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Bradenton / Sarasota ranks high in online interest

Bea Weiss, Real Estate Consultant, Attorney — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:20:12 +0000

Bradenton / Sarasota is the #3 most popular area in the nation for home buyers who are searching for homes using the internet.

What does this mean to you if you’re selling a home? It means that you should be choosing a company who offers the strongest online marketing available: Sea to Sky Realty!

With our company your home gets showcased not just locally, but also nationally and internationally! Contact us today for a free consultation.

Here is the full story from today´s Herald Tribune:

Online searches for properties at a prominent real estate site showed North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota as the third biggest target in the nation.

The local market was behind only Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville and Lakeland-Winter Haven on a list produced by Trulia.com for the fourth quarter and released on Thursday.

The calculation by the Internet real estate site, which logs 100 million property views each month, found more than six times as many “inbound” home searches by outsiders for this region as “outbound” by local residents.

The region had been tops on a previous list for the third quarter.

Trulia also gave some insight as to where the interest was coming from. In the case of Gulf Coast homes, more came from Chicago than anywhere else. For the Atlantic coast and Central Florida, demand was coming from New York more than anywhere else.

“Today’s house hunters are deal seekers, who focus their search in places where prices are low,” said Jed Kolko, Trulia’s chief economist. “Although locals in Florida, inland California and the Southwest are suffering from high foreclosure rates and lost equity, huge prices declines since the height of the housing bubble have drawn house hunters from across the country.”

“As America’s retirement capital, Florida has received the most attention from prospective homebuyers and renters from the Northeast and Midwest,” Kolko said. “Baby boomers who had planned to retire to cheaper places elsewhere in the South during the boom years can once again buy in Florida.”

Facts

Where demand for online house hunters is strongest on Trulia.com:
1. Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville
2. Lakeland-Winter Haven
3. North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota
4. Cape Coral-Fort Myers
5. Tulsa, Okla.
6. West Palm Beach-Boca Raton- Boynton Beach
7. Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach
8. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.
9. Charleston-North Charleston- Summerville, S.C.
10. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford

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Anna Maria Island featured in NYPost

Bea Weiss, Real Estate Consultant, Attorney — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:15:55 +0000

Anna Maria Island is getting more and more national attention! New York Post author Jason Cochran likes AMI for its laid back and relaxed lifestyle:

The best place in Florida you’re not going

Slow down and savor the simplicity of life on Anna Maria Island

You know a beach town is a find when the residents aren’t sure they want you there.

Even though it’s just 33 miles across the water from the skyscrapers of Tampa, Anna Maria Island is on a slender spur of land at the southernmost lip of the Tampa Bay, so driving there (no ferry required) requires 90 circuitous minutes. JetBlue flies direct from JFK twice daily to Sarasota, 45 minutes down the beach, but Anna Maria’s removal from hubbub makes it a placid town that’s both easy to reach yet not spoiled by Floridian concrete, chain restaurants, and condos.

And it’s not likely to be, because locals are starting to think tourism has been a little too good to them. In a flurry of city meetings, they’re rushing to dampen a vacation home boomlet by deterring a McMansion invasion and policing noise after the adorably early hour of 10 p.m.

As it is, the speed limit is a lethargic 25 mph, lights are dimmed so hatching turtles don’t get disoriented, and the only hotels are motels. So most visitors choose to spread out: About half the houses in town, as well as in the adjoining (and indistinguishable) Holmes Beach, are available for tourists to rent by the night. (A Paradise Rentals, aparadiserentals.com, is one of the main players).

Florida’s southeast coast gets the spotlight, but the western coast — along the Gulf of Mexico — remains the place to wade far from the sand in ripple-light (and of course, oil-free) waves. Anna Maria, though originally developed by a man whose company became part of Nabisco, which built Manhattan’s Chelsea Market complex, hasn’t given in to rampant construction. There’s one grocery store, old wooden houses, no cinema — that’s what the nightly sunset is for, although there is a cute little theatre company — and you can count the stoplights on one hand.

It’s Key West for grown folks. Like the Conch Republic, it even has its own fantasies of unique autonomy: Residents distinguish themselves from the hoi polloi in nearby, unremarkable Bradenton by slapping those oval, European-style national stickers on their car bumpers: “AMI.” Call it polite irreverence.

