Blog – Page 7

Coffee Pot Bayou In St. Petersburg Florida

November 11, 2021 By Deborah Ward

Coffee Pot Bayou in St. Petersburg, Florida is a great place to visit if you like homes with character and the sight of endangered animals.

Manatees

One of the things that Coffee Pot Bayou is famous for is the fact that manatees winter there. In the Coffee Pot Bayou In St. Petersburg Florida colder winter months the Gulf gets too chilly for the manatees so they move inland where the waters are more shallow and warmer. Mothers and babies hang out and the locals adopt them as their own. As spring gets closer males and females court and mate before moving back down to the Gulf for the warmer months.

Watching the wildlife

Along with the manatees you can also see Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets, Green Herons, and Laughing Gulls. Add in a few Red-ear slider turtles, a dolphin or two and watching the wildlife is fun for locals and visitors alike. Once manatees were deemed a protected species, Coffee Pot Bayou became a lot more popular due to their winter swimming grounds.

2-mile walking/biking path

Coffee Pot Bayou, which is part of St. Petersburg, has a broad sidewalk that is part of a 2-mile walking/biking path that extends from downtown St. Petersburg and follows the edge of Tampa Bay before entering Coffee Pot Bayou.

It’s well lit and a safe place to amble along and watch the wildlife. There are fantastic views of flora and fauna, comfortable benches for resting, access to a small beach off of North Shores Park, and even places to fish.

So if you’re staying in St. Petersburg or the Tampa area in the winter, head on over to Coffee Pot Bayou and enjoy the views.

If you are shopping for a St. Pete home, give The Deb Ward Team, St. Petersburg Realtors, a call today! 727-410-0336

A History of Tarpon Springs Florida

November 11, 2021 By Deborah Ward

The history of Tarpon Springs begins around 1876 when the region, with a series of bayous feeding into the Gulf of Mexico, was first settled by white and black farmers and fishermen. Some of the newly arrived visitors spotted tarpon jumping out of the waters and so named the location Tarpon Springs. In the 1880s, it A History of Tarpon Springs Florida was developed as a wintering spot for wealthy northerners. The beautiful Lake Tarpon has some big tarpon jumping out of the water still!

The sponge business

The history of Tarpon Springs cannot be told without the sponge business. During the 1870’s, John Cheyney founded the first local sponge business. The industry continued to grow in the 1890s, and many blacks and whites from Key West and the Bahamas settled in Tarpon Springs to harvest and process sponges. A few Greek immigrants arrived in this city during the 1890s to work in the sponge industry.

Sponge diving

In 1905, John Cocoris introduced the technique of sponge diving to Tarpon Springs and recruited divers and crew members from Greece. The first divers came from the Saronic Gulf islands of Aegina and Hydra, but they were soon outnumbered by those from the Dodecanese islands of Kalymnos, Symi and Halki. The sponge industry soon became one of the leading maritime industries in Florida and the most important business in Tarpon Springs, generating millions of dollars a year. The 1953 film Beneath the 12-Mile Reef, depicting the sponge industry, takes place and was filmed in Tarpon Springs.

Today’s active sponge industry

In 1947, a red tide algae bloom wiped out the sponge fields in the Gulf of Mexico, causing many of the sponge boats and divers to switch to fishing and shrimping for their livelihood, while others left the business. Eventually, the sponges recovered, allowing for a smaller but consistent sponge industry today. In the 1980s, the sponge business experienced a boom due to a sponge disease that killed the Mediterranean sponges. Today there is still a small active sponge industry. Visitors can often view sponge fishermen working at the Sponge Docks on Dodecanese Boulevard. In addition, visitors can enjoy shops, restaurants, and museum exhibits that detail Tarpon Springs’ Greek heritage.

Sister Cities
In 2007 and 2008, the City of Tarpon Springs established Sister City relationships with Kalymnos, Halki, Symi, and Cyprus, honoring the close historical link with these Greek-speaking islands to the history of Tarpon Springs via the sponge industry.

About The Dunedin Country Club | Dunedin Real Estate

November 11, 2021 By Deborah Ward

The Dunedin Golf Club, formerly the Dunedin Country Club, is an amazing place to play a round of golf or just relax in the clubhouse. Don’t forget that it’s a great place to hold your next event too!

A challenging course

The Dunedin Golf Club originally opened in 1927. It was designed by Donald Ross, a world renowned golf course architect. Ross provided a challenging course for the experienced golfer, but not one that is too difficult for beginners. The course was challenging enough that from 1945 through 1962 18 Senior Tour Championships were played there. Some of the best of the best have played there from Ben Hogan to Sam Snead to even the great Babe Zaharias!

Renovated and restored

In 2006 the club and course was renovated and restored. The greens, tees and bunkers were restored to what Ross originally drew up. Facilities were brought up to date and made gorgeous, serene and relaxing for after that challenging game. Even today’s greats love to play there.

Great tour players

Tommy Aaron, Mark Calcavecchia, John Daly, John Huston, Brittney Lincicome, Ben Crenshaw and many other great tour players have all played the course at the Dunedin Golf Club.

A great place to relax

After your game, the Clubhouse offers a great place to relax and have a fantastic meal, whether at The Fairway Grille, Dunedin Room or Ballroom. The Ballroom has an 800 square foot dance floor, full service bar and patio that overlooks the 13th hole.

