Buying a Florida Gulf Coast Home? Search all Homes for Sale Selling a Florida Gulf Coast Home? Click here for a Home Value Report With me today I have an executive from Lennar Homes and her name is Julie Tucci. She’s going to tell us all about the Reflection Isles Community that Lennar Homes is creating. The Reflection Isles subdivision is more of a neighborhood community. It’s not a country club setting; it’s a family community with a wide range of ages and people. Some are retired and some young families are also moving into the area. This picturesque, gated community is surrounded by the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve. Environmentally friendly, the preserve has a mile-long boardwalk to walk and take in the spectacular views, not to mention a peaceful picnic area and grand amphitheater for those memorable summer nights of concerts in the park. Prices for homes run in the $280K range up to $450K. However, there are only about 45 single-family homes left! We can’t forget to mention the amenities, either (and for only $233 per month via the HOA): Basketball Court: The outdoor basketball court is professionally maintained by the HOA.Community Center: Beautiful, brand new community center with catering kitchen and workout facilitiesFitness Center: The stunning workout facilities are equipped with the latest equipment like you'd find in a gym!Fully Maintained Lawns: Every home in Reflection Isles includes landscape maintenance.Gated: This community is complete with a large gatehouse, gates and cameras. All homes come with security systems, as well.Lake Pond: There are several large lakes, the community is surrounded by preserved land.Playground: The playground for young children is complete with swing set and jungle gym!Swimming Pool: The large resort style pool overlooks a large glistening lake. "These homes come equipped with amenities that other builders would consider add-ons." There is a ton to do in this area, and this gated community is tucked away from the hustle and bustle of town. Plus, these homes come equipped with tons of amenities including granite countertops, security systems, and even tubing inside the walls for pest maintenance. If you’d like to schedule a showing, please don’t hesitate to contact me or Julie. We look forward to hearing from you!

Buying a Florida Gulf Coast Home? Search all Homes for Sale Selling a Florida Gulf Coast Home? Click here for a Home Value Report Did you think that mortgage interest rates couldn’t get any lower? If you haven’t heard, the UK recently passed a vote to exit the European Union. The EU is a political and economical union of 28 countries that allows free movement and trade. Investors are pulling out of riskier global stocks and investing in one of the safest options available, which just happens to be U.S. mortgage bonds. These are some of the sturdiest investments in the world because home loans now have very strict guidelines. Just the day after the ‘Brexit’ occurred and markets crashed, mortgage rates went down 0.125%. This could cause mortgage rates to drop below 3.5%, which would be a historical low, once again. Right now may be a great time to begin a conversation with your local lender if you currently own a home or if you want to lock in the lowest rate possible upon purchasing. For more information, you can read this excellent article on Keeping Current Matters, or you can do something better - contact me. I look forward to continuing this conversation with you.

Buying a Florida Gulf Coast Home? Search all Homes for Sale Selling a Florida Gulf Coast Home? Click here for a Home Value Report Today I'm at the Hidden Harbor development here in beautiful Ft. Meyers to introduce you to a sales manager for Stock Development, Michael, and he'll give us a rundown on what this community has to offer. Stock Development purchased the land about a year and a half ago, and it features 76 homes. Of those, 53 have boat docks in the back yard. Not only is the community new, it’s one of very few Gulf Access Gated waterfront communities in Fort Myers that features the latest technology, design, and home architecture. More importantly, it’s one of the last communities in Southwest Florida that has gulf access. "These charming and clean homes have a coastal, West Indies feel." From the exterior, these charming and clean homes have a coastal, West Indies feel. The outdoor areas are large and covered so nothing inside gets wet during rain, and of course, the panoramic windows are perfect for waterfront living views.  What you’re seeing in the video is salt water! The community has manatees and carp and anything you can imagine. It’s great kayaking water too - 195 miles of kayaking trails originate at this point. It’s truly designed as a waterfront living community.  Hidden Harbor specializes in features that people want in this area, and it starts with outdoor living. We live in paradise, as Michael says, so they emphasize that with features like 10-foot slider windows that bring the outside in. Prices start in the low $500,000 range for houses on dry lots, but even those homes have access to kayak launches and phenomenal outdoor living features, at about 2,400 square feet with three bedrooms and two baths. You can get up to 3,200 square feet in the upper $900,00 range, featuring pools, 3-car garages, and a dock in the backyard. If you have any questions about this development, please feel free to give me a call.

