bradenton
  9. Tampa Bay’s ‘zombie’ foreclosure rate still above the national average
    Oct. 31• Business
    As the foreclosure rate has dropped, so has the number of vacant 'zombie' homes.
    The bay area has almost a third of all vacant zombie homes in Florida.
  10. Iconic St. Pete motel sells for 11 times what it did in the ‘80s
    Oct. 31• Business
    Holiday Motel is among the few motels left on what is now busy retail thoroughfare.
    Holiday Motel is among the few motels left on what is now a busy retail thoroughfare.