Goodbye to 2023! When a new year begins many feel some relief in saying goodbye to the old year. We have access to information and news 24/7 right at our fingertips and the news sure keeps us informed on so many hard to handle stories in the world. But, even while there have been some truly hard times for the world and even on more personal scales, I want to remember that good things happened too. There were engagements, weddings, babies born, job promotions, personal goals attained, anniversaries of all types celebrated. I would love to hear what you celebrated in 2023
Many positive celebration stories come together from dreams, teams, and trust. Ray and I recently watched the movie “Nyad” and Nyad’s determination was remarkable; more than that, her team who worked with her to achieve her dream was remarkable. It was a story of grit, determination and emotionally overcoming. Perhaps some dreams should be put away (ie: my desire to
be a rockstar -I can’t sing and I can’t play an instrument), but others need to be dusted off and re-evaluated because they can still become reality with the right elements. I thought the same thing as we cheered through the College Bowl Games over New Years weekend. The movie and the games were about teams, dreams, and trust. Trust played a big part in the movie and trust in your team is of course a big part of sports competitions.
What do teams, dreams, and trust have to do with real estate? Well, everything. Trust in yourself to make the right decision about real estate –whether it is time to sell or buy. I mentioned at the top that you have so much information at your fingertips, use it to your benefit, Let me help, check out this good article by NerdWallet . With all of that information so readily at your disposal it is easy to become overwhelmed and begin to doubt yourself. This weekend we were working with a couple and they have been looking for a home for years. They just couldn’t find the right place.
Then, when they found the right home, they had to trust that they really had found their dream. You need to trust in the Realtor, lenders, title companies you hire to work for you too, and trust that they are on this adventure with you. Real estate dreams are as unique as you are. Some may dream of owning a home and not renting while others have dreams of owning real estate as an investment and wealth builder. There are dreams of selling/buying to be closer to family or dreams of a bigger house where family can all be together. Then there is the dream of owning your own vacation home. All of these dreams bring us to the team aspect of real estate. I am not referring to Ray and myself as “the team”. I am referring to the “US” of the team. When Ray and I work WITH people to buy or sell we know the best way to achieve the dream is for all of us to work together as a team. We are all working to achieve the same goal. The team, the dream, and trust are the important variables in the real estate equation. Ray and I want the equation to add up to making real estate dreams a reality.
Since we are on the subject of New Years, teams, dreams and trust; are you dreaming of a way to volunteer and be part of a team in your local community? There is a rally event put on by the Venice Chamber of Commerce. This will showcase all types of organizations looking for your involvement. Just click the pic for more info.
Stats and Data
For our peek at a couple communities, I choose one established community in North Port called Bobcat Trail. The other is a new planned development in Port Charlotte called West Port. I believe you will find that both will pique your interest.
Several area Gulf of Mexico Beaches are about 20 miles away. You can be strolling and enjoying quaint Venice or Punta Gorda in under 30 minutes. Not to mention the convenience of day-to-day shopping needs in either direction on Hwy41/Tamiami Trail. Of course, there are many airports to choose from with quick access to I-75. Bobcat Trail is worth looking into when thinking about Southwest Florida living.
Currently there are seven homes on the market ranging in price from $375,000 to $1M. There are two pending sales and in the last six months eight homes have sold for a price range of $489k to $670K. Sellers are getting about 98% of their list price.
Bobcat Trail HOA info
West Port in Port Charlotte is a planned development located conveniently between US41/Tamiami Trail and 776. There are six different builders creating about 2,000 homes. West Port has been in development for a couple of years and is really starting to shine with its new homes and tree lined winding streets. Price points for single family homes are starting in the mid $300k! Each builder has developed a neighborhood and each neighborhood has its own HOA. Some HOA’s are as low as $110 annually! Currently there is only one community that is gated and that is D. R. Horton’s, The Cove. There are miles of walking trails throughout the entire development. One of the smartest concepts of West Port is it was developed around Charlotte County’s Centennial Park (click name to read more) This is the “amenity center” for West Port. You can join monthly or annually or not join at all. You can use the low cost “drop-in” option to play pickleball, use the huge lap pool, go to aerobics classes. The “drop-in” day rate can also be used by your family and friends when they come to visit. Allowing them access to all the amenities, check out the video :
The Tampa Bay Ray’s spring training facility is close by. And this is Florida so golf is close too. You could choose to join Rotonda Golf and Country Club which is only 16 miles away! The Gulf of Mexico beaches like Boca Grande, Manasota Key or Venice Beach are all within 20 miles. So take your pick.
Strolling quaint shoppes and enjoying local restaurants is easy with Punta Gorda only 12 miles, Quaint Venice is only 20 miles.And very close is a live music venue and restaurant called the Twisted Fork.(the French fry's are amazing).
(Remember if you have a community would like us to dig into let
me know. Also, please reach out to us with any of your real estate questions.)
Now, let’s look at some year end data….
When I dug into some year-end data these graphs seemed to tell the story. I like the way in their simplicity they show the real estate market over the past decade and how it’s not crashing, but normalizing. What I found interesting looking at the squiggly green line on the graphs is all the graphs show the same data; the market was steadily going up year after year just like you want the real estate market to do. Then, BOOM, there was the hyper increase during 2021 and 2022.
The charts are in order from north to south. Sarasota is first, then Venice, North Port and finally Port Charlotte.
Sarasota...
Venice...
North Port...
Port Charlotte...
There are so many different theories of why the prices jumped on 2021 and 2022, low inventory, lack of supplies for new construction, crazy low interest rates, people with money to burn during Covid, keeping up with the Jones, well you get the idea. The one thing for certain is prices did go up. Now, they are settling in, notice I didn’t say down. Prices aren’t falling. They are just not escalating at rocket speed and they are being adjusted (which means Sellers are having to lower their optimism on their prices). What we have now is what is considered healthy in a market, they have competition. The prediction is that home prices will continue to settle in and the value will increase the way the “normal” market has moved for years about 2 to 3%. It will be interesting to see come January 2025 what the graphs will look like. So, stay tuned, this could be an interesting year of nothing super exciting happening in the market. Except Sellers will sell and Buyers will buy. And, well, honestly that is very exciting.
One more good article to check out from the Ramsey group
Thank you for reading our monthly newsletter! Ray and I hope each of you finds 2024 overflowing with love, kindness, and joy!
OH, according to the responses from December's newsletter it was determined “Die Hard” is indeed a Christmas movie.
And now for a little giggle...(sooooo true!!!)
QUESTIONS? #MaryRayWestbrook
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