Bonita Springs Real Estate is Escargoing Fast!

That was funny to me!  Anywho, my friend Lisa, a New Orleans Real Estate agent mentioned my mailbox posts in a Facebook comment.  I realized that it has been a while since I posted one.  Oddly, just days ago I ran into this little critter the other day and thought, snail mail … perfect for the real estate blog, snapped his picture and forgot about it.

This is this snail’s 15 minutes of fame so leave a comment in place of applause.  If you’re wondering, his little rascal was in Brendan Cove in Bonita Springs, Florida.  If you know of an interesting mailbox in Bonita Springs let me know. I’d love to add it to the collection!

A Gulf Access Story Book Luxury Florida Home

One of the things a real estate agent does is preview real estate for their clients, maybe just do a drive by to see a neighborhood and such.  I drove through the Carolands of Bonita Springs to check out a home that I’d be showing on the weekend and on my way out of the area I passed this darling little piece of real estate.

To be honest, it was the sidewalk that got me to throw my car in reverse.  There aren’t many like it … just a few in the area that I’ve ever seen.  Well, while I was kneeling on the sidewalk taking pictures of rocks and grass which does not belong to me, the owner came out.  To my relief it was just to say hello and not to yell at the crazy woman trespassing kneeling on the sidewalk. 

This isn’t the first home that distracted me.  Read also: That Little House With Awnings 

I made the trip up the stairs to say hello and compliment him on his fabulous home site.  This home site rivals those in many of the luxury communities in Bonita Springs and even Naples, for that matter.  I’ve not even seen the attention to detail in Barefoot Beach, The Colony or Bonita Bay, our Mecca’s for high end real estate.

I’m officially declaring this the “Most Outstanding Home in Bonita Springs, Florida 2011” and I haven’t even stepped foot in the door of this fabulous Carolands Home.  I don’t think my mind could take the interior because it nearly couldn’t handle the outside.  There wasn’t a blade of grass out of place that wasn’t just the right shade of green.  This photo has not been enhance, no power lines were buffed out, no dead grass was filled in.  It’s 100% real, unretouched.

The Carolands offers one of the few areas in Bonita Springs where homes have wide open views of our back bay, the intracoastal waterway, if you will.  So the view in the back of this home is ridiculously gorgeous, too.  Plus, the Carolands on McLaughlin Drive is within walking distance of Bonita Beach since it’s located right off of Hickory Boulevard.

Don’t get all excited, this home is not for sale, I’m not advertising it for sale I am just a secret admirer of what an excellent job the owners of this fine home did when they had it custom built.

… and technically, since there was a mailbox in the picture I decided to use it in the series.  If you’re wondering where The Carolands is located in Bonita Springs, just click the map.

Jungle Miniature Golf in Bonita Springs

Congo River Golf is one of the newest additions, or rather attractions, that has come to the Bonita Springs and Estero Florida area.  It’s basically an entertainment center that consists of miniature golf with a few perks like a  party room, to host birthday, anniversary or group events and has a arcade game room and a gem mining feature.

Recently, I attended Rotary Club night at Congo River Golf so I’ve had a chance to play the course.  It’s probably the only course I’m fit to play in the area.  It was fun to discover that besides miniature golf there is a list of hidden treasure items to find through out the course. It was fun for the adults so I can see that this would be a really fun thing to do with kids.

Congo River Golf is one of two miniature golf courses in Bonita Springs.  You can read about the other miniature golf course here:  Golf Safari Bonita Springs

Read also: Congo River Golf of Bonita Springs, Florida.

Congo River Golf is located on US 41 Tamiami Trail in Bonita Springs, Florida, just south of “The Ship” beside Bonita Bubbles Car Wash.  Here’s a map to the Congo River location:

Find some other cool ideas here, Read also: Things to Do With Kids

Flesher Farm Will Have Holiday Lights 2010

Once a month, on Friday morning the Bonita Springs Association of Realtors hosts a breakfast meeting for members and affiliates.  Our meeting was held at Worthington Golf and Country Club this month and on my way I cut down Bonita Grande Road.  I always try to get a look at The Horses at Flesher Farm.

As I drove by, I realized that their mailbox was an opportunity to talk about Flesher Farm and wonder aloud if they’re having Christmas lights and holiday activities. 

Since my twins were little squirts we’d visit the Flesher Farm and buy “reindeer food” to leave by the tree for Santa Claus.  The light displays went on for years.  There were a few years taken off and last year the Flesher Farm put lights up again.

Updated:  Fleshers are having a Christmas light display this year, 2010.

If you hear anything about a Flesher Farm Christmas light display being planned, let me know.  If you’re wondering where the Flesher Farm is located, it’s on Bonita Grande Road very near Bonita Beach Road.  Here’s a map of the area just in case there is a light show on the way … or if you just want to drive by and see Linda’s horses swishin’ their tails and grazin’.

Postage & Package Shipping For Impatient People

The City of Bonita Springs has two full service post office locations; one on Bonita Beach Road and one on Old 41 Road.  If you didn’t know it, the USPS store on Old 41 Road has an automated postal center. 

If you’re not from the area you may not know how long the lines get in our post office, especially during tourist season.  Christmas and Easter week are especially bad.  Since this machine went in the lines are a little shorter and people like me, that can’t stand waiting in line while daylight is burning are using it.

It’s pretty easy to use and you can’t make mistakes.  It’s a touch screen that’s easy to use.  Consumers can quickly and easily buy stamps, ship packages, ship large envelopes, you name it.  When you get your order completed the way you want it, you swipe your debit or credit card. Poof … and you’re out the door just like me.

