Life In Bonita Springs

“Gulf Access” is Sometimes an Embellishment

Buyers of real estate sometimes give direction just vague enough to get them disappointed:  “Find me something nice, in a nice area.”  First, they don’t know if I think an area is “nice” the way they think an area is nice.

You know, every man has a different opinion about whether a woman is beautiful or not so deciding if real estate is nice or fun or convenient or whatever is relative to the search for real estate.  Gulf access real estate varies wildly.  Finding something “gulf access”, which means accessible by boat to the gulf, is one of those areas of challenge, particularly when breaking into entry level gulf access real estate.

Sometimes there isn’t more than a stream or a sliver of a canal in the back that qualifies a home for being gulf access real estate.  There are even some gulf access homes where it is necessary to go under very low bridges or even through a culvert pipe to get to the main waterways.  That, of course, limits the size of a boat. The amount of debris in the water may also limit the use of jet – ski or vessels with impellers.

Further adding confusion for consumers searching for gulf access real estate is that there are a couple of neighborhoods with a community boat ramp or common, shared docks (usually first come, first serve).  This type of real estate usually shows up as gulf access real estate in searches, however there is no canal or waterway attached to the property.  Communities with this type of access include:

• Bonita Shores - The number streets on the Collier County side of Bonita Springs
• Estero River Heights – Off of Broadway West in Estero, Florida.
• Bonita Bay Golf and Country Club – Marina, Docks and Boat Barn Storage
• The Colony Golf and Country Club
• West Bay Club Golf and Country Club – Boat Ramp, Boat Storage Yard
• Pelican Sound Golf and Country Club – Boat Ramp, Boat Storage Yard
• Orange Creek
• Johnson Street (local boat ramp)

While most of the real estate in these communities enjoy gulf access through means other than a back yard canal, it does provide a unique opportunity for gulf access home ownership for residences that normally wouldn’t be able to enjoy it, such as tower residences, low rise condos and villa homes.

A Fool and His Money …

It only takes running an ad or two on Craigslist to open the flood gates of scammerific emails engineered specifically to pry a person away from their money. There’s always someone with an angle out there but there are ways to figure out whether the request is legitimate or a scam.

Sometimes a scam is so obvious it’s comical. Other times the con artists actually put a little bit of effort (and spell check) into what they’re trying to pull off and it takes a read or two to catch on.

Basically, most online scammers are after two things; your money and more info so they can get closer to your money.

It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to sell a car, a home or a pinball machine, that internet or email inquiry you receive needs to be vetted.

One of the biggest online scams where real estate is concerned involved buyers renting a home from someone who doesn’t even own the home or represent the sellers.

The rental scam is simple. The scammer often steals the info and photos from a legitimate advertisement for a home for sale and reposts it “for lease by owner” usually at a rate attractive enough to compel consumers to act swiftly enough to fall for a scam.

Somewhere along the line the future tenant ends up producing a deposit to secure the rental and they never hear from “the owner” again.

The other scam is a purchase scam which involves a “buyer” who isn’t in town and wants to place a cash offer with a home inspection contingency. It’s usually a home in the $400-500,000 price range.

For what it’s worth, the absentee buyer actually produces proof of funds, photo ID or a passport, their attorney’s contact info and a few other items that somewhat add to the legitimacy of the purchase.

There are a couple of possible angles used to defraud folks of money with this grift.

In one, the seller or the agent receives a check from a “purchaser” presenting funds for a closing. Often the check is for nearly the full amount of the purchase. The buyer sends funds well ahead of closing and will soon after cancel the transaction and gamble that the attorney/title company will send their escrow money (in the form of a wire) before it is discovered that the check for the deposit is bogus and no money has been credited to the escrow account.

The other angle is when the potential purchaser “accidentally” produces an over payment of a fee or deposit and asks for a refund of the difference. Naturally, the original deposit was bogus and/or the check had not cleared.

Sadly, someone somewhere has fallen for these tricks or they wouldn’t continue to thrive.

The best defense any consumer, whether they’re a seller, purchaser, tenant or agent is to trust their instincts when something seems fishy or too good to be true and to use Google and the public county tax roll to verify the legitimacy of the parties involved before any money or private information changes hands.

Out of curiosity, I Googled the name from the last scammy email I received and it returned 136,000 results. It would seem that I wasn’t the only person that Mr. Jirou Hayashi tried to employ to purchase real estate. Googling his email address and phone number produced tens of thousands of reports, as well.

It seems that while the scammers are finally smart enough to use spell check but they’re not smart enough to change their name from crime to crime. They’re literally banking on the fact that someone won’t do their home work and check them out before they do business with them, too.

###

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 center 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.

