LAKEWOOD RANCH — Neal Communities will be featured as “America’s Best Builder” in the March edition of the national industry trade publication, Builder Magazine.
The Lakewood Ranch company was the only builder in the country to receive the award that closed between 100 and 500 homes last year. Three other developers that fit different size categories [...]

Charming 1940′s stone home overlooking the Manatee River.

In Florida and a handful of other states, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will sell homes it owns for only a $100 downpayment, providing buyers meet certain conditions.
Buyers must plan to live in the home and pay full list price. They must also take out an FHA loan, and standard underwriting rules [...]

Bradenton real estate home sales on the rise
MANATEE — Existing real estate home and condo sales rose throughout the Bradenton-Sarasota area in November to mirror upswings nationally. The Bradenton real estate market overcame an uptick in contract cancellations to continue the momentum built earlier this year. November is a historically busy month for housing and [...]

Very few communities in the nation can compete with Sarasota in terms of affordable home values, climate, culture, amenities and the wealth of properties offered here.

According to the Sarasota Association of Realtors, November 2011 property transactions in the Sarasota real estate market totaled 602, up 12.7 percent over last November.
The real estate report from Barbara [...]

More good news for the Bradenton/Sarasota Real Estate Market: Forbes.com names the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota area as #1 area where Americans are hunting for homes!
All of the top 10 cities “picking up strength” are in the Sun Belt. Florida dominates the list with five snow bird hubs in the top 10: the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota area (No.1), [...]

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Looking for a new place to call home? Florida Travel + Life picked Sarasota as #1 place to live in Florida!
Here is what they have to say about why Sarasota made the top of the list:

Sarasota has long lured the gifted and creative to its Gulf of Mexico shores. Perhaps it’s the turquoise-tinged water, the [...]

The monthly cost of owning a home is more affordable now than in the past 15 years, and is less expensive than renting in numerous cities, according to The Wall Street Journal’s third-quarter survey.
Low home prices mixed with low mortgage rates – hovering at 4 percent or lower – create an appealing buyer’s market, analysts [...]

Starting Dec 1st, many homeowners with “underwater” mortgages can apply for a new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac refinance program geared for pretty much everyone who owes more on a home than it’s worth – including landlords and second-home owners.
The federal government’s previous foreclosure-prevention efforts, such as the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), lowered the [...]

Pending home sales rose strongly in October and remain above year-ago levels, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, surged 10.4 percent to 93.3 in October from 84.5 in September and is 9.2 percent above October 2010 when it stood at [...]