David Barr's Sarasota and Venice Real Estate Blog

I just launched my Englewood FL real estate website:  www.englewood-fl-real-estate.com The website has the same full featured MLS listings as my other site www.davidbarrhomes.com If you are searching for Englewood homes for sale, Placida FL homes, or Englewood FL homes for sale

Sarasota's real estate market is facing low inventory and high demand.  There very well may be multiple buyers interested in the same property.  How your Realtor handles offers and negotiates on your behalf is key to your success. I advise my clients that I negotiate on their behalf from a position of confidentiality.  Information is power, and information in the hands of the other party can be used against you.  Things like the reason for selling, personal financial issues, deadline dates such as the sale of another property, and family issues such as divorce, can hurt you in a price negotiation. I also negotiate from a position of leverage.  Leverage is gained by being prepared and learning the motivations of the other party.  While I advise my customers not to divulge information to the other party, I have no trouble asking a lot of questions to get the other party or their agent to talk too much.  Buyers often have an emotional reaction that can help give power to the

I just updated my website with Sarasota are best real estate deals:   http://www.davidbarrhomes.com/#!best-deals-sarasota/c142p Sarasota best deal on Hillview St. for sale The updated best deals list includes waterfront homes in Bradenton and Englewood, a large newer 2 story home in Venice under $200K, and a couple of affordable homes in Sarasota just east of the Trail, a hot area for both investors and full time residents. Please contact me if you're interested in touring any of these homes.

This week I was contacted by home buyers to show a property they had found online. It turned out the buyers had put an put in an offer on the house they wanted me to show them, with another agent. The buyers did not have a representation agreement with the other agent, and an offer is only an offer if it is not accepted by both the seller and buyer.  They felt their first agent did not represent their interests, and they were correct. Key West style home for sale in Englewood $254,900 The buyers and the seller came within $900 of making a deal.  Then, according to the buyers, nothing happened, which is why they contacted me. I went over the comparable sales and told the buyers that the price the seller counter-offered was actually a pretty good deal.  $900 represents a difference of about $5 per month in mortgage payment.  The buyers agreed it would not be worth losing the home over $5 per month. Unfortunately, their previous agent did not provide comparable sales, so

This is a follow up to my previous blog about buyer's agents:  http://blog.davidbarrhomes.com/2014/03/case-study-why-experienced-buyers-agent.html The real estate world is always changing, but sometimes the changes can be confusing for prospective home buyers. There are three competing business models nationally which are shaping how consumers buy and sell real estate: 1) Zillow and Trulia:  Non-licensed: what we in the industry call "portals".  They exist to generate visits to their websites and sell advertising. Participating agents pay to be featured in certain geographical areas; 2) Traditional brokerages, such as Re/Max and Keller Williams with their national real estate sites, where buyers can search for homes and get funneled to one of the company's featured agents; 3) Redfin and Movoto:  Licensed brokers, but without physical brick and mortar presence in local markets.  These companies partner with established local agents when a home buyer or seller

From today's Tampa Bay Times:  Another Apartment Complex Headed to West Shore Read the article here:  http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/realestate/another-new-apartment-complex-headed-to-westshore/2173589 Why is this a reason to invest in Sarasota real estate, as opposed to the Tampa area? 1) Building apartments indicates a weak demand from home buyers.  In the Sarasota area, builders are focusing entirely on single family homes and villas; 2) Apartment complex rentals are usually at a lower rental rate than single family home rentals; 3) Individual investors trying to rent existing condos or single family homes have to compete against resort-style amenities in new apartment complexes; 4) Bringing new apartments into existing rental inventory increases rental property supply and drives down demand and rental rates; 5) New apartments are usually lower-quality stick built above the first floor, while new condo construction is usually concrete block with increased sound

I have a visible Sarasota FL real estate website and I get a lot of calls from Canadian media asking me to advertise to Canadian investors. Sarasota is arguably one of the best places, if not the best place, to invest in Florida real estate.  Best doesn't mean the least expensive. Downtown Sarasota and Sarasota Bay Unfortunately, a lot of Canadian real estate investors focus on the less expensive properties and gravitate toward less expensive markets like Orlando, Tampa, or Ft. Myers.  In my opinion, that's not the best approach to investing in Florida real estate. Sarasota County is one of the top three affluent counties in Florida, with the top school district in the state.  Sarasota benefits from a world class reputation for arts, amenities such as fine dining, and lifestyle, including the consistently #1 rated Siesta Key Beach.  The affluent visitors to Sarasota could go to Ft Myers or Tampa, but they don't.  They come to Sarasota year after year. These vi

Real estate journalism is really a sorry state of affairs.   As the title of this post says, an article in the Bradenton Herald says Bradenton ranks 6th nationally in Open Houses.  So what? Do homes sold that used open houses sell faster?  For more money?  Get multiple offers?  Sorry, no such relevant conclusion about Bradenton Open Houses, or any Open Houses, for that matter, in this article. Hey honey, there's some balloons! Let's go in that Open House! Agent Open Houses are for the agents.  They hope to get new prospective buyers or impress the neighbors who might be thinking of selling their home.  They rarely if ever sell the actual home, the owners of which were forced to vacate on a weekend afternoon so strangers could dirty their floor and peer in their medicine cabinet. Read the Bradenton Herald article here:   http://www.bradenton.com/2014/04/03/5082512/bradenton-ranked-sixth-in-nation.html

There's a lot of new home communities under construction in the Sarasota area.  It seems many home buyers haven't considered looking in Venice, compared to the better known areas such as Lakewood Ranch in Manatee County, or Palmer Ranch in Sarasota. New home for sale in Grand Palm in Venice FL Why buy a new home in Venice?  Consider these facts: New home communities such as Grand Palm, Island Walk, and Gran Paradiso, are approximately 7 miles to the nearest hospital, Venice Regional Bayfront.  New home communities in Palmer Ranch, such as Arbor Lakes and Sandhill Preserve, are approximately 10 miles to Sarasota Memorial. Distance to the nearest beach from Venice new home communities equals the distance to Siesta Key beaches from Palmer Ranch, and is about half the distance compared to Lakewood Ranch. Downtown Venice activities and amenities are closer to new home communities than Sarasota downtown is to Palmer Ranch new home communities. Comparable Venice new h