You can host banquets, weddings or your next business event there

If your event is smaller, there are smaller rooms available. The Boardroom is available for meetings and conferences or small intimate dining. The Georgia McDermott Room is available for meetings or banquets or small private parties.

Awesome Tips To Price Your Clearwater Home Right In The Sweet Spot

November 11, 2021 By Deborah Ward

It’s time to sell your Clearwater home. Do you know how to price it to get right into the sweet spot? That sweet spot where the home sells quickly and for the price you ask? There is a way to find that spot and here are some tips to get you there.

First, find out what comparable sales have taken place

Keep in mind that the asking price of a home is a lot different from the sales price of the home. For comparables you need to look at sales price, not list price. Look at sales prices for homes sold within the last three months.

Specifics to take into consideration

Next thing to keep in mind is that just because a home is in your neighborhood doesn’t mean yours is worth the same. There are a lot of different specifics to take into consideration. Things like lot size, number of bedrooms, number of baths, square footage of living space, whether it has a garage or not, and so on. Other things that make a difference are home upgrades. Just remember that improvements depreciate over time. If you made a home upgrade to a bathroom 10 years ago, it won’t add as much as an update you made a month ago. Also keep in mind that super trendy updates can actually hurt your value. Why? Because they appeal to a smaller audience.

Price is always market dependent

In a seller’s market, which is a market where there is a lot of people wanting to buy but not as many homes on the market, you can get away with a higher price. But don’t let that make you greedy. Sometimes pricing just below market can work for you. It could generate enough interest that a bidding war happens and you get more than you expected. Of course that isn’t guaranteed, but it’s happening more these days in some places. In a buyer’s market, which is when there are more homes listed than there are buyers looking, you might need to price your home a bit lower than market value to attract a buyer.

Still not sure what to do? Call The Deb Ward Team for great advice 727-410-0336. No one knows the local market better.

How To Price Your Home Right From The Start | Clearwater Realtor Tips

November 11, 2021 By Deborah Ward

Selling your home is stressful, especially if you don’t like the number your Realtor suggests to you as a selling price. You think your home is worth more or just that the price should be higher for “wiggle room” down the line. Bad idea. You should price your home right from the start.

Don’t start high and expect to drop the price later

The first bad idea is starting off with the thought process that you can always drop the price later. Sure, you can do that, but don’t expect the buyers to come running. There is real research on this and guess what? Homes that drop prices later sit on the market longer and sell for less. In fact, the more you drop the price, the lower your selling price will be. That’s because home buyers have a mindset about homes that are reduced. That mindset is “something must be really wrong with that house to have to drop the price.” There might or might not be, but there is no overcoming that mindset.

Setting the price higher for “wiggle room”

A higher price for wiggle room to negotiate is also a bad idea. Why? Because it means the people who would be able to buy your home at the negotiated down price won’t see it. Home buyers look for homes by price range. If you price your home out of the range of your target buyer they won’t even see it. Those who will see it are looking for homes with more amenities for their dollar, and more than your home has. They won’t make an offer that you can negotiate down. What will happen is your home will sit… for months. Then it’s a stale listing and buyers will again wonder what is wrong with your home.

What about the appraisal?

Let’s say you do get a contract at an inflated price. Their mortgage company or bank will require an appraisal. That appraisal better come back at your inflated price or that contract will go away. What are the chances of that appraisal happening?

Price your home fairly

What you want is to price your home fairly, or even just below market value. Yes, it goes against your gut feeling about your home’s value, but what it will get you is a sold home.

If you would like to get some real data about how to price your home for sale from a Clearwater Realtor, give us a call today! The Deb Ward Team 727-410-0336

Why The Baby Boomers May Be Moving To Florida In Bigger Numbers

November 11, 2021 By Deborah Ward

Florida was once a haven for retirees, but after the 2008 recession that haven became something that Why The Baby Boomers May Be Moving To Florida In Bigger Numbers was out of reach for many of them (baby boomers) and the flow of retirees dried up. But the pendulum has started to swing the other way and many baby boomers are moving to Florida to retire again. During the recession of 2008 and for a quite some time since, retirees stayed close to home.

There are a number of reasons this happened

One was the fact that they couldn’t sell their homes. Many people rely on the equity in their homes to be able to retire and move. Without it they can’t.

On top of that, many people were forced into early retirement which caused huge financial stress, and they couldn’t rely on their investments because the stock market had taken a huge hit and took its time coming back as well. The younger end of the baby boomer generation still had kids in school which meant that moving was out of the question because they didn’t want to uproot their children.

Now those baby boomers are starting to move again

Some of the reasons that kept them in place have changed. For one, their homes have recovered a bit and they are back to having equity in them. Mortgage rates have stayed low making it easier for buyers to buy. Now that their kids are graduated and out, moving looks like it’s an option again.

Their bank accounts and stock portfolios have recovered too

While their nest egg isn’t quite back where it was, their savings and investments, coupled with the equity in their homes makes a comfortable retirement in a warmer climate do-able.

Here’s another important reason

The places where they call home have stayed expensive. Some states tried to slow the tax burden on their citizens, but many did not. In fact, some increased taxes to make up shortfalls in state budgets, further burdening retirees. Marry that with the ever rising expense of heating their homes during cold winters and moving somewhere cheaper to live because of lower heating and tax costs looks much better. Not to mention having to deal with the upkeep and snow as an older adult.

And so they move.

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