David Barr's Sarasota and Venice Real Estate Blog

Sometimes a map isn't enough.  Here's some pictures of my real estate office in Sarasota with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Realty. Our Palmer Ranch office, located next to Outback Steak House, on the south Trail. Our office is close to the well known West of Trail neighborhoods. Looking north toward Stickney Point Road, with downtown Sarasota on the horizon. Buccaneer Bay, Coral Cove, and Southpointe Shores are just across Tamiami Trail from our Palmer Ranch office. Buccaneer Bay looking west over the ICW toward Siesta Key and Point Crisp Stop in and see me if you're interested in selling your Sarasota home in these areas.

On today's June 20th edition of Fox and Friends, Michael Corbett again appeared for his regular Friday "report" on affordable homes from Trulia. The problem, as I have documented in the past, is that few if any of the homes Corbett profiles on Fox and Friends are actually available for sale.  Fox News may finally be getting it; the segment seemed noticeably shorter today. Here are the homes Corbett profiled on Fox and Friends: 1) Charlotte, NC: $199,000, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2000 sq ft colonial style brick front.  Realtor.com shows zero homes for sale in Charlotte with these exact parameters. 2) Huntsville, AL: $200,000, 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2000 sq ft brick front ranch.  Once again, zero homes found for sale in Huntsville on Realtor.com 3) Tyler, TX: $187,500, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1600 sq ft, cottage style home.  Zero homes in Tyler are for sale fitting this description on Realtor.com As I have previously outlined on this blog, a study by Inman fou...

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) issued a warning on "coming soon" marketing, since the issue was raised by Zillow's new "coming soon" feature.  NAR says brokers who do not act in the best interest of their clients by informing them of the limited nature of coming soon marketing could face liability. "Coming soon" marketing is another form of pocket listings, where a Realtor has either a verbal agreement with a homeowner to sell their property, or has a written agreement.  The MLS I belong to, MFRMLS, is the 2nd largest in the country.  MFRMLS rules require a listing to be input in the MLS within 48 hours of completing a written listing agreement.  A "coming soon" listing could only be in effect with a true written  agreement for 48 hours, using Zillow's "coming soon" feature. In my previous blog post, I outlined how "coming soon" listings have the potential for abuse.  A Realtor could technically have a...

Readers of this blog will know that I am a fervent advocate for accuracy in real estate, especially when it comes to Zillow and Trulia. I had yet another customer ask me about a property they found on Zillow that was not available for sale. The customer says she found 141 Spanish Point Drive, Osprey, FL for sale in Zillow.  Google Maps does not show a home at that address, and there is no Sarasota County tax record for this address. Zillow does show a property at 121 Spanish Point Drive for sale on their site:   http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Osprey-FL/47533789_zpid/56139_rid/27.203443,-82.487342,27.198166,-82.495335_rect/16_zm/1_fr/   That property is not for sale in the MLS. For more about how Zillow and Trulia do business please visit my wesite:   http://www.davidbarrhomes.com/#!debunking-zillow-sarasota/cftb

Zillow is starting a new "feature" that allows agents to post what we in the industry call pocket listings:  Properties that are supposedly for sale before they are listed in the MLS. Pocket listings are prevalent in some markets, and no doubt a lot of buyers see agents negotiating pocket listings on popular real estate TV shows on Bravo or HGTV. Unfortunately for consumers, pocket listings are full of potential legal and accuracy issues that will add more headaches than necessary to the home buying process. The MLS I belong to, Mid Florida MLS, the 2nd largest in the country, requires that a property must be listed in the MLS within 48 hours of receipt of a signed listing agreement by the seller.  Zillow's "Coming Soon" will not be much of a benefit. Zillow's "Coming Soon" feature opens up a lot of opportunity for agents to abuse it.  In the absence of a signed listing agreement, agents could post a property for sale without a signed list...

People are still talking about using drones in real estate for photography of properties.  I'm all for high tech, but not for tools or time wasters that may not help sell homes. DJII Phantom from Hobby Wow Proponents of drones say they are particularly useful when photographing large estates, or giving a unique perspective of a large luxury home from above.  In real use, drones present issues with permission to overfly neighbors and license questions from the FAA. I'm not rushing out to buy a drone any time soon.  The amount of time necessary to learn to fly one, much less take a clear picture from one, is time diverted from other activities.  The value they bring to home sellers is still questionable, since most internet savvy buyers can use Google Earth to get a bird's eye on homes for sale.

