Real Estate Archives - Island Real Blog

Wind Mitigation Inspection: What is it & do you need one?

A Wind mitigation inspection (also called a windstorm mitigation inspection) is when a certified inspector looks over a property for specific weather withstanding features. These features can be anything from door/window coverings to the way your roof is attached to your home and how your roof is sealed to prevent water from entering. Though a wind mitigation inspection is not required to get homeowners insurance in Florida, it can result in substantial savings on your annual premium.

This inspection can affirm whether your home has features that drastically decrease the severity of property loss from hurricane wind. All the windstorm-withstanding features the inspector looks for may seem like minor details, but they make a world of difference when a windstorm or hurricane strikes. The appropriate wind mitigation features can be the difference between your home weathering the storm and a total rebuild.

Along our Anna Maria Island coast, savings can range from a few hundred to well over $1,000. Keep in mind that the average cost for a wind mitigation inspection is about $100. Though that may seem like an investment, the inspections are typically valid for five years.

After the wind inspection is complete, the inspector will offer suggestions that could improve the sustainability of your property. You can then make changes to your property or simply submit your wind mitigation report to your insurance agent. If you think you’ve had one done, you can look over your current policy and see if you received any sort of windstorm credits. If so, you can ask for a copy of the inspection from your current carrier.
You’ll likely receive the most savings if you take the inspector’s suggestions, which will also add to the value of your home and is never a bad thing! If you do decide to make structural changes to your home, make sure you work with a licensed engineer and contractor.
Keep in mind that the wind mitigation inspection has to be current. If it’s older than five years old, it’s time for a new one!

NEW LISTING SPOTLIGHT!

Keep up to date with NEW offerings here! Newly listed properties for Sale will be featured frequently – keep checking to see if one may be your perfect “peace” of paradise!

January 2020: 621 Foxworth Lane, Key Royale in Holmes Beach

Beautiful custom built home on a deep water canal with sailboat docking! Home remodel was completed in 2012. Elegant and European style home with four large bedrooms, two are master suites and three and half bathrooms with double sinks and one bidet in second master suite. Walk-in closets all around. Open kitchen with bar area for snacking and entertaining. Beautiful windows and shades, bamboo floors in bedrooms and tile for main floor living area. There is a laundry room and two car garage. This home has many features: brick paver driveway and outdoor lighting, outside patio and covered granite counter with fridge and sink for outdoor grilling the days catch. Beautiful landscaping and sparkling pool for anytime fun. Perfect for deep water yachting or sailing as the owner has dredged the canal for a 45 foot sailboat and 2 – 30 amp electric outlets for your yacht plus additional space with boat lift and direct access to open water of Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Key Royale has private Golf Club easy to join and Anna Maria Island is a golf cart community easy drive to Island Beaches. You will say “spectacular!” when you enter into this home. Will sell furnished. $1,450,000.

Click here for the Full Listing Information.

November Sales Market Update

Hope everyone is enjoying the Fall? Thought it would be interesting to compare some details about single family real estate for each city on Anna Maria Island.

DEFINITIONS: “For Sale” column provides a snap shot of single family properties for sale In the corresponding city as of the middle of October. “Sold” column are number of single family properties sold in the last 12 months for each City. “Absorption” is a measure of how many months of inventory are on hand based on the sold pace for the last 12 months. “Percent of Market (Listed)” provides the percentage of total properties on Anna Maria Island listed and same with percent sold. So for example Bradenton Beach has 10% of the properties listed on all of Anna Maria Island currently and in the last 12 months Bradenton Beach represents 8% of the total number of single family homes sold on Anna Maria Island. “On Market” displays numbers of cumulative days on the market. “Average List – OCT 15th” is the average list price of the properties currently for sale in the middle of October. “Average Sold” provides the average sold price by city. “Average List” shows the average list price of the sold properties for the last 12 months and “average $/Sq ft is the average per square foot for all properties in the City sold in the last 12 months.

A few conclusions can be drawn from the above information. Firstly, Anna Maria City is a hotter market given the percent sold is significantly higher than the current percentage of inventory of properties for sale in Anna Maria City. This can also be drawn from 8 months of inventory on hand for Anna Maria City versus Holmes Beach at 10 months and Bradenton Beach of 12 months. Another important detail is while inventory absorption is 8-10 months, the time properties that have SOLD is much less, more like half that time, 4-5 months. This points us in the direction that properties that are priced right will sell much quicker.

Let’s dig more into the data of pricing property correctly. Using the same 202 single family properties that sold on Anna Maria Island in the last 12 months, I segregated the sold properties into sold within 6 months and sold after 6 months had elapsed. The data is very enlightening. There were 64 properties that sold beyond 6 months or almost 1/3 of all single family properties sold beyond 6 months. Average sale price was $1.119M, $501 per square foot and get this, the AVERAGE time the property sold, 292 days! 139 properties sold within 6 months or 2/3 of the inventory sold within 6 months, sold price is $1.076 M, $577 per sq ft and the AVERAGE time the property sold was 61 days!! That is two months. WOW! Almost an 8 month difference!

Of the current inventory for sale, about half has been on the market more than 6 months and half has been less.

