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.

The real estate industry as a whole probably isn't known for it's marketing genius.  That's how we came to have Zillow.  But I digress. I'm seeing a lot posts on social media comparing the Polar Vortex to the Florida climate.  Come on, fellow Realtors. Gloating about temperatures isn't going to move the needle when it comes to selling your Sarasota , Venice , or Lakewood Ranch home. I've said it many times in many blog posts.  Home buyers are searching in depth about real estate markets.  More buyers than ever have the flexibility to telecommute, so they can live practically anywhere.  This means I employ the latest technology and apply it in imaginative ways to reach potential buyers for your home or condo for sale.  I think a smart buyer already knows the basics of winter weather, but they probably don't know much about why they should live in your neighborhood, in your home. That's what I'm here for. Contact me when you'r...

My real estate website, davidbarrhomes.com, has been a popular destination for buyers and sellers of Sarasota real estate for over 10 years.  Unfortunately, because of this I get frequent calls from SEO sales people telling me I could be doing better with Google search results.  They say my site should appear in organic search (the unpaid links) more frequently on the first page of results. One of these recent calls, combined with an equally recent Google consultation, really distilled the issues facing individual real estate agents trying to promote their websites. Devoting resources to SEO is a mistake, in my humble opinion.  Google has recently implemented a lot of changes on how it ranks sites (search for "Google Panda update"), and a lot of SEO tactics are no longer effective.  Google's changes favor sites with original content (like davidbarrhomes.com) that provide the information being searched for. The first page results on Google for real estate in an...