Now Open Weekends 10 a.m.-5 p.m., February-May ? 15000 Livingston Rd., Naples, FL 34109
(Naples, FL) – Rather than wait until it’s blazing hot, jump in the fun at Sun-N-Fun Lagoon now when it’s comfortably cooler. The water park is open and waiting for you, your friends and family.
From February through May, we invite you to visit Sun-N-Fun Lagoon located inside North Collier Regional Park. The park will also be open during the week of Collier County Public School’s Spring Break, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., March 29 through April 5 in addition to the normal weekend hours.
Sun-N-Fun Lagoon Water Park
Facility Attractions:
· One waterslide drops into Sunny’s Lazy River
· 4 water slides take you to a drop pool
· Heated family pool
· Tadpole Pool, a children’s activity wading water area with a fish slide and more
· Turtle Cove, a pool for ages 5 – 12 years old with lily pads and ropes for climbing
· Sunny’s Lazy River, 1200 feet long
· All pools except Tadpole wading area are heated
Cost:
The park is continuing to offer a special discount to Collier County residents with a Florida Driver’s License that has a Collier County address. With a Collier County address Driver’s License, you and your party will receive $2 off any 48 inch or taller entry, normally $12. Children three and under enter free and those shorter than 48 inches are just $5.50.
Add sales tax to all fees listed above.
Group rates, seasonal passes and party packages are also available. Call (239) 252-4073.
For more information about Sun-N-Fun Lagoon or other public pool facilities, please visit the Parks and Recreation Department online at www.collierparks.com. The public may call Sun-N-Fun Lagoon at (239) 252-4021.
Tags: Bonita Springs, florida, Naples, Park, Sun-n-Fun, Things To Do, water park
She’s looking for LBD!
This little rascal is one of a few that live in a preserve near my home in Bonita Springs, Florida. This was in the middle of the day which is unusual. They’re usually spotted when the sun is going down. This time of the year the pickin’s are slim and they’re hungry and hunting in the daylight hours.
Bobcats are very skittish and difficult to photograph. She heard the camera and was back in the brush in seconds.
Tags: bobcat, Bonita Springs, florida
May You Be Enjoying It With Best Buds
If you’re from in town or even from out of town and looking for a place to watch the game hit up Johnny Malloy’s Sports Bar or Big Al’s Sports Bar.
Tags: Big Al's, Bonita Springs, florida, football, Johnny Malloy's, Sunday, Super Bowl, Things To Do
Heaven Scent Flowers on Old 41 Road
Heaven Scent has been in Bonita Springs for years. It’s the place to go to get a great arrangement, balloon bouquet, bridal arrangements, gifts and more. Heaven Scent helped our family through three children’s home coming events and high school proms. The flower artists can create anything you need. If you give them a little bit of freedom of expression they can custom create a one of a kind corsage or arrangement for any special occasion. They’ve spoiled us on more than one occasion.
Just yesterday I stopped in for an “It’s a boy” balloon bouquet. Someone in our neighborhood was bringing their new baby boy home so we decided to decorate their mailbox for them. It was so much easier and faster to get in and out of the Heaven Scent shop than it was to make my way to a big box grocery store.
If you’re looking for a gift and floral shop for special occasions try Heaven Scent Flowers across the street from Riverside Park in Old Bonita Springs, Florida.
27515 Old 41 Road
Bonita Springs, FL 34135-5504
(239) 992-5683
Tags: Balloons, Bonita Springs, florida, flowers, Gift Shop, old bonita springs, Riverside Park
Bonita Springs Naples Estero Ft Myers Real Estate
Just like the past few months, the largest sector of real estate that is selling is priced under $400,000. The real estate priced under $200,000 is absolutely on fire. This data was collected from the Sunshine MLS and includes all closed sale properties in the MLS from Fort Myers through Naples, Florida.
If you’re currently in the process of searching for a home or condo in the $200,000 and under price range expect properties to sell quickly, and to experience multiple offers on well priced real estate in great condition. Yes, it’s were seeing multiple offers again.
