Life In Bonita Springs

Wildlife Paparazzi

Barefoot Beach ducks are just a little antisocial at first. They were playing in standing water until the crazy urban bush woman of Bonita Springs started infringing upon their personal space. I slowly squatted down and waited. The mommy was giving me the stink eye but eventutally it dawned on her that the wide angle camera differentiated me from the usual duck hunter. That and I also wasn't wearing camo or orange. She realized that I was merely a nuisance and not dangerous.

They eventually worked up the nerve to head back to the water.

Within a minute or two they were all in.

Mother grew tired of the urban bush woman cursing that the camera internal memory was full and that she had forgotten her memory card in the laptop. Imagine the irony of "forgetting" a "memory card". The mother tried shielding her children from the salty language by heading for the hills. The peeps struggle to get over the two inch grass curb. It must look so big to a peep.

The peeps follow their mother diligently. Finally, they've all had enough and a mass exodus is under way. Thank you for the show peeple.

The rest of the peep photos are on flickr right <HERE>

Mermaid Mailbox of Bonita Springs

Hickory Blvd. on Bonita Beach is more than just prime Bonita Springs real estate, its mailbox gold.  The variety of unusual mailboxes is unparallel anywhere in town.  I do realize that you probably drive by a thousand mailboxes weekly and don't give them a second thought.  I needed a free/cheap hobby so I started photographing mailboxes.  The bonus is I sometimes get to get some exercise while I'm looking for them.

Due to nature's cruel joke, I had an opportunity to take a few pictures on Hickory this week. What was nature's joke?  It seems that there are gnats of some variety that, in biblical proportion, either hatch or breed this time of year in the West Terry Street area.  That's one of my usual running paths.  Monday I headed out for a run and by the time I had gone about  a mile there were a billion bugs stuck on my body due to sweat.  As I turned onto Old 41 I ran through another cloud of the varmints and took in a nose full.  I sneezed until I got a nose bleed.  So there I sat on the curb in front of Maria's Mexican Restaurant covered blood, sweat and bugs.  I gave up.  I called one of the kids for a ride home.

Unfortunately, I finally had the opportunity to be only a few feet away from ZZ Top, a super cool guy that hangs out in front of Maria's, but I was too beat up to try to talk to him.  I run by him all the time and I'm dying to take his picture and meet him.  Anyway, I looked like a vagrant that had just been jumped.  A picture was taken but I'm not sharing it ‘cause I look like hell and someone might be eating their Cheerios.

Flash forward two days and I'm in the mood to get my run on so I decide that I'm just picking different geography and chancing that the beach winds push bugs away.  Way far away.  I snagged a spot at parking spot number two and ran down the sidewalk on Hickory and returned on the beach.  It was a great opportunity to grab a few photos of the mailboxes.  Actually, I'm set for mailboxes for a while and you're on the verge of being sick of hearing about Hickory and Bonita Beach. Trust me, you are.

For the record I didn't find my lost credit card but I did keep an eye on it as I ran by the red kayak.    The red - kayak lost credit card story is here:  Seeing Red at Bonita Beach | Bonita Springs, Florida

A Micro Rant About Cable TV & High Speed

Warning, this is not at all real estate related or even related to Bonita Springs, for that matter.

There is nothing more frustrating in life than being held at the mercy of big business, operated by computers, outsourced to Bangalore, press 2 for Spanish - hold the line for English, utility companies. For probably the third time in the last year I tried to fix or improve part of my service on the Comcast network. It's exhausting to say the least. I don't have to tell you if you've tried to have your communication services changed what a nightmare it is. It doesn't matter who the company is or what utility it is, it's just a mad circle of insanity.

My wresting match with Comcast started about 12 years ago. They insisted that I pay cable expenses even though I lived in a condominium on Fort Myers Beach. Most of the time cable is included in the maintenance fees. It was included in my condo fees, too but Comcast threw a big stink so I just paid my $38 bucks (yeah, that's a bargain compared to todays rates) to keep my cable. I'll let you know that many years later, after I moved back to Bonita Springs, a check comes in the mail from Comcast for several hundred dollars of refund for their services. Someone locked in a cage at Comcast forced to balance books must have found the error.

After that, not much happened with cable for a while. I mean besides when I moved in my house Christmas '97 and got my cable installed two weeks sooner than expected. Turns out the cable man had the right house number but the wrong street number. That mistake was in my favor. Hey, I let it happen too. I had small kids at home and I needed Nickelodeon like a gambler needs Vegas.