Buying a Florida Gulf Coast Home? Search all Homes for Sale Selling a Florida Gulf Coast Home? Click here for a Home Value Report The market has improved for the first quarter of 2016, but it hasn’t gotten quite back to where we’re used to. Let’s start by taking a look at what’s happening with home prices.  Back in November of 2014, we bottomed out with a 4.3% appreciation. Ever since then, we’ve been inching up to where we are currently, which is a 5.7% increase over the first quarter of 2015.  According to the latest home price forecast, Florida is going to experience a 9% rise in home values over the next year, which is great news for homeowners.  As for mortgage rate predictions, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, MBA, and NAR are expecting rates to rise from about 3.85% to around 4.28% by the first quarter in 2017. So, while you can expect to see rates remain low for now, there’s no telling how much they might rise later on down the road. If we take a look at our local market, you’ll notice that the number of sales dropped in the first quarter of 2016. While this might seem alarming to some, it actually means that our market may be getting back to normal. Take the appreciation of our local market, for example. Despite a slight drop in sales, the average sales price is on the rise here on the Gulf Coast, which is always a good sign for the market!  If you have any questions about market conditions in your part of town, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you! 

Buying a Florida Gulf Coast Home? Search all Homes for Sale Selling a Florida Gulf Coast Home? Check out our FREE Home Value Report Hello, and welcome back everyone! It's time for another Florida Gulf Coast market update! Let's start by looking at the total number of existing home sales nationally. Since January, there has been a steep increase in existing sales, which is a great sign that our market continues to get better! All price ranges, with the exception of homes priced $0-$100K, have seen double digit increases in sales this year!  With conditions as great as they are, many people are wondering whether we're in another real estate bubble. It's not looking like it - according to Gallup, 31% of Americans feel that real estate is the best long-term investment, followed by stocks/mutual funds with 25%, gold with 19%, savings accounts/CDS at 15%, and bonds at only 6%. This is great news for anyone looking to buy or sell real estate in the near future!  The Florida market is on fire right now! The reason for this is because our state offers the most important features of a retirement location. About 40% of retirees want to live close to mountains, rivers, and outdoor recreation, and 25% want to live by a beach! Roughly 18% of people polled said that universities and other cultural institutions were important, which we also have a lot of here in Florida!  It's not surprising that the Florida market is so strong right now. Rates remain incredibly low, but they're unlikely to stay low for much longer; all the major lenders are predicting rates to creep up by the end of the year, making now the time to capitalize on these great conditions. If you would like our assistance, or if you have any real estate questions, give us a call or shoot us a quick email. We would love to help you out!

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Buying a Florida Gulf Coast Home? Search all Homes for Sale Selling a Florida Gulf Coast Home? Check out our FREE Home Value Report Hey everyone, today we are here with Louis of Tru-Check Home Inspections at beautiful Fort Meyers Beach. We are ready to get in the water, so we are going to make this post short and of high-value for you. As a listing agent, one of the biggest problems I see in sales is when the buyer orders a home inspection, and the next thing you know, they are asking for a big price addendum return asking for more money from the seller. We want to make sure this doesn't happen to you, but how do we do that? One of the easiest ways to prevent this type of situation from occurring on your home sale is by getting a pre-inspection done on your home before you list it. A pre-inspection will run through all the systems in your house, including electrical, plumbing, A/C, and furnace, and make sure they are in proper working order. Louis often sees a ton of low-cost mistakes come up during inspections. This is a good thing because getting all of that out of the way with a pre-inspection allows you to fix the problems that need addressing and adjust your home's price accordingly. The savings to the sellers with a pre-inspection is substantial. Usually, buyers ask for a lot more than repairs actually cost, so you can save yourself quite a bit of money by getting this done and making this one minor investment ahead of time. If you have any questions for us, we'd be glad to answer them. Feel free to give us a call or send us an email!