While our prices are down our units of real estate sold is up and rivaling number from 2005 and 2006. If you’re interested in just how much real estate sold last month read also:
Is SW Florida Real Estate Selling? | January 2010 Report
Information is deemed accurate, not guaranteed and subject to change.
Tags: Bonita Springs, Estero, florida, Fort Myers, Market Report, Naples, real estate, southwest florida
Real Estate Unit Sales For SW Florida
As usual, I go back several years during the month of January to show you where we were, where we went and how Southwest Florida real estate is recovering. This is only a few days into February so the numbers will likely be higher. It’s good news that so much real estate is starting to change hands.
Yes, I know … Prices Are Down
I am usually a little surprised when someone says, “But real estate prices are down” after looking at the graph above. Yes, there down. We have excessive inventory (that would be the units) and we have to sell it off in order for real estate prices to go up. Look, we’re selling off the units and it’s the beginning of the end of excess inventory.
There are no magic wands or easy fixes for what happened to the economy or the real estate market. I’m still shocked by consumers that get impatient and want it all better in months, not the years it’s taking.
Depending upon the price range of the real estate it could be months, if you’d like to look at what price point of real estate is selling the most, read also:
What Price Range of Real Estate is Selling in Southwest Florida?
Country Club Communities 2.0
Country club communities that are in the green or in the process of recovering from the brink of near disaster are now trying to make their way through this difficult economy. They have a huge job on their hands.
It’s been a while since I’ve had a couple of complementary full page “Chris Griffith kicks puppies and breaks rainbows” ads so here’s the five hundred words of wisdom I have to bestow upon country club communities struggling to get their good news to consumers.
We’re in the information age. News travels at the speed of light and can be created and even spun by choice at the click of a mouse. Every business, including police departments have adapted to the technology of social networking and blogging. The real blogging that is … not harpooning in nasty comments on forums.
Get the public up to speed, get your residents up to speed by providing information in the most transparent fashion in which they’re able and to promote their business like any other business promotes; 2.0 on the web. You’ve not budgeted for it or hired professionals to do it, but you should probably start.
Instead of creating an uber secretive society of closed doors and secrets why not just expose how great your community is and how structurally sound it really is?
If you’ve not Googled your country club or your community’s name, you need to. For every blogger or newspaper that has published a story that isn’t positive why not invite the author for a fresh look at the community to write a new story?
Appoint a representative or a committee that monitors the sales of properties in your neighborhoods and create a .pdf file of what your community has to offer, maps, statistic, membership information or whatever else you want potential buyers to know and get it to the real estate agents to attach to the multiple listing of every single home in the community.
Your community websites should now be comprehensive and include just about anything an owner or potential buyer needs to know about your community. Why are your HOA and condo documents not on your websites? They’re a matter of public record, anyway. Why are the membership applications not up there, too? Meeting minutes? Budget? *gasp*
If you’re a member of a board in a community or condo, do yourselves a favor and anonymously call your management company and try to get one emailed or faxed. You’d think it was a national secret just to try to make application in some of these communities.
A blogging platform added to your website is a minor change that can bring a world of enlightenment. Publish your own news; let the owners publish their own news or photos of the latest events by submitting it to your web marketing expert. Your marketing expert could simply just be an intern at a local high school or college or maybe just a web savvy resident.
It’s not rocket surgery. The internet age has made it necessary for just about everything to be transparent. To succeed in this trying economy club house communities need to get on the 2.0 band wagon and manage their reputations, run their businesses like a business or they’ll continue to shrivel on the vine.
###
Real Life in Bonita Springs is a project by Chris Griffith dedicated to writing useful blog posts for consumers about the Bonita Springs, Florida area. Find out what it is really like to live in Bonita Springs, Florida by reading about our fair city. You’ll get the latest in local real estate information, Bonita Springs real estate market reports and a little bit of humor. If you have topic ideas, feel free to request a story about the idea, after all, this site is just for you.
You can subscribe to a weekly email newsletter by visiting www.LifeInBonitaSprings.com and entering your email in the subscription area on the left pane of the web page or by adding us to your reader by subscribing to this blog. Oh, and if you’re reading this content anywhere else but www.LifeInBonitaSprings.com or Naples Daily News it is probably stolen.
