Single Women are Now a Significant Factor Among Home Buyers

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently reported that single women are quickly becoming a significant percentage of the total number of home buyers in the national real estate market. Last year 20% of all home buyers were single women.

According to the NAR, single women aren’t just purchasing more homes. They are growing more savvy about the whole home buying process — much more likely to ask piercing questions and demanding straight answers to their questions regarding prices, features, financing options, etc. And, it is not just young single professional women who are buying homes, the range of single female buyers varies all the way from young singles to post-retirement women.

Due to the increasing number of single women now buying homes, home builders and real estate agents are both appealing to this important new home buyer market segment. Builders are offering homes with more complex security systems, low- or no-maintenance yards, gourmet kitchens, more spacious bathrooms, and softer color schemes – all features that appeal much more to female than to male buyers.

“When a woman is shopping for a home with a man, she tends often to defer to the man’s desire for a garage, a workshop, or a work-at-home office,” says Connie Belmont, a noted Sarasota FL real estate agent. Conversely, says, Judie Berger, another respected Sarasota real estate associate broker, “when a woman buys a home for herself, she tends to be more interested in how she may tailor the home to fit her own personal lifestyle, interesta and needs.”

As the real estate market continues to bump along without much growth, it behooves every real estate professional to pay close attention to marketplace trends like this one and adjust their marketing approaches and actions appropriately.

As the old saying goes, “You snooze, you lose!”

Should Sarasota Be In Your Future

Here’s an interesting statistic, I read just recently. There are 78 million baby boomers in the U.S., and professionals predict that one-sixth of them will spend at least part of their lives in Florida. “That means,: says Connie Belmont, a respected Sarasota FL real estate agent, “that there are almost 13 million people who need to be considering where in Florida they’d like to settle in the next 10 to 12 years.

When those future residents look for the most attractive places to live in Florida, I’ll bet the Sarasota – Bradenton – Lakewood Ranch area will be high on their list of “most attractive places” and here’s why:

For starters, Americans Style Magazine ranked Sarasota 5th and Bradenton 10th on it’s list of the “Top 25 Small Cities.” Money Magazine listed Sarasota among the “Nation’s 15 Most Livable Communities” calling it a city with the charm of a smaller southern town with the conveniences of a big city. CNBC said Sarasota Florida is one of the “Most Popular Retirement Destinations.” And, AARP Magazine listed the Sarasota – Bradenton area as one of the four “Best Places To Reinvent Your Life.”

For golfers, the greater Sarasota Florida metropolitan area has over 80 golf courses ranging from public courses to semi-private and private courses which will challenge every level of play. Many of these golf courses lie within master-planned golf course communities like Lakewood Ranch. Residents of the Lakewood Ranch golf course community enjoy a casual, yet comfortable, lifestyle in a community of ten neighborhoods with homes and condos spanning a fairly wide range of sizes with prices ranging from the mid $200′s to over $2 million.

For lovers of the sun and surf, there are 35 miles of white sand beaches stretching from Anna Maria Island on the north to Venice and Venice and Northport on the south. The beach on Siesta Key was voted the “Top Beach in the U.S.” in 2011, with the softest, whitest quartz sand in the world. And for lovers, nowhere will you find more romantic sunsets than along the beaches for the Florida West Coast.

The area is known as “Florida’s Cultural Coast”; home to the renowned Ringling Art Museum, Sarasota Orchestra, Sarasota Ballet, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall and Asolo Theater as well as many art galleries, jazz clubs and local theater groups like the Manatee Players in Bradenton and the Little Theater in Venice. Downtown Sarasota offers dozens of upscale shops and restaurants. And no one disputes the charm of the eclectic shops at famous St Armands Circle. For a less formal experience, Village of the Arts is a vibrant artist community in Bradenton.

Sailing enthusiasts, powerboat owners, scuba divers and fishermen spend relaxing times on the warm waters of Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Some waterfront communities even offer deep water marinas, yacht clubs and fishing docks.

