The Saunders Blog

The Neighborhood Report – Venice Communities

2223 Lakewood Drive in Sorrento East

To meet the demands and realities of the real estate market on Florida’s Gulf Coast, our agents place a strong emphasis on correctly pricing the properties they represent. Homebuyers are taking notice of these exceptional opportunities, resulting in increased activity throughout the area. Within the last 60 days, our Venice offices have noticed marked activity in Sorrento East, one of mid-Sarasota County’s most sought-after neighborhoods.

Sorrento East Stats and Successes

In the $150,000 to $250,000 price range, there currently are seven active listings, three pending, and three that sold in the last 60 days. Located in Sorrento East, 472 Rubens Drive East was listed by Drew Russell of the Palmer Ranch office and sold by Bonnie Morley of the Venice office. Priced at $180,000, the property went under contract in just six days and closed at $170,000—within 94 percent of the list price.

Also under contract is a listing of Venice agent Laura Kovac, just three houses away at 478 Rubens Drive East, priced at $239,000. This home went under contract on August 6 and is due to close on September 21.
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Buyers have been searching for quite some time, and when a well-priced property is shown to them, they recognize not only the value, but the need to move quickly in this price range.

Other Active Areas

Another neighborhood that is not distressed and where prices are holding relatively well is Laurel Hollow in Nokomis, where two homes sold within a week of each other in May. While distressed homes are definitely having an impact on our market and getting most of the media attention, buyers prefer those that are correctly priced in more established communities and are moving quickly to buy at today’s prices. Convenient to both Sarasota and Venice, Sorrento East and Laurel Hollow are within minutes of the beach on Casey Key, have easy access to I-75 and Route 41, and have excellent schools, shopping, and restaurants at hand. Oscar Scherer State Park and the new Legacy Trail are just a mile away. This area is a quiet gem in the greater beauty of Sarasota County.

The Alliance of Foreclosed Properties and First-Time Homebuyers

There have been a number of articles lately addressing the union of bank owned properties and first-time homebuyers. On Friday, May 18th, RIS Media reports:

Value-conscious, first-time buyers have become key to the housing market’s recovery, and they are snapping up priced-right foreclosures despite the warts-and-all, sold-as-is condition of the properties. Half of the sales made in the year’s first quarter were to first-time buyers and almost half of all these sales were distressed properties, the National Association of Realtors reported. Distressed properties include foreclosures and short sales, which are private transactions in which a homeowner sells the property for less than the amount owed on a mortgage.

While experience shows this true to the most part – first time home buyers are the most active market for the REO’s we manage here in the Sarasota area – there is another trend that is not addressed. That is that the bank and corporate owners’ willingness in many cases to stick less stringently to marketing their properties in distressed condition.  More than half of the REO properties sold by the Michael Saundes & Company REO division have had some lender required repairs made by the bank/corporate owners to facilitate a sale. (more…)