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. ...

I was reading today about Zillow acquiring DotLoop. I had not heard of DotLoop. Apparently it's a competitor to Docusign. And there's a lot of competitors to Docusign.  But I digress. The blog I was reading posted this link to a YouTube video about this acquisition:   https://youtu.be/FTvEw0toTTc I believe this is Zillow's last gasp. Zillow's end game is to change how real estate is transacted.  They have been pursuing a strategy of acquiring electronic signature companies, online rental companies, and IDX data (and stealing it to display on Zillow), all in an effort to begin the creation of a new online experience.  Zillow wants an end-run around Realtors, and appeal long term to millenials, who live their lives through apps. They can't win the accuracy battle with Realtor.com. They can't win the PR battle they face against an army of Realtors who are spreading the word about Zillow's unethical and misleading business practices. They are n...

There are big changes coming to real estate that will be affecting both home buyers and home sellers that center around mortgage loans and closings. Known in our industry as TRID (which stands for TILA RESPA Integrated Disclosure), buyers who are financing their real estate purchase will have new financial disclosures and mandatory review periods that will affect how long it takes to close, once a property goes under contract. The HUD-1 settlement statement will disappear on 10/3. Home buyers will receive two new forms when financing: an initial loan estimate disclosure, which replaces the current GFE (Good Faith Estimate) and the inital TIL (Truth in Lending disclosure); then, three days before closing, the home buyer and home seller each will receive a Closing Disclosure, which is meant to more clearly outline loan terms, fees, and other charges than the current HUD-1 settlement statement. The changes this brings to the residenial real estate industry are very detailed, b...

People seeking refuge from winter weather or retiring have a lot of choices when it comes to Florida real estate.  Does renting for a year to see if you like an area make sense? I've been posting neighborhood market reports for the past couple of weeks.  Values are increasing dramatically (in Venice and most of the rest of Florida) because of demand.  Take a look at the numbers for an entry level neighborhood, South Venice: The median sales price for a South Venice single family home increased $26,000 in the first six months of 2015 compared to the same period last year.  If you decided to rent a home in South Venice, rental rates for a single family home on an annual basis are around $1200 per month, equaling $14,400.   Renting for a year in South Venice could cost you $40,400.  Look at that equity you missed out on. I like to say that homes are homes and people are people, no matter where you live.  What makes towns and cities di...

Periodically I run across articles about the next trend in appliances after stainless steel.  I hear a lot of people complain about maintaining stainless steel in their kitchens, but according to the data, most home buyers consider it superior to white or black finishes. Whirlpool's Ice Collection GE's slate finish Whirlpool's stainless collection Two of the major appliance manufacturers are offering alternatives to stainless steel, due to what many in the industry believe is the end of the stainless steel era.  What do you think?  Would you consider a renovated kitchen in Whirlpool's Ice Collection as desirable as stainless?