Life In Bonita Springs

Bonita Bay Luxury Homes in The Sky

What’s your real estate shopping perspective: Getting the best of the best whether it’s the penthouse residence, the largest residence or the highest floor available in a high rise building or the best value as in price per square foot or comes with additional membership equity memberships or a unit which offers some sort of feature that no other high rise unit has.

Finding a great value for buyers in an ascending market presents it’s challenges and when asked by a recent long distance real estate shopper considering  a luxury high rise in Bonita Bay my mind immediately went to Tavira at Bonita Bay. 

There is a unit on the third floor Tavira which offers about sixty percent more living space than any other residence in the building.  Because the unit is on the mezzanine level the lanai is nearly 2,500 square feet of extra patio; interior living area is 3,517.  Basically, this high rise in Tavira has the impossible, a back yard.  I happened to take a photo from the unit above while assisting another buyer who just closed on a unit in Tavira.

Other great values in the tower high rise units can be had under $600,000 on the 17th floor of Vistas at Bonita Bay with eastern sunrise views plus a 24th floor residence in Esperia South under $650,000 with Gulf and Bay views.

If you’re interested in finding the best deal in a Bonita Bay high rise or other luxury high rise building, contact Chris 239-273-7430.

Beach Front Luxury Real Estate in Bonita Springs

The savvy buyers in the luxury home market in Bonita Springs Florida are out in full force.  Inventory of homes on the Gulf of Mexico on Bonita Bay and in the Community of Barefoot Beach is at it’s lowest in years … and prices are rising.

There are only twenty-one beach front homes for sale at this time in Bonita Springs, Florida.  Entry level pricing is currently at $2.3M for a home on the Gulf of Mexico.  The spread between current entry level and the top of the market is vast.

The highest priced home for sale on the beach is currently $9.8M. It’s a sizeable residence with about 8,000 square feet, 5bed/5bath and is located in Barefoot Beach.  Barefoot Beach is a Bonita Springs mailing address located in Collier County.

Homes in Barefoot Beach continue to lead the luxury real estate market in Bonita Springs, followed by homes in Bonita Bay and then high rise condominium residences in The Colony at Pelican Landing.

There is currently 18.3 months of single family, Gulf front, beach front homes on the market at this time.

If you’d like more information about the state of the current luxury home market in Bonita Springs, Florida contact Chris. 239-273-7430

Suddenly Every Real Estate Agent is a Relocation Expert

So, as you can imagine, the announcement of the Hertz Corporation relocation to southwest Florida was big news and immediately imaginary cash registers started ringing in a lot of people’s heads.  Naturally, real estate agents with the image of seven hundred employees stampeding to  Bonita Springs and Estero sent their hearts all atwitter. The emails have been  bouncing around with questions about “how to get in” the Hertz circle, etc.  Articles are on both local and national news sources about Hertz and the local businesses that have been catering and advertising to future Hertz relocatees.

The whole thing gives me a fluttery belly … that weird feeling like there is something wrong, like smarmy wrong.  There is this panhandler effect that the whole announcement has inspired and I’m really not caring for. Watching the Hertz story unfold is like walking off a cruise ship and hearing a crowd of the locals shouting “lady, braid your hair?”

Here’s my theory about Hertz and all of the local businesses who are trying to braid the employees hair when their ship lands in Bonita Springs – Estero Florida:

The Hertz employees are no different than any other Bonitian or southwest Florida resident who currently lives here and deserves great service, loyalty and to be appreciated for patronage.  There, I said it.  If you’re a local business owner or work in the service industry, read that last sentence again.

Instead of these businesses farming the crops they currently have they’re more worried about a crop coming sometime in the next year or so.  Here’s an idea, even though the announcement that Hertz is moving to the Bonita Springs – Estero Florida area was made and there is business coming, why not hoe the row your in.

It’s summer and the tourists are gone.  WE ARE HERE! The “WE” is your bread and butter.  WE are here and we can finally get into the restaurants we weren’t able to dine in all winter.  WE are finally able to find a parking space at Coconut Point Mall so we can go shopping.   WE might be needing local goods and services.  WE might want our hair braided, too!  Well, not really but you know what I mean.

Let me go out on a limb and suggest that a business worth doing business with will be found by Hertz employees because it’s a good, honest, reputable business, involved in local civic organizations, service organizations and the chamber of commerce.  They’ll also have a great social media and have a web presence so the Hertz employees can find them while they’re late night investigating on their iPads.

