Life In Bonita Springs

Real Estate Sales and Price Point Guide

This real estate sales graph is probably looking a little redundant.  The $400,000 and under price point has been on fire for months.  Real estate inventory is moving quickly, especially if the property is priced well and in good condition.

We’re still having real estate buyers come to town looking for a great deal and they’re shocked to learn that while prices are down, the units sold is off the charts.  On more than one occasion I have had the opportunity to say, “You could have gotten it at that price several months ago, that community has already hit bottom and bounced.”

It’s true.  Especially the communities that were building real estate at the end of the building boom.  They’ve sold off their excessive inventory and have caught up with the rest of the real estate market.  That doesn’t mean there won’t be more distress, short sales, foreclosures or even strategic default.  There will be more opportunity for buyers but there will also be more competition.  You won’t be the only person waiting for a deal to come along.

If you’re a buyer waiting to scoop up a great deal that hits the market in the community of your choice you better be ready to act swiftly or you’ll miss the boat.

My, what a difference a year makes.

The area that this report covers is all real estate sold in SW Florida from Marco Island, Naples, Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach, Bonita Springs, Estero and outlying areas. If it was registered in the Sunshine MLS, it was counted in this report.  A little north of Corkscrew Road in Estero, Florida, the Multiple Listing Services changes over to Fort Myers, so listings trickle off.

All of this information is deemed accurate, not guaranteed, but probably a whole bunch more information than any other agent in town is givin’ away for free.

HELP, LOST SEEING EYE DOG, I received a poster from a friend. A seeing eye dog is missing from the New Years Eve Fireworks in downtown Naples, Have you seen this DOG???

Happy New Year from Bonita Beach

Bonita Beach, So Much Warmer Than …

This is the Lorain lighthouse in greater Lorain, Ohio which is west of Cleveland. I visited the area and took this picture.  It actually was just as cold as it looks. I was out of my car for eighteen seconds to snap this photo and that was about sixteen seconds too long.

Since I spend very little time in the northern states or the mid west I kind of forgot the misery that really is involved just making it through winter and why Florida, especially southwest Florida is such a popular second home and vacation destination. 

The last few weeks I’ve had tons of calls from northerners and Canadians looking to escape the winter elements and find their Florida home.  It only took a small dose of Lake Erie and temperatures in the twenties to make me realize that it is probably pretty darn exciting for someone to commit to buying a Florida home so they can enjoy the outdoors again.

I think I should appreciate Bonita Springs more and should probably make a special trip to Bonita Beach just to say hello to her.  It’s been a few months which was too long.  There are people all over northern Ohio that would point out I take living in sunny Bonita Springs for granted.  They’re probably right.  I should really try harder.

You Can’t Beat Their Bait

Imagine my surprise when I round the bend in a parking garage in northern Ohio and I see this Master Bait and Tackle bumper sticker on a snow covered truck.  I had to get out and take a picture. 

It wasn’t until I sat down to look at the picture on the computer that I noticed the Twitterzilla sticker and then realized that it was my brother’s truck.  It was a few months ago that I stopped by the bait store and sent bumper stickers to several friends for giggles.

I’m out of town for a few more days and I’d like to say it was a vacation from real estate and Bonita Springs but it isn’t.  For those of you who have followed the saga of my mother, her kidney transplant, cancer and recovery, she is still on the green side of the grass.  We teetered on the brink, the priest came and we even made the appropriate plans. 

Well, there is a little bit of a rally and mother has disappointed both the priest and the funeral home.  She’s a mighty bag of bones.

I can’t wait to get back and see the sun. Well, it did come out a little bit, but not much.  See you soon.

… and Happy New Year, too.

Past Event: Fundraiser and Wine Tasting Event 

Come unwind from the hectic holiday season!

The Rotary Club of Bonita Springs Noon is hosting a wine tasting fundraiser event and retirement celebration for Joe Nicola.  Nicola’s Keg is closing and will be trying to sell out his inventory, so expect some nice discounted merchandise!  

When: Wednesday, January 13 from 4:00-7:00 pm

Where: Nicola’s Keg and Liquors - 26401 Tamiami Trail - Bonita Springs, Florida 

Food is being provided by Carabba’s.  Tickets are $20 and 100% of the proceeds will go to The Bonita Assistance Office and Estero High School College Scholarships.

Tickets can be purchased and picked up from The Survey Cafe in Bonita Springs, Florida.  Email Chris for further information: chris@LifeInBonitaSprings.com

Map to Nicola’s Keg

How Did You Find Your Way Here?

Yes, I pay attention to the search results that bring visitors to this website.  There are some legitimate searches that actually have to do with Bonita Springs real estate or local festivals or Bonita Springs events. 

