Come Visit The Circus Capital of the World - Sarasota Florida

If you are visiting Tampa Bay, take a day to drop down to Sarasota, long known as the “Circus Capital of the World.” It all started when John and Charles Ringling, two of the five original Ringling brothers turned a small traveling circus into an international entertainment empire and wielded incredible influence on the economy, culture, and character of a quaint village on beautiful Sarasota Bay that grew over time to be Sarasota Florida.

One of the benefactors of Sarasota's circus history, Circus Sarasota was founded in 1997 as a non-profit entity committed to raising the perception of the circus as an art form. Circus Sarasota strives to fulfill its mission to preserve the extraordinary heritage of circus arts through performances, education, training programs, and community outreach. Each year, Circus Sarasota offers two distinctly different circus performances.

The major Circus Sarasota production each year is the annual Sailor Circus presented in March and April in a one-ring, five-star, European-style big top. Sailor Circus is the oldest continuously running youth circus in America. Founded in 1949, Sailor Circus began as an extension to the Sarasota High School gymnastics program to teach basic circus skills. Initially only Sarasota High School students were allowed to participate, but its popularity became so great that admission was eventually opened to youngsters from the wider Sarasota area. Today, Sailor Circus is known as, “The Greatest ‘Little’ Show on Earth” with more than a million spectators attending performances.

Circus Sarasota also operates its “Laughter Unlimited” humor therapy program that delivers humor throughout the community in hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities and adult care centers through the efforts of talented professional clowns, entertainers, musicians and trained volunteers. The age-old “art of clowning” reaches beyond simple entertainment to improve the quality of life for those in need of emotional support. From one-on-one bedside visitations and conversations, to memory stimulation and physical activities, Laughter Unlimited enhances the lives of its participants, their family members as well as the dedicated staffs at these institutions.

Circus Sarasota, the Sailor Circus, and Laughter Unlimited along with the many other historical and cultural attractions of the Sarasota area like the Ringling Museum and Ca’d’Zan, mansion are just a few of the diverse activities that keep Sarasotans busy and entertained as both participants and volunteers. An seemingly endless array of cultural, educational and entertainment venues make Sarasota Florida one of the most desirable places for young families and those who are still young-at-heart to move to. If you are planning to visit Tampa Bay anytime soon, I’d be delighted to show you all the many facets of Tampa Bay from the urban lifestyle of living in downowtown Tampa or on Harbour Island, in the suburbs of Tampa in Hillsborough and Pasco County as well as the waterfront commnunities in Pinellas County including Clearwater, St Petersburg, Dunedin and Tarpon Springs. Visit my Tampa Bay Florida real estate website to learn more and then call me at 813.263.6806. I'd be delighted to hear from you and happy to answer all your questions.

Beautiful West Meadows 5 Bedroom 4 Bath Southern Crafted Home Available Now

On a stunning half-acre premium home site in the heart of New Tampa, this wonderful Southern Crafted Homes "Amelia II" model at 19117 Timber Reach Road is in the gated Strathmore Estates neighborhood within West Meadows in the New Tampa area of Tampa. This popular 5 bedroom, 4 bath floor plan also offers a separate den/office. Upstairs, there is a large bonus room with could be a 5th bedroom with the 4th full bath.

In addition to having an always-welcome third car garage, some of the other custom upgrades in this 3,388 square foot home built in 2003 include a variable speed forced-air system, high efficiency filters, newer compressor, newer hot water heater, whole home water softening and filtration system, Hunter Douglas blinds, bay windows, a fireplace and so much more. In August new paint and all new carpets throughout the home were installed. The owners also added an expansive covered patio area in 2010 that adds a fabulous outdoor living/entertaining space overlooking the half-acre lot with two lovely garden areas and outstanding views.

West Meadows is a master-planned community of about 1,800 custom-built homes, townhomes and apartments spanning over 1,000 acres that was built between 2000 and 2005. Within its 17 villages, built to enhance the enjoyment of the natural beauty of the area is a network of trails and walking paths, a fishing pond and picnic areas. There are both gated or non-gated neighborhoods. Strathmore Estates is the upscale gated neighborhood.

The West Meadows Recreation Center encompasses 32 acres and offers an Olympic pool, another family pool, a waterslide, a children's pool, playground, fitness room, tennis, volleyball and basketball courts, soccer and football fields and a club room for residents to entertain guests.

The location of this home priced now at $369,000, offers easy access to I-75, I-275, I-4 and Wiregrass Commons as well as local shops, bars, restaurants and supermarkets.