With the spread and use of high speed internet I've tangled with Comcast on more than one occasion. It seems since I live on a small street with only 22 homes on it I am the low man on the totem pole. Fine. I'll wait my turn you hacks.

Periodically, something utterly ridiculous happens and I have to call for help. About a year ago the phone rings, "Hello, its Comcast. I'm downstairs buzz me in so I can take the elevator up". Hysteria set in on me. You see, I live in a single family home in Bonita Springs, Florida. I said, "Sir, excuse me, but if you are at a condo on Fort Myers Beach I am going to kill someone". You guessed it; he was at a condo on Fort Myers Beach. The Comcast network is so extensive and unorganized that someone found the address where I lived at 12 years ago and sent a poor schmuck out there to fix my cable. I didn't get my cable fixed and had to wait 2 more weeks for my turn - thereby losing my two week advance at Christmas '97. Oh Karma, you hateful woman you.

Since then I've gone without cable for weeks at a time only to have a little tea cup in a cubical with a headset say something like, "The computer says there's no problem". After about two weeks I end up grabbing a guy in a Comcast truck working down the street who is able to look at and confirm that the transformer has been struck by lightening and melted to nothing. The computer said it was OK because it WAS DEAD and couldn't communicate. I call back and get a technician that literally got mad at me for being persistent and eventually hung up on me after using the F word. Yeah. Me too.

In the last week or so I have struggled with the cable giant regarding my lost email accounts. I don't use their stinking email except for my junk mail sign up stuff but still, it's my email address and I want it. Plus, I have family member that like their ShrinkyDinkPoodleTrainer@comcast.net style names. I blew nearly an hour on the phone with that fix and still only got one of the email addresses transferred. They moved one and deleted the rests. Good thing I didn't ask them to move cattle or goats. They'd move one and shoot the rest between the eyes. So I spoke will Shar-Rhee at Comcast and I'm now waiting for someone to call me about the deleted emails because she thinks they can be fixed, but she's not sure. Poof: 42 minutes with Shar-Rhee that I'll never get back.

My tantrum is almost over. I just thought I'd give a little vent for ALL of us that get held hostage by our utilities companies and their new-age/archaic systems.

Now, I just hope that Comcast doesn't send someone to a tired old condo on Fort Myers Beach looking for me and my laptop to fix my email addresses.

This rant is complete. Where's the Tylenol.

You Gotta Enter to Win

Would you believe that things are picking up? What would it take for you to believe things are picking up? Well, Bonita Springs real estate is picking up. Watching the agents working at my own office and even at other offices it is clearly evident that conditions are improving.

Every month, somewhere around the 10^th of the month I do inventory and absorption rate reports for the Bonita Springs and Estero, Florida real estate market. That means that today, the May report is done, finished, ready for your review. I compile the last three years sales numbers so you can compare the month of May report to May '07 and May '06 and judge for yourself. As usual the numbers are gathered from the MLS system which is deemed accurate and not guarantee. The statistics were gathered on June 09, 2006. If there were a few pokey pants that didn't record their sales by then the numbers might be off slightly - I didn't do it. If they didn't record their closed real estate sales that means things could have even looked better than the increases you see below:

There are a couple of reasons why the real estate market may be picking up in Bonita Springs and Estero. As predicted by economists, financial experts and maybe even a keen real estate agent the market is nearing the time where prices have bottomed and interest rates are beginning to rise. It's sort of like the sweet spot where prices going any lower are offset by interest rate hikes. This means it might your time to buy Bonita Springs real estate. If you've been holding out, you'll want to start paying attention - really close attention. You may want to speak with a lender and get your prequalification done prior to writing offers.

The absorption rates have even dropped by a few months compared to last month. The links to March and April absorption rates are below the graph.

If you're thoroughly into numbers and you're dying to see the March and April reports and rates of absorption to compare, have at it:

Bonita Springs Real Estate Market Report April 2008

Bonita Springs Market Conditions - March 2008

We Have Bugs in Bonita Springs

You may not appreciate this grasshopper because bugs are gross but I thought it was beautiful so I took a picture of it to share with you. This is the first official Bonita Springs Grasshopper. What you need to know is that it was on the windshield of my car so I had to pull over and get out. What you also should know is that I don't much care for bugs especially creepy bugs with thunder thighs, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound or just get caught in my hair. Yes, I squealed just like a girl more than once trying to get close enough. I was being a total sissy, yes.