As far as real estate goes, scrambling and trying to poach employees of Hertz who are likely locked tight in relocation contracts and employer relocation incentives stinks of desperation.  Go hoe your row real estate agents.  Your crops are going to wither while you’re distracted by Hertz.

And there you have it.  My $.02 whether you like it or not.

Do The Slough | Parks and Preserves in SWFL

If you’ve lived in Southwest Florida for any length of time you have probably driven by the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve dozens of times and may have never ventured in.  Maybe it’s just been a while since you’ve visited the slough and you’ve forgotten about it so consider this your invitation to go.

Six Mile Cypress Slough (pronounced slew) is located just north of Daniels Parkway on Six Mile Cypress Parkway at Penzance Blvd. in Fort Myers, Florida. It’s a magnificent 2,500 acre strip of wetland nature right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of city life.

A walk at this park is the perfect activity for those who may not exactly be wild about hiking or those who are new to visiting Florida nature parks and preserves. With summer just around the corner it may also be something parents can plan to do with the kids.

This preserve is a Lee County Parks facility and the entire trail is a boardwalk system that is completely elevated. If there are folks in your party with mobility issues or you’re pushing a youngster in a stroller the path is smooth and accessible. The boardwalk also keeps everyone safely above the water and the critters who live below, too.

In all, the trail is slightly over a mile in length and winds through about eighty acres of shaded wetland preserve. This outdoor adventure can be as brief as an hour or as long as you decide to stay at the preserve. Considering the great bird watching and wildlife activity at some of the ponds, time could easily get away from you.

Trust me, the last time I stood and stared at the pond I thought that there wasn’t really anything there. After a few minutes went by everything began to move again. The entire pond came to life. The wading birds, once invisible, began feeding on the minnows again. Kites flew overhead and even a juvenile alligator slinked back up onto the muddy bank. The list of critters that I saw on my last trip was lengthy plus there were a wide variety of native trees and plants in blossom.

There are guided tours available on Wednesday mornings but keep in mind that this is also a great do-it-yourself trail. The “Explorer’s Companion” brochure provided at the entrance to the trail is a numbered reference guide that coincides with the numbers on the rails of the boardwalk so that even a novice will know exactly what they’re looking at. Along the way there are many detailed charts with photos and tips about nature, animals, animal tracks and the environment. Best of all, there are also many good hearted regular visitors who are always happy to share their knowledge about The Slough.

If you’d like learn more about Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve you can visit their website at www.LeeParks.org or just give an hour to nature and walk the trail. Entry to the preserve is free and parking is only one dollar per hour. Don’t forget binoculars!

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This article special to Southwest Spotlight Newspaper

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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.

Mother’s Day Weekend on The Bay – High Rise View

Season has passed a now the locals get a little time off.  On my time off the high rises of Bonita Bay mock me from the water. I’ve spent a lot of time in them the last few weeks.  The good news is that they have been selling like mad.  Tavira at Bonita Bay is 75% sold out.  

At any rate, with the time off I took a spin around the bay on my paddleboard with Slum Dawg Dillionaire.  The water is warm and the weather has been fantastic.  Here’s the paddleboard trail I take in the evenings, in case you’re wondering.  Carefully choose the direction you go to coincide with the tides, it rips through the channel.  We were in about the 2:00 o’clock position where the photo was taken with the Bonita Bay high rises in the back ground.  See you on the bay!

Teaching The Shoe Shine Boy to Flip Homes

Well there it went, the first radio ad broadcast for or a seminar on how to flip real estate in the southwest Florida area.  Why the adster even boasts that the Greater Fort Myers area is ripe for the picking.  If want to make money in two easy steps, the ad urges you to contact them immediately because seating is limited.

If you’re a regular reader then you probably realize that I am  disgusted by the get rich flipping real estate scams. Plus, I hate it when people take other people’s money for some bogus seminar.

So, if you found this post by Googling how to make money flipping real estate know this: The person who is putting on the seminar would be out flipping real estate making money instead of getting suckers to pay to attend a seminar on how to flip real estate.

For what it’s worth, this are is above the curve in real estate recovery. Buying cheap homes, doing some cosmetic touch up to flip the home was two years ago.  If you pay someone to tell you the secret on how to flip homes and make money, I sure hope that the first thing they tell you is that you should have been in the real estate market flipping homes, two years ago. 