Tags: Bonita Springs, community, country club, florida, Golf, real estate
Free Movies at Riverside Park
Date: Saturday, February 6, 2010
Time: 6:00pm – 9:00pm (Main Event Starts at 7:00pm)
Price: FREE!!!
Place: Riverside Park in Downtown Bonita Springs
Main event, Grease, starts at 7:00pm. Bring your lawn chairs and blankets and enjoy the show!!! Vendors will be available on site.
Tags: Bonita Springs, florida, Movie in the Park, real estate, Riverside Park
Pros and Cons of a Bi-Weekly Mortgage Program
When a borrower enters into a contract to make bi-weekly payments on their mortgage, the amortization schedule is accelerated. For example, with a 30-year amortization schedule, the borrower makes 12 payments per year. In a bi-weekly arrangement, the borrower makes 26 ‘half’ payments, which allows the loan to be paid off in 22.8 years instead of 30 years. It’s the same as making 13 monthly payments.
This ultimately saves the borrower thousands of dollars in interest rate fees. However, bear in mind that bi-weekly programs usually have some type of setup, transaction, and maintenance fees associated with them. A custodian manages the bi-weekly payments in a trust account (and also makes a profit on the interest accrued there). Because the lender really doesn’t accept partial payments, this middle man is still making monthly payments to the lender on some type of pre-payment schedule.
It is important for the consumer to know that the same results can be achieved without hiring an outside company to do this. As long as your loan program carries no pre-payment penalty, pre-payments can be made on a monthly or annual basis to shorten the loan term to save money on interest or remove PMI charges on loans that have less than a 20% down payment. The borrower simply needs to indicate the extra payment is being made toward the principal balance, and have the discipline to make these extra payments as scheduled.
Mortgage Interest Rates for Fixed Rate Mortgages*
Rates as of Wednesday, 3rd February, 2010:
Keith Cloak, Senior Mortgage Banker
Summit Home Mortgage
Keith Cloak understands clients’ borrowing needs and concerns. More importantly, being a "survivor" in the current mortgage lending atmosphere speaks volumes about Keith’s integrity and ability to navigate rapidly changing conditions. If you have questions about finance contact Keith at Summit Home Mortgage, Inc. 239-919-0719 or via email at KCloak@Summit-Mortgage.com
Tags: Bi-weekly, florida, interest, loan, Mortgage, payment, rate, real estate
The Low Interest Rates Won’t Last Forever
To everyone’s great relief, fixed mortgage rates have been extraordinarily low for the last year averaging between 4.75% – 5.25%. However, perhaps you remember the summer of 2008? Gas prices crested $4/gal, inflation was all the rage and home buyers were snapping up 6.5% mortgage rates like they were deals on last year’s golf balls at the new PGA Tour Superstore in Naples.
Then, the dam leaked. Banking fell apart, the economy went to the brink, and the Federal Reserve stepped in to clean up the mess. The Fed made many moves to heal the economy, but one of its most important ones was backstopping the mortgage-backed securities market to the tune of $1,250,000,000,000 (that’s $1.25 TRILLION folks!). Visualize that for a minute. It’s a huge number! The Fed used this money to become a big-time buyer of mortgage bonds to the tune of buying ~80% of ALL bonds being sold! The goal? Lower long term (15 and 30 year) rates and that is exactly what happened.
Starting April 1, 2010, though, life goes back to normal. L The Fed is ending its monetary support (minutes for this week’s FOMC meeting) and the market will adjust according to prevailing market forces. So this news is the very large elephant sitting in the corner of the room that everyone is trying to ignore. Fact is however, most economists (and even most of the Fed governors) believe that without the Fed keeping rates artificially low, we’ll be seeing higher rates in the very near future.
This news is worth shouting out to all of your customers still waiting to make that offer! On a $400,000 loan, a 1% change in rates equates to $250/month and that’s not chickenfeed!!! Mortgage rates are going up. The question is "how soon until markets react?" For now, rates are great. Economic data is soft and inflation is tame. Plus, the dollar is rallying. These are all conducive to low mortgage rates. However, at some point, Wall Street will start pricing bonds for the Fed’s exit.
