Rose-colored glasses or reality?
I’m the eternal optimist when it comes to real estate. Even during the “dark days” of home selling nothing would put a smile on my face like a red hot conversation about what sold down the block. And I am not alone based on some new TV shows geared toward our improving market.
In case you need any additional evidence that the housing market is on the mend, just check out some of the new shows planned for the Home and Garden Television network. HGTV said it started to see a shift in the market about a year ago when the homeowners the productions crews were following started to be outbid for homes.
This emergence in the real estate market prompted them to develop a new show called “Buying and Selling” focusing on regions where the real estate market was improving quickly. They also cancelled a show called “The Unsellables” about owners who couldn’t sell their properties after their ratings dropped indicating homes were not that unsellable any more. Their newest venture is called “Power Broker” about a top real estate agent who helps couples buy affordable homes for renovation into their dream home.
Anna Maria Island has some experience with the HGTV network since a “House Hunters” episode was filmed on the Island last year using a local broker. The experience was apparently successful for "House Hunters" and they decided to come back in January highlighting another couple buying on the Island.
This couple were new to the Bradenton area, working as soccer coaches (guess where), living in Bradenton, but spending a lot of their free time on the Island. Although they didn’t have children, they did have two dogs and were looking for space for their dogs, water views, three bedrooms, two baths and a lot of Island character. Their budget was $400,000, which made the broker working with them not too encouraged, but he did manage to present three properties which fit at least some if not all of their requirements.
In Bradenton Beach he showed them a charming two bedroom one bath cottage with a nice beach view, a yard for their dogs, but not updated, asking $350,000. Also in Bradenton Beach, he found a condo with beach access, three bedrooms, two and a half baths, but no water view in almost new condition. Finally for $449,000 he showed them a three bedroom two bath elevated home with a pool nicely updated, but three blocks to the beach.
The couple wisely chose the Bradenton Beach cottage purchasing it for $332,000 and will plan on doing some renovations down the road. The reason I think this was a good choice is because of the location. With our main asset being the beach and our prices going up almost weekly buying with a beach view could end up being the best decision they have ever made.
And it’s not just the Island that is popping with a busy real estate market. Neal Communities, building new homes in the eastern end of the county, reported January was its most successful month in its company’s history, so get ready for those day trippers to the beach.
It looks like we’re in for a spectacular winter real estate season, maybe even better than we thought after the colossal Northeast snow storm three weeks ago. Eternal optimist or cockeyed optimist, take your pick. Whichever it is, I’m just glad we can finally use the word optimist in the same sentence as the words real estate.
