David Barr's Sarasota and Venice Real Estate Blog

A new report from the National Association of Realtors called the Danger Report suggests that the sales team concept threatens brokers and individual agents. According to the report, sales teams can become powerful and create their own brand outside the broker's branding.  Brokers also fear the managing team member could create policies for their team of agents that go against the broker's policies, or worse yet, violate Realtor ethics or real estate law. I operate as an individual agent and I've never felt threatened by a competing sales team.   Most of the customers I work with want to know that the agent they hire is directly responsible for every single facet of their real estate transaction. Who wants a newbie inputting property descriptions into the MLS or in marketing?  I can't think of anything that would be more frustrating as a real estate customer than calling my Realtor and getting passed on to "the person who handles that". For more o...

Neighborhood reports are available for Venice and Sarasota. If you are searching for real estate, for example, in the popular South Venice area, you can download the report, which includes demographics, WalkScore rating, price trends, and more. Visit my website for South Venice listings .  You can also download the report now , or request it to be emailed to you as a PDF attachment, to download and save later.

You are likely seeing "Coming Soon" foreclosure listings and real estate signs in the Sarasota and Venice areas. Get a jump on competing buyers for "Coming Soon" foreclosure listings The banks and our local MLS have agreed to allow Realtors to post property signs for foreclosures that are not yet available for sale.  What's frustrating for you as a buyer is that you will have a hard time finding out when the home will be ready to put on the market and what the price will be. If you are interested in one of these properties, I can provide immediate notification when the property becomes an active listing in our MLS, and pass along the full set of information to you. Please contact me with the street name, the street number if you are sure of it, and your email address.

One of the reasons I got into real estate was that I was flipping homes before HGTV came along to make programs about it. Martha Stewart posted a picture of a small kitchen update on her website .  If you have an old house that has solid wood kitchen cabinets, you may want to think twice before trashing them. This color would work especially well in a beach cottage or vintage rancher. I can envision this type of kitchen in homes in South Gate or Gulf Gate in Sarasota, or Venice Gardens and South Venice. Semi-gloss paint makes for easier clean up, and the modern pulls help create a more contemporary look.  I probably would have removed the decorative scroll over the sink to give the kitchen an even more updated feel. If you are investing in Venice FL real estate , giving those kitchen cabinets a face lift could just give you a higher return on investment.

If you're planning on buying real estate on Manasota Key, here's an update on beach erosion. The shaded area of Manasota Key has lost much if not all of it's beach sand due to erosion Homes and condos located in an area generally south of the Boulder Point condos to Sandpiper Drive are the most affected.  Properties on the bay side of this geographic area have likely lost their deeded beach access.   Click here to view the map, zoom in and share. Beach at Gulf Island Strand condos on Manasota Key on Jun 4, 2015 There appears to be usable beach just south of La Coquina condos near Gulf Island Strand condos (white condo building pictured above).  This picture was taken this morning around 7:30am, right before low tide at 8:00am. If you are interested in Manasota Key real estate, please contact me .  You can also view Manasota Key homes and condos for sale on my website here in just one click .