Life In Bonita Springs

What the Numbers Aren’t Saying

See that dark orange spot at the bottom left corner of Florida?  That’s Lee County Florida and that is where Bonita Springs, Estero, Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Sanibel, Lehigh Acres, Alva and a few other cities are located.

What the numbers aren’t telling you is that two large areas are actually the cause of Lee County turning orange and getting all stressed out.  Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres were hit hard with a capital Huh!  Unfortunately, when these sorts of flashy national maps go out, it isn’t detailed enough to show that.

Go two counties below Lee County.  That would be Monroe County.  Look what great shape they’re in … or are they?  It’s Everglades National Park.  With exception to the few homesteaders living “off the grid” and the Conch Republic of Key West there isn’t anything there but gators and mosquitoes.

Real estate is local. If you want  to find out about Bonita Springs real estate and the state of the economy in Bonita Springs or Estero Florida.  Don’t count on a map that lumps us in with Cape Coral or Lehigh Acres.

Here, go horse around on the map and see how bad it is in the Mojave Desert, too.  Economic Stress Test Map

Selling a Home Off Season

Back in the day they use to roll up the sidewalks and board the windows of a lot of the Southwest Florida businesses precisely seventy two hours after Easter Sunday. US 41 use to be a two lane road and by two lane I mean one lane going north and one lane going south. It seemed that nobody lived here when you compare it to the population and the infrastructure that we have now.

Some people have held on to the notion that once “season” is over everyone closes up shop and waits for the snow birds to come back. Some folks ask how slow real estate sales get here during the summer anticipating tales of hibernation.

Home owners want to know if they should bother to list their property or keep it listed over the summer or take it off of the market. The fact of the matter is real estate still sells after Easter and in the summer.

The only thing that usually changes during the summer is that the buyers are different. They’re focused and usually they’ve refined their list of what it is that they’re looking for. The out of state buyers may have been to the area during the winter and have taken a few months of to do research and watch the market. They’re wearing out the internet. They make a very specific trip back to buy and they’re well educated when they get here.

If you’re home is on the market this summer or you’re toying with the idea of selling this summer here’s a thought or two to kick around. This summer, on top of our snow birds that venture back to buy we’ll have the first time buyers out in force, too. The first time home buyers are just crushing it in this market. They’re taking advantage of that sweet $8,000 tax credit and the super low interest rates.

If your home or condo is in the $200,000 and under market your odds of selling over the summer should be pretty good. During the first two weeks of May nearly fifty percent of the sales were under $200,000 and twenty five percent of the homes sold were $200-400,000. This isn’t a new trend, either. We’ve been selling off the entry level sector of the market consistently since Christmas.

So, can you really sell your real estate in the summer? Absolutely. This summer, however, it’s going to be more about the price range that’s actually moving. If your real estate is priced in the $600 and over price range it just might be a long, hot, boring summer. Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em. That is the slowest moving segment of the market.

If you’ve got your home on the market this summer you should double and triple check your competition, latest closings and make sure you whittle at the pricing if you’re in the $600,000 and up price range. The competition is fierce so you better bring your A game.

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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 left 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.

The Red Hot Appliance Market on Craigslist

Home buyers and real estate agents have become used to to the echoing hollowness of a kitchen with no appliances. The surprise of it has worn off, especially in communities with excessive amounts of short sales or foreclosures.

If they were included in the mortgage, they’re not likely paid for. Yet, the owners are technically allowed to do what they want with their appliances. It just makes the homes harder to sell when they’re missing and it’s just dragging the entire process out even longer for everybody. Even the people that aren’t in the crisis

While previewing a short sale property in a gated community I noticed all of the appliances were gone. Sometimes the big ticket items, like the fridge or the front load clothes washer and dryer are gone but usually the microwave and dishwasher are left behind. This house didn’t have zip.

This one just struck me funny. It was a decent home with tons of upgrades but the appliances were gone. It had obviously been lived in and wasn’t a run of the mill, armchair investor, special. The electric was on and the pool equipment was running.

Where would they take the appliances anyway? How do people even sell them? The market has to be flooded with random, excess household appliances.

I checked the public records to see where the owners lived and to see if it was possible that they just dragged them over to another home they owned. It didn’t seem practical, they lived a stone’s throw from Canada and the cost of shipping them wouldn’t be worth it.