Miles of Walking Paths at Bonita Bay

Woven through the community of Bonita Bay in Bonita Springs, Florida  is an extensive walking path trail system. If you’re a pleasure runner, walker, bike rider or enjoy rollerblading, the wide trails at Bonita Bay have room for everyone.

The walking trails run through wooded areas, mangrove estuaries, along the Imperial River, Sabal palm stands, along formal gardens and manicured golf greens.  There are about twelve miles of walking trails in Bonita Bay.  The trails are broken up into colored sections and measured for creating specific workout distances and training routines.

There's also a 12-station fitness trail in Riverwalk Park located along the Imperial River in Bonita Bay. In addition the walking paths are sprinkled with sitting areas, picnic tables and even wildlife look out stations over nature preserves.

Bonita Bay is a gated community located in Bonita Springs, Florida and one of only a few communities which offers scenic running and walking trails for its residents.  Bonita Bay offers  real estate from modest, entry level prices condominiums up to luxury homes priced in the multi-millions.

What We Grow Down Here In Bonita Springs

Private Money Mortgage Lending

Chris Brown from Certified Mortgage planners sent me an email with a new program that may interest a few real estate shoppers.  For those of you mentally ready, but not credit-ready, to get back into the real estate market this may be an alternative to a traditional mortgage for real estate purchases. 

The thought process being, you may be able to pick up homes at bargain prices and get your foot back in the real estate market, then refinance your loan after the dings from the credit are healed. 

Can't qualify for traditional financing for your real estate dreams?  Just experienced a personal bankruptcy, short sale, or foreclosure?

We lend up to 65% loan-to-value with in-house mortgage underwriting and servicing.

• No Income, No Credit (in most cases)
• Interest Rate 12%-12.99% "Interest Only"
• Primary Residence, Second Home, Investor
• Up to 10 year balloon
• No Prepayment Penalty
• 4 points

For more information contact Chris Brown: 407-367-2974  chris@cmpfl.com or visit his website www.MortgageChiliBlog.com 

Certified Mortgage Planners

1331 S. Int'l Pkwy #2251

Lake Mary, FL 32746

1331 S. Int'l Pkwy #2251

Lake Mary, FL 32746

Qualifying and Hiring a Florida Real Estate Agent

Brace yourselves, Florida consumers, I just read that real estate licensee enrollments are on the rise. Apparently, the current one-quarter of a million licensees simply isn’t enough to properly service the sunshine state.

It’s pretty easy to pick on Florida real estate agents for doing a crappy job simply because there are more than a few rolling around out there doing a crappy job. The fact of the matter is they someone how got into the industry and you, the consumer, have to weed the bad from the good if you decide to use one.

So how’d they get in? Chalk it up to how easy it is to get a real estate license. The requirements are a couple of hundred bucks, a few days in class and pass state license test. Boom, anyone who believes “they’re a people person” will be brandishing a license in a matter of a few weeks. No experience is really necessary, no training is required.

Most students look at the state test as an exercise a tolerance. There really isn’t a whole bunch of learned material that gets applied to real life scenarios. If ya hang in there, pay close attention and answer exactly what they’re asking, you pass … and get your own business cards.

The reality of the average real estate agent is far less glamorous than the million dollar listings most newbies dream about. In they’re mind they’re going to Hollywood and becoming a star, baby!

In reality, they’re going to be trying to buy the most inexpensive, garage sale oven for the foreclosure they’re helping first time home buyers purchase because the mortgage underwriter is requiring a “cooking source” in order to approve funding.

Wait until they find out just how thin and sexy a last minute scramble for a well water test is going to make them look.

That’s what separates the good agents from the bad in the real estate industry, the customer service side of the business. Taking care of the ugly things that need to be taken care of in order to get the transaction closed and keep the consumer is happy.

These days there are so many more challenges to transactions it’s more like a hazing for agents. Now with things looking up, there are more getting into the business simply because it’s just so darned easy.

Just a few days ago, I was eating dinner at a patio restaurant while I was shuffling paperwork and the server comes up to me and says, “A contract … I’m going into real estate, too.” I’m thinking, “Do you plan on removing your apron when you’re showing real estate?”

Almost immediately, I stop myself because that really wasn’t fair. He’s got a dream and he’s obviously a “people person” and plus he’s a waiter so he must be able to apply common sense and navigate the intricacies of good customer service. It’s the axis of his very income.

Then right on the heels of me finalizing that thought, he pulls the little plastic book containing my dinner bill out of the back waist band of his britches and tosses it on the table. Color me crazy, but a person who handles food for a living should probably not store such things, in their pants … in the back of their pants.

Ponder for a moment, what sort of customer service he will bestow upon the real estate industry.

Like I said, it’s just too easy to get a license. Consumers be warned. The real estate market tide has turned and it’s rolling in a fresh wave of mediocrity to take your order.

###

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 center 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.

