Life In Bonita Springs

Deed Restrictions | Homeowner Association Rules & Regulations | HOA Guidelines

For many buyers of real estate it is important to know and ask questions about restrictions that will effect owners, tenants and guest living in homes within a home owner association. First, Restrictive Covenants are created for protection of owners not to punish. A home owner association will frequently have several basic rules that help maintain the beauty and aesthetic appeal of the community.

Some examples would be:

• Paint Color of the Home or Structure.
• No Commercial Vehicles.
• Domestic Pets Only or Number of Pets Permitted Per Residence.
• Minimum Number of Days to Lease a Home (30 Day Minimum).
• Boat Trailers or RV's Parked in Driveway.

Easily, it's possible to see why these simple restrictions are meant to protect home owners from their neighbors interesting choices in paint color, herd of yapping Chihuahuas or their idea to rent a house out by the week, like a hotel.

More pointed homeowner association restrictions can include:

• Where or How a Digital Satellite Disc Receiver is Attached to a Home or Structure.
• If a Homeowner is Able to Add a Front Screen Door.
• The Procedure for Retrofitting a Swimming Pool at a Single Family Residence.
• Permission for Back Yard Swing Set or Driveway Basket Ball Hoop.
• Fishing in Community Lakes or Ponds.
• Who is Responsible For Pest Control.

If there is a restriction or concern you have about a community or home owner association that you are thinking of leasing or purchasing a home in, you should double check the rules prior to purchase or occupancy. How do you do this? Simply ask to review the home owner association documents. You can request a set from the home owner, the home owner's real estate agent or read them online at www.leeclerk.org. You can also call the property management company in charge of the homeowner association and request a response from them. Often times they can answer the question for you and even put you in contact with a home owner association representative, such as the president of the HOA or another officer.

Homeowner associations may also have Community Development Districts. Information regarding a CDD in SW Florida can me located at www.CDDSWF.com.

Bonita Springs Shopping Tomato Capital of the World

So there I am sitting in The Brooks at the traffic light at Coconut Road and the Trail (Tamiami Trail/US 41) watching the work being done and waiting for green. You can see the Hyatt Coconut Point off in the distance so you know I'm heading west. I'm wondering, when enough is enough?

Remember when Bonita Springs was the tomato capital of the world? I do. There once were green tomatoes at every traffic light or turn in the road - no more. They're shipping our tomatoes in from California now - unless you know where the fruit stands are with Immokalee tomatoes. Our tomato fields have turned to golf courses and shopping malls.

From where I'm sitting in traffic, just off to the right of the road crew is another condo development going in. It is/was being called Tangomar (by the Hine group) and it has sort have been languishing. I'm not sure what the name is anymore or if it has a name, it's white noise at this point. I did see a small amount of movement this week, or maybe it was just a truck turning around. Just behind me to the left is another condo project called Mirosol. They've sprung a few buildings out of the dirt but they're taking their sweet time, too. Oh, not to mention behind me to the right is The Residences at Coconut Point and Rapallo. They've just about staked a claim on every square inch of soil where Bonita Springs meets Estero. Who determined that there is a shortage of condo inventory and thought we needed more?

The retail space and commercial real estate is just about as flooded. How much shopping can one village possibly do? The Coconut Point Mall has dozens of restaurants - how much can one village eat? The restaurants in Bonita Springs and Estero will likely enter full crisis mode soon due to the flooded market, yet more are opening all the time. [in my humble opinion] Coming soon, Uno Pizza, TGI Fridays at the mall, Tijuana Flats on the Trail, plus a few closed restaurants have new tenants rehabbing, but the tenants haven't been disclosed. Easter is just around the corner. When the droves of Boomers head north to wait for their crocus and daphodils to come up, it's going to spank the retail sector in Bonita Springs and Estero, most especially the restaurants.

Is anyone else watching this freight train?

Everblades Hockey & Concert Venue

Have you been to see the Florida Everblades play at Germain Arena in Estero, Florida? It's one of the best pass times in the area. If you're looking for a good time either with friends or family a trip to see the Everblades play should be on the list. Face it, it costs a small fortune to take a family to see any professional sport live. Minor league hockey is exciting and affordable - From $11 and up per ticket. Kids can be noisy at an Everblades game, there's tons to see and you're sure to bump in to friends or make new ones.