If you’d like to skip the line and use the automated postage machine visit the Bonita Springs post office on Old 41 Road.  Here’s a map to the store:

Bonita Springs Post Office

Off of Penzance Blvd. By Paseo

When I showed up early for a final walk thru in Paseo I made the best of the extra time by seeing where Penzance Blvd. ended up.  There is always a photo opportunity to take advantage of when there are a few minutes extra in the day.

When I helped the buyers write a contract for the home in Paseo I had extra time and took pictures of the Paseo goats.  Right at the entrance to Paseo is a ranchette with a herd of goats.  The entire area is made up of acreage plots with quaint farms or just estate homes so folks can stretch out.

Paseo is off of the beaten path but worth the search.  They’re building townhomes and single family homes.  There is both new product and resales available.  The lucky buyers that just closed on a new home in Paseo got a heck of a deal.

The homes in Paseo are the same floor plan as the Savona section of homes in Grandezza of Estero, Florida.  The homes were built by Stock Development.  The difference is that at the time of that last contract there was about $100,000 spread in price points.  You can’t beat that with a stick.  On top of that, you can’t really beat the amenities at Paseo.  It’s just a great community.

Now, the trick to finding a great deal in Paseo is to watch the market and to make sure your agent also has access to the Rapattoni Fort Myers MLS and the Sunshine MLS.  There are a few local MLS systems so membership to that on is important because that is where most of the listings will be found.

And if you get out to Paseo be sure to look for the goats and the hot rod mailbox at the far end of Penzance.  It’s pretty back there. You should at least take a drive to learn about the neighborhood that surrounds Paseo before you buy.

Little Hickory | Back Bay | Gulf Access

We don’t have an intracoastal waterway on gulf coast of Florida.  We do have back bay and cruising water ways but they’re not continuous.  In south Lee County in the Bonita Springs and Estero areas there are a few channels that open to the back bay from the Gulf of Mexico – New Pass, Hickory Pass, Big Carlos Pass, Wiggins Pass.

The flamingo mailbox is located just off of Broadway Channel on Hickory Island.  I found it last week on my way to take a look at Bay Park North boat ramp at the north end of the island. 

The homes on the east side of Hickory Island often have gulf access via canals or Broadway Channel and the back bay.  They’re within walking distance of Bonita Beach, too. 

There’s a premium to be paid for real estate that offers gulf access within close proximity to the beach.  It’s the fastest access to the open gulf in the area, just minutes away.

The supply for real estate on this narrow strip of land is limited and the demand usually remains high.  Vacant lots to build on are few.  A good portion of home owners purchase older home to rehabilitate or to add onto.  The area has older cottages, stilt homes and some of the original fishing cottages from decades ago.

The next time you drive down Hickory Boulevard turn onto Melody or Harmony Lane and take the tour or stop by Cypress Land and see the flamingo mailbox.  If you’re  daredevil take a look at *this*, it was on the mailbox one house over.

Where Mailboxes Place Mark Real Estate

Hickory Boulevard is the main connector of Bonita Springs to Fort Myers Beach.  Whether you’re just taking a trip to the beach or a trip up the beach to get to Ft. Myers you have to travel that road.

The traffic doesn’t move too very fast but there is a fair amount of traffic.  There are also several locations where there are public beach accesses with free beach parking so it’s a little difficult to watch the road and find the home or vacation rental that one is looking for.

Residents have taken liberty with installing interesting mailboxes as a means for visitors or maybe even themselves to more easily find their homes.  The beach has just about every fish, dolphin and manatee mailbox known to man.  There is even a red kayak mailbox made of a real kayak.

The buoy mailbox is a collection of buoys that must have washed ashore on the bay side and it looks like they just keep adding to the attraction.  If you ask me, this mailbox looks like it’s in distress and struggling under the weight at this point.  It certainly is one of a kind on Hickory Boulevard.

Cranky In The Dean Street Area of Bonita Farms

Actually, there were more than a few really fun mailboxes in the Old Bonita section of Orange Creek.  It took me a couple of tries to get a picture of this for a variety of weather related reasons and one day of “mail carrier canned goods pick up day”, when it was adorned with Publix bags of filled with non-perishables.

The mailbox is named Cranky, it’s on the little yellow part.  There must be a story. Who just builds a crane mailbox?  If you’re wondering, Cranky is located on Orangewood Drive off of Matheson Drive in Bonita Farms.

    It’s Not Always About Real Estate   

We’ve had one of the weirdest winters ever.  I’ve lived in Bonita Springs, Florida about twenty-five years and have never experienced such cold weather.  I’ve never covered plants so many times at night.  It was work keeping just *some* of our yard alive.

The passaflora on the mailbox has been a work in progress. It received the most assistance this winter.  I fell in love with the blossoms the first time I saw in growing in King and Queens Kew by Bonita Beach. 

I was able to locate this specific variety at Driftwood Garden Center in Estero, Florida.  There is a pretty good chance that they didn’t want me to buy it.  It had seen better days.  When I brought it home and asked for help planting it I heard, “You want me to plant a dead bush?”

The short of this long, non real estate related, story is that the plant lived, actually flourished and produced a single passion fruit.  A few weeks ago I noticed another passion fruit.  Yesterday I noticed another.  Today, while trying to photograph butterflies I noticed more. As a matter of fact, there are dozens of them all over it.

I’m an accidental passion fruit farmer!  If you’d like one of these beautiful flowering bushes just call me.  Seriously, I’m giving away freebees.  There are seedlings popping up all over the place.  Right now, lawn service is on Friday so Thursday is the best pick up day.  Come start your passion fruit farm.