Instead of booze slushies and tees at Fat Tuesdays, this low-density town classes it up, tropics-style, with James Bond martinis at the bamboo-and-ceiling fan lounge Martini Bistro (5337 Gulf Drive). A few blocks away, Beach Bistro, the most Zagat-endorsed table within a ride radius, takes up residence in an unlikely concrete waterfront motel. The restaurant is foie gras-ified, and it’s the area’s big-spending romantic night out, but it’s better to squeeze in at its tiny Murphy’s Bar, where the menu’s signature hits, such as warm duckling salad and a sublime tomato soup with sweet cream, are served to customers who require closer access to professionally crafted cocktails — and less post-suntan grooming (6600 Gulf Drive, Holmes Beach).

If there’s one failing of AMI, it’s a dearth of quality mid-level places to eat. After he cornered the high end, the Beach Bistro’s owner, Sean Murphy, opened Eat Here, a more affordably gourmet place that has already aggressively expanded into Sarasota, too. Here, the staples cater to a sort of “uptown slumming” vibe that Anna Maria does so well: fish ‘n chips made with local rockfish, hot dogs trickled with truffle butter, and “shrimpcargots” that substitute shellfish for snails (5313 Gulf. Dr., Holmes Beach). Even in cuisine, Anna Maria balances its self-image as a marginal paradise with its upper-middle-class taste for nice things.

Which is not to say that Anna Maria can’t get loose. Some of it fulfills your every fantasy of an anonymous beach getaway. Starfish Restaurant, on a nearby fishing wharf, is the prototypical dockside seafood fry-up complete with dilapidated boats and bossy seabirds for companions — show up well ahead of dinner or wait for space (12306 46th Ave W., Cortez). The local brew house, the low-slung concrete shack Bortell’s Lounge, hasn’t seen a facelift since the Nixon Administration, but contrary to ragged appearances, neither has it probably seen a brawl, since its typical clientele consists of Dads With Boats and British holidaymakers (10002 Gulf Dr.).

Fortunately, there’s not much need to drive a car. Many locals toddle around on bikes — the weirder ones use electric golf carts — and Manatee County runs a free “trolley” bus service down the spine of the slender island (every 20 minutes, 6 am to 10 pm).

Pine Avenue is the historic drag, but don’t expect Worth Avenue in Palm Beach. There are only four blocks, but they’ve been freshening up in the past year. An original 1935 home purchased as a kit from the Sears Catalog has been moved here and restored last year as Really Relish (505 Pine Ave.) a cheerful and peerlessly curated shop selling cleverly redeemed vintage clothes (such as re-tailored 1950s swank) and wry “upcycled” creations such as “Scrabble ring” jewelry made of discarded letter tiles. It’s gathering a deserved following. Next door, in a 98-year-old cottage, is the Village Cafe at Rosedale, a new unhurried coffee lounge tarted up with giant photos of ’80s divas and a chill outdoor deck with magnetic powers.

At the end of Pine, the City Pier, which turns 101 in May, juts 776 feet into Tampa Bay but has long since been abandoned by the Tampa steamers it was made for. Now, a shark tooth jewelry maker works weekends and families fish for mackerel and mullet by lamplight. This month, dolphins have been frequent visitors.

Still, the nearby ice cream store and end-of-pier diner are so low-key as to go almost unnoticed. That well-groomed anonymity makes them, and this casual upscale town on this tiny spindle of land, the rarest kind of attractions.

If you are interested in buying or selling a home on Anna Maria Island or in the Bradenton/Sarasota area, please contact Sea to Sky Realty, the INTERNATIONAL Bradenton / Sarasota Real Estate Company.

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Fla. No. 5 nationally as ‘best for business’

Bea Weiss, Real Estate Consultant, Attorney — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:30:00 +0000

Florida ranks among the 10 best states for taxes on business, while companies in states like New York, New Jersey and California have a far less pleasant tax climate, according to the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index, now in its 8th edition.

The Tax Foundation says it looks at dozens of state tax provisions to create the ranking –a single easy-to-use score that measures each state’s tax climate against every other state. While some similar studies focus on residents’ tax burden they pay each year, the Index focuses on how a tax system enhances or harms a state’s businesses.

“Even in our global economy, a state’s stiffest and most direct competition often comes from other states,” says Tax Foundation economist Mark Robyn. “State lawmakers need to be aware of how their states’ business climates match up to their immediate neighbors and to other states in their region.”

The 10 best states in this year’s Index
1. Wyoming
2. South Dakota
3. Nevada
4. Alaska
5. Florida
6. New Hampshire
7. Washington
8. Montana
9. Texas
10. Utah

The 10 lowest ranked states in this year’s Index
41. Iowa
42. Maryland
43. Wisconsin
44. North Carolina
45. Minnesota
46. Rhode Island
47. Vermont
48. California
49. New York
50. New Jersey

The Tax Foundation has monitored fiscal policy at the federal, state and local levels since 1937. A copy of the latest report is available on the Tax Foundation’s website.