In addition to hosting Florida Everblades hockey, Germain Arena offers a wide variety of great entertainment. Since the arena opened in 1998, it has hosted NHL, NBA, USBL, and Arena football games. The arena is the current host to the Florida Firecats and the Florida Flame.

Germain Arena, formerly know as Teco Arena, has also hosted more than 200 different entertainment events, besides Florida Everblades. Other shows included Stars on Ice, concerts including Elton John, Sting and Toby Keith, Disney On Ice, WWE wrestling, Boston Pops, Lord of the Dance and The Blue Man Group.

Interior vendors include the Breakaway Sports Pub, a restaurant overlooking the arena bowl, catering, meeting space, luxury suites, a pro shop and two adjacent recreational ice rinks. The arena hosts approximately 7,000 people. The arena is also an emergency storm/hurricane shelter. Psst. Everblades players stop by Breakaway after games to talk to fans, also.

Parking is usually $5, however, it is only a short walk from Miromar Outlet Mall. You can park at the mall free of charge. The new Gulfcoast Town Center Mall is only a few miles north of the Arena, also. Germain Arena is located on Ben Hill Griffin Road, just north of Corkscrew Road at exit 123 just north of Stoneybrook.

Sellers, Is Your Home a Prize Fighter or a Bench Warmer?

Today I will be out with a lovely couple from Wisconsin looking for their Florida home. I try to stay upbeat and not hyper critical of what other agents consider "marketing" but it's a nightmare, plain and simple. It is literally a struggle for me to show your Bonita Springs home. Should it be? My buyers are searching for a home or attached villa in the $200-250,000 price point. I will be showing them eight homes that best meet their criteria of size, style, one level, two bedroom minimum & value.

Here's what the market has to offer:

• 144 active listings meet the price criteria (not value criteria)
• 90 active listings have a two car garage
• Just from this point your home has only a .09% chance of being shown to my buyers before your agent even screws everything up.

What else would sell the other 88 homes to me? Yes, me. Your house has to be sold three times, by the way. To the agents, to the buyers and to the appraiser. First, what would make me show any of the other 88 homes to my buyers?

• Price - Price your home right or you're in the dust. PERIOD. Buyers and their agents aren't stupid and are just looking for a way to weed out the rest (in this case 82 other homes)
• Photos. Make sure you have them or keep writing mortgage payments. Press hard if you have those carbon copy type checks so that the writing goes through.
• Description of the home. Psst. Most of our buyers aren't around here, throw them a bloody clue.
• Visual tour (have you heard buyers like photos?)
• Directions to the home (especially if it's in a new, unmapped community).
• A lock box so I can actually get my buyers inside the home to see it.
• Oh, a return phone call from the agent giving permission to show the home.

Sounds simple enough, right? Believe it or not on nearly every listing I attempted to set an appointment to show and sell I was met with the obstacles above.

• Sellers, you need to take control of your homes and verify that your home is being SHOWN to the public in photos. BUYERS LOVE PICTURES. You can have 8 photos in Sunshine MLS, even more in Rapattoni MLS (yes, we have two MLS services), plus a visual tour. No extra charge. FREE. Your competition is doing it, by the way.
• Make sure the remarks of the MLS tell a story about the home and where it is located and the benefit of living there.
• Not every agent lives in Bonita Springs. They NEED directions to your home. If your home is new, it is not in google maps or on their GPS.
• Even if you have a tenant the agent can put a key in the lock box and give the lock box to the tenant. The tenant can put the lock box out on the porch on the day a showing is approved. Usually tenants are worried about people barging in - they're in control this way.
• Make sure appointment phone calls get returned or there is a call center to handle them.

Well, I'm off to sell a house today in Bonita Springs, Florida. There are 90 candidates available, 8 homes being shown to my buyers and, for the record, currently only 4 pending sale in this criteria bracket - less than .05%.