Sarasota and Manatee County schools serve over 80,000 students in both public and privates schools. Nearly 80% of Sarasota teachers have post-bachelor degree training. Two-thirds of our high school graduates go on to college; many at local colleges including University of South Florida – Sarasota, USF – New College, Ringling School of Art & Design, University of Sarasota, Eckerd College, and The State College of Florida – Manatee – Sarasota.

If your youngsters, or grand children, enjoy educational experiences, they, and you, will enjoy the G.Wiz Science Museum, the Sarasota Jungle Gardens and the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota and the South Florida Museum and Bishop Planetarium in Bradenton. Just up the road in Tampa, the world-renowned Florida Aquarium offers a truly unique experience. All offer informative displays and tours attractive to kids “of all ages.”

Sarasota, Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch and our Island Keys, Longboat Key, Siesta Key, Lido Key and Casey Key, offer the widest possible variety of residential housing options from Sarasota luxury condos in downtown Sarasota and on Longboat Key to golf course communities and waterfront homes in town or on one of our Island Keys in a price range to meet every imaginable desire.
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Whether you’re a “snowbird,” a one-time visitor, a professional, or an employee being relocated to the fast-growing Florida West Coast, get to know the Sarasota – Bradenton – Lakewood Ranch area on Florida’s Sun Coast. This may, in fact, be a place you’ll want to call home right now or in the future.

For a permanent home, vacation getaway or an investment property, the Sarasota real estate market, especially since the recent price correction, is priced at an extremely attractive level.

Should Tampa Bay Be In Your Future Plans ?

“Demographers predict that almost 13 million baby boomers will become residents of Florida between now and 2023,” according to the authors of the popular Real Estate of Florida website.

Those future residents will be looking for the most attractive Florida places in which to live. The Tampa Bay area will be high on their list of “most attractive places.”

You may ask, “Should I be considering the Tampa Bay Florida area in my plans?” The answer is “yes” and here’s why:

For starters, Tampa Bay offers more golf course than one could play in a year without ever playing the same course twice. Golf courses range from public courses to semi-private and private courses to challenge every level of play. Many of our golf courses are within planned golf course communities like Tampa Palms, Westchase, Hunters Green and other communities which have a wide range of housing options including single-family homes, condos and villas in every price range.

For sun and surf lovers, Tampa Bay includes miles of white sand beaches with some of the softest, whitest sand in the world. And for lovers, nowhere will you find more romantic beachfront sunsets than on Florida’s West Coast along St. Petersburg and Clearwater beaches.

Just south of Tampa Bay, the Sarasota area is known as “Florida’s Cultural Coast”; home to the renowned Ringling Art Museum, Florida West Coast Symphony, Sarasota Ballet, and the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. In Tampa, itself, the David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts is an outstanding venue and, of course, one of Florida’s best attractions is the Florida Aquarium, one of the top 10 aquariums in the country and a delight for visitors of all ages.

Downtown Tampa and St. Petersburg offer dozens of upscale shops and restaurants. Throughout the year, Tampa Bay is host to arts and cultural events, festivals and parades. The grand-daddy of all the Tampa Bay festivals is, of course, Gasparilla, the annual pirate invasion of the city of Tampa.

Powerboat lovers, fishermen, sailing enthusiasts, and scuba divers love the warm, clear waters off the Clearwater – St Petersburg coast. For those with larger crafts, some Tampa Bay communities offer deep water marinas and yacht clubs.

Sports enthusiasts will enjoy the several Tampa Bay sports teams including the Tampa Bay Bucaneers, the NHL Lighting hockey team, The Tampa Bay Devils baseball team and many others professional and college teams plus the added enjoyment of the spring training camp of the New York Yankees and others.

High numbers of Tampa Bay high school graduates go on to college; many at local institutions like Tampa Univiersity, Echerd College, University of South Florida – Sarasota, USF – New College, Eckerd College, St Petersburg College and Stetson Law School while others go to the renowned Ringling School of Art & Design, in nearby Bradenton.

