Coming in at number 11 last year, Sarasota climbed into the top five with the help of AmericanStyle readers. Home of numerous art museums—including the popular John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, galleries, art centers and festivals, this Florida city has long been known as a cultural destination. “Sarasota is just without parallel in its uniqueness and commitment to the arts,” says reader Debra Mixon of Homosassa, Fla. A walk along Palm Avenue, one of the city’s centers for art, will show you how right she is.

Along with Manatee County, Sarasota will be debuting a brand-new art festival, Festival sARTée, to present the area’s best cultural assets—its local and regional artists. Held Oct. 8-24, Festival sARTée will feature a truly unique mix of visual arts, food art, circus art and more in venues throughout Sarasota and Manatee Counties. It will be running concurrently with the second annual Ringling International Arts Festival.

Read the full article: http://www.americanstyle.com/2010/05/top-25-small-cities/

Here are some highlights of this article:

In the Sarasota-Bradenton market, 239 condos changed hands, a 130 percent increase from the 104 sales that took place during the same month a year earlier.

Realtors and analysts attribute the uptick to both the first-time buyer tax incentive, which was recently extended, and to the return of investors to the market.

All over the region and across the state, investors are snapping up condos that either came out of the ground or were converted from apartments during the boom.

In Sarasota-Bradenton, the median condo price was down 20 percent to $141,100 in November from the same month a year ago.

If your are interested in buying or selling a condo in the Bradenton/Sarasota are, please call the experts @ 941.866.1666.

Slightly more than half of foreign buyers (52 percent) purchased a detached single-family home, compared to 78 percent among all buyers nationally. Approximately one third (34 percent) of foreign buyers purchased a condo, 7 percent purchased a townhouse or row house, and the remaining 7 percent purchased some other type of home.

According to the 2008 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 93 percent of all home buyers used mortgage financing to purchase their home. Among recent foreign buyers in Florida, use of mortgage financing was less frequent. Overall, 32 percent of foreign buyers financed their home with a mortgage while 67 percent paid cash with no mortgage financing.

Many foreign buyers (16 percent) purchased a property to use exclusively as a vacation home. Fourteen percent purchased a home to be used as a rental property. Given the
limitations on the length of time that foreign buyers may be able to personally use their property, 24 percent of sales were for a dual use – as a vacation home for the buyer’s
family and friends and as a rental property at other times.

The Miami-Fort Lauderdale area was the most frequently reported location of a home purchased by a foreign buyer in Florida. More than one in four (27 percent) foreign buyers purchased a home in the area, followed by 11 percent who purchased a home in each the Sarasota and Orlando areas.

If you are interested in selling your home, contact a Real Estate Company which specializes in working with International Buyers – contact Weiss & Weiss International Realty.

Source: Florida Association of Realtors

AOL is reporting that Sarasota, Florida is the 2nd most undervalued cities in the United States:

Sarasota is a relatively upscale community on Florida’s west coast. “It’s a nice boating community, and they have got a lot of beautiful homes there,” says Jack McCabe of Florida-based McCabe Research & Consulting. After home prices plunged 44 percent from the first quarter of 2006 to the first quarter this year, the market presents would-be buyers with some attractive opportunities. IHS Global Insight considers the median home price in Sarasota — $141,000 — to be 28 percent undervalued.

 This is good news for buyers who are planning to buy a home in Sarasota.

We often hear from buyers that they are trying to time the bottom. But don´t wait too long. We are seeing that the better properties are again being sold within weeks or even days. Many investors are coming back to the Florida Real Estate market and buying well priced properties in good locations. There are still bargains out there – but remember that this buyer´s market won´t last forever!

If we can help you find a Sarasota home for sale give us a call at 941.866.1666 or use our Sarasota MLS search to find your next home.

This award is said to be like an Oscar of the restaurant industry.  The magazine has placed more than 220 restaurants in the Fine Dining Hall of Fame, which was started in 1980. 

This year’s restaurant honorees include:

• Barolo Grill in Denver
• Blue Ginger in Boston
• Bouley in New York City
• Herbsaint in New Orleans
• Naha in Chicago
• Nana Restaurant in Dallas
• Michael Mina in Las Vegas
• Michael’s on East in Sarasota, Fla.
• New Rivers in Providence, R.I.
• Slanted Door in San Francisco

Flanked by business and real estate leaders, Crist put his name to HB 521. The bill lowers the burden of proof for owners who dispute property tax assessments to a preponderance of the evidence – a lower standard than the clear and convincing threshold they now must meet to overturn a property appraiser’s estimate.

Local governments had successfully scuttled earlier efforts to lower the standard. In the just-signed version, property appraisers still enjoy the presumption that their estimates are correct, but the legislative analysts say the bill will cost local governments $157 million during the current fiscal year, increasing to $693 million a year by 2013.