Looks like a very competitive market, huh? Is your home a prize fighter or a bench warmer?

Grabbing the Short Sale Tiger by the Tail

Sometimes nobody wins in a short sale transaction. Face it, it is a tragedy. Sometimes a family's only option to sell a home is below the price of their current mortgage. It doesn't really matter why they are selling, it just matters that they're in the hole and it's going to be an ordeal to line up a qualified buyer, a seller in despair and a bank that, often times, doesn't cooperate.

Take, for instance, a short sale that came on the market in the San Carlos area. San Carlos is about five miles north of Bonita Springs, barely into Fort Myers. The fixer upper home was listed at the entry level price of the market - $150,000. My buyer wrote a cash offer at $125,000 to close sale in 30 days. We're nine weeks into this short sale with no resolution. The bank has countered over list price originally but we were able to come to an agreement with regard to price. The settlement sheet was prepared, a date was set to close and the deal still didn't close because the bank wants the seller (psst who is in financial difficulty and loosing his home) to bring $3,000 to closing to cover some of the closing costs. Stick a fork in this deal, it's done. Meanwhile, about 20 other competing short sales came along and sat beside it on that park bench named despair. Three grand.

The bank involved with this property is following the picture perfect plan to ring in the next phase of a downturned real estate market. REO - Bank owned properties. This bank was a pig and now it will pay. The bank will eat more than three grand in holding costs, utilities, insurance, repairs, etc. trying to sell this warty toad over the following months. Heck, if and when that seller does move out or get foreclosed don't you think there is a possibility that they can do three grand worth of damage out of spite for losing their home?

So nobody wins in a short sale.

• The seller loses his home and likely his credit.
• The neighborhood loses its value because a bank has managed to own real estate instead of just hold a loan on it.
• A buyer loses his chance at first time home ownership.
• The shareholders of the bank are unknowingly writing out checks to electric companies for vacant homes that the bank decided to own.

Honk your horn if you think this is out of control. This isn't an isolated incident. Every real estate agent that is working a short sale can tell you a whopper that even tops this.

If you're a buyer or seller of a short sale property you need to know that it isn't pretty, it isn't easy and if you're looking for a slam dunk deal, this isn't it. The list price doesn't determine the price a bank is willing to sell it at, it's just a starting point and it is not without hardship on everyone involved in the transaction.

Which is Worse Being a Chic or a Real Estate Agent?

Saturday open houses with a bright blue sky are usually a bust, but today I actually had more than a few visitors. I ran out of flyers, as a matter of fact. Traffic was good in spite of the picture perfect weather I was staring at through the window. Usually, when it's THAT nice outside people are hitting Bonita Beach or one of the many golf courses in Bonita Springs instead of going to open houses. The sun is a curse for an open house in south Florida.

Something perplexing [offensive] happened at the open house today, though. A man with friends in tow suggested that I give "the sales pitch". I don't know what usually happens to buyers that tour open houses, but the last thing I do is cannibalize buyers or give the strong sell & a hustle. I was sort of surprised that this man even said that. I replied to him, "I don't pitch, I answer questions and I ask questions. Buyers know whether it's the house for them or not". He then suggested I get down on my knees and beg as part of a sales pitch. I replied, "Sir, if there is one thing you can count on me not doing, that is me taking a knee and begging you for anything."

Just when you think it's safe to go in the water, sharks show up. I don't get it. Was it because I am a woman or because I'm a real estate agent that this man felt the need to try to be a hater? [Boing Fwip] What the heck is so wrong with being a woman? Further, what the heck is so wrong with being a real estate agent?

All I do is just help people buy and sell homes. It's not illegal. Heck, it's not even bad. I help grown children pack and move their aging parents to a new home. I put young adults in the first home they'll ever own. I put bursting families into homes that will hold everyone, plus the set of twins on the way. I help part time residents find easy maintenance free get away homes. Now, what could anyone possibly find wrong with that?