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Lakewood Ranch Ranked as Top 10 Selling Community in US

Bea Weiss, Real Estate Consultant, Attorney — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:08:05 +0000

Lakewood Ranch ranked as a top-10 selling community by national real estate consulting firm.

California-based John Burns Consulting has ranked Lakewood Ranch as one of the top selling master planned communities in the United States with 391 new home sales in 2011. Coming in at number 9, Lakewood Ranch outpaced many other well-established and iconic communities. This is the second year for John Burns Real Estate Consulting’s ranking of top-selling U.S. master plans.

“With our new sports campus, new commercial construction this year totaling upwards of $150 million, and new rental projects springing up, we’re proud that Lakewood Ranch has become the premier new-home destination on Florida’s West Coast,” said Rex Jensen, president and CEO of Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, Inc., the developer of Lakewood Ranch. “That is definitely translating into more visitors, which in turn means more sales.”

Lakewood Ranch saw record-breaking numbers of visitors to its information centers and models during the fourth quarter of 2011, helping to drive last year’s new home sales. In the fourth quarter of 2011, close to 7,000 people visited Lakewood Ranch models and information centers. “We have something truly special here. We have taken bold steps to drive the economy, which has in turn driven home sales, job creation and has helped us remain a small market leader in residential and commercial projects,” said Jensen.

This is the second year for John Burns Real Estate Consulting’s ranking of top-selling U.S. master plans. Last year, Lakewood Ranch was ranked number 14. More than 130 communities across the U.S. were included in the study, representing nearly 23,000 new home sales during 2011, or nearly 7.6 percent of the estimated 300,000 new U.S. home sales in 2011. The full report with the top 50 rankings can be found at http://www.realestateconsulting.com.

Lakewood Ranch is the 8,500-acre award-winning master-planned community in Sarasota and Manatee counties on the West Coast of Florida. Just minutes from the Gulf Coast beaches, and cultural assets in Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch is already home to more 15,000 residents and features A-rated schools, a hospital, the Sarasota Polo Club, a 75-acre sports complex, its own Main Street with theaters, shopping and dining, and four million square feet of commercial property.

If you are interested in buying or selling a home in Lakewood Ranch or the Bradenton/Sarasota area, please contact Sea to Sky Realty, the INTERNATIONAL Bradenton / Sarasota Real Estate Company.

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Foreclosures made up 20 pct. of home sales in 3Q

Axel Weiss, Bradenton Realtor — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:13:45 +0000

Foreclosures made up a smaller slice of all U.S. homes sold in last year’s third quarter, as banks delayed placing properties for sale and home sales slowed.

Despite the decline, foreclosures still represented 20 percent of all homes sold in the July-September period – about four times more than at the height of the housing boom, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.

Foreclosure sales include homes purchased after they received a notice of default or were repossessed by lenders.

In 2005 and 2006, when housing was still flying high, foreclosures made up less than 5 percent of all home sales, the firm said. They peaked in 2009 at 37.4 percent.

As a portion of all homes purchased, foreclosure sales declined in the third quarter from 22 percent in the April-June period. They were down from 30 percent in the third quarter of 2010, RealtyTrac said.

Sales of all previously occupied homes rose in August, but fell in July and September, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales of new homes, which account for less than 10 percent of the housing market, fell in July and August, but rose in September.

Ongoing disputes over how some lenders handled foreclosures have been a key factor in foreclosed homes’ declining share of all home sales.

In the fall of 2010, some banks and mortgage servicers were found to have been signing off on home foreclosures without first verifying documents, a practice dubbed “robo-signing.” That sparked a state and federal probe and prompted many lenders to revisit their foreclosure procedures. Many also delayed taking action against homeowners behind on their mortgage payments.

The delays coupled with uncertainty over the outcome of negotiations to settle the banking-industry probe have led to fewer foreclosed homes being put up for sale.

But housing industry experts say they anticipate that will change swiftly once the investigations are resolved. They note the glut of bank-owned homes and others already in some stage of foreclosure.

“As the foreclosure industry gets clarity on the foreclosure process, they will be able to push more of these foreclosures to sale,” said Daren Blomquist, a vice president at RealtyTrac.