I hit up Craigslist out of curiosity. I went to the Fort Myers section of Florida and performed a simple search for “stainless steel”, not even appliances. Why? Because, it’s often the stainless steel appliances that get hocked and I was sure that a home of this caliber would have had stainless appliances.

Jackpot. The out-the-back-door trade of household appliances positively flourishes on Craigslist. I perused image after image of refrigerator, oven and household accouterment captured at a moment of time when it was still surrounded by granite and pickled maple cabinets. Sometimes they were still sporting their energy efficiency rating sticker, which I guess makes it almost new.

Further down the list I ended up clicking on a listing for an entire set of investor white appliances. The ad came up in my search simply because it mentioned stainless steel. The ad reads in part: Replaced these appliances with stainless steel. These are three years old, used very little, all in excellent condition. All matching. New $3,000 will sell for $1,200.

The ad listed the name and number of the appliance seller and the community where they were located. It may only be a huge coincidence but it’s located in precisely the same community where the “appliance free” home I was touring was located.

I’ve since learned that the short sale is now about to go back to the bank. It makes me wonder if the people that buy it “bank owned” will be snagging gently used appliances from their neighbors, craigslist or brand new from the big box.

Gulf AccessinBonita Springs

Yesterday, my phone rang and one of my friends asked me if I wanted to got for an evening boat ride down the Imperial River.   The answer was an easy yes.

First, this is not the boat we were on.  These folks passed us and I thought their set up was adorable so I took picture of it.  I took a couple of dozen pictures actually.  The trip was fromBrendan CovetoBonita BeachRoad and back and took about an hour and a half.

If you’d like to take a trip down the Imperial River without loading up a boat or getting rained on, take a look at the pictures below. 

Where Was Chinese Drywall Used Most?

Bonita Springs is located in South Lee County and Northern Collier County.    On the map Collier County is the orange section at the bottom 6-20 reported cases.  Up and to the left is Lee County in Red  21-55 reported cases.  Very little of Bonita Springs, which would be Bonita Shores and Barefoot Beach, is located in Collier County.

For more information and to get on the State of Florida list:

http://www.doh.state.fl.us/Environment/community/indoor-air/drywall.html 

To find a list of references and photos regarding what to look for if you think you have Chinese drywall:

Chinese Drywall Inspector’s Checklist

Tag, You’re It Bonita Springs Post Office

A while back I swung into the Bonita Springs post office on Bonita Beach Road and saw this when I dumped my stack-o-bills in.  Contrary to popular belief, being a real estate agent isn’t cheap or easy.  There, I said it. 

Another thing that isn’t cheap is fixing vandalism.  I don’t even know what this means or what it says.  I just know that it probably cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to fix or replace the mailbox. I’m not sure what they did to restore it.

What I can tell you is that I have a strange attention to detail disorder so not only do I see myself in the reflection of the mailbox.  I see the reflection of the graffiti on every other light pole on US 41 Tamiami Trail in Greater Downtown Bonita Springs, Florida. 

OK, it’s not a reflection, someone actually took the time to walk miles and tag the light poles.  It’s small and I am the only person that has probably even noticed.  It’s attention to detail, people.  Get with it! 

You’re flying through life without savoring the little things … like tags on light poles.  Pay attention.

Yours truly,

The woman who drove around all day with half of a door knob hanging from her car ignition without even knowing it.

PS If you found this site actually looking for one of the two, yes two Bonita Springs post offices there’s a map below so you can find them.  Oh, most of our grocery stores sell stamps so you can get some when you pick up milk and diapers.

PPS This is the map and the address and phone numbers.

• Bonita Springs US Post Office - 26150 Old 41 Rd, Bonita Springs - (239) 948-0467
• Bonita Springs US Post Office - 9071 Bonita Beach Road, Bonita Springs

Fine Waterfront Dining For Birds, Too

A few days ago I took a lunch trip to Big Hickory Grille on Bonita Beach.  You can read about that here:

Big Hickory Fishing Nook, Marina & Seafood Grille

The weather has been perfect lately so I took advantage of outside dining.  The dock has new brick pavers and the marina has never looked better.  On my way to the restaurant I saw the bird that is up there in that little hut.  His name is Floyd .  Floyd has it made.  He just hangs out at the marina and waits for fishermen to get clumsy or generous, if it was a good day of angling.

Did I mention how smart Floyd is?  He is.  He’s a con artist disguised as a bird. With almost no fanfare he parachuted on to the chair back after flying his coop.