Whether you’re a “snowbird,” a one-time visitor, a professional, or an employee being relocated to the fast-growing Florida West Coast, you should get to know the Tampa Bay Florida area. This may, in fact, be a place you’ll want to call home right now or in the near future.

An Ornate Tampa Home For Only $15 Million

One of Tampa Bay’s most luxurious and palatial homes just became a bargain if a home that is priced at nearly $15 million can be described as a “bargain.”.

Mark Yaffe, the owner, dropped the price of his 29,000-square-foot estate from $17.5 million to $14.9 million, down from the original asking price of $25 million in 2008.

The ornate manor home, modeled after a 17th century British royal palace, has 10 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms sitting on six acres. It took just over seven years to build this ornate estate in the upscale Avila community in the northwestern part of Tampa.

Mr. Yaffe agreed to sell the home as part of his bankruptcy agreement in 2009, after he fell behind on $36 million in debt. He was, at that time, the head of the National Gold Exchange, one of the world’s largest precious coin wholesalers.

Even with this latest price reduction, the home is still the most expensive home for sale in Hillsborough County although “there are certainly other expensive homes in places like Sarasota,” says Judie Berger, a well-known realtor with Sothebys International in Sarasota Florida where she specializes in Sarasota luxury homes.

 

The most expensicve home in the Sarasota area, according to Andree Huffine, another Sarasota luxury homes expert, is this 10,087 sq ft, 7 bed, 6 1/2 bath home on Longboat Key. “Another place where one can find luxurious homes is Casey Key where virtually every home has a gulf-view,” says Brian Ward a Keller Williams Realtor. For cash buyers, there is a luxury estate waiting for you in Tampa Bay.

Tight Mortgages an Advantage for Cash Buyers of Luxury Homes

The sub-prime mortgage crisis that impacted the housing market on a natiowide basis has had a major effect on all sectors of the real estate market. This has been particularly true on the market for Tampa Bay luxury homes and condominiums.

Mortgage providers that normally write “jumbo” loans (mortgages above the limits set by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae) are now having to keep those loans on their own books but they are reluctant to add to their current in-house mortgage portfolios. To compensate themselves for accepting this extra risk, banks are charging higher interest rates on the types of “jumbo” loans normally written for luxury home and condominium sales. This reluctance is having a depressing effect on the sale of luxury homes and condos throughout the United States and particularly here in the Tampa Bay area of Florida.

According to Rich Stover of RE/MAX Alliance Group, there is still a substantial number of luxury waterfront and golf course homes and condominiums in the $1 million and up price range for sale all through Tampa Bay including the Sarasota – Bradenton area just south of Tampa Bay.

Sarasota luxury home and condominium owners who need or want to sell their elegant homes and condos, after having held off selling, hoping for a quick housing market recovery, have begun to understand the situation. As a result, they have reduced their asking prices to more realistic levels and become particularly interested in cash buyers.

Luxury home sellers throughout Florida are now starting to be willing to accept lower price offers from all-cash buyers who have no financing contingencies in their offers. They also appreciate that an all-cash deal can close within 2-3 weeks, far more quickly than a deal requiring the normal appraisal and mortgage approval.

“As a result,” says Sarasota Florida real estate guru Connie Belmont, “Tampa Bay luxury home buyers with cash on hand are in the enviable position of being able right now to purchase a luxury home or condominium in the Tampa, St Petersburg and Sarasota real estate markets at really attractive prices.

USA Today reported this week that all-cash buyers are beginning to scoop up those Tampa Bay Florida luxury homes at bargain prices.

Exciting News – A Teenager with a Mission

It’s not much of a secret that our planet is messed up. We’re facing a long list of problems, and most of them are caused by by one simple thing: the burning of fossil fuels.

The most urgent problem is climate change, caused by our out of control addiction to fossil fuels. When we burn fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas, we emit all this extra carbon dioxide, CO2, into the atmosphere, which messes up the balance of the atmosphere.