As of Dec. 31, there were more than 680,000 U.S. homes owned by banks and another 715,000 in some stage of foreclosure, Blomquist said.

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Internationals buying more FL Real Estate than ever!

Bea Weiss, Real Estate Consultant, Attorney — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:31:43 +0000

International buyers love Florida!

When it comes to foreigners looking to plant roots in the United States, Florida is the hot spot.

The Sunshine State is the most popular among foreign home buyers with 31 percent of all home purchases made there coming from foreign residents, according to a study by Credit Sesame, an online credit and loan management firm, that used National Association of Realtors’ data.

Foreign buyers represented $82 billion of the U.S. real estate market in 2010, while in 2009 they represented only $66 billion.

“Housing is more affordable than ever,” said Susan Wachter, professor of real estate and finance at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. “It’s difficult to get credit now but international investors come with cash.”

Foreign homebuyers, she added, also see the United States as a good investment bet. “In this period of tremendous uncertainly globally, real estate here is a safe haven,” she maintained.

Foreign buyers also purchase higher-priced real estate.

With international buyers so integral to our market, make sure to list your property with a true international Real Estate Company to achieve the best result. If you are interested in selling contact us to take advantage of our international connections.

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Lakewood Ranch Builder earns national award

Bea Weiss, Real Estate Consultant, Attorney — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:19:24 +0000

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 earned the same honor for their respective classes.

“We really do feel honored,” said Leisa Weintraub, creative director and vice president of marketing. “If they don’t feel any of the applicants fit the bill, they don’t always give the award. I think that’s pretty indicative of their high standards.”

The builder was judged on a number of categories ranging from home design to company finances and marketing.

It was the first time Neal Communities applied for the award.

With houses ranging from cottages in Forrest Creek to $1 million mansions in Lakewood Ranch Country Club, Weintraub said the company’s variety of homes has helped it better withstand the housing bust than many others.

Neal Communities closed on 376 homes in 2011, with more than 400 gross sales.

The company reported total revenue last year of $126.3 million.

The developer is moving forward with plans this year to build a massive Grand Palm subdivision in Venice and a smaller 140-site community on State Road 70 in Manatee dubbed Fairfield.

Neal Communities also runs a title company, mortgage company, pool company and interior design service. The developer has built more than 8,000 homes in Southwest Florida.

“Winning this year is even more special,” Builder Magazine Editor in Chief Denise Dersin said in a statement. “Despite many housing industry losses, the America’s Best Builder program drew a strong field of candidates, of which Neal Communities was determined to be the best in its class.”

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HUD homes: $100 downpayment in Florida

Bea Weiss, Real Estate Consultant, Attorney — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:05:05 +0000

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 apply. FHA loans typically require a 3.5 percent downpayment.

The deal also helps buyers who want to buy a home that needs repairs. The $100 downpayment offer can also be applied to FHA’s 203k loans, which allow a buyer to borrow more than the list price and use the extra money to fix it up. By rolling the loan money plus fix-up costs into a single loan, buyers can pay it off over time with one monthly payment.

In most cases, HUD will also cover up to 3 percent of closing costs.

For more information, visit HUD’s website.

HUD homes: $100 downpayment in Fla

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Forbes.com: Bradenton/ Sarasota is #1 destination of Americans hunting for homes

Bea Weiss, Real Estate Consultant, Attorney — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 22:53:59 +0000

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), Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach (No. 4), Cape Coral-Fort Myers (No. 5), West Palm Beach-Boca Raton (No. 6), and Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford (No. 10).

In Bradenton a little over six times as many people from outside the area were looking for properties there as the number of people living there looking for properties elsewhere.

Another sign of improving health in the Florida real estate market: Existing home sales along the coasts picked up somewhat dramatically this year, even in the slower summer and early fall months.

…both investors looking to purchase rental properties and Baby Boomers scouting for vacation and/or retirement properties are hunting for bargains in floundering housing markets in Florida and California. “Part of the long term trend is Baby Boomers moving toward retirement, and some of those that put off their searches while home prices were skyrocketing in the Sun Belt, are now looking again because prices have fallen so much.”

Give us a call at 941866.1666 if we can help you buy or sell a property in Bradenton / Sarasota, Florida.

Best Place to Live in Florida: Sarasota!