Take a look at those claws. I’d like to call them talons but I don’t know if a bird this nice is equipped with talons.  They’re not dangerous looking … to me anyway.

Minutes later he materialized on the other side of the patio.  I imagine he’s in charge.  With all the tourists running around the docks, someone has to keep order. 

He looks orderly, don’t you think?  Almost like, he’s an officer of the law with zero tolerance.  I can see zero tolerance in his eyes.

Here’s Floyd letting some Wisconsin tourists know that they better tow the line and that this is a zero tolerance establishment that doesn’t put up with monkey shine and thievery.  He just wants to make sure they were aware of the rules and what is expected of them as tourists. 

The rules are simple: Take only pictures, leave only footprints, respect my authority.  Regards, Floyd

Once in a while there are bad law enforcement officers.  Watch as surveillance cameras catch Floyds sly move.  See him sliding that foot slowly over to the Wisconsin tourists? Like nobody will notice the grift he’s working.  Pft!

Hey, Wabasha.  Look at the size of the fish that kid has out on that dock behind you!

Sucker!

I really expected to see that square crouton form in his throat.    

Humanizing The Buyer and The Offer

A fax to email showed up the other day and I opened it to find a cancelation of an offer for one of my listed properties. Having buyers get cold feet isn’t that unusual these days. Heck, if the Dow goes down 200 points on a random Tuesday buyers are prone to temporarily panic and then hold back their offer.

What was unusual about this cancelation of an offer was that I didn’t even have an offer on the subject property. I called the real estate agent as a courtesy because I thought he had just faxed the wrong person.

It turns out that there was an offer prepared precisely five days and two hours ago and it was faxed but never went through. The agent had taken the time to show a property to a buyer fifty nine miles away from the address on the fax cancelation letter, burned a boat load of time with a buyer and never followed through and fought for the buyer to get the property.

During those five plus days was the buyer on pins and needles wondering if he’d get a counter offer or an out and out refusal? Was that buyer was riding a one man emotional roller coaster and on about day four and a half he became so angry waiting that he decide to cancel his offer? It makes me wonder.

Here the thing about dumping an offer to purchase in a fax machine or scanner, walking away and expecting it to take care of itself; it’s not in the best interest of the consumer. Even if that fax was actually delivered and presented to the sellers of that property an injustice is done to the buyer to not have the offer conveyed properly.

There are plenty of circumstances when sellers don’t give a lick about the buyer, what their motivation is and why they want to buy the property. There are more occurrences when they do, though.

It may be relevant information, especially with multiple offers, to let the seller’s side know that the buyers are as good as gold with a loan and they’re sporting a 780 credit score. It probably wouldn’t even hurt to mention that the buyers are looking forward to raising their two year old twins in the home. You can bet that if there is a choice to be made between buyers the faceless, generic buyer has a disadvantage over a buyer and their family who has been sold to the seller.

Not every seller cares, but if you’re the buyer and you want to make sure you stand the best possible chance at getting your dream home don’t you think your real estate agent should attempt to endear you to the listing agent and the sellers? Maybe explain your credit worthiness in detail? Maybe explain how the buyer is willing to bend time frames and closing dates? There is just more substance to placing an offer besides shuffling papers and faxing them away.

It’s the tipping point for sellers when buyers get turned into real people. At the very least when the buyer’s agent calls to present the offer they might find out the fax never went through.

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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 left 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.

On The Waterfront on Hickory Island

Where else in Bonita Springs can you sit in the shade with a view like this?  The answer is, you really can’t.  Although there are a few waterfront restaurants in Bonita Springs and on Bonita Beach this is the spot with the best water view and the best dining experience.

Big Hickory is an all in on restaurant, marina, boat rental, charter fishing, bait and tackle store.  It’s located on Hickory Island toward the north end, just before you hit the bridge to Fort Myers Beach.

Big Hickory Grille is a local favorite dining spot and is accessible by both car and boat.  You’ll find the best and most fresh seafood prepared perfectly.  Seriously, it’s done just right every time.

Besides the view there is free entertainment by way of marina.  You know that any time you spend around a marina is fun to watch.  The fishing, the birds, the combination of first time boaters trying to navigate currents and the mishaps that occur anytime water, docks and gravity is involved.

If you’d like to learn more about Big Hickory Grille and the marina services they offer visit their website at:

www.bighickorygrille.com

The map below shows right where Big Hickory is located: