My Back Ten Feet of Bonita Springs Real Estate 

An avid reader and follower of shiny things, I followed a scoop.it mentioning my blog and also found a link to The Back Ten Feet, the youtube channel, actually.  I followed the shiny things from youtube to their Facebook, to their blog and I got hooked.

Weeks early, I had just happened to have experienced The Butterfly Effect on my blog by posting a picture of a monarch butterfly on a flower.  A reader told me what the plant was so I could coax butterflies into my back yard.  Read also: Monarch Butterfly in Deerwood Bonita Bay

There is a patio behind my house which is circled by a flower bed which is about forty feet in length and about two or three feet wide. A few short weeks after my butterfly post I was gardening for butterflies in the back ten feet which was woefully neglected and for the most part empty.

I’m baby steppin’ it in the gardening arena but I now have a healthy population of Monarchs to keep my Gulf Fritillary company.  I accidentally learned about the Gulf Fritillary years ago after buying a purple passiflora.  I have passiflora growing out my pockets so if you would like on, just give a call or an email and I’ll get one to you.

At any rate, gardening for butterflies in Bonita Springs is fairly easy and a relatively inexpensive hobby. If you’re looking for inspiration there are butterfly gardens at Riverside Park behind the Liles Hotel, Bonita Nature Place on Kent Road and in Bonita Bay at Estero Bay Park.  There’s also an emerging one at my house that you’re welcome to come see.  I’ll do my best to post a picture or two from this point forward.

The picture above is the Moss Rose.  It’s one of the easiest plants to grow and has beautiful, fresh blossoms every day.  I planted a few of them around the shallow terracotta saucer I am using for a bird bath. Today, I saw a blue jay taking a sip.

Homes in Bonita Bay in Bay Harbor

Bay Harbor at Bonita Bay is a modest enclave of sixty-two single family homes in the community of Bonita Bay in Bonita Springs, Florida.  The homes in Bay Harbor were originally constructed from the years 1995-1998.  Bay Harbor is currently built out and there are only resale homes available.

Homes in Bay Harbor at Bonita Bay range from about 1,700-3,000 square feet of living area.  Bedroom sizes range from two to four bedrooms. 

Many of the homes in Bay Harbor have a private swimming pool.  The homes which do not have a swimming pool have access to a community swimming pool which is available exclusively for residents of Bay Harbor.

Bay Harbor views include lake or wooded preserve views.  There are no golf course views in Bay Harbor at Bonita Bay.  There is only one winding street with a cul-de-sac off shoot in Bay Harbor and it is called Shell Ridge Circle. The community is one way in, one way out.

Due to the small amount of home sites in Bay Harbor real estate may not always be available.  Similar single family home real estate in Bonita Bay also includes Enclave at Bonita Bay and Riviera at Bonita Bay.

Right Click For Map

Home owners at Bay Harbor at Bonita Bay enjoy the use of many of the amenities of Bonita Bay which include private beach park, five championship golf courses, tennis center, fitness center, social membership, Bonita Bay marina membership, three private interior parks and the unique walking path system. 

To learn more about the Bonita Bay lifestyle and the amenities, read also: Bonita Bay Golf and Country Club.

Bay Harbor at Bonita Bay, Bonita Bay Bay Harbor, Homes in Bay Harbor, Bonita Bay Real Estate

Bonita Bay Condos at The Hamptons at Bonita Bay

The Hamptons at Bonita Bay is located just beyond the entrance to Bonita Bay Marina in the heart of Bonita Bay.  The Hamptons consists of only one winding street called Wyndhurst Court.  The Hamptons is a collection of eighty condominium coach homes offering carefree, maintenance free home ownership in Bonita Springs, Florida.

The condos at The Hamptons are offered on the ground level or second story.

Condos in The Hamptons at Bonita Bay range in size from approximately 2,060 to just over 2,600 square feet of living area.

The larger square footage condo units are upstairs, second floor units.  Second floor condo units may have a private elevator or space available to have an elevator added in the future.

The Hamptons at Bonita Bay was built over the time period of 1996 to 2000. The community is built out and there is only resale real estate available in The Hamptons at Bonita Bay.

Views from condos at The Hamptons at Bonita Bay may include golf course, preserve/wooded area and lake views.  The Hamptons has easy access to the walking paths of Bonita Bay and nearby Estero Bay Park which offers a butterfly garden and pier in the bay.

The Hamptons at Bonita Bay

Condo owners at The Hamptons enjoy access to a variety of amenities offered in Bonita Bay, parks, beach parks, playgrounds, tennis, walking paths, canoe parks and more.

In addition, residents at The Hamptons may elect to purchase equity memberships with the golf course and social membership at Bonita Bay Golf & CC, fitness membership or marina membership.

There is certainly something for everyone at Bonita Bay.  To learn more about the overall community and the fabulous amenities available, read also: Bonita Bay Golf and Country Club

Real estate in the Hamptons at Bonita Bay is similar to homes in Hammock Isle at Bonita Bay and Lake Harbor in Bonita Bay.

Honey Bee & Yellow Jacket Removal in Bonita Springs FL

It all started off like a regular day in sunny Bonita Springs, Florida.  Somewhere through the course of the day my family loaded up to have lunch at the Survey Café.  Upon our return we were met with a bit of Amity meets Bonita Springs.  There were bees in the house, many bees, lots of bees, honey bees.

While we did manage to get most of the honey bees out of the house they kept coming in slowly, like a dripping faucet. We’d hear the bees buzzing and there one would be zipping through the house.  There was a brief period where the bee traffic slowed but then it picked up again, this week.

We finally called a bee person, or bee company, a pest control company who specializes in bee infestation or bee removal and Kevin came straight out to analyze the situation.  In a matter of moments he was able to determine where the bees were coming from, how they were getting in and put a stop to it. Sorry bees, but a house is not a home when it’s full of bees. Plus, Dillon the Villain doesn’t have enough sense to not bite or eat them.

If you’re ever surprised by a visiting colony of bees someday you might need a bee professional and that would be Pro-Tech Pest Control Specialists, Inc. Here’s their info:

www.ProTechPestSpecialists.com

Pro-Tech Pest Control Specialists, Inc.

239-348-2337 – Collier County

239-567-2337 – Lee County

For Sale By Owner in Bonita Springs Florida

So I’m up at the dog park trying to burn some energy off of “hell on four legs” and one of the regular dog park attendees strikes up a conversation with me and says, “I’m thinking of getting a real estate license so I can sell my house.” Besides being absolutely shocked that I was standing in the presence of a living, breathing, Floridian without a real estate license, I was also surprised that someone would go to the trouble of real estate school for the sole purpose of selling their own house.

Out of curiosity I asked what the motivation was to become licensed just to sell their own home. I was genuinely curious since licensure is not a legal requirement to sell one’s own home. Surprisingly, this person thought there were all sorts of financial advantages. I suspect that, just now, one out of every one hundred seventy-five people reading this hit the floor laughing because they know differently. In the state of Florida alone, 1 in every 175 residents is a Realtor® according to a recent report. In case you were curious, Florida is number three in the nation behind Arizona and Hawaii.

While there may be some advantages on part of the commission depending upon the end result of who brings in the buyer, there is nothing about being a real estate licensee that absolves a person from the responsibility of closing costs; documentary stamps on deed, prorated taxes and HOA fees and possibly title insurance. Having a real estate license also doesn’t protect your home from being overpriced, not appraising for the buyers mortgage or for not selling.

So here’s the deal about selling your home yourself. You don’t need a real estate license; you just need motivation, a plan and to be more honest with yourself about your home than you probably can even imagine, which is the biggest obstacle for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) home owners have. Some of what sellers need to accomplish isn’t markedly different than employing a real estate agent. Depending upon inventory, which is particularly low in entry level pricing, it’s now more probable that real estate will actually sell FSBO.

If you have the desire, time and inclination to sell your own home here is a list of eight action items for the FSBO home owner:

1. Pricing – Just like listing your home with a real estate agent, ninety percent of your success is going to be determined on properly pricing your home. It just is. Read that sentence again, slowly.

2. Prepare your home for sale. You can’t get it clean enough or organized enough.

3. Interview and hire a real estate attorney to protect your interests, prepare your contracts and to close the sale of the property. There is so more to selling a home than just finding a buyer.

4. Market your home, especially on the internet. About 90% of home buyers search for real estate on the internet. Also, don’t overlook neighbors as a resource for knowing people who are interested in the neighborhood.

5. Keep up on closed sales in the area. Think the neighbor’s house or a house in the area sold? Call the agent and find out. They will tell you the price after it has closed sale. The closed sales, good or bad, influence valuation and the ability of your home to qualify for financing.

6. Network with real estate agents in the area with similar listings and offering a co-broke fee for bringing in a buyer. If supply in the area is low, they’ll probably be calling you asking to bring in buyers.

7. Ask for showing feedback from the agents if they do show it. While buyers may not be as honest about pricing, condition, location an agent will and it will help you adjust to entice new buyers.

8. Read item number one again.

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Real Life in Bonita Springs is a project by Chris Griffith dedicated to writing useful blog posts for consumers about the Bonita Springs, Florida area.  Find out what it is really like to live in Bonita Springs, Florida by reading about our fair city. You’ll get the latest in local real estate information, Bonita Springs real estate market reports and a little bit of humor.  If you have topic ideas, feel free to request a story about the idea, after all, this site is just for you.

You can subscribe to a weekly email newsletter by visiting www.LifeInBonitaSprings.com and entering your email in the subscription area on the center pane of the web page or by adding us to your reader by subscribing to this blog. Oh, and if you’re reading this content anywhere else but www.LifeInBonitaSprings.com or Naples Daily News it is probably stolen.

Bonita Springs Real Estate Inventory

• Single Family-Villa         11.9    Months
• Low Rise Condo           10.06  Months
• Mid Rise Condo            13       Months
• High Rise Condo           20.8    Months
• Attached Villas               9.7     Months
• Manufactured Homes    14.15  Months

How much real estate is on the market?  Is Bonita Springs real estate as bad as they say Florida real estate is?  These statistics are a broad stroke of the brush and when doing the calculations pending sales are counted as active so the numbers are less than what is published.  Great news for home owners, not so great of news for those looking to purchase Bonita Springs real estate.  Inventory is low in the entry level prices. 

To see other reports for April 2012, read also: Bonita Springs Real Estate market Reports

Flowers in Bonita Bay

SW Florida International Airport Near Bonita Springs, Fl

Bonita Springs, Florida offers fast access to Fort Myers International Airport RSW.  Generally a trip to the airport from Bonita Springs is about thirty minutes or less.  The distance is less than twenty miles from most locations in Bonita Springs to Southwest Florida International Airport.

During the busy winter tourist season time frames can be lengthened to about forty-five minutes, just to be safe. 

Of course, time of day is just as important as distance when estimating travel time between Bonita Springs and the airport. 

8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.  and 4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. are busy drive times on the routes to the airport, I-75, Ben Hill Griffin Parkway, Alico Road and US 41/Tamiami Trail.

For more information about RSW, the local airport, read also: Southwest Florida International Airport

Historical Bonita Bay Real Estate Sales

Bonita Bay real estate sales fought to hold their own during the month of April 2012, but dipped only a few units shy of the average.  Of the recorded Bonita Bay real estate sales, all were considered equity sales, none were foreclosures or short sales.  This report includes both Bonita Bay homes and Bonita Bay condos, including the towers.

To get an idea of what price ranges of real estate in Bonita Bay has sold, take a look at the following graph. The price range of real estate selling in Bonita Bay helps consumers, both buyers and sellers of real estate understand how swiftly or slowly their real estate market is moving.

To review additional or more current Bonita Springs Florida and Bonita Bay market reports, read also:

Bonita Springs Real Estate Market Reports 

Real estate sales that occurred during this time period were located in: Arbor Strand, Bay Point, Baywoods, Cracker Cove, Esperia South, Estancia, Harbor Lakes, Hidden Harbor, Horizons, Lakeside at Bonita Bay, Riverwalk, Riviera, Sandpiper at Bonita Bay, Tavira, The Hamptons, Tuckaweye, Waterford and Wedgewood.

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All information is deem accurate, not guaranteed and subject to change.  Check the date on this report for freshness.  If you have questions regarding your particular neighborhood, your street or your home specifically you’re welcome to contact us for a current market report. Real estate consumers that read this website are urged to seek independent, professional legal, real estate and financial advice before engaging in any transaction. All information is deemed, accurate, subject to change and not guaranteed.

Bonita Springs Real Estate and First Time Home Buyers

There’s never been a better time to buy a home … unless the buyer is financing the purchase. It’s not because it is difficult to finance real estate or that the banks aren’t lending, it’s because the entry level real estate market is chock full of cash buyers and the super affordable inventory is gone.

The Southwest Florida real estate market can remove that big scarlet “drowning in inventory” sign it’s been wearing around its neck for the last few years. The original deluge of foreclosures and short sales which flooded the area has, for the most part, been absorbed. For the record, I did say original deluge. I don’t want the sticks and bricks fatalists to have absolutely nothing to wring their hands over.

At any rate, one would have to actually be a first time home buyer or someone with the ambition to get in on affordable, entry level home ownership to feel the pressure. All of the starry eyed dreaming and careful planning aside, the first time home buyer of today is entering a combat zone trying to purchase a home these days.

Today’s successful first time home buyer is always prepared, has already found an experienced mortgage broker and a dedicated real estate agent who can drop everything morning, noon or night to get them into the latest listing that just hit the market. These buyers have been prequalified to purchase, been saving their dollars, tidied their credit and set off for the hunt, only to start placing offer, after offer, after offer and not getting awarded the contract.

Those who decide to live the American dream through the joys of home ownership can barely catch a break if they’re financing their purchase in the entry level market. How could that be?

Cash talks and financers walk … to the next available property that will, like the others before it, hit the market, receive multiple offers and call for highest and best offer by 5:00 p.m. The contract will likely be awarded to a cash buyer about 81% of the time if the purchase price is under $100,000 and 61% of the time priced under $150,000. Pretty tough odds, huh?

Wide eyed, first time home buyers become frustrated and if they’re not on the proverbial home buying band wagon when they start dabbling in the home buying arena, they get there quickly after a couple of smack downs by home sellers who step right over them for a buyer with cold, hard cash in hand.

Generally, cash buyers serve a very important place in the real estate market. They’re the buyers who can purchase real estate that is not financeable or the damaged and derelict properties needing extensive repairs. Unfortunately, there just isn’t a whole bunch of affordable real estate to go around, again, so they’re able to squeeze in and make the deals.

Besides digging up a cash benefactor there isn’t a big secret first time home buyers should know to help them get awarded the contract on the next property they place an offer on except speed, perseverance and luck. Luck, in this entry level home buying climate, is simply when thorough planning and preparation meets opportunity. So, if the goal is to buy a home in southwest Florida in the entry level real estate market, get your home buying team in order, plan your purchase, prepare for the financing, search every web portal and keep finding and quickly offering on new real estate opportunities until good fortune shines on you.

On a separate note, this would probably be an excellent time for someone to come up with a first time home buyer’s version of the St. Joseph statue.

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Real Life in Bonita Springs is a project by Chris Griffith dedicated to writing useful blog posts for consumers about the Bonita Springs, Florida area.  Find out what it is really like to live in Bonita Springs, Florida by reading about our fair city. You’ll get the latest in local real estate information, Bonita Springs real estate market reports and a little bit of humor.  If you have topic ideas, feel free to request a story about the idea, after all, this site is just for you.

You can subscribe to a weekly email newsletter by visiting www.LifeInBonitaSprings.com and entering your email in the subscription area on the center pane of the web page or by adding us to your reader by subscribing to this blog. Oh, and if you’re reading this content anywhere else but www.LifeInBonitaSprings.com or Naples Daily News it is probably stolen.