Sea to Sky Realty . Weiss International » retire

Sarasota named Best Place to Retire in the U.S.

Bea Weiss, Real Estate Consultant, Attorney — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 19:55:18 +0000

We did it again! In a survey conducted by Portfolio.com Bradenton/Sarasota earns the designation as America’s most popular retirement destination.

Portfolio.com devised a six-part formula to rank the most popular retirement destinations, using raw data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. The study encompassed all 157 metropolitan and micropolitan areas with at least 40,000 senior citizens.

The highest scores this year went to areas where the population of seniors is already substantial and is growing rapidly. The study’s six factors included the percentage of residents who were 65 or older, the share of seniors who were born in another state, and the recent rate at which retirees moved to a specific market.Bradenton-Sarasota ranks first because of its striking performances in several categories:

Nearly 27 percent of its residents are 65 or older, the fourth-highest concentration of seniors in any market. That’s more than double the national average of 12.9 percent.
Bradenton-Sarasota has a median age of 48.1. A median is a midpoint, with half of all residents being older and half being younger. The national median age is 36.8 years.
Fully 95 percent of the seniors in Bradenton-Sarasota moved to Florida from another state. Only 53 percent of the elderly residents of a typical U.S. market were born out of state.

But don´t think of Bradenton/Sarasota as an area that is for seniors only. There is also a big younger crowd that already enjoys to live in the sun!

If you are looking to buy or sell property in Bradenton/Sarasota give us a call at 941.866.1666.

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Bradenton recognized in ‘Where to Retire’ magazine

Bea Weiss, Real Estate Consultant, Attorney — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:41:38 +0000

The City of Bradenton is one of eight cities featured in a national magazine’s profile on cities that currently boast the best deals on homes.In the September/October issue of Where to Retire magazine, a national magazine geared toward helping people with retirement relocation decisions, the Bradenton-Sarasota area was named along with Ocala; Phoenix; San Diego; Myrtle Beach, SC; St. George, UT; Santa Fe, NM; and Brevard, NC.

“Bradenton is still a paradise,” Bradenton Mayor Wayne Poston said. “The housing market has adjusted so we are more competitive with other communities and the Baby Boomers are still retiring daily and looking for a friendly community in which to spend their new lives. We already knew Bradenton is one of the best places on earth to retire, but it is nice to be recognized.”

According to Where to Retire editor, Mary Lu Abbott, many popular retirement cities currently have historically low housing prices, while other smaller towns boast a stable market with good seller incentives.

“Amid the miles of Gulf Coast beaches and the prime amenities of Sarasota-Bradenton, FL, housing prices have dropped 30-40 percent since 2005,” she wrote.

The magazine was launched in 1992 with the goal of helping its readers find the ideal place to retire. Now published six times a year, the magazine covers the best retirement regions, towns, and master-planned communities, and has a national average circulation of 220,000 and an average readership of 500,000.

This isn’t the first time Bradenton has been recognized by a national magazine this year for its quality of life.

Art Calendar magazine’s March edition named Bradenton one of the country’s Top 10 cities for working artists because of the Village of the Arts, a downtown-area neighborhood where special zoning laws allow artists and other craftspeople to live and operate small businesses, like art galleries, from their homes.

In the May/June issue of Going Places, AAA’s traveler’s guide that profiles popular vacation destinations around the country, Bradenton was recognized as a “sunny waterside town that boasts a unique collection of museums and marinas … and one of the state’s most vibrant artists’ communities (the Village of the Arts),” along with abundant fishing, beaches and beautiful sunsets.

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Ready for Retirement?

Bea Weiss, Real Estate Consultant, Attorney — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 19:19:38 +0000

There are many reasons why people decide to buy a second home for retirement.

For many retirees, a second home can offer a way to stay in a comfortable and familiar neighborhood and at the same time offer an opportunity to start out on a new adventure in a new home in a new destination.

Florida has been the destination of choice for American retirees for many years and its popularity continues to gain momentum, with 1100 persons a day moving permanently to enjoy the all important sunshine.

Buying a second home can also make a centerpiece to your retirement plan. It forces you to make regular savings in the form of mortgage payments that become your equity.

You only need cash for the down payment, and you should make sure that your monthly rental payments will cover the mortgage and any additional expenses. This is a real possibility if you buy the right house at the right price because a good single-family house should always stay rented. Your investment money is subject to less income tax, and the interest and property taxes may be deductible.

Preparing for retirement? What to do with your mortgage?

It is believed that the perfect situation to be in when it is time for retirement is to be free of debts. But nowadays this often seems to be impossible.

Here are some things to consider when deciding what to do with your mortgage during retirement:

In performing a cost-benefit analysis you need to look at where the money you´ll use to pay off your mortgage is coming from and what that money could be used for instead. You need to consider that your financial picture might be brighter by not paying off your mortgage!

For example: Instead of paying off your mortgage at 6 % you could put that money in an investment portfolio that earns 8 %. In this case, it would make sense to keep your mortgage. If you are risk-adverse and put more money in bonds, your guaranteed lower rate of return may indicate that it is better for you to pay off the mortgage.

Another thing to consider is the possibility of tax implications. The interest portion of mortgage payments is tax-deductible. So you should take into account if you are able to benefit from this tax-deduction.

In conclusion, you have to consider how tolerant of risk you are and what other factor should take influence on your decision.

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Sea to Sky Realty . Weiss International » retire

Sarasota named Best Place to Retire in the U.S.

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Bradenton recognized in ‘Where to Retire’ magazine

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