Private Beach Clubs on Bonita Beach

People come to southwest Florida to buy Bonita Springs real estate often for one reason, the Gulf of Mexico. The white sand beaches of Bonita Beach draw tourists and future residents from all over the world. What's not to love about the beach? How could visiting one of the worlds prettiest beaches get any better? Believe it or not, it can.

Some lucky Bonita Springs home owners live in one of only a handful of communities that has its own beach club. Most gated communities have a great amenities package, but only a select few offer private beach clubs. The private beach clubs are usually located on Hickory Blvd. with gulf front cabana, clubhouse, locker room and some even have dining service.

A northern buyer that I've been working with is leaning towards buying real estate in West Bay Club in Estero, Florida. West Bay Club offers a private beach club as part of its great amenity package. My buyer ran out of time on the short weekend trip to Bonita Springs and asked me to send him photos of the club, the gulf and cabanas. I thought the décor of the beach club was too cute to not show off to every one else, too.

Yes, on occasion I will build a visual tour or take additional photos for the loyal buyers I work with. I don't mind a bit. They count on me for my advice and expertise and I count on them to buy their Bonita Springs real estate with me. It's a win, win.

If you're interested in learning more about this community read also: West Bay Club | Estero, Florida 33928

Sex Sells But It Doesn’t Sell Real Estate

Day number two in the hunt for a new Florida home for my buyer brought us to a lovely condo in Estero at West Bay Club. Let's just say the house hunting was a bust. Literally. There were more than a few paintings, sculptures and works of art of shirtless women. Not a problem for me, I'm a big girl and I can take it. Maybe it was a problem for my buyer. Actually, my buyer is a pretty cool fella and I don't think he was offended. There were a few eye rolls as we went room to room.

People come from all over the world to visit Bonita Springs and the SW Florida area. You just never know when you may get someone from a more conservative area that is just not into nakey women all over condos. I'm just saying. If you're a seller of Bonita Springs real estate you may want to stage your home by removing articles from your home that may offend buyers, sway their option or upset them. Here's a list of a few items you might want to store while your Bonita Springs home is on the market.

• Any sort of art that involves the human figure with no clothing - male or female.
• Religious items.
• Ethnic artifacts.
• Excessive family photos and personal items.
• Political signs, items.
• Urns that contain a family members ashes.

Without question you should consider hiring a professional home stager to help freshen up your Bonita Springs home. Also, the eye of an outsider can point out items that could offend buyers. Its money well spent and will only take a few hours time to get the home set and ready for buyers. Plus, professional home stagers can offer inexpensive quick fixes to warm up a home or condo to make it feel more inviting.

Selling Bonita Springs Real Estate

Sometimes I get to help people. I mean the good kind of help, as in they're so overwhelmed and worried that it's hard for them to make a move. They just want someone to help and someone to trust. To have a listing appointment last more than an hour-ish is unusual. To have one last for three or four hours is unique. My last listing appointment was a little over three hours. We had a first attempt at an appointment was about an hour and a half into it when company came over. I slid my paperwork under a magazine on the counter and announced, "Well, Donna just wanted me to stop in and say hi, give me a call if you need anything." I felt they didn't want their friends and neighbors to know, yet. I left and a day or so later they called to schedule another shot getting the paperwork done.

The lovely couple I counseled will eventually be selling a home they've lived in nearly three decades. Besides the fact that I know they're probably feeling a little heartsick and melancholy about saying goodbye to their home, they've decided to live elsewhere. It's not the least bit inconvenient to sit and go over every line of a contract and help them fill out the appropriate disclosures they're going to be providing to the buyer of their home. They're ready and when the time is right, I'll help them sell their Bonita Springs home.

It may be overwhelming to look at a mountain of paperwork and know where to start. For some Bonita Springs homeowners it may have been years since they've purchased or sold real estate. I selling a home is no different than any life event you may have; having a baby, getting divorced or the death of a family member. These events may not occur very often so there is always a steep learning curve when it's time again.