Rate shoppers should really have a plan in place. Be patient, but not too patient. Locking mortgages is a game of timing and, for that, people need help. That’s why your Summit Mortgage Loan Officers are all well versed on this marketplace and are monitoring this developing story as it unfolds. Pick up the phone and call us, our numbers are below this email. You’ll be glad you did!
As always, your Summit team is here to help you.
William Dukes
Senior Mortgage Banker
With more than 25 years of financial advising experience including 10 years in mortgage lending Will Dukes understands clients’ borrowing needs and concerns. More importantly, being a "survivor" in the current mortgage lending atmosphere speaks volumes about Will’s integrity and ability to navigate rapidly changing conditions. If you have questions about finance contact Will at Summit Home Mortgage, Inc. 239.272.2241.
Tags: Bonita Springs, florida, interest rate, loan, Mortgage, Naples, real estate
If you do not see the video player above CLICK HERE
Tags: florida, foreclosure, HOA, Homeowner Association
Foreclosure Real Estate
It’s just murder out there this time of the year. Homes priced under $200,000 are tearing it up in the market. The closer the price of the home gets to entry level pricing the faster new listings hit and leave the market. Buyers snap them up fast when they’re a great deal or in particularly good condition. There isn’t a moment to spare when they’re priced right or someone else will swoop the home up.
Contrary to whatever the news has told buyers back home, up north or where ever the buyers are from, real estate still is selling and banks are still lending money. When the typical out of state buyer comes to southwest Florida they’re often of the mindset that there’s tumble weeds rolling around here, they’re going to steal a property and do everybody a favor by buying real estate.
The “buy now, it won’t last” warning the professionals give them may make buyers worry that they’re getting the hard sell but it only takes missing out on a couple of offers before they get to serious and start striking like lightening.
The multiple offer situation is becoming more and more common especially since the inventory in the entry level market has started to shrink. In a normal market it would be easy to look at the days on market a property spends from listing though close to indicate how swiftly real estate is selling. In our current market you’d have to look at the days on market between listing date and pending sale date.
Those short sales seem to collect days on market, which are really unrelated to market conditions versus desire to purchase. While the short sale lender is busy losing files and taking its sweet time approving a short sale the days rack up.
As far as foreclosures are concerned, that’s where the big scramble is. Multiple offers are generally common place and there are usually a lot of unhappy campers when the dust settles.
There are credit worthy buyers yearning to purchase a foreclosure and they just can’t compete with the cash buyers or they get lost in rush off offers that come in on the bank owned homes.
If you’re on the outside looking in and shopping for entry level real estate, one of the best kept secrets to keep in mind is that there are two multiple listings sites; Sunshine MLS that primarily covers Collier County, Bonita Springs and Estero and Fort Myers MLS that covers Lee County and Bonita Springs.
If you’re searching for foreclosures and you’re on the real estate market like white on rice, here’s a tip: the banks that list their foreclosures with REO agents often don’t understand access to the local multiple listing services and will list a Naples or Bonita Springs home with an agent in Fort Myers that doesn’t have access to the multiple listing website most used in the area and vice versa.
It’s the slyest way to find a publicly listed foreclosure or preapproved short sale with the lease amount of competition in this area. Get set up on a hot list or Listingbook™ account outside of your general area, too.
###
More Photos from “The Foreclosure” at The Foreclosure Notes.
Real Life in Bonita Springs is a project by Chris Griffith dedicated to writing useful blog posts for consumers about the Bonita Springs, Florida area. Find out what it is really like to live in Bonita Springs, Florida by reading about our fair city. You’ll get the latest in local real estate information, Bonita Springs real estate market reports and a little bit of humor. If you have topic ideas, feel free to request a story about the idea, after all, this site is just for you.
You can subscribe to a weekly email newsletter by visiting www.LifeInBonitaSprings.com and entering your email in the subscription area on the left pane of the web page or by adding us to your reader by subscribing to this blog. Oh, and if you’re reading this content anywhere else but www.LifeInBonitaSprings.com or Naples Daily News it is probably stolen.
Tags: Bonita Springs, florida, foreclosure, Market Report, mls, Multiple Listing Service, real estate, short sale
The Homeowner’s Parting “Remarks”
If you do not see the video above Click Here.