How Will Rising Mortgage Rates Affect Tampa Bay Real Estate Sales

Have you noticed how mortgage interest rates are rising? The 30-year fixed rate moved up up to 4.38% last week. Many are wondering how might this affect the Tampa Bay real estate housing recovery.

The home price index published by Case Shiller went up more than 12.1% nationally during the past year. Some real estate markets like Tampa Bay waterfront communities have had much more impressive gains, but the question before us now is - will rising interest rates kill off recent advances in home and condo sales and prices or will it have little or no effect here in Tampa Bay.

A driving force driving the housing recovery all across the United States has been "investors; people both foreign and domestic who have bought homes by the dozen (sometimes by the hundreds) at bargain prices planning to either hold onto them as rental properties or to hold them for a while and them "flip" them when prices rise further. In some cases, these investors have essentially walked into small towns and offered to buy every property on the market at a certain discount from their listing prices. Obviously, there is a limit to the number of such investors ready to toss millions into the market. Further, as prices are driven up by their practice, the number of opportunities to make a "quick buck" flipping homes and condos will dry up.

But, leaving aside these mega-investors with tons of money to invest, how will increasing mortgage rates affect the more typical home buyer? That's a mixed bag for sure.

The good news is that whenever mortgage rates start to rise, there is always a temporary surge of people wanting to lock in lower rates while they can. We've seen some of that in the new construction business in the Tampa Bay market. But with banks insisting on loaning only to those with near-perfect credit scores, it’s not clear that not many people are going to be in the "let's lock down an really attractive rate now" market this time around. Many families and first time buyers who would like to buy a home at these attractive rates simply cannot qualify for a loan under the tight credit rules.

Other families who would like to move up to a larger home can't do it because they are still "under water" on their current home. When you have negative equity in your current home, you cannot afford to sell it. The larger or nicer home they want is just beyond their ability regardless of the interest rate market.

Conversely many luxury real estate properties along the Tampa Bay waterfront from Clearwater and Sand Key down to St Petersburg Beach are selling in cash deals so tightened credit has little or no effect on these buyers of high-end homes and condos.

In summary, the Tampa Bay real estate market is in unchartered waters these days. We'll just have to wait and see how this turns out as the Fed begins to let mortgage interest rates rise over the next year or two.

Tampa Bay Lightning Ink a Cross Endorsement Deal

    According to a recent story in the Tampa Bay Times, the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team and the Tampa Bay Times Forum arena have signed an exclusive marketing partnership with Lakewood Ranch, an 8,500 acre Tampa Bay development across the bay in Manatee County. In this agreement Lakewood Ranch will become the exclusive residential real estate partner of the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team.

    Lakewood Ranch was recently ranked the 9th fastest growing community in the United States. Its attraction seems to be two-fold. In addition to being located right in the middle of the glorious Florida Sun Coast with near-perfect weather, it is also conveniently close to all the wonderful amenities of both Sarasota and Tampa - St Petersburg, the two largest cities on Florida's Gulf Coast.

    The partnership between Lakewood Ranch and the Tampa Bay Lightning is expected to help the Lightning hockey team grow its regional footprint ssouthward into the Manatee and Sarasota County area while Lakewood Ranch gets to use the popular hockey team’s television reach into more northern markets.

    Lakewood Ranch will receive extensive brand exposure in the Forum arena during all Tampa Bay Lightning home games through in-game advertising features displayed on all four sets of corner boards in the arena. The partnership, it is hoped, will bring more attention to the Lakewood Ranch real estate scene in the northern U.S. and Canadian cities like Boston, Toronto, Chicago and Minneapolis, places where hockey is a very popular spectator sport.

    Equally important, the Tampa Bay Lightning hope that this cross endorsement will draw more people from the Sarasota - Bradenton area to drive into Tampa to witness Lightning home games at the Forum arena.

    "it's a win - win for both organizations, said Cheryl Stimac, a well-known Tampa Bay real estate broker and owner of Red Show Realty, Inc. and an avid hockey fan.

Tampa Bay Real Estate Market Has Improved - Does That Mean You're Too Late

    As 2012 came to a close, Tampa Bay real estate continued on its upward path back toward a stable market. In fact, as of the end of 2012, the market has actually tilted to slightly favoring sellers. In the month of December, 3,387 homes were sold in the Tampa Bay area with a median price of $126,000. This compares with 3,216 homes sold during the same period last year, a 5% increase in the number of homes closed and, more importantly as a healthy sign of a recovering market, a 15% increase in the median price (from $110,000 up to $126,000).

