David Barr's Sarasota and Venice Real Estate Blog

I just read an interesting Tweet from my Twitter feed  (follow me here:  @sarasota_homes ) that is Sales 101, but many in real estate don't put in practice. People buy for their own reasons, not yours.  Listening to the needs of the customer is key in any sales position. Lots of Realtors think having a "big personality" and talking a lot is "selling".  I learned a long time ago to let the customer talk, but ask them questions to zero in on what their primary motivations are for buying or selling their property. So Realtors, talk less, listen more, and sell more.

For a change of pace, I thought I'd post some pictures of Manasota Key from a morning bike ride this past weekend. We are definitely getting into fall.  The mainland just off Manasota Key has to be one of the foggiest places on Earth. These were taken from the south bridge to Manasota Key at Beach Road.

I just listed a home for sale in Gulf View Estates in Venice, FL. The home is in the sought-after Gulf View Estates neighborhood, just north of Manasota Beach Rd. off Hwy 776. 1444 Roosevelt Drive is a move-in ready 3/2 pool home with rare preserve view for $224,900.  Most every room has a view to the caged pool.  The split bedroom plan includes an open kitchen/family room combination, with separate formal living room and breakfast room. Take a video tour of this property on my YouTube channel:  http://youtu.be/IO-z4BekyFQ?list=UUN9oQagjL5CDn5DndLXI1UQ Please contact me to schedule a tour of this home today.

Warm year-round temperatures and spectacular natural beauty makes Venice, Florida one of the most desirable real estate markets in the country. You can modernize your home and make it more useful for your needs — and improve its market value — by making a few popular updates. 1. Repurposed Sunroom The sunroom is a standard feature of many Venice homes. However, these screened porches often need an update to allow them to be used more effectively. Glass enclosure is one method, to add more usable space under air for daily living. Generally, extending the heating and air conditioning system for this remodeling task is not difficult. Another idea uses a series of French doors as the exterior of the sunroom area. This method allows easy access to outdoor areas and creates a classic look for the interior. Making the sunroom more comfortable can allow you to use it as a lovely dining area with a view of the outdoors. You can also use comfortable outdoor furniture to make it a pictur...

There's a lot of home and condo buyers in the Venice FL area, and over half of them are paying cash.  This suggests two things about our market: 1) Cash buyers are renovating and flipping; 2) Cash buyers are holding and renting for cash flow. In either scenario, how you stage the property for sale and the colors you pick create an emotional (positive or negative) reaction in a potential new buyer. One of the things that can create the biggest emotional reaction is paint color.  And there's one paint color you should avoid in FL at all costs:  RED. This bathroom color may be great in cold Norway, the NE US or Canada, but the color red does not work in Florida. Red is hot.  Red is danger.  Red means stop.  Florida is hot.  So don't use this color in your home.  Florida home buyers want soothing, cooling spaces after being out in the Florida sun and heat. The pale green glass tile makes this bath feel more sedate and cool. If yo...

Inman News (one of the real estate industry's leading news providers) posted a story online about another brokerage cutting off their feed of listings to Zillow's website. Northwood Realty in Pennsylvania has announced they have stopped syndication of their company's residential listings to Zillow.  Northwood Realty has more than 1000 agents that serve the metro Pittsburgh area. "While we embace technology and promote it as a tool fo rour clients, it has become apparent that the level of inaccuracy on Zillow's website is misleading, inaccurate, and outdated," CEO and President Tom Hosak wrote in an email to agents. I have been saying for a long time that Zillow is a detriment to real estate consumers, and this decision by a large brokerage is further proof of that. Read the entire Inman article here . Read more about how Zillow does business on my website:  http://www.davidbarrhomes.com/#!debunking-zillow-sarasota/cftb

I've been blogging about how Venice FL home owners and real estate investors can make the most of their property for today's home buyers by using light colors to help create an open feel in any space. This kitchen, from modernize.com, is a perfect example.  The light counter tops, cabinets, and wall color all combine to create an appealing, timeless kitchen design. Notice the spare use of color I have mentioned in previous blog posts.  I also thought the pine flooring was an example of the vintage appeal buyers are searching for, as evidenced by a recent report from Google Trends. Wood flooring is not the best choice for a Venice FL home, especially if the home is constructed on a concrete slab.  Concrete slab foundations emanate water vapor from the ground, which will cause warping, mold, or decay, of real wood floors. You can mimic this look by using wood-look ceramic tile, available in Home Depot or Lowe's.

Today I took a tour of a home builder's design center and found some interesting contrasts in design elements they are presenting for kitchens in their Venice FL new homes for sale. One of the trends is for a contrasting cabinet color for the kitchen island space.  The white color of this island makes it seem like it is floating in space against the light floor, retaining the feeling of openness in it's use in an open floor plan. The builder also provided more traditional cabinet colors and stone counter top colors.  The counter top material on the island in this picture is actually a laminate, with an embossed natural stone pattern. There are 4 different counter top choices in this kitchen below.  Notice how the dark cabinets draw the eye in, as opposed to a light or a white cabinet that would blend and make the space appear bigger. Remember, design is a personal choice.  But, if you're preparing a home for resale, or buying a starter home and nee...

If you're thinking of selling your Venice FL home or condo, you've probably heard that 90% of buyers start their search online. Great statistic, but as with all things web-related, there's a treasure trove of information just below the surface. Google recently published 6 Key Trends for Homebuyers , showing what home buyers are looking for once they are online.  Some of them apply to the Venice, FL real estate market, and some do not.  Here's the breakdown: 1) Google searches for housing peak in July, with the number of searches at their highest point since 2008 .  It's pretty well known that real estate activity in Florida and Venice in particular is highest during our "season", but the national statistics cited by Google help to partly explain why I believe we are becoming increasingly more busy in the summer months as well as "season". 2) Millennials are finally getting ready to buy.  While most people joke about the average age of th...

I just listed a home for sale in Port Charlotte at 20281 Kinderkemac Avenue for $81,500. This home has great bones:  concrete block construction, newer roof, new windows with hurricane shutters, newer kitchen appliances and new wood cabinets. The home has a nice open plan with 2 generously sized bedrooms and one and a half baths. Home for sale at 20218 Kinderkemac Avenue: $81,500 Newer kitchen appliances and wood cabinets Large enclosed lanai with tiled floors Open kitchen/dining/living floor plan Large fenced back yard with mature trees and landscaping The property is easy to show.  Please contact me for a tour or visit my website for more information.

Staging and design of your home can create an emotional connection with a potential buyer, making your home easier to sell, and sell for more money.  So, why not do something new with your counter tops in a new Venice FL home, or in a home you are renovating to sell? Stone counter tops, especially granite, were once a trend that have now become commonplace. The ubiquitous granite provides plenty of reasons to search for alternatives.  Granite needs special support over long spans because of it's weight, is semi-porous and can be susceptible to staining, and reports are coming out about radiation emissions from granite. Let's look at some interesting options for your Venice FL new home or remodel. 1) Tempered Glass: Imagine the interesting backlighting effects you could create. 2) Nanotech material: Non-reflective, self healing, and anti-microbial. 3) Stainless steel: A new trend may be away from stainless appliances to stainless counter tops instead 4) Ceram...