Our real estate market has been through the worst of it, like I said.  The excess real estate inventory is absorbed.  There are values out there but they move quickly, often with multiple offers.  Just an FYI.  When the so call investment tip filters it’s way down to the proverbial “shoe shine boy” it’s past it’s prime.  We’re in a hot market and some scammer is trying to get all of the shoe shine boys to pay to be in a room and listen to bad advice on how to flip homes.  Someone has to say it’s a bad idea and I guess it’s me.

Water Detector in Tavira at Bonita Bay Bonita Springs Fl

Recently, on a final walk through at a unit in Tavira at Bonita Bay, the building engineer explained some of the great safety and security features that have been implemented in the new construction and design of the high rise. 

The Water Cop is a devise that is installed in every “wet area” of the condominium home; bathrooms, kitchen, hot water tank area/AC closet, etc.  Any room that has the potential for a water mishap is equipped with a sensor that detects water.  In a nut shell The Water Cop provides your home or condo with round-the-clock indoor flood protection and works with wired and wireless flood sensors, wall switches, and most home security and home automation systems.

I asked the engineer if anyone set one off in the building yet and he said that “countless hundreds of thousands of dollars” have been saved by early detection.  Most probable incidents are from residents who are home and forget they were drawing a bath or filling the sink.  Time gets away and so does the water, but fortunately there is a back up plan.

It’s a great way to protect your own condo as well as the unit below you from massive water damage and I’m sure that the cost is minimal to the damage that water causes.  I believe that the two Bonita Bay high rise  towers that have water detection installed are Tavira at Bonita Bay and, I believe, Esperia South.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Water Cop, read also: www.watercop.com

Estero is the Future Home to Fortune 500 Hertz

Hertz Rental Corporate Headquarters - Another coup for the Bonita Springs, Estero area. Barely over the “Dunk City” phenomenon, a new announcement by the city of Bonita Springs and the Bonita Springs Economic Development Council declared that Hertz is moving to the corner of  US41/Williams Road near Coconut Point.

Little does most of the general public know that there are committees of people, government officials and development councils who are approaching big business to move to Florida … and not just any part of Florida but Bonita Springs, Florida. It is finally paying off.

Besides the incentives offered state, county wide and city wide for corporations like Hertz to move to Bonita Springs, those individuals with a high net worth move to Florida for a variety of tax benefits. Read also this value packed link to a recent story with tons of info about “why" to move here:

Bonita Springs Florida Tax Haven High Net Worth Residents

What this move means to Bonita Springs and Estero Florida is spending to the tune of $50 million to build the Hertz Corporate headquarters.  It will also be bringing at least 700 jobs paying an average $102,000 a year. Those Hertz employees will be using local goods and services, dining in our restaurants, shopping in our stores and of course, buying real estate.  This is a win-win for SWFL even before they announced that they will have Ferraris and Lamborghinis in their local rental fleet.

If you’d like more information about moving yourself or even your business to southwest Florida feel free to give me a call. I’d be happy to arrange a discrete meeting with key city officials and the Economic Development Council. 

If you’re a Hertz employee weighing your options for moving to the Bonita Springs, Estero area I’d be happy to speak with you about the area on a personal level. I’ve lived here nearly thirty years and raised my kids here so I can probably tell you just about anything you would like to know.  I am also a local real estate agent (Accredited Buyer’s Agent, Certified New Home Specialist and a Certified Residential Specialist) so if you’re interviewing potential buyer’s agents I’d be happy to provide you references. 

Welcome to Bonita Springs & Estero, Hertz!  We’re so pleased that you chose us.

New Homes & New Construction in Bonita Springs

New Construction in Bonita Springs is trending as the best value in real estate.  You heard it here first.  Local Bonita Springs Real Estate (the resale real estate) is suffering from low inventory.  Many of the properties that hit the market don’t last long and often sell with multiple offers if they’re priced effectively and in great condition.  This has left room for the developers to come back to town and provide real estate in a niche that is just about dried up – entry level homes in Bonita Springs.

At press time for this article there were only twenty-eight single family homes for sale in Bonita Springs and Estero, Florida priced under $250,000 with at least three bedrooms and two baths.  That’s slim pickin’s.  Of those twenty-eight homes only seven of the homes were built 2004-2013.  That leaves a lot of older homes, homes that may need remodeled, updated, refreshed, etc.  That’s exactly what is driving the new construction sales.

Very often the price of the resale home plus any improvements that have to be made after purchase can add up to the price of brand new, new construction.  If a real estate buyer decides to purchase new, they get to choose your colors, upgrades, exposure, location and more.