Moral to the story, price your property right and on average it will sell in less than 2-3 months. Price it too high and the property may sell after 10 months. One caveat to make matters worse, currently half the single family properties for sale have been on the market 342 days. What does that mean? A seller that prices their property too high has a 50-50 shot at selling in 10 months, otherwise appears it could go much longer!

3rd Quarter Real Estate Snapshot for all Anna Maria Island

Larry Chatt here, I hope everyone is enjoying their summer? Real Estate on Anna Maria Island has been a mixed bag of results for buyers and sellers for the last six to twelve months. If you are a buyer looking for product that is 5+ years or older and may need a renovation here or there then life is grand. There is plenty of great real estate for sale on Anna Maria Island and sellers are recognizing demand is low which requires reducing price as needed. Of course a great situation for buyers but not so good for sellers.
On the other hand, if you are a buyer looking for new construction you are likely becoming frustrated over the high demand of new real estate. High demand correlates with little negotiating room for buyers and sellers know it. Sellers are still negotiating but very little. New construction prices are being driven higher and higher and appear no relief in sight. At least for the last five years one thing is true, if you are a buyer of new construction, the sooner you buy the less it will cost.
Our local naughty 7 letter word, Red Tide, did impact real estate on Anna Maria Island last year. This is evidenced by inventory absorption for the last quarter of 2018 and first quarter of 2019. Inventory absorption often provides a leading indicator of the health of supply and demand for real estate in an area. Our chart measures how many months of real estate is for sale during a given snapshot in time. The chart shows for the first time in almost 10 years we saw two data points of Anna Maria Island real estate inventory exceeding 12 months. The good news is that in the second quarter of 2019 demand has bounced back and we seem to be back in normal territory.
If you have any questions about Anna Maria Island Real Estate please call on any of our full time real estate sales professionals. We would love the opportunity to help!

Anna Maria Island Real Estate – How is the market?

Let me try to answer the age old question… “How is the real estate market on Anna Maria Island?” This as anyone can imagine is a difficult question to answer. This newsletter is meant to provide general real estate information about Anna Maria Island real estate but for sure there are several micro markets within Anna Maria Island real estate. Not to bore you but below is a bullet list of our micro real estate markets.

Which city is the property in? Anna Maria, Holmes Beach or Bradenton Beach?
Does the property have favorable rentability? That is if duration and/or frequency is limited for vacation guests.
What is the location of the property as it relates to water? Is the property gulf front, gulf views, canal, bay, open water and the list goes on and on.
Is the property a single family, condo or duplex?

As you can see it is dangerous to attempt to purchase property without a local full time real estate professional. I can’t tell you how many proud new owners of property on Anna Maria Island called to receive help renting out their property and I was the bearer of bad news. Either the location was too far from the beach or worse yet the property was restricted to 30 consecutive day rentals. Normally when I asked who helped them purchase their property it was a relative from another area or a real estate professional in Sarasota or Tampa. Please, dont do it!

Below is a proprietary chart that supplies more than 10 years of real estate data on Anna Maria Island only. The blue vertical bars show by quarter the amount of real estate transactions. The Red line shows the 1 year rolling average of property transactions. The Green line shows the 5 year rolling average and the purple line shows the 10 year moving average.

Rolling average transactions on Anna Maria Island

Why am I showing you this chart? This can be used to forecast when the market is getting close to a correction. I usually like to use the 5 year moving average however some prefer the 10 year as the benchmark. If you review the last year and half you can see the 5 year rolling average has leveled. Most statisticians would also point to the areas where the 1 year rolling average dips below the 5 year average and of course points to a general trend of values going down on the island. BUT, not so quick. This is where micro markets are affecting the rolling averages. Single family properties within 3 blocks to the beach have been appreciating very well while condos have not and have been flat at best for the last two years. How muddy did I just make the water? I hope pretty muddy and believe it or not my main point is that the answer of “how is the real estate market?” depends on AT LEAST the bullets I listed above. Ask specifically about single family homes and my answer is “very well”, averaging double digit appreciation the last 5 years. Ask about condos and my answer would be “not great.” Inflationary appreciation for the most part and the real question is when will condos catch up to single family homes? Sorry, don’t have that answer. You can be assured if I see any of our supply and demand charts providing insight appreciation is coming I will be sure to provide that information in this blog.

Happy hunting…

Top Ten Silhouettes at Sunset

I found this very difficult because there are so many beautiful sunsets on Anna Maria Island and I was there with my camera snapping away.

These are like my children and it is not easy to kick any out. They all are such creations and for that I do not take the credit. I do love sharing them with you and especially to the visitors who are here maybe only a few weeks out of the year. This allows you to catch the sunset on Anna Maria on a weekly basis. It is my hope that you will get busy on your keyboard and click on each picture to enlarge them. That way you get details to help you make your selection. I want you to comment on your favorite and I will then try to narrow it down to the top ten. I would prefer for my viewers to select your favorite sunset. I can view sunsets every night but I post them for your enjoyment and pleasure. Please select and then enjoy the sunset!!

Written by Melinda Bordes ~ 941-705-0146 ~ Whether buying or selling real estate on Anna Maria Island or surrounding areas I can assist you with all of your real estate needs. Please enjoy the photos below and let me know your favorites! Want to read about the ABC’s of Anna Maria Island? Look no further.

Photo Gallery