We’ve seen it all and we’re still seeing it, the trashed foreclosure. Occasionally, the owners have just walked away and left the home intact. Other times they take it out on the walls and strip the home bare.
Recently, I had a home in Village Walk of Bonita Springs not appraise for financing. It was being compared to homes that where short sales and foreclosures which were not in good condition. They did not have appliances and likely had mold issues since the air conditioner was not on for months. The subject property was a walk away in pristine condition with all of the appliances.
Foreclosure effects more than just it’s home owner. It effects the neighborhood, the property values and the person trying to get an appraisal next door because the property appraiser compared apples to apples with bruises and rotten spots all over it.
All’s not fair in love and foreclosure.
Tags: appraisal, Bonita Springs, florida, foreclosure, real estate, short sale, village walk
Florida Flowers
Yes, it was so bright that in person it made my eyes water taking the picture.
Tags: Bonita Springs, florida, flower, Hawthorne, hibiscus
The Internet: How to Sell Real Estate in 2010
If you’re currently selling or about to sell your real estate you need to know how buyers shop for real estate in Southwest Florida. There’s been an evolution towards buyer empowerment by way of the internet. It’s nothing new, of course, but if you or you’re agent aren’t privy to some of the great advancements with marketing real estate online you could be missing the boat.
Not every single person is computer savvy. If you’re a seller and you don’t get computers or you’re only at the beginning stages of learning what the web is capable of delivering you should probably do a little home work to make sure your home is going to be found online.
While we do have our share of full time resident’s southwest Florida also gets the resort vacationer and snow bird buyers. They now hit the ground fully informed and educated on the market, the inventory, the recent sales prices and current listings of most of the homes in your neighborhood.
If it’s public record, it’s available to anyone. Filings, good bad and ugly, at the Clerk of Courts website, business and limited liability company filings at the Florida Division of Corporations filings and local real estate sales from the county tax collector’s websites are a moment’s search away. Oh, and your arrest record, as well as a few other things that you’re probably not thrilled the world can discover about you.
When buyers cross thresholds these days they’re armed with binders full of book marked, printed materials, floor plans downloaded from developer websites, apps downloaded to their phones that offer specialized various real estate tools, a notebook computer or smart phone and they meet their agent at a central location using their a GPS.
The homes they look at are usually chosen by them from an email of listings sent to them or they search for properties themselves on a consumer friendly IDX. Most often they mail the MLS numbers of the top properties they want to see to their agent.
Unless the listing price is compelling enough to bother, homes without photos are placed as alternates because the homes with multiple photos, video or visual tours, floor plans and detailed descriptions go first. They just do.
If you were a buyer you’d weed out the properties that only feature a classic aerial shot swiped from the tax collectors site or the photo montage of eight different views of what the property looks like from the outside only. The “Appraisal MLS report” is a two-for-one disguise that really doesn’t complete either task. There’s just too much out there for buyers to choose from to waste time on vague properties with flimsy info or no photos.
If you’re selling real estate, you need to ask tough questions about online marketing and follow up on the web by Googling properties, your own home by address to begin with or if you’re in the interview process Google a few listings of the agents you’re interviewing, as well as the agent’s name.
If you’re not getting the search results you expect on the web neither will potential buyers that could be searching for a home, just like yours, to purchase.
###
Real Life in Bonita Springs is a project by Chris Griffith dedicated to writing useful blog posts for consumers about the Bonita Springs, Florida area. Find out what it is really like to live in Bonita Springs, Florida by reading about our fair city. You’ll get the latest in local real estate information, Bonita Springs real estate market reports and a little bit of humor. If you have topic ideas, feel free to request a story about the idea, after all, this site is just for you.
You can subscribe to a weekly email newsletter by visiting www.LifeInBonitaSprings.com and entering your email in the subscription area on the left pane of the web page or by adding us to your reader by subscribing to this blog. Oh, and if you’re reading this content anywhere else but www.LifeInBonitaSprings.com or Naples Daily News it is probably stolen.
Tags: appraisal, Bonita Springs, buyers, florida, mls, real estate, southwest florida
Recent Comments