    At the end of December, there were only 13,884 homes for sale in the Tampa Bay market which includes all of Hillsborough County, Pasco County and Pinellas County. This represents a 23% decrease in the supply of homes available for purchase a year ago at the end of 2011 when there were 18,086 homes and condos on the market. At the current selling rate, the current inventory of unsold homes represents a 4 month supply. A real estate market is considered to be in equilibrium favoring neither buyers nor sellers when there is about a 6 month supply of homes on the market. Thus, the Tampa Bay real estate market can be described for the first time in several year as beginning to move into a seller’s market.

    In large part, the improvement in the Tampa Bay real estate market, particularly in the improving median selling price, reflects the dramatic reduction in the number of foreclosure properties that had been holding back prices for the past 2 or 3 years.

    What does all this mean to “snowbirds” now arriving in our area? It means that the time for making a “low-ball” offers or trying to "bag a real bargain" is over. If, while you are here this year, you see a home or condominium you really like and, you are working with experienced Tampa Bay Realtor who tells you that the home is attractively priced, you should make an offer pretty close to the asking price if you really want the home. Otherwise, you’re likely to find to your disappointment that someone else has just bought that seasonal or permanent Tampa Bay home you wanted.

    Does this mean that you’ve missed your chance to snap up a good deal? The simple answer is “no.” With very few exceptions, foreclosure properties are not the gems they’ve been touted by some to be. Buying a foreclosure or short-sale property is not a straight-forward process. At best, you’ll spend months not knowing when, or even if, the bank will accept your offer. Worse, over 90% of foreclosure properties, especially those still sitting on the market, need a lot of work that you may not be prepared to do yourself or want to spend the time and money to have done for you.

    If you are a snowbird or a retiree who doesn’t have the interest or the months and months to mess around and you’re not a professional fixer-upper, what you more likely want here on the Florida's warm and sunny Sun Coast is a “move-in-ready” home or condo you'll be able to enjoy for many years to come. And, that is exactly what you’ll get, not by opting for a foreclosure or dealing with an amateur "for sale by owner," but by working with a professional Realtor to purchase either a brand new or a resale home that has been properly cared for by the previous owner in a great neighborhood. If it’s a condominium, you want it to be in an established and successful condominium development that has an active condominium association that will protect your investment in the future.

    Cheryl Stimac would be delighted to help you find that one home or condo in a neighborhood or condo development you’ll be proud to be a part of – a home and a neighborhood that perfectly fits your needs and desires at a price you'll know to be a fair value. Feel free to call her for immediate answers to any of your questions at 813-263-6806.

Finally Some Protection for Home Buyers

The recently set up Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has just issued a new rule which spells out the steps home mortgage lenders must follow to offer a mortgage if they want that mortgage to be a “qualified mortgage.”

What is a “qualified mortgage?” A “qualified mortgage” assures the lender that, if a borrower defaults on the loan, there will be little, if any, recourse for the borrower in a future foreclosure on the home to claim that the lender sold them a mortgage the lender should have known they couldn’t afford. In effect a qualified mortgage protects the lender from future borrower lawsuits. But, more importantly, the rule is intended to assure that borrowers can actually afford the home mortgages they sign up for.

Previously, there have been no rules preventing home mortgage providers from talking unsophisticated borrowers, frequently first-time home buyers, into mortgages which sounded “too good to be true” and, in fact, really were “too good to be true.” For example, mortgasges offering "interest-only" payments for the first few years let home buyers think they could afford a certain priced home only to find out a few years later that when the "interest-plus-principal" payments kicked in, they could not afford the mortgage payments. So, they lost the home to foreclosure along with whatever down payment they had invested and their good credit rating.

Other so-called "risky" mortgages included negative amortization. Negative amortization means the borrower’s monthly payment not only is not paying down the balance over time, but, in fact, is allowing the balance due to increase because the monthly payment isn’t even large enough to cover the interst due for that month. This is short of like being in a hole and trying to get out by keeping on digging.

A third type of "risky" mortgage kept payments seemingly affordable by being set up for very long terms like 40 or 50 years instead to the traditional 15 or 30-years. It seemed like an attractive way to make a home affordable but, in fact, the borrower was paying nothing, or almost nothing, each month on the principal amount so that after even 15 or 20 years, the borrower would still owe almost as much as when they bought the home. In effect, instead of the American dream of slowly building up "equity in your home," by making mortgage payments, the borrowers were accumulating little or no equity in the home. They just help make mortgage brokers, who got a commission for talking them into this bad loan, rich. The buyers were accumulating no, or at best, a negligible equity in the home.