More and more people are learning that #AccuracyMatters when it comes to searching online for real estate. Uninstall your inaccurate Zillow or Trulia mobile app and install my free, feature-packed Sarasota MLS app today:   http://www.davidbarrhomes.com/#!mls-app-sarasota/c1l2 One of the best features is the ability to draw a custom shape on a map to search a particular area.  You can save your favorites and even ask me a question right from a property listing page. My MLS app is completely accurate and has up to date MLS information, unlike Trulia or Zillow's apps.  Don't drive to a home you found on Zillow's mobile app expecting an open house and find it's not even for sale:

I couldn't update Corbett's track record of his Friday Fox and Friends appearance but here's the gist. He profiled three homes.  When I searched for active listings on Realtor.com based on city, exact price, and bedrooms and baths, two of the three he profiled were not available.  One city, I believe it was Columbia, SC, had "zero" homes for sale matching the Corbett's criteria. This makes 5 out of 6 homes not available for sale that were profiled on Fox and Friends.  Misleading? Fact:  Zillow and Trulia do not have full access to MLS data.   On average they have 78% of the number of listings on Realtor.com.  Even worse, up to 17% of Zillow and Trulia listings are scraped from tax records to boost their listing count, or are old or expired listings they don't take off their site. Study from Inman News: http://www.inman.com/2013/03/06/accuracy-zillow-trulia-listing-data-under-fire-again/#.U2AqIvldWlI Trulia and Zillow will do anything to get vi...

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 c...

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 s...

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 incre...

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...

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

Today's experience working with out of town buyers makes an excellent case study in why you need an experienced buyer's agent. I have been working with a couple since late 2013 who want to move from Clearwater to either Sarasota or Venice.  The buyers had a smart initial strategy to visit Sarasota and tour homes one day, and visit the Venice area and tour homes a couple of days later. Luckily, this couple was very clear in terms of what they were looking for.  They did not like high-rise condo living, wanted something near beaches and amenities, and wanted to gain some privacy in the process.  After touring homes with them two times previously and asking for feedback every time we visited a property, I had a good idea of what they were looking for.  Key terms here: ask and listen to the client. Fast forward to this week.  I sent the buyers a list of properties to choose from for our property tour today, but they didn't make any selections.  This is a...

I wrote a blog post about this company almost 2 years ago, so it's time for an update. Their website still says they offer condos for sale in Florida.  This company is not a registered Florida real estate broker.  It is therefore impossible for them to list and sell real estate in Florida. Their website lists "Value Properties" in different markets in Florida.  Since my original blog post about them, they are still marketing condos at Vintage Grand as "developer sell offs".  Vintage Grand was built in 1989.  The developer is long gone. They list two other condo communities in my service area of Sarasota and Bradenton, both of which they say are "sold out". One of these supposed "sold out" communities is Serenata.  Serenata had and may still have legal issues involving the original builder and the condition/warranty of the roofs and getting them to make repairs.  This is something you would never find out on the Florida Home Finders w...

Are you using Trulia or Zillow mobile apps? I've written extensively about how Zillow in particular (and Trulia) is not a real estate company but a website that sells advertising.  The real estate listings on both sites are notoriously out of date or just plain inaccurate, some never having been for sale in the first place. Have you driven to a property using one of these apps and found the home wasn't for sale?  You're probably not alone.  If you 're looking for a good Sarasota real estate app, copy this link to your mobile browser:  http://t.ikenex.com/?k=LGz

The latest data from the Mid Florida MLS confirms what I have been telling real estate buyers for months.  The Sarasota real estate market is strong. The median sales price for a single family home in Sarasota County increased to $184,500 from $155,000 in 2012. The median sales price for condos, townhomes, and villas in Sarasota County increased to $165,000 from $150,000 in 2012.  This result further supports my rationale for choosing single family homes over condos, since appreciation for single family homes is increasing faster than condos. In case you missed it on my website:   www.davidbarrhomes.com/condo_versus_house I have also updated sales statistics for Manatee and Charlotte Counties.  Please visit www.davidbarrhomes.com/sarasota_real_estate_prices for more information.

Lots of people are familiar with Longboat Key and Siesta Key, but when I ask potential buyers about Manasota Key, I usually get a "Huh?". Properties on Manasota Key have an Englewood address, with the northern 2/3 of the island in Sarasota County and the southern 1/3 in Charlotte County.  Manasota Key has wide beaches and lots of real estate opportunities for beachfront homes, unlike Siesta Key or Longboat Key that are dominated by condos. Manasota Key Beach just north of Stump Pass Manasota Key literally supports real estate in almost every price range, with efficiency condos starting around $100K to gulf to bay homes over $3 million. Visit my real estate website to see Manasota Key real estate for sale: http://www.davidbarrhomes.com/#!manasota-key/c1ibs

Well, Christmas is over and today it's back to work. I have a long distance closing happening now as I write this blog post. It's a Fannie Mae property listed by an agent in Tampa who never set foot in the property, with the closing being handled by a title company in the Miami area. There is nothing more basic to excellent customer service than prompt and clear communication and response.  The title company told me "they get over 400 emails a day, and they don't have time to send a receipt confirmation email", despite the fact their website says customer service is their top priority. This is not excellent customer service. I don't want to hear a service provider tell me are too busy to respond to my repeated requests for a confirmation.  I don't want to hear how many emails they get.  I don't want to hear "this is how we do it". You as a consumer reading this know what I'm talking about.  That's why I don't do busines...