Topping the list was Hanalei Bay. This remote, two-mile crescent-shaped beach on Kauai where the emerald mountains meet the sparkling sea was selected No. 1 on “Dr. Beach” Stephen P. Leatherman’s 2009 list of top 10 beaches, which was released Friday.

But the runner-up on Leatherman’s list was Siesta Beach in Sarasota, FL:

Siesta Key was followed by Coopers Beach in Southampton, N.Y., on Long Island; Coronado Beach in San Diego; Hamoa Beach in Maui, Hawaii; Main Beach in East Hampton, N.Y., on Long Island; Cape Hatteras in Outer Banks, N.C.; Cape Florida State Park in Key Biscayne, Fla.; Coast Guard Beach on Cape Cod, Mass.; and Beachwalker Park on Kiawah Island, S.C.

Leatherman based his selections on 50 criteria, including water quality and temperature, cleanliness, weather, sand, safety and facilities. And Hanalei is his personal favorite “getaway beach” in Hawaii.

Our beautiful area is definitely a great place to be all year round.  We admit it – we´re crazy about this region, from the blue-green Gulf and wild rivers to buzzling Sarasota Downtown  and a word-class cultural and restaurant scene.

Unlike many beach communities, things don´t come to a halt in the off season. Rather the off season allows locals to enjoy our serene white sandy beaches all to themselves.

There is plenty of activity all year round: boaters, golfers and sun-seekers all find happiness in the Bradenton/Sarasota region!

Wheather you have your eye on a condo on the island, a home on the golf course or an expansive rural home, the Bradenton/Sarasota offers lots of choices for all budgets and tastes.

From an investment standpoint, you may be nervous about the current housing market. But especially this market offers lots of opportunities for buyers. Low interest rates and a large market favor anybody who is looking to invest.

Take advantage of the buyer´s market by checking out the local real estate. The variety of homes makes sure thateveryone can find their personal paradise. Enjoy the lifestyle you deserve – make your vacation last a lifetime!

The most interesting part of this survey for us is that the Bradenton/Sarasota area makes the third place for the most frequently reported location of a home purchase after the Miami-Fort Lauderdale and the Orlando-Kissimmee areas. If you take in consideration that our area is much smaller than the Miami or Orlando area, this news is even more significant.

The buyers who bought property in Bradenton and Sarasota were mostly from Western Europe (44 %) and Canada (44 %). This survey shows how important international buyers are for our local market. “For home sellers it is extremely important that their property gets enough exposure on the international market. International Marketing can be the difference between selling or not selling their homes”, according to Weiss.

According to the survey foreign-born Realtors are more likely to work with international clients than U.S.-born Realtors. Foreign buyers often feel more confident when working with Realtors from their home country.

The reason for the increasing interest of foreign buyers in Florida properties can be seen in the falling value of the U.S. dollar relative to major world currencies during the past several years. As a result the cost of Florda property, priced in dollars, is much lower when converted to the buyer´s home country currency. From the percpective of foreign buyers Florida real estate is effectively on sale.

No, no, don’t laugh. I’m serious. Of course, I don’t mean property that is overpriced or overvalued. The kind of real estate that is only available at these times and at these prices.  Realistic sellers, short sales and foreclosures mean opportunities for buyers.

Look ahead of the crowd

Today, you can find some great bargains on real estate in the Florida, if you know where to look. Look ahead now and you won’t have missed the boat like you did before. I mean these people from overseas saying, if we knew the market would go like this, we should have bought something here in 1995. The 2nd chance is just around the corner waiting.

Sure, the US Real Estate and mortgage market is desparate now. Have we already seen the bottom of the real estate market and the US-Dollar vs. the other important currencies of the world? I don’t believe so, but nobody knows for sure. Besides that election year is coming, what I know for sure is that the US Real Estate market is not Florida. Why?

Sail, surf and beaches! Period!

Espcially the Sarasota / Bradenton market was ahead of the rest when the prices began to skyrocket and it was ahead when they began to drop. So this is the market where you should starting looking now. Don’t wait to long and try to chase prices better catch them in advance.

More money to buy real estate

The falling dollar and the mortgage crisis make up a perfect storm that has left overseas investors in U.S. stocks and bonds facing unattractively low interest rates and unattractively low (or negative) returns on stocks. The dollar’s fall will cause them to lose money in their home currencies even if U.S. stocks hold steady.

An increasing number of overseas investors are joining the global search for alternatives.  The number one alternative is real estate.

 Do you think real estate is a smart investment now?

At some point, though, those same overseas investors will realize that U.S. real estate is a great hedge against what they fear most: an attack of runaway inflation in the United States. A physical asset such as real estate goes up in value when inflation soars. At some point, those overseas investors will notice that real estate in the U.S. is cheap enough that any recovery in the American economy will produce windfall profits.

And besides all profits, don’t forget: Surf, sail and beaches and this can be the source for: More profits…

Axel Weiss, MBA
Lic. Real Estate Pro, Lic. Mortgage Broker
with material from Matt Augustyniak, Horizon RealtyBradenton, Florida