The  savvy real estate buyers who are taking advantage of this boom in new construction in Bonita Springs have the option of working with a REALTOR.  If you’d like to learn more about leveraging free REALTOR representation with new construction in Bonita Springs, read also:

Bonita Springs New Construction – Hiring a Realtor

Since I’ve spent so much time in new construction sales centers the last few weeks, I’m up to speed on each of the new construction communities in Bonita Springs and can advise you which will suit your needs, your budget, your sports or hobbies.  It’s a great time saver plus an extra set of eyes and ears when you’re weighing your option to get the best home value and location for your real estate investment.

The most recent buyers I’ve represented with new construction in Bonita Springs have contacted me (usually from finding my website) and asked for real estate advice because they’re not from the Southwest Florida area or may not be here during the entire home building process. 

They need a trustworthy advocate on their side who can be counted on for a variety of decisions, walk through meetings, construction punch out consultations and inspections and more.  Since the developers cooperate with real estate agents there is no added charge to a buyer for hiring a REALTOR.  The developers cooperate with REALTORS agents because they know that we work with qualified buyers, it’s that simple.

If you’d like to learn more about buying new construction in Bonita Springs, Florida contact Chris Griffith 239-273-7430, anytime including evenings and weekends.

Chris Griffith is designated as a Certified New Home Specialist (CNHS), a Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) and an Accredited Buyers Representative (ABR) as well as a variety of other designations acquired over 14 years in Southwest Florida real estate.

New Construction – Builder Product – Spec Homes

Thinking of purchasing new construction or builder product in the Bonita Springs and Estero Florida area?  You should consider using a Realtor for your new construction purchase to get the most information and widest exposure to the most suitable real estate in your budget and search criteria. 

Since real estate customs vary all over the country and all over the world many real estate buyers wonder how working with a real estate agent works with new construction or builder product.  There are a few things you should consider and know before you begin a search for new construction in Bonita Springs, Florida.

1. New construction is on fire in Bonita Springs and Estero Florida area.  Our real estate market is recovered and we’re short of quality real estate inventory especially under $400,000.  The developers and builders have recognized that deficiency and they’re building like gang busters.
2. Builders and developers actually encourage and welcome home buyers to use a Realtor for purchasing new construction.  The developers know that real estate agents are always working with buyers and they cooperate fully with the business relationship.  They’ve even built the buyer’s agent real estate commission into their marketing fee. There is no added cost to a buyer for Realtor representation in a model home sales center for new construction purchases.
3. Your Realtor will likely have worked the area and the real estate market in which you’re shopping they will be able to show you properties that better suit your “wish list” saving you time.  This is especially handy if you’re flying to Bonita Springs for only a a short visit to purchase a new home. A great real estate agent will have previewed the new construction and possibly registered you in advance of your tour.
4. Both new construction and resale real estate can be available in some neighborhoods. Kill two birds with one stone by seeing what’s available so that you won’t miss a great bargain or opportunity. Your real estate agent can make appointments for resale homes to compare on the same day that you visit the model home center.
5. Believe it or not, experienced real estate agents can help you sort through what you saw “at the end of the day”.  Touring multiple sales centers can be overwhelming.  At the end of the tour you’ll need someone to help you sort through what you’ve seen and should you decide to purchase new construction they can help you make important selections such as upgrades, additional options and home sites so that you you see returns in the future when you have to sell the home.
6. Your real estate agent can also help you negotiate, when appropriate, incentives, upgrades, home sites and price when you purchase new construction.
7. Often times, your real estate agent may also know of similar product in a different community that is a better value or offers incentives so find an agent experienced with new construction.  They may also help you choose the best value looking forward with the anticipated real estate market conditions.
8. Some things sound more glamorous than they really are. Your Realtor can help educate you on local terms like “decorator ready” and “CDD” and many others.

A few things to remember when you’re buying new construction and using a real estate agent; real estate agents don’t get paid unless they’re involved with your transaction. Your loyalty to the business relationship is a must. This will require you attending the model home sales center with your agent and “registering” with them.  It only takes a moment or two.  Again, there is no added cost to a buyer looking for new construction who utilizes Realtor representation.

If you have questions about new construction in Bonita Springs Florida contact Chris Griffith. 239-273-7430.  Chris is a Certified New Home Specialist and a 14 year veteran Realtor of the Bonita Springs real estate market.