Selling a home really doesn't have to be scary. If you're thinking of selling your Bonita Springs home know that you can take your time and get a thorough explanation of the entire process from contract through closing. There are many systems in place to help you successfully sell your home. If you're thinking of selling Bonita Springs real estate feel free to call for a painless overview of the entire process and a checklist so that you can start preparing your home. It's never too late to learn and it's never too soon to start getting ready.

Hi Chris, this is Sally Saleslady and you showed my Bonita Beach condo yesterday. I was just wondering if you had some feedback.

Most buyers and sellers of Bonita Springs real estate don’t know that conversations like this take place.Listing agents will call the agent that showed the property to see if there is further interest.I’m not sure why they call.First of all, further interest would be in the form of a contract, don’t you think?Really, buyers that fall in love or even warm like of a home generally request the seller’s disclosures or put pen to paper and write a contract.

There are so many homes on the market in theBonitaSpringsandEstero Floridaarea that most buyers are on a whirl wind tour just to discover which neighborhood they really want, in the first place.Second, each home they’re looking at has to be in the best possible condition and priced well enough to be noticed by buyers.

Having a house for sale isn’t easy on the home owner.I know.I have had my home on the market before.The last minute calls, the no show agents and buyers and the last minute cleaning or bed making before a showing is hectic.

Home buyers can get turned off by the smallest things, bad pricing, smells, dirty homes and sometimes, just sometimes, a home doesn’t ring their bell.It just doesn’t hit them like “this is home”.There is no magic or science to change it or make it happen, either.You can’t make anyone love a home you just have to wait for the right person to love it to come along.

I’ve seen buyers buyBonitaSpringsreal estatewithout looking at it, sight unseen, maybe a few pictures on the internet.They didn’t need to get that feeling.I’ve seen others that have to visit a home a half dozen times before they fall in love with it.

If a buyer tours your home and you’ve done everything right, maybe they just weren’t into your home.Enjoy this fun little parody of buyers that aren’t into a home. If you don’t see the image belo click here for the video.

WWMPD? - What Would Marlin Perkins Do?

Grown men have been driven to madness by a one ounce bird. There is a street in a little community in Bonita Springs, Florida with twenty two homes. Some of the homes have Styrofoam faux flower boxes on the front of them. These cottages are just adorable, or rather, were adorable. It seems that there are a couple of little rascals flying round there that like Styrofoam and have turned them into Swiss cheese.

Woodpeckers are holy terrors and cause thousands of dollars worth of damage. There are many remedies available and most of what is sold commercially as a repellent is a total bust and it's expensive. Mostly it's an expensive experiment that fails. Most of the home remedies include hanging rubber snakes on your house, putting fake owls on ledges and a couple of other stupid ideas that just make a person's home look like the Beverly Hillbilly's live there. The best repellent that's been discovered so far and lasted about six months was adding Tabasco sauce to the paint. It turns out that wood peckers don't like hot sauce or maybe they just don't care for the idea of home remedies. You can't kill them but I guess you can give one a burning beak and an ulcer. There you have it, woodpeckers don't like Tabasco.

So you're thinking why would any Bonita Springs home owner investigate how to "nicely" get a woodpecker to go away - for good? It turns out that the stinkers are protected. You'd need a special permit granted by the Department of Fish and Wildlife to catch or relocate them. Color me logical, but I'm thinking they don't pass that little permit out to every owner of real estate in Bonita Springs justbecause they ask or just because they don't like birds. Imagine Marge and Harry Homeowner applying for a hunting permit for a woodpecker. Recreational, do it yourself bird trapping? I'm thinking they have to have reached some sort of skill level before they're allowed to start bird trapping.

Read also: Woodpecker Damage Control (I wish you could hear me laugh right now) This helpful, handy manual will teach you the ins and outs of sharing your little piece of Bonita Springs with nature.