Bea Weiss, Real Estate Consultant, Attorney — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:18:21 +0000

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 white-sand beaches or maybe those coastline-hugging barrier islands that inspire the imagination and even lead to reinvention. It happened to Californian Kathy Kittinger, a corporate executive turned photographer, who followed family here in 2005 and quickly piqued local curiosity as she converted the grounds of a bungalow in the Towles Court arts colony into her outdoor garden studio. “Everyone wanted to come in and stay,” she says. “Then they wanted to buy my accessories and furniture.” The Garden Room (a small, quaint cafe and gift shop) at Shoogie Boogies was born. “I never dreamed I’d be a photographer, let alone a cafe owner,” she says.

Dreams, however, are the stuff of Sarasota history. Its earliest pioneers arrived in the 1840s, tempted by water teeming with fish and prospects of cattle and citrus farming. Soon the city began enticing wealthy wintertime residents like John and Mable Ringling. The circus king of America was an avid land developer of the Sarasota Keys in the 1920s; the Ringlings were also passionate art collectors. Their bayside home, Cà d’Zan, and the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art remain city landmarks.

“Sarasota has always had a sought-after lifestyle,” says Michael Moulton, a realtor with Michael Saunders & Co. “Sarasota has the amenities and culture of a city of 1.5 million people [although it has just under 52,000 residents], and buyers get more bang for their buck here,” Moulton says. “We’re on the radar for anyone considering Florida as the place to retire or semiretire.” That was the case for noted author John Jakes, who made the transition from winter resident to full timer last December. “Sarasota’s professional theaters are first-rate and the quality of our opera house is incredible for a small city,” says Jakes, whose Civil War series was adapted into the 1980s TV miniseries North and South. “I always thought I’d end up here.”

Explore Sarasota and Her Islands
Sarasota’s five main barrier islands — Longboat, Lido, St. Armands, Bird and Siesta — are called keys. Connected to downtown by the John Ringling Causeway, here wealthy, often famous, residents live nestled between Sarasota Bay and the Gulf beaches. Northernmost Longboat Key boasts prime real estate, reinforced by limited public beach access and the Longboat Key Club & Resort where annual and seasonal memberships are available to nonresidents. Longboat, Moulton explains, also has less traffic than Lido and Siesta, which have large public beaches.

Prices on Longboat have dipped as low as $350,000 for an older two-bedroom, two-bath Gulf-view condo; $3 million buys into newer mid-rise buildings En Provence and La Firenza. St. Armands and Lido keys, separated by a barely noticeable canal, offer a mix of older motels turned timeshares, bungalows, a handful of 1920s homes built during Ringling’s reign, and midcentury Sarasota School of Architecture masterpieces. At Lido’s southern tip, Ritz-Carlton Beach Residences start at $1.5 million. Homes on St. Armands Key rim the circle, a Ringling-created garden with Italian statuary that offers shops and restaurants like Café L’Europe, once the place to be seen, says Betsy Coolidge, whose visit 25 years ago led to her marrying one of its owners.

Bird Key, a man-made island between downtown and St. Armands, has a yacht club and just 510 homes — all single-family, and one-third of them on the bay or wide canals. Home to TV talk show host Jerry Springer, the key has nonwater properties that are half their former $1 million asking price. Many will fall to the raze-and-rebuild trend seen in Miami. Homes on the bay start around $3 million, says Moulton, who resides here.

Siesta Key is an island unto itself, literally and figuratively. “You’re going to get 25 to 30 percent more house on Siesta than Longboat for the same price,” Moulton says. Its northernmost access is a mile or so from the causeway, and its easygoing ambience is embodied by Siesta Key Village, with places like the Siesta Key Oyster Bar and Sunday drum circles on its powdery sands. Beach “experts” of all sorts have proclaimed Siesta Key’s beach one of the best in the country.

Bayfront communities in coveted locations just west of U.S. Highway 41 include “Harbor Acres’ McMansions and Cherokee Park, where a lot of Sarasota’s old money lives,” Moulton says. Both are close to Southside Village, home to tea boutique Spice Girls, Morton’s Gourmet Market and Libby’s Café + Bar. Sarasota’s downtown condos offer views of Sarasota Bay and range from $300,000 (usually in need of a major rehab) to $1 million-plus. “The typical downtown condo buyer is coming from a single-family home on the islands,” Moulton says. These residents can walk to Marina Jack or to the six-block downtown, where they find homegrown boutiques like Belle de Jour and plenty of restaurants, including newcomer Brasserie Belge.

The number of available homes is now at its lowest since 2008. “The overall market is just under six months inventory,” Moulton says, and some neighborhoods could soon experience an uptick in pricing, making Sarasota a good buy now.

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Sea to Sky Realty . Weiss International » Blog

Bradenton / Sarasota ranks high in online interest

Facts

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