Ray Collins Media & Real Estate

06/09/2026

Sarasota is among the Top Ten places people are moving:
1) Myrtle Beach
2) Ocala
3) Dallas
4) Raleigh
5) Greenville, SC
6) Charlotte
7) Boise
8) Knoxville
9) Sarasota
10) Jacksonville

Source: Pods.com

06/08/2026

A 6.1 magnitude earthquake about 104 km (65 miles) off the coast of Cuba, northwest of Manuta, rocked the island nation on Monday afternoon, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Light shaking from the earthquake could be felt in locations across South and Central Florida, on both coasts, and as far north as Tallahassee and Jacksonville, according to experiences that people self-reported to the USGS.

The U.S. Tsunami Warning Center said there is no tsunami danger from the earthquake, which happened around 2 p.m.

06/04/2026

Nine YEARS ago, I attended a performance ("A Motown Christmas") at the Westcoast Black Theatre. I was so impressed by one particular performer, JoAnna Marie Ford, I brought her on "Good Morning Suncoast" a couple mornings later.

Since that holiday show in 2017, life threw her some curve balls. So she wrote a one-woman show about her experiences--and is performing it this Saturday, one show only at 7:30. You'll recognize all the songs ("At Last," Etta James, etc.) but it's the monologues in between the songs that we're all anticipating. Earlier this week, I sat down for an interview with JoAnna. Here is a ONE minute snippet. Tickets: www.WestcoastBlackTheatre.org

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

06/01/2026

A few months ago, Magda Reyes asked me to help her find a house in Sarasota so she could move here and open the area's first Fresh Monkee store: Done and done! Half price healthy smoothies all this week at her store on Fruitville Road at Richardson (between McIntosh and Honoree). First she bought a house with me--and then I bought a smoothie with her. :)

05/29/2026

Helping my clients close this morning on a beautiful townhouse in relatively new Payne Park Village. Great location adjacent to downtown, the tennis club and the Legacy Trail. Prices range from $650,000-$1,200,000.

05/27/2026

Work is underway on re-doing the seawall...and removing 32 trees around Bayfront Park. 😮 (More information in the comments )

05/23/2026

Top 10 ‘Best Places to Live’ ranking, by U.S. News & World Report

1. Carmel, IN
2. Fishers, IN
3. Flower Mound, TX
4. Ankeny, IA
5. Johns Creek, GA
6. Hoover, AL
7. Rochester Hills, MI
8. Leander, TX
9. Frisco, TX
10. Sugar Land, TX

05/20/2026

Just found this old picture of a good friend in college named Chris Barnes, best known as, "Tanner," the co-star of "Bad News Bears."

05/19/2026

Did a double-take when I read the following sentence in Sarasota Police Department press release:
"The suspect was described by police only as an unknown man or woman of unknown age."

05/13/2026

After all St Regis has done, Longboat Key is being petty over a sign. 🙁

The developer and owner of the St. Regis Longboat Key Resort says he will fight in court "to whatever extent necessary" to leave the arch that town code enforcement has ordered taken down.