You probably drive by homes and businesses every day that are hosting the wood peckers and their nests. Next time you go to First Watch, the Bonefish Grill or any of the buildings adjacent to San Mirage on US 41 look for the tell tale signs of Swiss cheese foam and bird poo running down the side of the building. The last time I had breakfast at First Watch it looked like it was snowing outside. The woodpeckers were having a filed day on the foam right above the window.

This could be your lucky day and you didn't even know it. If you're a Bonita Springs home owner and you don't have wood pecker issues, your house wasn't made out of Styrofoam. Consider yourself lucky and go buy a lotto ticket!

The Bonita Springs Mailbox of the Week

With any luck nobody held their breath for this. As expected another fish mailbox. Bonita Springs definitely has their share of mailboxes in the form of fishes, that's for sure. I thought I'd get a golf theme mailbox in Bonita Golf & Country Club but no dice.

My Mommala lives in Bonita Springs Golf & Country Club and so do most of her friends. I occasionally do drive by checks when traffic is bad on Old 41 and I have time to kill. Sometimes just for kicks I drive down Strike Lane on the new parkway that comes out right behind the office. The road recently got paved so it is a big deal.

Some of the folks in Bonita Springs Golf & Country Club go north for the summer so I stop in and check their houses to make sure everything is status quo; flush the toilets, fill the sink traps, pick up papers and phone books. After I was done I tooled around the neighborhood and didn't find a single mailbox that was even mildly interesting. I stopped by and talked to the owners of my new listing that should hit the market soon. It's a great little piece of Bonita Springs real estate and the neighborhood is so quiet.

On my way out of Bonita Springs Golf & Country Club I took a new back shortcut. They've extended Paradise Road to Shangri - La Road. At Shangri - La you can turn right to catch the traffic light at Old 41 or go left and cut through Sandy Hollow. Sandy Hollow is an established Bonita Springs community with only single family homes. The homes are modest in size and many are considered by first time home buyers. Sandy Hollow is where I found the large mouth mailbox. Truth be told, I was looking for Iguanas. I've heard there are Iguanas living in the wild at Sandy Hollow. I didn't see any, again. It's not the first time I've looked.

Huh, I figured if there were really Iguanas in the area I would see Iguana crossing signs or at least an Iguana mailbox. Better luck next hunt.

Spring Run - Another Happy Golfer Finds a Home

Has hell finally frozen over in Bonita Springs, Florida? My Gardenia model in Spring Run at the Brooks has sold! That one was like lugging a 100 pound bag of bricks up a mountain. This little Bonita Springs condo was just a collateral damage of the real estate slump. Its owner's loved and cherished it but they had found their new home and needed to let one go. They were great clients and listened to me about pricing. Price is key, I told them so and they listened. They always kept the price below the others in Spring Run. The Little Condo That Could was so lucky that it found new owners.

There will be a few condos that coast through the summer empty and lonely. It's just because the numbers are stacked against them. In some communities inventory is high and the absorption rates actually hurt to calculate. Spring Run at the Brooks currently has a 2.99 year absorption rate for the low rise condos [Per the Sunshine MLS 5/27/08]. There's plenty to pick from starting at about $200,000. We've rolled back to 2005 pricing in some sections of Spring Run. If you've been thinking of picking up a golf condo in the Brooks, now would be the time to look in Spring Run. There are some great opportunities to buy. Owners with equity have reduced their prices to be super competitive and since most are not short sales, they will close fast.

If you'd like to know more about Spring Run at the Brooks, read also: Spring Run at The Brooks - Bonita Springs, Florida

Gee, a special thanks goes out to Matt Rathbun for throwing me under the meme bus. For those who don't know, a meme is a way to share more about yourself on the web in a "tag, you're it" kind of fashion. For people like me it gives the Jackals something to pick on so I put off doing it for a while.

Question 1: Who is your favorite Musical Artist?

