List To Sold in Less Than 9 Days 

Tailing on last weeks real estate market reports for the month of August 2010 comes this tale of just how fast the entry level real estate is moving.  Ya see, the majority of the listings in the the area selling are priced $200,000 and under, 59% in fact.  Real estate that is in great condition and priced well sells the fastest. 

A couple of weeks ago I listed a second floor condo in Marsh Landing of Estero, Florida.  It was only a matter of a few days and a few showings and this condo was sold.  It sold so fast that the yard sign wasn’t even completed yet.  So today I went to McBrooms Signs on Old 41 and picked up my perfect, never been rained on, real estate sign and put it in my office.  It just didn’t feel right tossing it in the sign pile with the rest of the veteran real estate signs.

It would seem that I need to find myself another listing in Marsh Landing to break this sign in properly.

Homes in Marsh Landing – Marsh Landing Real Estate

Marsh Landing is located in Estero, Florida just north of Bonita Springs.  It is situated north of Coconut Road and west of US 41 (Tamiami Trail) directly across the street from the new Coconut Point Mall.

Marsh Landing is a quiet, secluded enclave of less than 400 residences.  Home styles in Marsh Landing include coach home condominiums, attached villa homes and single family homes.  Single family homes in Marsh Landing may or may not have a pool depending upon what the first individual home owner selected during construction. 

Homes without pools can have a pool installed subject to architectural review committee approval.  Residences in Marsh Landing start in the low $200′s.  Marsh Landing is currently built out and only resale properties are available.

Amenities and benefits of living in Marsh Landing include affordable fees, no CDD and gated entry.  The community of Marsh Landing also offers a clubhouse facility with community room, fitness room, coconut palm lined swimming pool, hot tub spa, bocce court and tennis court.  Marsh Landing is truly a community that fits the entire family regardless of hobby or activity.

One of the best benefit of living in Marsh Landing are the affordable homeowner association fees and close proximity to local conveniences.  Nearby conveniences to Marsh Landing include the Estero Community Center, Bonita Beach, Miromar Outlets, FGCU and Southwest Florida Regional Airport.

Nearby communities include:

• Spring Run at The Brooks – Bonita Springs, Florida
• Colonial Oaks of Estero Florida
• Copperleaf at The Brooks – Bonita Springs, Florida
• Fountain Lakes
• Meadowbrook of Bonita Springs

Call today for a current list of Marsh Landing real estate offerings – 239-273-7430.

When Enough is Enough at The Guard Gate

On the heals of the recent public outbursts of a tennis player, a congressman and a rapper I found this sign as I was going through the guard house at Stoneybrook Golf and Country Club in Estero, Florida.  I had buyers in the car and they asked if the picture would end up on my blog … you know it!

The guards are there to restrict entry from communities.  If you don’t have a reason to be in the community or a resident hasn’t called the guard to leave your name, you don’t get in.  Some security guards are a little more lenient than others.  Stoneybrook Golf and Country Club has particularly strict security guards, which isn’t a bad thing.  It keeps the community and the residents safe.

From the looks of it, they must get verbally abused on a regular basis.  I wonder if it’s because it almost seems acceptable to be without manners or less than courteous these days.  I’m sure they have their work cut out for them.  The community is fair sized and the gates are always busy.

Next time you go through a guard gate be nice.  They’re just doing their job. 

Watch me get denied entry tomorrow!  Just watch.

Notes From A Foreclosed Home Owner

The home buyers and real estate agents shopping in the current market see just about everything when dealing with foreclosures or bank owned homes and especially their swimming pools.

Sometimes, it is clear that vengeance is all that is left.  Homes are destroyed by the owner because they’re so angry at the bank.  If the bank wants it back, they can get it back destroyed.

Other times you the heart ache and despair is almost palpable.  A few weeks ago I showed a foreclosed home in Bonita Springs and you could literally read the writing on the walls.  Days and days up to the foreclosure were document by the current owner of this foreclosed piece of real estate.

You might have never seen a crying shame up close and personal before.  This is what it looks like when owning real estate goes wrong.

Lately, when I show real estate there have been a lot of short sales and foreclosures.  Sometimes homes are not in so great of condition.

When a home is for sale as a short sale it means that the owners owe more than they can sell the home for.  They have to ask the bank for forgiveness of a portion of the dept that they owe for their mortgage.

Read also: Three Thousand Reasons Why Short Sales Fail

Some of the short sale homes are in not as good condition because they are tenant occupied and the tenants are tired of their home being shown.  Other times the owners live in the homes and they, in my opinion, have become distressed and depressed.  They quit caring about just about everything.

Sometimes when you walk into a home you can feel the sorrow.

Whether the home is foreclosed or for sale as a short sale the first thing to turn bad is the swimming pool.  Since foreclosures often have their electric turned off the pools “turn”.  Sometimes people in a short sale situation can’t afford to maintain the pool, including the larger electric bill that accompanies it.  When they turn the pool equipment off the chemistry is upset and the environment begins to die.  The pool goes black.  Algae begins to grow and it’s all downhill from there.

