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There’s a little know secret in Bonita Springs … Out of the Park Indoor Baseball Batting Cages.  The secret isn’t that there are indoor batting cages, the secret is that the indoor batting cages are state of the art and offer simulators which gives the play the ability to train against virtual live pitching.

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The on screen video matches the release of the pitch and the speed of the pitch is always matched to the arm speed of the pitcher.

There are no other batting cages like it in Southwest Florida.

The batting cages at Out of the Park are appropriate and safe for all levels of skill.  While many people enjoy amateur practice batting there are some who are trying to perfect their swing or use the simulator to overcome their nemesis pitch.

Whether you’re a local, you’re on vacation or just passing thru town it’s a great place to visit if you’re looking for things to do in Bonita Springs, Florida. Out of the Park Batting Cages offers a

family atmosphere.  Players of all ages are welcome.  The facility offers comfortable seating and welcomes reservations for birthday parties, special events and large groups.

Out of the Park Batting Cages regularly hosts clinics and camps so visit their website to check the latest schedule: Out of The Park Batting Cages Official Website.

If you’d like to learn more about the batting cages and upcoming clinics at Out of the Park, call 239-405-8766.

Out of the Park is located minutes from I-75 (the Bonita Beach Road exit) near the Naples Fort Myers Greyhound Track in Bonita Springs, Florida.

Out of the Park Batting Cages of Bonita Springs Florida 

28741 S. Cargo Court, Bonita Springs, Florida 34135

Marketing Wind Storm Code Compliance

Impact Glass and Shutters

It’s quite an adventure for buyers to house hunt these days. While the internet has made it easy for consumers to find homes and research the real estate market there is still some valuable information that can only come from really digging for it.

Features and benefits; why would a buyer want to purchase one home over another or at the very least generate enough interest to make the call and cross the threshold for a tour?

Buyers are all over the web doing their own research. They’re out there trying to absorb how real estate is marketed but many times they’re left wondering what the benefit is for them to purchase one home over another. I can’t blame them because sometimes it’s hard for those in the industry to find it, too.

The question home sellers and their agent probably should have asked themselves is, “What benefit and value does this home offer a buyer that the other homes do not?” Answering that simple question in the marketing helps put what could be considered “upgrades” into perspective for home buyers.

The written remarks section of marketing a home often go on and on about the cosmetic upgrades like stainless steel appliances and granite countertops, some of which are actually standard features in certain price points.

The real disservice of not properly marketing a home is failing to bestow the larger benefits and long term advantages a home may offer to buyers. A classic example would be storm protection.

It has not gone unnoticed by consumers that it’s a struggle to determine the condition of a home’s storm protection, especially in coastal areas where it could matter most.

I’ve been asked repeatedly and can’t even speculate why something this significant isn’t shared with consumers. I would think that if a home was built to the most current building codes there should, at the very least, be yodeling of some sort but it often goes unmentioned.

While checking a box for shutters is an option in the multiple listing service it is an option that doesn’t necessarily get used. It also doesn’t determine if a home is completely shuttered, if it has been retrofitted to be storm compliant to a specific year or if the home has ever had a wind mitigation survey.

Most interesting is that the MLS offers no choice selection to list that a home has impact glass windows but a selection to check whether a home has jalousie windows, the 8-track tape of windows. I can honestly share that I have never had a buyer specifically request for me to find them a home with jalousie windows because they were just so sexy.

The back up system for this non-existent exterior feature “drop down” menu item in the multiple listing service would be the remarks section. Instead of features as important and as expensive as impact glass being mentioned the remarks go on and on, in painstaking detail, about the use of heavy duty finish trim nails and drywall compound, infused with genuine diamond dust, imported from south Africa and installed by Amish craftsmen.

Here’s the thing, most consumers don’t care about the previous owner’s design neurosis and most of the time it doesn’t matter after the paint covers it. What really matters is that the insurance costs could be lower, the buyer’s family may be safer and that it all won’t blow away because there is wind storm protection on all openings.

The buyers are demanding to know this critical information. Since building codes and homeowners insurance have gone through an evolution maybe agent marketing and multiple listing services should evolve to deliver that information to consumers, too.

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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.

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.

Fairway Pines Condominium 55+ Active Adult

The Fairway Pines Condominium complex is located off of Paradise Road in the area known as Bonita Golf & Country Club.  The location is quiet and shares the address of Golf Lake Circle with The Greens of Bonita Springs, a single family villa community.

Fairway Pines is a tight knit 55+ Adult condo complex.  Fairway Pines consists of two buildings with a total of thirty-six units and a community swimming pool.  Condos in Fairway Pines are just under 1,200 square foot of living space and offer two bedrooms, two baths and a screened lanai.  The structures were built in 1981.

There is very little turnover in Fairway Pines.  Condominiums rarely come onto the real estate market.

Adult communities in the Bonita Springs area are not that common.  There are a few small complexes similar to Fairway Pines that are 55+ Adult; Eagle Point at Bonita Golf & Country Club and  Forest Creek Villas offer similar real estate product.

Fairway Pines is minutes from world class shopping at Coconut Point Mall, fine dining, Bonita Beach and Southwest Florida International Airport.

Search for MLS listings at Fairway Pines and The Greens in the frame below.

Selling Real Estate Before Season Ends

It’s crunch time. There are about ten weeks before Easter and the beginning of the end to our busy tourist season. If you are a southwest Florida home owner whose goal is to sell your real estate by the end of “season” it’s time to reevaluate the market and organize a fresh plan to sell.

The truth of the real estate market is in the numbers. It’s only a matter of a few minutes of research to get down to the facts and figure out what’s going on in your community or on your street, for that matter.

