Local City Tips

I haven't posted to my blog for a while because I've been so busy with real estate. So with this post, I'll update the year to date statistics for real estate sales on Pine Island from January 1, 2009 thru September 30, 2009: 54 Waterfront Homes sold, median price $310,000. 49 Non-waterfront Homes sold, median price $143,000. 5 Waterfront condos sold, median price $180,500. 1 Non-waterfront condo for $85,000. 4 Duplexes sold, median price sold $127,500. 40 Manufactured homes sold, median price $115,000. 42 Vacant Lots sold, median price $28,000. Of the residential sales, 20 were short sales and 25 were foreclosures. 70% were ... Read Full Story

Considering summer is our "off season" here on Pine Island, it is good to see we are still averaging at least one closed sale per weekday. Sales that closed this week are a good cross section of the overall real estate market here on Pine Island and gives you an idea of the various types of property that are selling here: 1 Manufactured Home on the water sold for $95,000. 1 Four bedroom, two bath home near the public park and pool sold for $149,000. 1 Large Country Home on 1.5 acres sold for $237,500. 1 Large Waterfront Home on an intersecting canal sold ... Read Full Story

Yesterday, after retweeting an article from TravelDudes entitled “10 Great Cheap Places to Eat in New York City” , we received a request for an L.A. version. Eating cheaply and eating well on the road in big cities can get expensive. Having lived and worked in Los Angeles for several years, we’re happy to compile a list of some of our favorite places to eat cheaply while in Los Angeles. Here are our top 10 cheap places to eat in Los Angeles: Hungry Pocket (Mediterranean) 1715 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90405 – A great hole-in-the-wall where the food is cooked right in front ... Read Full Story

While Pine Island has not suffered as badly in the real estate down turn as much of the rest of southwest Florida, there are still some foreclosures and shortsales here. So far this year, foreclosures and shortsales have represented about 23% of sold homes on Pine Island. Right now, there are 5 foreclosed on homes offered for sale through the MLS, 4 of which are waterfront homes. The median asking price is $365,000. Some of these are luxurious waterfront pool homes. There are 2 condominiums that are foreclosed on in the MLS, offered at a median price of $199,200. There 15 homes offered as ... Read Full Story

I was lucky enough to see this year's winner of the largest mango contest from the Mango Mania Festival on Pine Island at the Baypoint Road Tropical Fruit Market...Here it is, weighing in at a hefty 5.31 pounds. I like the orange (instead of blue) first place ribbon, same color as mango flesh. I also enjoyed eating some fresh fried fish fritters there. Stop by Baypoint Road on a summer weekend and enjoy the fresh tropical fruit, flowers and fish. Real estate sales are staying steady here on Pine Island. I've been showing real estate almost every day this week to clients from Canada, ... Read Full Story