We just heard about this Salt Lake City, Utah teenager who is single-handedly trying to do something about this problem. We invite you to visit his website at IMatterMarch.org.

Alec Loorz, the initiator of this site says, “The iMatter March began on May 7. And the movement has only just begun. The generation most affected by climate change is standing up to let the world know that our future matters more than profits and conveniences. Over 150 marches to compel our leaders to LEAD AS IF OUR FUTURE MATTERS are registered on the map in over 35 countries, and the photos and videos streaming in are awesome.”

“iMatter is not an Event. This is a movement.”

By visiting Alec’s website, you will learn a lot about the problem and perhaps even be moved to contribute to his cause either by leading or participating in a march or at least sending a few dollars to support his efforts.

Selling a Home in the Off-Season

Not everyone who relocates to the Tampa Bay or Sarasota – Bradenton area of Florida has the luxury of buying a home while they are here as “snowbirds” in the months of December through April the appeal of our SunCoast lifestyle is so obvious or when the kids are out of school and they have the time to be choosey because the’ve got three months before the kids need to be back in school. If you need to sell a home or condominium during the “off-season,” there will still be buyers. You just may need to put a little more effort and creativity into the task of selling your home .

Everyone who has ever sold a home has heard the usual advice: Find a good agent, be aware of local home values, remove personal items and de-clutter the home. Touch up the paint, remove old wallpaper, be out of the home during showings, and keep your pet out of the way. That is all good advice, but it’s not always enough,” says Dick Plumb, a specialist in selling Bradenton FL real estate. “You may need to go a few “extra miles” to achieve success, however if you’re selling a home in the off-season,” he says.

Keep these five thoughts in mind from the moment you start planning to sell your home:

1. Get more specific about your home’s value:   You probably already know enough to use neighboring home values as comparisons in setting your asking price.. But now, some additional homework can pay off. If you need to sell quickly, stay ahead of the market by pricing your home a bit lower than the comparable homes. In the wake of the bursting real estate bubble, it’s also important to have a heightened awareness of foreclosures in your area. Any foreclosures in your immediate neighborhood wil put a dent in your home’s market value.

2. Get Involved:   Just because you’re working with a Sarasota Realtor® like Judie Berger doesn’t mean you can’t do some of your own legwork. The first 10 days on the market are the most critical to selling a home because new listings get the most attention from buyers. Internet-based social media sites have opened limitless new strategies to sell your home. Also consider using sites like Craigslist, Facebook, Flickr, Zillow and YouTube. Make sure you’ve agreed with your Realtor to pay his or her commission (or some other mutually agreed-upon amount) if you sell it yourself using one of these venues. Post pictures on these sites that show your home at its best. You can even upload a narrated video tour – because that’s what you’d want to see as a buyer. At some real estate agencies, a video tour is becoming the new requirement for sellers.

3. Accept Helping Hands:   Take advantage of a wide range of services, beyond your local Realtor’s, that could help you streamline the buying and selling process. Some cost money, such as a home “staging” service that can help you show your home at its best If you are employed or in the military, you may find that your employer or the the military offer services ayou can use either for free or at discounted rates.

4. Get Creative With Your Terms:   Sometimes it takes some out-of-the-box ideas to seal a deal says the author of the Real Estate of Florida website You might sweeten the pot by offering to pay some or all of a buyer’s closing costs, for example. In some communities, you may also be able to offer to pay the new owner’s membership initiation fee for the local golf, yacht or athletic club.

5. Be Flexible:   Home sellers should keep their personal feelings and sensitivities out of the deal and be willing to make concessions, especially in the off season. That means not haggling over minor repairs or refusing to leave behind the chandelier your potential buyer loves. Factor in your thinking the cost of keeping up your home for several more months versus just accepting a lower selling price or letting something go with the home and having the sale done right now.

Even in the most sluggish real estate market, getting ahead of the curve can be the key to a quick sale even in a sluggish or off-season market.