Casey Key Real Estate

Is Sarasota a cheap or expensive real estate market? I guess it depends on who you talk to. Someone coming from Manhattan might view this area as a bargain. Another buyer from Detroit, Michigan might view Sarasota as very expensive. It is all relative to what you are used to.

Sarasota vs. Vail

I am on vacation this in Vail with my family. Even though this is a vacation I am still observant when it comes to real estate. We are staying in the Lionshead area of Vail which is within walking distance to a gondola and a few chair lifts. It would be the equivalent of buying on the beach in Sarasota (Siesta Key, Longboat Key, Lido Key).

Our condo is in the Antlers condo community which is a nice 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom with roughly about 900 square feet.…

This is a follow up to last week's post - 50% off?

Clients often ask us what kind of discount they can expect to receive in an all-cash transaction. Sellers love receiving cash offers and typically will discount their home a little more because of no mortgage headaches. However, the discount is not as great as most people think. Below are sales statistics in Sarasota county for sold properties in the last six months.

Sarasota County Sales in the Last Six Months

• 4,171 - Number of properties sold
• 2,628 - Cash transactions
• 63% of all transactions were cash
• $5,250,000 - Highest sales price
• $2,500 - Lowest sales price (could be a reporting error)
• $206,474 - Average sales price
• $119,900 - Median sales price
• 93% - sales…

Foreclosures....Bank Owned....Short Sales....REO's

These are popular buzz words in today's real estate world. We talk to buyer daily and often hear "Super Deal!", "Sweet Deal!, "Great Deal!" or something similar. That is perfectly ok. Today is a fabulous time to take advantage of the depressed real estate market.

How much can knock off these foreclosures and short sales?

Many home buyers come to Florida with the misconception that you can immediately take off 30-40% from the list price of these distressed properties. Let's see how much you can expect to get.

I ran a search on MyFloridaMLS to show me all single family homes and condos that are either foreclosures or short sales sold in 2011 in Sarasota county. Here are the…

There was a good article in the Sarasota Herald Tribune newspaper on the 21st. I copied it below.

Facing multiple bid situations at the low end of the market, buyers are finding their decision times have become compressed.

In Bradenton, investors are no longer trying to low-ball sellers and are offering what they think properties are worth, while in Sarasota, agents are getting tough with their customers.

"I told one client and his wife they needed to make up their minds about a house," said Ronnie Caron, who runs her own Sarasota agency. "If you…

We are busy, busy, busy. It seems like the busy selling season is starting early. I put two Longboat Key properties under contract in the last 30 days. One of my client put a home under contract tonight. Karin Swanson has listed two properties & put two properties under contract in the last 30 days. She also wrote an offer today that may result in a 3rd successful contract. Allison Werner has put two properties under contract in the last 30 days, received 3 offers on one of her listings and wrote another offer today. Shayla Twit put 3 properties under contract in the last month and is showing property every single day this week.

**** 12/20/2011 Update ****

Karin Swanson has been busy showing downtown Sarasota condos. Shayla Twit wrote another offer…

Be careful using Trulia to find your next Sarasota home. I have noticed several inaccuracies on the website over the years. Here is an example:

Above you will see a screen shot I took from Trulia that shows a listing in Palm Bay Club on Siesta Key for $500,000. However, there is no such listing in the community (here is everything for sale). Trulia has this property listed as MLS#A3935725. If you search our actual MLS system you will see a condo for sale in Island House on Siesta Key. Below is a screen shot from this website showing the property. So not only does Trulia show a listing in Palm Bay Club that does not exist but it also provides an MLS# that goes with a completely different property.

You will probably find…

I just added some New Listings pages to the website. These pages will be very useful for those looking to stay on top of the Sarasota real estate market. My site and these pages are updated several times a day so you are sure to receive fresh information. Below are the links to my new listings pages:

• Sarasota New Listings
• Siesta Key New Listings
• Longboat Key New Listings
• Bird Key New Listings
• Casey Key New Listings
• Lido Key New Listings
• Lakewood Ranch New Listings

Give us a call at 941.812.6272 if we can help you buy or sell a property in the Sarasota, Florida area.

More good news for the Sarasota Florida real estate market. Take a look at this article:

Forbes.com - Where Americans Are Hunting For Homes

I took the leap. As of last Friday, I left Michael Saunders and Company and started my own Sarasota real estate brokerage – Dwell Real Estate. You may be thinking, “Why in the world would anyone open a real estate brokerage in Sarasota, Florida when so many other companies have gone bust?”

Great question.

Michael Saunders and Company

First, I would like to say that my time of over 3 years at Michael Saunders and Company was fantastic. I have the utmost respect for Michael, Drayton, the management team and the fabulous Realtors that work there. At a time when many real estate agents are leaving the business, brokerages are shrinking or going out of business Michael Saunders and Company has thrived. I don’t think anyone can deny that…

Here is an interesting video about Florida real estate through the eyes of Jim Cramer from www.TheStreet.com.

He made a comparison between stocks and the Florida real estate market. He mentions how real estate in the sunshine state "fell of a cliff" much sooner than the rest of the country and that the rebounding of this market will lead the rebound in the rest of the United States. He also mentioned that the CEO of Toll Brothers Home builder classified Florida as the only A+ state in the country.

Sarasota Real Estate Inventories

You will notice that Jim Cramer mentions supply demand several times. This ultimately dictates price. Sarasota real estate inventories are very low with strong demand. I pulled the chart below from my October 3rd…