David Barr's Sarasota and Venice Real Estate Blog

The South Venice beach ferry is one of Venice FL's hidden gems.  You don't have to live in South Venice to take advantage of this unique service. The ferry, a large pontoon boat, leaves from it's dock on Lemon Bay Drive, and takes passengers across the ICW to an unspoiled perserve and beach on the Gulf of Mexico.  No condos or homes spoil your view. Take a tour of the area with my exclusive HD video: The ferry is operated by the South Venice Civic Association.  There's also a boat launch, kayak launch, and fishing dock.  There's plenty of car and trailer parking for boaters, and I've never seen the parking area full, even during holidays. You can download the application forms for use of the ferry and boat launch on my website, and view a current list of South Venice FL homes for sale, at davidbarrhomes.com/south-venice-fl-homes-for-sale. Contact me with any questions, or to schedule a tour of homes for sale.

We're halfway through the year and I thought I'd take a look at how the first six months of 2015 stacked up against 2014.  I'll be doing this for many popular Venice FL neighborhoods in the coming days and weeks, but today's blog post starts with South Venice. The biggest takeaways from this analysis are that the median sales price increased 22% over the first six months of 2014, and sellers found themselves in control in price negotiations, with only a 2% difference between the list price and the sales price of the property.  Demand was high in 2015, with days on market 37% shorter than in 2014. This also brings up another issue I hear from potential buyers who want to rent before they buy.  If you decided to rent first in South Venice, you likely spent about $14,000 on an annual rental. While you waited a year to buy, the same house was $23,500 more.  That's $37,500 in lost equity. Waiting to get in the real estate market costs a lot of money. ...