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Buying a Florida Gulf Coast Home? Search all Homes for Sale Selling a Florida Gulf Coast Home? Check out our FREE Home Value Report  Hey everyone, today I am here with your April market report. With so many people in the area thinking about buying or selling, I feel it's important for me to keep you updated on the market so you can make educated decisions in the marketplace. First off, existing home sales. Existing home sales are way up over last year. The yellow dotted line going across is where we were last year in February. And that red arrow—double arrow on the right‐hand side—shows the increase over last February. So even though you will see some headlines saying that sales are down compared to a few months ago, which is true, they’re still way above where they were this time last February. And if we look at pending home sales—the number of sales that actually went under contract—they’re surging right now. That gray dotted line across the screen is what NAR sees as a normal market. Anything over a hundred means we’re very, very healthy. And as you can see, over the last couple of months, we’re surging over that hundred mark. So, what are the mortgage rate projections? The top analysts predict that interest rates will return to around 4.9% by the end of the year.  So looking at this graph you can see that if interest rates increase by 1%, the same $300K buyer can now only afford a home worth $270K, and if you couple that with the appreciation we’re getting down here in SW Florida, you can see that you would get much less of a home. There you have it, the numbers for April 2015. If you are thinking of buying or selling anytime in the near future, give me a call or send me an email. Also, if you'd like a copy of one of our two recent reports (How to sell your home for 18% more and the 7 most common buying mistakes), send us an email and we will get them right out to you, free of charge.   Thanks for joining us today, we hope to hear from you soon!

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } There are many great Gulf Coast Area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Value Report so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (239) 398-3131 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.  Today we are excited to share our year-end market update for 2014. It was a great year, and these statistics indicate that 2015 will be another great year as well. We had significant home appreciation this last year across the board, and people are continuing to move to SW Florida in huge numbers. When more people move here, that creates demand, and demand raises home prices. Now let's get into the numbers. Let's start with inventory. The measure of "months of inventory" simply answers the question, "How long would it take to sell all the homes on the market, if no new properties were listed?" After having around 8 months of inventory throughout 2013, we saw a decrease to around 6 months in 2014. This is a good number, as anywhere from 4-6 months of inventory is usually considered a "healthy market." One thing that helps us predict future sales is the amount of foot traffic that homes are getting. The higher the foot traffic, the higher the number of sales. We saw greatly increased foot traffic in 2014, which points to a future increase in sales. You may be wondering what the best month to sell your home is. From the looks of our data, there is a huge spike in listings in January, February and March.   The next thing we want to talk about is home appreciation. In just the last year, we are seeing homes in SW Florida appreciate by over 10%! Even further proof that now is a great time to own a home in SW Florida. Finally, let's talk about mortgage rates. All the major mortgage experts (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, NAR, MBA) suggest that rates will steadily increase in the next year, and spike in the 4th quarter. With that being said, now is a great time to buy or sell in SW Florida. If you have any questions for us, be sure to reach out. We would be glad to answer them for you.

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } There are many great Gulf Coast Area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Value Report so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (239) 398-3131 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.  Thanks again for joining us. Today we want to share with you a quick market update on what we saw in December. Our year-end market update is coming soon, but today we want to share with you what we saw specifically in December and how that will affect us in the coming year. First, let's look at the year-over-year percentage changes in price. This measures how prices have changed over the year. Florida prices are up by an average of 7.9%, while home prices in Southwest Florida are up 10%. Here's what else is going on:Pending home sales are above the historically healthy level, both locally and nationally. Existing home sales are trending in an upward direction, and have been since April.Our inventory has been steady around 5 months, but is a lot higher or a lot lower depending on the area you are looking in. So, what can you expect in 2015, in terms of real estate? For the most accurate answer, we checked with 100 of the top economists, real estate experts, and investment strategists. Based on what these people are saying, we should see home appreciation at around 3.8% this year, and to hover around 3% going forward. If you were to add the predicted home appreciation up for the next 5 years, it's predicted that your home's value should increase by 23% by 2019. If you happen to have any questions for us, make sure to give us a call or send us an email. We would be more than happy to help!

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } There are many great Gulf Coast Area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Value Report so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (239) 398-3131 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.  Hey everyone, today we are going to highlight one of the best cities to live in for Southwest Florida (if not the entire country). Cape Coral, FL has so many benefits to offer current and prospective residents and today we just want to give you a virtual tour of the area so you can see just how beautiful it really is. Here are some highlights from the video:  Miles of beautiful, white sandy beaches overlooking the clear, open blue waters of the Florida coast Great dining options, such as the delicious Merrick Seafood  Cape Coral is home to a chapter of the Italian American Club Tons of great shopping centers, luxury condos, and apartments A lovely boardwalk that takes you over the water and onto the beachWe hope you enjoyed your virtual tour of Cape Coral, picked by Money Magazine as one of the best places to live! We hope you are as excited as us to get out there and start looking at all the different homes available in Cape Coral. If you have any questions at all about the area, or want to see what is out there for you, just give us a quick call, text, or email.