I really hate to be a trouble maker, But this is it; I think it's hysterical. I now will share that I mostly listen to NPR and FM talk radio 98.9 in Naples, Florida. I just love Clark Howard and Neal Boortz - mostly because Belinda puts up with him. I know pretty boring. My favorite artist is Tony Bennett, I think I'd break laws for him if he asked me to. I saw him sing at Barbara B. Mann Hall last year and almost died, right on the spot up in that mezzanine. I barely made it!

Question 2: Who is My Favorite Artist?

The artists known as Baby A and Baby B. There are only two pieces of art on any wall in my entire home. I was worried the bottom artiste would grow to be a murderer or something. Look at the colors, that's a violent piece of art! They are these two and I think they're brilliant:

Question 3: Who is My Favorite Blogger?

I really love Crystal http://boobsinjuriesanddrpepper.blogspot.com/. I've enjoyed her blog for a while now and quietly share a kinship in despising readers who judge. Since I started writing for the paper I've had my share of Jackals and I know she has too. She's a funny gal and reading her blog is a great escape. Thanx Crystal. And now, having included that link, I will get search queries for Bonita Springs Boobs such.

Question 4: If you could meet anyone (dead or alive), who would it be and what is interesting about them?

I would like to meet my biological parents. I am certain I am adopted. There is no way I can be related to the people I have been *told* are my family. I am sure somewhere about 40 some years ago there was a tragic car wreck and the sole survivor was a female infant found in the bushes who was laid on the steps of an orphanage.

Question 5: What did I want to be when I grew up?

I wanted to be an interior designer. I ended up owning a furniture and design store in my younger adult years and suffered a huge personal loss that was rather upsetting. I ended up closing the store and never looked back. When that chapter closed I just never re-opened it.

Question 6: What is the most interesting piece of Trivia that I know?

I know stupid, obscure stuff that will never make me a dime. Jeopardy is a blast for an idiot like me. My only hope is that when I die and things start flashing before my eyes, it's not the mating of grasshoppers, quantum physics, the states in alphabetical order or the Googleplex.

Question 7: If you could live in any point of history when would it be and why?

I would only want to relive my younger years if I was allowed to take the knowledge I have now. There are a few people I'd like to not marry, ever talk to, see naked or go into business with. TMI?

Question 8: What is the most interesting job you've ever had?

Being a mother of a litter of children. I did an exception job, if I say so myself, if the teachers said so themselves and if my kids even say so. In spite of the hardships of being a single parent with absolutely no input or positive guidance from their father they turned out better than all of their friends. They turned out even better than I expected. What a shame I wasn't built to breed I should have had more.

That's it. Bored to tears were you? If you weren't try reading this meme: The Bonitian Meme

A few days ago, after I checked on a listing I have in Eldorado Acres I cruised up Spring Creek to hunt for mail boxes on the Fish Streets. If you don't know what the Fish Streets are: When you head up Coconut Road toward the Hyatt and turn left on Spring Creek Drive it winds through and over The Colony and Pelican Landing back to the Fish Streets. Right on Spring Creek and Estero Bay is a network of streets that are all named after fish: Swordfish, Jackfish, Sailfish, Kingfish and Dolphin.

Most of the homes are gulf access via Spring Creek. The homes are of various styles, ages and are not deed restricted. It's just a quiet little neighborhood with one way in and one way out, unless you count Spring Creek in a boat.

Well, my mailbox hunt was a bust in Spring Creek and the Fish Streets. I figured I'd at least get a handful of Fish shaped mailboxes, but nada, nothing, zip. On my way out I stopped under this lovely Jacaranda tree and took a picture of it through my sun roof. Ah, the good old days, before my car got creamed in traffic. Boo!

If you're thinking of finding a cute little cottage on a gulf access waterway take a look at the fish streets. Homes start in the $300,000's. The homes next door in Spring Creek Village are slightly more affordable.