The new CFPB rule, scheduled to become effective next year, defines that to be a “qualified mortgage,” the mortgage terms cannot include “risky” features like

• terms over 30 years
• interest-only payments
• negative amortization
• fees and points in excess of 3% of the mortgage amount, or
• result in the borrower spending over 43% of their monthly income on their total debt

Some real estate professionals believe this new rule is still too lenient providing too much protection to lenders from lawsuits but too little protection to unsophisticated borrowers. Low income borrowers, these professionals believe, should not be allowed to get a home mortgage that will increase their total debt payments to as high as 43% of thier income. If these people get such a mortgage, they are very likely to default on it eventually and then have no legal recourse against the shady mortgage brokers who profited by talking them into it.

Conversely, at least now there will be clear rules under which lenders know when they are going out on a limb risking potential future lawsuits when making a loan.

It is not clear that this new rule will loosen credit immediately. Cheryl Stimac, a Tampa Bay real estate professional believes credit needs to be relaxed somewhat to speed up the real estate market recovery. And, it is expected that with this clarification in place, mortgage providers will begin to loosen credit at least somewhat. While many builders and real estate professionals wish for some easing of currrent credit restrictions, no one believes that credit should ever be allowed to get as loose as it was before the “housing bust” of 2008 – 2009. No one wants a reoccurrence of that economic disaster.

If you have qustions about how to qualify for a home mortgage, E-Mail Me or call me directly at 813.163.6806. I'd be happy to answer your questions.

A New Year - And a Stress-Relief Prescription

    Enough Already !! Now that we’re past the “fiscal cliff” and before we get all riled up again about the “debt ceiling,” let’s all take a few moments to calm down and think about something that will both reduce our blood pressure and provide a long-lasting source of stress relief.

    Doctors know that every once in a while, our good health (and perhaps our very sanity), depends upon our ability to “get away from it all” in an environment conducive to a more relaxing and reflective lifestyle.

    Whether you’re up North shivering after shoveling the driveway or in a warmer place but exhausted by the stress of both the Holidays and the foolishness in Washington, DC, wouldn't it be a good idea to take a trip to Tampa Bay, Florida, one of the most beautiful, sunny, warm, and refreshing cities in the United States? This is the perfect time and Tampa Bay is the perfect place to play a round of golf with friends, visit the Florida Aquarium or Busch Gardens, go boating or fishing on Tampa Bay, or watch a sunset over the Gulf of Mexico with someone you love.

    As you visualize these calming thoughts, consider also how easy it would be to translate these thoughts into a more permanent stress-relieving antidote. Purchasing a waterfront, downtown, or golf course condo, villa or patio home in Tampa Bay could be exactly “what the doctor ordered.”

    All of these second home options move almost all of those pesky responsibilities of a second home from your shoulders to an Association which will do all the exterior maintenance including maintaining the lawn and landscaping, keeping the place looking pristine, and even maintaining a heated pool and Jacuzzi for your enjoyment.

    Tampa Bay is a vibrant area with arts and cultural events at the renowned Straz Performing Arts Center in Tampa and the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg as well as professional sports like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football, the Tampa Bay Rays baseball and the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey and New York Yankee Spring training camp plus thoroughbred horse racing at Tampa Bay Downs. In addition to some of the finest golf courses in the South, it’s also home to interesting and relaxing venues ranging from historic Ybor City in Tampa to some of the most beautiful beaches in Florida on the coastline from Clearwater down to St Petersburg.

    There is every conceivable style of home here in Tampa Bay from multi-million dollar downtown high-rise and waterfront condominiums to quite modest villa homes and condos downtown, in the suburbs, and surrounding our many golf courses.

    One final thought. Once you’ve invested in a second home here in Tampa Bay, when it’s time to retire, you'll already know your way around one of the most attractive cities in the United States to live in. And, you’ll be in a community known for both its excellent health care facilities and an wide range of activities focused specifically on our senior citizens.

    I would be delighted to introduce you to all of the housing options available here in Tampa Bay. Visit my Tampa Bay real estate website, or, for a more immediate response to your questions, call me at 813-263-6806 and let’s get started today developing you own personal, and permanent, “stress relief” program.