David Barr's Sarasota and Venice Real Estate Blog

Cash sales continue to fuel the Sarasota and Venice FL real estate markets.   This past summer, over 50% of real estate transactions were cash in both cities: Why is this occurring when we are seeing national news stories about the slow down in investor money in the real estate market? Sarasota and Venice attract affluent home buyers and those buyers are more likely to have cash. The percentage of cash buyers is probably not tied so closely to investors, but to those looking for retirement or seasonal residences. These buyers understand that a cash offer to purchase, in a multiple offer situation, looks far more attractive to a seller and increases the chances of their offer being accepted. For more real estate information, please visit www.davidbarrhomes.com or www.sarasotahomesforsale.us

I've added a new Sarasota real estate website to my online portfolio. In addition to my Venice and Englewood websites, I invite you to visit www.sarasotahomesforsale.us . I sold real estate in Sarasota when I first moved to Florida in 2002, and have continued to show and sell in Sarasota since joining Berkshire Hathaway in Venice in 2014. If you're not sure of the area you'd like to consider for your vacation, seasonal, or retirement home, as your buyer's agent I have first hand experience with real estate in an area from Sarasota south to Englewood. Please contact me for Sarasota and Venice real estate information.

I was doing some market intelligence today and I noticed something quite interesting. The major real estate portals such as Zillow/Trulia, Redfin, Movoto, etc., are including what are supposed to look like an active inventory count of available properties for the search term queried.  It seems one of our competitors has picked up on this trend. Today's search results for "Venice Island FL real estate" showing incorrect inventory on competitor websites Both of these search results are displaying incorrect inventory levels for the search terms used.  Since "Venice Island" is a geographic area more than a neighborhood, I use the mapping feature available in our MLS to display properties there for sale on my website .  Today there are 93 single family homes, condos, townhomes, and villas for sale in that area, not 127. As far as Zillow's link, it wasn't even accurate based on the keywords used.  For Venice FL, there are not 977 homes for sale. ...