As if losing your home, sometimes your job, your credit and self esteem wasn’t enough there’s more.  Code enforcement is watching. I’m not sure how they find out, whether it’s by lis pendens filings (bank action toward foreclosure) or helicopter but I’m seeing more and more of “your pool is bad and you’re in trouble” notices on homes.

I don’t know what the fine is for having a bad pool.  It can’t be much worse than the stigma of having lost the home and financial damage that results from it.

What Price Points Are Selling?

Here’s the latest statistics that show which price points in Bonita Springs, Fort Myers, Naples, Estero, Fort Myers Beach and Marco Island are selling the most.  The stats are based on real estate that sold during the month of March 2009.

Motivated Home Sellers

If your home or condo was for sale and it was properly cleaned and staged, properly price and properly marketed for sale, what category or price point would it fall into?  How hopeful are you that it would sell in a short amount of time … or at least stand a decent chance to sell.

First Time Home Buyers

If you were a buyer and you were about to offer on the *perfect* home for your family would you want to know the likelihood that competing offers could come in?  It would be helpful to know how swiftly you should act or if time wasn’t so much of an issue so you could look around a little bit more.

Know the market  you’re negotiating in before you jump in.

The Vacation Condo Student Dorm Amalgam

Since Florida Gulf Coast University opened its doors parents have been investing in real estate in the Estero and Bonita Springs area to house their students.

It’s been a few years since having a kid go to school in Southwest Florida was a spring board for a retirement home or vacation condo. The market near the school picked up a few weeks ago and the searches have begun for parents who realize that they are about to start writing rental checks for student housing this fall.

While parents get excited about the prospect of purchasing a home or condo for their student there may be a few hiccups in their plan. The typical parent is usually stoked at the prospect of owning the home for a period of four or five years minimum, housing their own child and putting the friends of said child in each of the bedrooms to underwrite expenses.

For most it’s a nearly perfect plan to get a good chunk of the retirement condo paid for by renting to students. The reality of the situation is that the majority of homeowner associations and condominium associations have deed restrictions, bylaws and a frequently asked questions page that address the issue. The frequently asked questions usually cover the big items that folks are looking for; pet restrictions, minimum rental term restrictions and commercial/recreational vehicle restrictions but there are a whole bunch of other restrictions that are addressed that could throw a monkey wrench into the plan.

The biggest restrictions in renting to students are usually limited number of vehicles and limited number of tenants permitted to live in the same residence. Yes, limited number of tenants. Just because a home has three or four bedrooms doesn’t mean an owner is permitted to rent each of them out. The majority of homeowner association or condominium documents preclude owners from renting a residence to more than two tenants that are not blood relatives.

There are plenty of people, at this very moment, exceeding the tenant limit. They just haven’t been caught and the rules haven’t been enforced yet. There are several communities or complexes that were built right at the time that the housing industry took the downward turn. The majority of owners in those communities were investors, some with multiple units, who ended up stuck with a vacant condo and started stacking up students to try to underwrite their losses.

In the confusing wake of investor overload a lot of neighborhood communities were over run with undocumented tenants and little to no organization by the association or their management companies. That is all changing and changing fast. In an effort for a lot of these communities to stabilize they’ve cracked down on the rules, most especially rental restrictions.

Sneaking tenants buy the association management and the neighbors who are sick of their neighborhood being Grand Central Station isn’t going to fly anymore.

With low real estate prices and low interest rates, it’s not a bad plan to buy a vacation or retirement condo to house your student and rent a room to one of their friends. Just don’t expect to run it like a bed and breakfast with the anticipation of cash flow.

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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.

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Gulf Access Real Estate – Back Yard Boating in Bonita

One of the many benefits of owning waterfront Bonita Springs or Estero Florida Real estate is the option to purchase gulf access property.

While Estero offers a limited amount of gulf access real estate there are a few river front and canal front homes that lead to the Gulf of Mexico via the Estero River. Bonita Springs, on the other hand, offers a variety of ways to access the Gulf of Mexico; gulf access real estate.

Whether you’re a recreational boater, canoe/kayaker or a fishing enthusiast there is a style of gulf access property of available in the Bonita Springs area. Typical gulf access real estate in Bonita Springs offers wooden boat docks with hoists, lifts and davits to raise and lower watercraft into the canal. Some offer floating docks to drive jet skis up onto.

The primary river and vehicle of gulf access real estate in Bonita Springs is the Imperial River. The Imperial River has dozens of gulf access canals and creeks that intersect it offering many properties and parcels of real estate access to the back bay estuaries and the Gulf of Mexico. Other rivers running through Bonita Springs include Spring Creek, Bay Creek and Oak Creek.

Read also: The Fish Streets and Spring Creek

Naturally, the deeper the water is the higher the price of the gulf access real estate. Deep water mean bigger boats, bigger boats mean bigger homes. Some of the most expensive luxury real estate is located just a stones throw to the beach on Little Hickory Bay. Little Hickory Bay is located in Collier County and includes gulf access homes in Bonita Shores and the community of Barefoot Beach. Homes in Bonita Shores begin in the $400,000’s on a canal and homes in Barefoot Beach begin at about $1,000,000.