Coconut Point - Crappy Drivers Welcome

It was a gorgeous morning in Florida.  Last night I watched movies and spent the night at a friend's house in Marsh Landing in Estero.  Because I usually have my gear with me I woke up and took a run with my new kix through the neighborhood and Coconut Point.  Coconut Point is a section of Estero and with dispute by some, Bonita Springs.  It is the location for the 2^nd Annual Susan G Komen 5K that is coming up so I ran that race course this morning. 

I can't tell you how beautiful Coconut Point is, especially in the morning.  There have been a lot of marsh and cypress preserves saved so the area is loaded with wading birds, turtles and other wildlife.  Every bit of the area has walking paths and bike lanes so you'll see tons of other people walking, running or even riding bikes.  The group that meets at the Trek Bike Store is usually out in full force on Saturday mornings.  There's great energy in the people out and about.

A few weeks ago I was working with buyers in Rapallo at Coconut Point.  The husband says in a matter of fact manner, "My wife is a crappy driver, if anything happens to me I want her to live here so she doesn't have to get on any busy road".  [Actually he didn't say crappy, what he said rhymed with "pretty"]  I guess what he said didn't fully gel with me until I ran Coconut Point at leisure.  I've run it with my running group and even the last Komen race, but today was the first day I realized how valuable the location is to someone who has limited driving ability (crappy driver) or someone that just doesn't drive or someone who prefers to go on foot or bike. 

There would really be no reason to leave the area because the Coconut Point area has just about everything that anyone would need.  When the new Super Target opens, there will even be groceries.  Lee County even has several bus stops throughout the Coconut Point area and Coconut Point Mall.  There is a physicians center and clinic just off of Via Coconut Road and Rapallo itself offers a shuttle service to the beach, so that just about covers must-haves .

If you're looking for a great place to get in your morning walk or a find community built for convenience, put your foot to the pavement and get to know Coconut Point.

The photo is on of about a dozen spots where a pooch on the loose left his mark on the walk as it was getting installed.

The Other Blue Man Group

Yes, a flashback. This photo is a few years old. My laptop bit the dust and I found this photo in an old computer upstairs. I also found old photos of me with less gray hair. *sigh* Any who, meet Larry, Curly & Moe who were kind enough to let me take their picture at an event a few years ago. Youth and exuberance...

 We'll Try to Keep That Florida Recount Thingy From Happening Again

This real estate site has recently been nominated for top website by Posh’d.  Posh’d is a site with the purpose of promoting sites that are extraordinary and not your normal or templated websites.

Posh’d now allows readers and consumers to decide which site wins the award.

Simply click to go to Posh’d and vote for LifeinBonitaSprings.com as the best website.  Voting goes through the end of February, but don’t wait.

I appreciate your vote.

Chris 

Investigating Automated Home Valuation in Southwest Florida's Turbulent Market

Zestimates^® are estimates... they are just for "fun" but are consumers really, really clear on the fact that it's not reliable? - Matt Rathbun via Twitter

Matt said what some of us in the real estate industry might have been thinking. A lot of us have spoken with both buyers and sellers of real estate that have thrown a street address in the search bar on Zillow^® and thought the answer was gospel - grab a slab of granite and start carving. The consumer most especially finds it easy to disregard the small print when the figure is in their favor.

Take for instance any home in Bonita Springs, no, take my home in Bonita Springs, Florida. No one would be more familiar with my home than me, right? Throwing my street address in Zillow^® I find a figure for my home that is likely $25,000 over what I would believe the value to be. Better yet, this figure is nearly $100,000 higher than the figure that was given about a month ago for the same exact home.

In this instance, what caused the Zestimate^® to be skewed? The comparable properties chosen in this example are about as random as a blind folded orangutan throwing darts at balloons. The subject home was compared with Verandas in Highland Woods, condos in Bonita Fairways and homes 20 years senior to the subject on a canal or on a highway.

Face it folks, I got what I paid for in that free Zestimate^®. It's for entertainment purposes. If I was an average consumer and was I really serious about finding out what a home was worth I'd call a trained professional for a comparative market analysis or get a bonafide appraisal.

If you're going to put your trust in a free, automated service [to value real estate] you have to expect room for the computer to either make errors or not know that it could be comparing an apple to an orangutans.