If bugs and nature is your thing you might want to try visiting a few local Bonita Springs Parks, Florida State Parks or nature preserves to see grass hoppers and creepy crawlies. The local parks are fairly inexpensive and some are even free. Here are a few ideas if you want to see some natural Florida wildlife.

1. Koreshan State Historic Site in Estero, Florida. (State Park Fee)
2. Lover's Key State Park at the South end of Fort Myers Beach, Florida (State Park Fee)
3. Barefoot Beach Preserve (in the Barefoot Beach Community) Bonita Springs, Florida (State Park Fee)
4. Six Mile Cypress Slough - Fort Myers, Florida (Free admission, donation to park)
5. Bernwood Park Boardwalk - Bonita Springs, Florida. This is a boardwalk through a cypress preserve located at the middle gate of Pelican Landing behind CVS Pharmacy. Park near One Price Dry Cleaning (free)
6. 10 Mile Canal Linear Park in Fort Myers, Florida (free)

When Silence is Golden

So what happens when you tangle with a Bonitian like me? You get tazered, that's what. You'd have to personally know me to know that I have joked with a couple of the guys at the office, lunged at them and put the prongs on them and said bzzzt. OK, I know that is a form of terror but that's how you treat family. Besides, it's not a tazer. It just looks menacing enough like one or what one would imagine one could look like.

This handy little gadget is a moisture detector. It's one of the top secret items in my toolbox arsenal that I rarely have to pull out but when do it's usually a serious matter. Periodically, there is a strange spot on a wall, ceiling or trim that you're just not sure what it is so you put the little prongy pokey things (I don't mean to get all technical on you) on it and press the black button under my thumb. So simple, even a brunette with a few grays can use it. If you have moisture it makes noise. Yeah, you want silence with this one. Any sound it makes is just a degree of bad news.

Recently, I had a listing appointment and there was a spot on the ceiling that the owners had never noticed. It really wasn't large but it was odd. I grabbed a ladder from the garage and used my tester on the spot and we determined that the roof was actively leaking. The rainy season has started in Bonita Springs and just enough water got through to cause a spot. Fortunately this owner was interviewing a real estate agent with game and tools. They also have a newer roof that is still in warranty so it's going to be fixed shortly.

There are a couple of reasons why this device is important to me and anyone that I'm working for. Beside the fact that the spot was determined to be active right away so that it could be fixed it also kept the owners from climbing the latter and risking hurting themselves or guessing for weeks about the condition of the spot and having it get worse and causing more damage. Simple tools and gadgets save time and money. You can pick one of these cuties up under 100 bucks. Am I a nerd to have gadgets like this? Maybe I am, but I've also learned this: The nerdy REALTOR®.gets the worm. Bzzzt!

You're probably not thinking about Bonita Springs, Florida because you've thawed out and gotten your leafy trees back.  Michigan, Ohio, New York and Canada:  We'll be waiting for you, you fair weather friends.   This November you'll remember that we can have poolside parties in January.  We'll forgive you for forgetting about us just like we do every winter.

I just thought these clouds were pretty enough to capture on film to share with you.  The sun was setting in Bonita Springs over my neighbor's roof.   It probably looks like this every day but I forget to look up.  It's hard to look up with a cell phone on your shoulder most of the time.  Enjoy your Saturday.

Protect Your Real Estate Bonita Springs

Fridays are for mailboxes on this Bonita Springs real estate blog. When I saw this beauty I decided it would be perfect for a storm or building code post. Turns out we had a wind survey claims expert stop in the office this week which gave me an idea for this mailbox's home post. Anywho, we were told that the free surveys are coming to an end. Make sure you get yours!

The state of Florida has been offering free wind mitigation surveys to Florida home owners from some time, now. The My Safe Florida Home program offers eligible homeowners free wind inspections from qualified hurricane mitigation inspectors.

The mitigation surveys offer an eight point inspection that includes documenting:

1. The Roof Covering
2. The Roof Deck Attachment
3. The Roof to Wall Attachment
4. The Roof Geometry (and you thought that math would never come in handy again)
5. Roof Gable End Bracing
6. The Wall Construction Type
7. Secondary Water Resistance
8. Opening Protection (Shutters, Window Film, Hurricane Glass)

The wind inspection can help reduce the insurance rate of your Bonita Springs home. The survey is good for five years and in the future it is expected to be a mandatory inspection for buyers to be able to obtain home owners insurance on a new purchase of a home.

To learn more about wind survey's contact www.MySafeFloridaHome.com

Visit the FAQ section to learn how a wind survey can help you at: Free Home Inspections