Read also: Barefoot Beach Community of Bonita Springs, Florida

Gulf access homes and land in Bonita Springs has adjusted price with the recent changes in the real estate market. Vacant lots with gulf access are currently available from about $100,000 and up depending on lot size, location, view and location. Naturally, riverfront gulf access lots generally cost more than canal front gulf access lots.

Bonita Springs offers a few quaint, gated communities that offer gulf access. Dolphin Cove, Barefoot Beach, Brendan Cove, Paradise Village and Serrano of Bonita Springs are located on the Imperial River or Hickory Bay. Brendan Cove offers a small marina with boat docks for the land locked lots.

Various communities along the Imperial River offer community boat ramps for local land owners and residents. There are a few condominium buildings that offer boat docks both for sale, for rent or on a first come, first served basis. It is possible to live in a condominium and have boat access in Bonita Springs, Florida.

There are alternatives to buying gulf access real estate in Bonita Springs if you’re a boater. Near Little Hickory Bay there are a few marinas and boat barns for those who prefer to store their vessel. There is also a boat club and boat rental establishment: Bay Waters Boat Rentals.

Throughout the city of Bonita Springs, Fl and Estero, Fla there are several public boat ramps and parks for those who trailer boats and jet skis.

Read also: Canal Life in Southwest Florida

Read also: Technically Gulf Access Real Estate in Bonita Springs-Estero, Florida

Call today for a current list of gulf access homes in Bonita Springs. 239-273-7430 or search here: Search Bonita Springs Homes.

Bonita Springs Sales Report

Here you go, the official numbers for the Bonita Springs real estate market report for March 2009.  If you’ve been wondering what’s going on with the local real estate market and if things are getting better or worse, this is the spot.

Real estate sales have been consistent.  No shocking moves in volume with exception to the entry level priced property taking off.

Real Also: When’s Rock Bottom in Bonita Springs?

Here’s the closed sale volume for the month of March and as usually I take the real estate report back three years so you can compare three years of real estate sales for the month of March.  It kind of gives you a way to compare it.

Though low rise condo sales were down a little this month, as a whole the sector is looking great.  Last September the inventory was at 51 months.  We’ve come a long way baby.

March Real Estate Statistics 2007, 2008 & 2009

Bonita Springs Real Estate Standing Inventory | Absorption

You can reference past real estate market reports by visiting the links below:

Of course this information is deemed accurate and not guaranteed.  If you’re looking for a guarantee buy a warrantee for your refrigerator.

Weathering the Shift in The Real Estate Market

Contrary to popular belief, the sky is not falling.  The sky, and the weather it is producing is just not predictable.  Who ever said people hate change wasn’t kidding. I’ve never seen the likes of folk freezing in terror and not being able to use commons sense to make sound business decisions in real estate.  I’m not saying sound as in “hold on you’re getting top dollar for your real estate” but sound as in you might need to start thinking “stop-loss” and prevent further devaluation of what you have.  Listen, you aren’t getting what you paid for it and you’re not getting what your neighbor sold for last year.  It’s time to face the reality of your own situation, whatever that may be.

Real estate 101:  It’s a market, just like stocks, widgets or hubcaps.  Supply vs. Demand.  Grow up and start playing with all of your cards or you’re going to get pick pocketed.  Start looking at it like business or you’re getting your ass whooped.

Real estate 102:  People make money when there’s blood in the streets.   Make your money going in.  There are deals all over the place and savvy buyers snagging those deals everyone will be talking about in a decade.  Yes, you’ll hear wouldda, shouldda, couldda stories again.  The seeds for those real estate stories are getting planted right now.

Here’s a little bonus for you actually reading this far.  Hit up this site www.moneyandmarkets.com and subscribe to their newsletter.  If you’re having difficulty coming to grips with the piercing reality of the economy, investing and the Bonita Springs real estate market, these folks might help put it into perspective.

That being said, here’s the latest inventory numbers and absorption rates for the month of February in the year of our Lord, 2009.  I’m not particularly religious, I just felt like saying that because I saw it in a Clint Eastwood western a few weeks ago.  Everything has been all The Year of Our Lord, and Do You Feel Lucky, Punk for days.  I *love* “Squint like Clint” week.

So here’s your February 2009 real estate market report for Bonita Springs and Estero Florida.  If you can’t handle it, don’t look.  A Man’s Got to Know His Limitations.  *teehee*

Bonita Springs Estero Real Estate Absorption Rate

Months of Existing Inventory

Bonita Springs and Estero Florida Real Estate Units Sold

The last few months of inventory and absorption rate reports for your reading pleasure.

• Bonita Springs Real Estate Market Report – January 2009
• Bonita Springs Real Estate Market Report – December 2008
• Bonita Springs Real Estate Market Report – November 2008
• Bonita Springs Real Estate Market Report – October 2008
• Bonita Springs Real Estate Market Report – September 2008
• Bonita Springs Real Estate Market Report – August 2008
• Bonita Springs Real Estate Market Report – July 2008
• Bonita Springs Real Estate Market Report – June 2008
• Bonita Springs Real Estate Market Report May 2008
• Bonita Springs Real Estate Market Report April 2008
• Bonita Springs Market Conditions – March 2008