Foreclosure:  Here’s Your Sign

First, I do have to tell you that things are getting better in the Bonita Springs, Estero, Naples, Cape Coral and Fort Myers real estate markets.  Real estate sales volume, not price, is up.  We’re selling record amounts of units of homes and condos in Southwest Florida, at bargain basement prices. 

We still have a foreclosure or two happen in every neighborhood every now and again.  We’ll still have more.  There are those adjustable rate mortgages resetting in the next two years, plus the crappy economy will have many lose their jobs or have lost their jobs eventually get foreclosed upon.

The real estate market is swift and fortunately, I’ve been busy.  Last week, while showing property I came across a home that I couldn’t get the key to work in the lock.  It wasn’t the first time I walked up to a random piece of real estate and the lock wouldn’t work. I was once showing a condo in Lighthouse Bay and the lockbox was on the ground with the “out door half” of the door knob still stuck in it.

Sometimes the foreclosure and eviction notice are slapped on the door.  While it is sad that someone lost their home it is also good for the neighborhood.  Very often, home owners have not paid their taxes or even their neighborhood dues for months or year.  A portion of which can be recouped at close of sale of the delinquent property.

Foreclosure is sometimes sneaky.  The listing real estate agent doesn’t even know that their listing is foreclosed and that they lost their job and investment in marketing the condo or home.  I’ve made calls countless amounts of times just to let the listing agent know to come get their lock box. 

Sometimes it’s just the double lock box.  The home has been foreclosed.  The eviction notice posted, the lock changed and then the new agent, auctioneer or bank has had a lock box installed that is a “combo” box.  Below, the blue box is a real estate agent’s box and the combo box is, well, we don’t know because we don’t know how long this property will be in limbo before it gets listed as a foreclosure.

That is, if it makes it to the general public.  There may be cronyism with some banks that peddle listings in better locations or with great investment potential to their favorite investment groups or friends.  Come on, you knew that was going on, right? ;-)

Martha Stewart Would Shriek

There are a few other foreclosure signs.  The shiny brass dead bolt.  Apparently, this is the cheapest, most effective way to change a lock on a budget.  We, the real estate agents, see them everywhere. 

Who does brass or mixes shiny brass with tarnished brass and leaves the ever-so-fashionable paint ring from the last lock? 

Sometimes it’s just an old fashioned hinge with a Master Lock on it.  It’s never about beauty.  But then again, there’s nothing about foreclosure  is pretty.

Read also: The Nicest Locksmith in  Bonita Springs

If you found this article looking for a  home rekey or a lock out service for a car, Click here: locksmith 

Kinda Makes Me Want To Pull The Fire Alarm

A buyer recently asked me if there is anything that I can do to speed up the short sale process. Why funny that they asked on the heels of the shiny, new and improved rules that that have just been formed to streamline the short sale quick sand we’ve all been mired in for years.

I would imagine that there should be an asterisk on that word “streamline”. Anything that has to do with government or banks generally has nothing that to do with speed or efficiency. That would explain why the new plan does not go into effect until April 5, 2010. Of course, loan servicers and lenders may implement the program before then if they wanted to. They’d have to want to, so in the mean time we have to wait until April for the streamlining to begin.

If you’re an under water home owner and you’ve managed to hang in there long enough for the “reform” to occur, you only have to wait four more months for relief. Just in time for Christmas! No charge for the sarcasm.

Some of the new guidelines are almost basic enough to actually make sense. The homeowner or borrow will actually be able to receive the pre-approved short sales terms before listing the property, including the minimum acceptable net proceeds.

I’m not sure if that means that there will be a broker price opinion or an appraisal that determines the value of the home and if that value gets carved in granite. Hopefully, the home isn’t in a declining market.

Under the new rules mortgage servicers have 10 days to approve or disapprove the request for the short sale. I’m not sure if the time frame is actually going to help or just create a mountainous pile of disapproved short sales because they don’t have the man power to process the deluge of short sales that is headed their way.

There have been a lot of short sales but I’m sure we can expect a flood when this new plan kicks off, plus all of the deals in negotiation that will probably be resubmitted to the lender or loan servicer.

In the new plan, the lenders are now going to toss in a financial incentive of $1,500 to help home sellers move out of their home and into the next investor owned home they’ll l probably be renting, since their credit is dinged.

There will also be a requirement that borrowers must be fully released from future liability for the first mortgage debt - no cash contribution, promissory note, or deficiency judgment is allowed.

The closing table shake down is history. If you didn’t know it, a lot of time there is a zinger at the end for short sale home sellers.

Ten grand is the common zing. Sure, the bank or investor will sell short, but you have to bring ten large to the table, because everyone has a spare ten thousand dollars stashed for these sorts of emergencies, or take a judgment for ten thousand dollars.

There are forty-three glorious; complex pages of guidelines that hit the ground running in April. Just remember, they’re guidelines, not law. Let the games begin.

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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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