Found in The Carolands of Bonita Springs, Florida

Fees, Closing Costs and Good Faith Estimates

How do I find out, in advance, all of the closing costs and fees related buying real estate here?

Whether you’re buying or selling real estate you should be able to calculate the majority of closing costs prior to closing day or even signing a contract. This answer is about as specific as I can get without knowing whether you’re buying new product or resale, paying cash or financing or which county you’re buying in. Disclaimer: Always contact a lawyer, yada yada.

It’s not rocket surgery and just about any real estate agent should be able to work up most of the closing fees for a cash buyer on a Mead spiral notebook. If they can’t work up those figures for you … you have a problem and it isn’t related to your closing costs.

Buyers obtaining financing will have varying closing costs.

Mortgage related expenses can differ depending upon the buyer’s credit score and the chosen loan program. A buyer who is planning on getting a mortgage can get those fees figured out by contacting a reputable, local mortgage broker.

Some of the fees related to mortgages such as the lender’s title policy, documentary stamps on mortgage and intangible tax are based on the loan amount, plus there are several minor expenses you’d never think about calculating for such as an appraisal, flood certification, survey, condo questionnaire and credit report. That’s why it’s important to sit down with a pro that knows and can prepare a good faith estimate of mortgage expenses.

Typically, when an experienced real estate agent recommends a reputable mortgage broker it’s so that you don’t end up with surprises or last minute drama. Take my word for it, going rogue and picking a dot com lender based in California isn’t exactly going to add structure to the situation.

Mortgage expenses aside, buyers can expect to see property taxes and homeowner association/condominium fees prorated on the settlement statement. Buyers only pay taxes and fees related to the days of actual ownership after settlement.

Membership has its privileges so buyers may be obligated to pay a one time transfer fee to become a member of a homeowner or condo association.

The larger expenses related to a property purchase or sale includes the title insurance and documentary stamps on the deed. Title insurance rates are based on the sale price of the real estate. Which side pays for title insurance is paid based on local custom and/or whatever the buyer and seller negotiate. Very often, in Lee County seller pays - Collier County buyer pays. It’s all lined out in the contract so check twice and ask before putting ink to paper.

In Florida we have a transfer tax on real estate to collect revenue; seventy cents for every one hundred dollars of the sale price. The seller generally pays documentary stamps on deed but that detail will be in your purchase or sale contract so double check before signing. Triple check if there are multiple addendums especially when purchasing a foreclosure property.

If you’ve made it this far and you’re still awake, there are a few things that may be paid outside of the closing statement to plan for; the home inspection, application the homeowner association/possibly a background check and legal expenses if you’ve chosen to have an attorney review the documents and represent you.

There’s no reason why you can’t have most of the closing costs estimated before you commit to any real estate transaction so you understand exactly what you’re getting into.

If your mortgage broker or your real estate agent can not provide those figures or you are not comfortable that you have all of the information, you’re probably not working with the right people.

###

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 center 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.

Short Sale, Foreclosure & Equity Real Estate Sales

Just in case you were curious about the foreclosure or short sale market in Southwest Florida I thought I’d show you how many closed sale last month.  We do have a fair amount of equity real estate sales, which means there is not a bank involved in the decision making of the transaction.

The foreclosure market is down slightly and speculation is that the banks are not foreclosing as readily and they’re negotiating short sales a little better, faster, efficiently.  (depending upon the lender, of course.)

To read the other February 2011 Southwest Florida real estate market reports, read also:

• SW Florida Real Estate | What Price Range Sold February 2011?

• SW Florida Real Estate | Historical March Sales 2002-1011

###

All information is deem accurate, not guaranteed and subject to change.  Check the date on this report for freshness.  If you have questions regarding your particular neighborhood, your street or your home specifically you’re welcome to contact us for a current market report. Real estate consumers that read this website are urged to seek independent, professional legal, real estate and financial advice before engaging in any transaction. All information is deemed, accurate, subject to change and not guaranteed.

SW Florida Real Estate March Statistics

Southwest Florida has finally seen a creeping up of the higher end, luxury real estate sales.  The shift wasn’t huge but the change has begun.  The entry level prices have remained the anchor price of the real estate market with four hundred thousand and under leading sales.

We’ve been selling a massive amount of real estate this season. Be sure to read the other Southwest Florida Real estate market reports:

SW Florida Real Estate | Historical March Sales 2002-1011

SW Florida Real Estate: Condition of The Sale March 2011

###

All information is deem accurate, not guaranteed and subject to change.  Check the date on this report for freshness.  If you have questions regarding your particular neighborhood, your street or your home specifically you’re welcome to contact us for a current market report. Real estate consumers that read this website are urged to seek independent, professional legal, real estate and financial advice before engaging in any transaction. All information is deemed, accurate, subject to change and not guaranteed.