So here’s where we’re at the first week of February 2011. In spite of what folks read in CNN Money about how we’re all doomed, the reality of our real estate market is that after researching a decade of closed sales occurring in the month of January, we closed about forty-three percent more real estate in January 2011 than January 2007. For point of referenced, January 2007 was the lowest point which followed the high in January 2005.

Our market, while the prices are down, has been quietly experiencing a remarkable number of units sold each month for quite some time.

If you’re trying to find out where your real estate falls in the scheme of what is really selling here are a few of the latest stats. About seventy-eight percent of the closed sales in January 2011 were priced four hundred thousand dollars and under. The closed sales stats have been hovering around the eighty percent number for months so it’s no big shock to find out that the Southwest Florida market is moving under $400,000.

There are some really important questions you need to ask about your market if your home is not selling regardless of which side of that seventy eight percentile your real estate is located.

First, what are the three most recent closed sales comparables? If your home has been on the market for months your original comparables are now stale and the market has changed around you. A lot has happened in the last few months so you need to keep pace with the latest sales. Those comps should be as fresh as possible; no more than three months if possible.

Second, what is the absorption rate for your neighborhood or like kind properties in your area? Finding out how much standing inventory you’re competing against is crucial, especially if you’re trying to sell within a specific timeframe.

It’s not what’s listed that matters as much as what is selling.

Recently, a golf course community manager boasted that only six percent of the properties in their community were listed. While it sounded like everything was hearts and flowers I still calculated the absorption rate for the community.

The reality of their market was fourteen months of inventory and potentially fourteen months HOA dues, taxes, mortgage payments, utilities and upkeep expenses to any home owner that could be mislead into thinking that listing inventory at “only six percent” of the total front doors in a neighborhood was good news.

That’s why fresh sales statistics, not listing statistics, are important.

Now go get a fresh set of market statistics for your neighborhood so you can make the most of marketing and selling your real estate before the Easter bunny gets here.

If you’re interested in seeing the pretty graphs of January stats, you can find them at http://budurl.com/SWFLMarket or call me to request a copy via snail mail if you’re not a fan of the internet.

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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.

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.

 Southwest Florida Real Estate Statistics

For additional Southwest Florida Real Estate Market Reports, Read Also:

SW Florida Real Estate: Historical Sales January 2002-2011

SW Florida Real Estate: Condition of The Sale January 2011

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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.

Historical Real Estate Market Report

For additional real estate market reports for January 2011, read also:

SW Florida Real Estate: Condition of The Sale January 2011

Real Estate | What Price Range Sold January 2011?

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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.

Foreclosure, Short Sale or Equity Owned Real Estate

For additional real estate reports for January 2011, read also:

SW Florida Real Estate: Historical Sales January 2002-2011

Real Estate | What Price Range Sold January 2011?

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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.

Flamingo Island Open Mic Blue Grass Stage

Weekends in Bonita Springs promise farmer’s markets, fresh produce and fresh seafood from the Gulf of Mexico.  If you miss the a Saturday farmer market, like I did, you can run to Flamingo Island to get locally grown produce.

Last weekend that was my plan but instead I stumbled upon the live music at Flamingo Island Flea Market.  Apparently, they’ve been there for years and I’ve just never known it.   The stage is open and players of any level are welcome.  The music was fantastic. Players were from all over the country, all walk of life and their ages spanned the decades.

Everyone is in a great mood and there are smiles everywhere.  The most interesting part is that this good time is absolutely free.  If you’re looking for things to do in Bonita Springs this is not only a good time, but absolutely free.  Best of all, you can pick up a fresh piece of grouper and a basket of tomatoes on your way back to the car.

The Flamingo Island Flea Market hosts Bluegrass Jam Sessions every Sunday in season (October thru May) 11am - 4pm at the Entertainment Pavilion – Open Mic Performances! Free Refreshments for all pickers!

There are also Friday and Saturday activities:

• Dixieland Band Fridays December thru March!
• Karaoke at Bahama Momma’s Tiki Bar every Saturday year ‘round, Noon-4PM! Flea Market

Hours: Flamingo Island hours are Friday - Sunday 8:00am - 4:00pm | Phone: 239-948-7799 Visit www.FlamingoIsland.com for more info.  A map to Flamingo Island is below:

Bonita Beach Sunset Kite Surfing

Many years ago I was visiting the Grand Canyon and asked a waiter at El Tovar if he had ever gotten used to seeing it.  The Canyon is an absolute miracle and I still can’t look at it without tearing up.  The waiter saw it every day.  Had it become invisible?  He guessed it took about three months to disappear for him.  He just didn’t notice it any more.

When he asked me why I asked, I let him know that I live just a few miles from the Gulf of Mexico, Bonita Beach, Florida.  He immediately said, “The ocean?  You must go to the beach every day!” 

Strangely, the beach, Bonita Beach, becomes the Grand Canyon for some of us that live here long enough.  Sometimes I drive by it and barely notice.  Sometimes I go months without even seeing it if I don’t have a reason to drive down Hickory Blvd. 

We had a cold rainy spell this week so when the sun came out just before sunset I decided to go Bonita Beach and watch that sun go down.  Well, it was cold and I didn’t have enough gear. I stayed for a minute, just long enough to snap a few shots of Jaime the Kite Surfer giving someone a kite surfing lesson.

From what I understand, and from the look of the abs the kite surfers have, it is a strenuous sport.  This guy was just learning to manage the whole situation on the sand before he gets his ass kicked on the water.   

I did manage to take one  other picture at the beach where the strong waves and wind cut the shore  … before my chattering teeth ended up back in the car.

Enjoy this *almost* Bonita Beach sunset, wherever you might be: