Clearwater Homes For Sale

The Three Most Expensive Homes For Sale In Clearwater FL

November 11, 2021 By Deborah Ward

House hunting can be fun. Sometimes looking at homes that you know you could never afford is fun too. Clearwater has a few pricey properties for sale. Here are the top three.

802 Druid Rd S

802 Druid Rd S, Clearwater, Florida 33756 is the most expensive. It has 10 bedrooms and 11 bathrooms. It’s listed for $9,999,999.00. Named Century Oaks, it’s located in historic Harbor Oaks. Enter the property though decorative iron entry gates on a red brick drive to a grand porte-cochere. The home has 17,000 square feet of living space on two acres of gorgeous landscaping surrounding this waterfront home. Century Oaks has a stately two-story ballroom, a movie theater with seating for 15, an executive home office and a trophy room. Terraced gardens lead down to a swimming pool, lighted tennis courts covered boathouse and docks, and historic clock tower. This historic property was built in 1915 and is worth every penny.

906 Druid Rd S

906 Druid Rd S, Clearwater, Florida 33756 is the next most expensive. Listed at $5,900,000.00, the 7 bedroom, 6 bath, 10,177 square foot home is also found in the gated Harbor Oaks community. The home has a dock with boat lift, Pebble Tec pool and spa, gazebo, playhouse and lushly landscaped grounds. The home has high end touches like a two story living room with two way fireplace, a library with custom built in bookcases, a formal dining room, chef’s kitchen and spacious game room with bar and safe room, exercise room and 4 car garage.

844 Eldorado Avenue – SOLD

The third most expensive home is 844 Eldorado Avenue, Clearwater, Florida 33767 is listed at $4,700,000.00 has 4 bedrooms, 5 baths and 4,921 square feet of living space. The views this property affords are well worth the price tag. Once you walk in the foyer you’ll be tantalized with a view of the beach and Gulf. Each bedroom has its own full bath and walk in closet and balcony. Then take the elevator downstairs to the living space which includes a formal dining room, formal living room, chef’s kitchen that opens to the family room with a fireplace. All this luxury is protected with an AMX Smart House control and security system.

So dream big and maybe one day…

Clearwater, FL A Bicycle Friendly Place To Live | Pinellas Bicycle Trails

November 11, 2021 By Deborah Ward

When you think of Clearwater, Florida you probably think “beach.” You should think “biking and walking and running.” Clearwater is a very biking, hiking and running friendly place to live. There are miles and miles of trails for the enjoyment of all.

Looking for more trails? Check out the official Pinellas County Trail Guide!

Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail:

The Pinellas Trail is one of the most popular urban trails in Florida. It stretches 38 miles from St. Petersburg and goes north to Tarpon Springs. The trail was created along an abandoned railroad corridor. It is now a protected green space that provides the many communities along it with places to ride bikes, run, walk and skate. It’s open during daylight hours and while horseback riding is prohibited, pets are not as long as they are leashed.

Ream Wilson Clearwater Trail:

This trail currently stretches from Tampa Bay to the Gulf of Mexico. Parts are still under construction, and once complete will connect more than 20 parks. Currently the trail connects Carpenter Field, Cliff Stephens Park, Del Oro Park, and Cooper’s Bayou Park, and goes to Safety Harbor.

Fort Desoto Island Park Trail:

This trail is a paved path that stretches along the entire offshore key. This trail connects military remnants, two piers, beaches, picnic and camping areas and the ferry to Egmont Key State Park. It’s known as an entry to the Great Florida Birding Trail. The Great Florida Birding Trail is part of a collection of more than 500 locations in the U.S. where there are protected bird habitats.

Courtney Campbell Trail:

This trail provides runners, walkers and bicyclers safe access to the Courtney Campbell Causeway, which links Tampa and Clearwater. The trail has amazing views of Tampa Bay and actually connects Cypress Point Park, Skyway Park, and Ben T. Davis Beach.

These are just a few of the trails available in and around Clearwater. Take advantage of them and get active!

Come To Clearwater!

October 27, 2021 By Nathalie Probst

Clearwater is generally the most recognizable of all the towns in North Pinellas County to people from out of state. According to the official Clearwater website, there are approximately 118,190 permanent residents and 28 miles of beautiful, white, sandy beaches on the Gulf of México.

There are many wonderful things to do here including visiting the Clearwater Aquarium, sunning yourself on award winning beaches, or even take a Pirate Cruise.

I have pulled together links for some of the things that I find wonderful about living in Clearwater – if I have missed something that is your favorite please let me know and I will add it accordingly!

REALLY NEAT SITES

Clearwater Jazz Holiday
Sunsets at Pier 60
Clearwater Municipal Marina

PLACES TO EAT

Island Way Grill 20 Island Way | 727-461-6617
Antonio’s Pasta Grille 2755 Ulmerton Road | 727-572-5566
Bonefish Grill 2519 Mc Mullen Booth Road | 727-726-1315

OFFICIAL SITES

Official Clearwater Website
Clearwater Chamber of Commerce

Should You Join a Real Estate Team or Stay on Your Own

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

If you are a working Realtor or thinking about it, you’ve probably thought about what it would be like to work on your own. Owning your own business is, after all, the American Dream. But have you thought about the benefits of working with a team?

When you’re on your own all of the responsibilities fall on you

Answering phones, typing out documents, showing properties, marketing them, etc. All of this on top of what you need to do to sell properties and make a living. It’s difficult and some people do it. You absolutely do get to keep all of your own income. Sure you can hire someone to do the administrative tasks, but then you have the sole responsibility of not just supporting yourself, but paying all of the taxes and benefits involved in employing someone. You also are completely responsible for paying the lease for your office space, utilities and other costs involved in being in business. So do the drawbacks outweigh the benefits? Probably not.

If you join a you get a lot of benefits

The team shares the responsibilities. There is an administrative assistant to answer phones and type out documents, make arrangements for closings and other items. The taxes and responsibility of paying benefits and salary is shared by the team. The team benefits continue when it comes to finding leads, marketing properties, helping out if you’re new and being able to “sub in” if something comes up and you can’t keep an appointment.

Drawbacks

Yes, there are drawbacks. Commissions on sold properties are split between the Realtor and the team. After all there are costs involved in running a business and all need to pitch in to stay in business. That even applies if you came up with your own leads. Drawbacks, yes, but the benefits of that sharing are a huge help for any Realtor, especially a new one.
So which will you do?

Why You Have To Price Your Home Right Even In A Sellers Market

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

The time has come to sell your home and you have heard that the real estate market in your area has turned around and you find yourself in a sellers market. Great! Now you can price your home right where you want and get your price, right? Well, not so fast. Pricing your home right is important in any market and a sellers’ market is no different.

Think back to when you bought your home

Would you have even looked at it had it been priced above what you thought it should be? Of course not. So why is it any different now that you are on the opposite side? You asked your Realtor to help you sell, so why would you go against their advice and price your home too high just because the advantage is a bit more on your side because of the market? No matter the market, an overpriced home won’t sell. The housing bubble burst put an end to that.

Pricing your home right is the most important part of getting it sold, hands down

Overpricing a piece of real estate keeps appropriate buyers from looking. Dropping the price after it’s been sitting means a stale listing that prospective buyers will pass over. Mostly because they will wonder what is wrong with it. The longer it sits, the lower you drop and then you find that the price you get is probably much lower than the price your Realtor originally suggested. So by being obstinate you cost yourself time and a lot of money.

Your home’s worth

You have to keep in mind that no matter what the market may be, buyer or seller, your home is only worth what people are willing to spend. Your home is only worth what the market will bear. You know what else? Pricing a bit below market price may even work to your advantage in a sellers’ market. In theory it may just mean that you can find yourself with multiple offers for your home. Bidding war anyone? A bidding war may just mean you get something above market price.

Your Realtor has the experience and knowledge to tell you what that is. Listen to him or her and you will be on your way to your next home before you know it.

Why Is The Zillow Zestimate So Far Off Sometimes

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

Just like everyone else, you started your home search online. And just like everyone else you started with one of the biggest real estate sites, Zillow. I mean why not with those awesome Zestimates, right? Well, don’t start packing just yet. Zillow’s Zestimates are often inaccurate, widely inaccurate.

Ask any Realtor about Zillow Zestimates and they will concur. Mostly what they will tell you is that pricing a home is difficult and uses a lot of different types of information. They use publicly available information such as comparable sales and tax assessments. They also use their knowledge of the local markets, actual verified stats on the house (updates, condition of the home and property, etc.) and things like local schools, buyer or seller motivation and such to come up with an accurate price for a home.

Zillow, on the other hand, uses something called automated valuation models, or AVMs, to come up with a figure. AVMs use an algorithm to search for publicly available information about a property to predict value. While on paper it would seem to be a great idea, it has its limitations. These limitations often produce a value that is often 5% or more off in either direction. One thing that is always changing is the market which may differ from neighborhood to neighborhood. It also doesn’t take any updates on the property into the algorithm, or the value of a good school system.

School systems are another good example of an intangible value addition to a property. In some places property values will be highly affected by which school system if falls in. Those school districts aren’t determined by zip code. Even in more rural areas this can be true too. Some school district lines in those kinds of areas are drawn in all kinds of crazy shapes. The same zip code can have 3 or even more districts because of the less densely populated areas.

What AVMs can really only look at if closed sales in a particular zip code and get the average, along with tax assessments and such. So what happens if there aren’t any comparable in the zip code? Well, let’s out it this way, if you live in an area where tax assessments are not even closely reflecting actual sales, then the Zestimate will be very off. For instance, in the Maryland, DC and Virginia areas Zestimates on homes are 10-20% off about half the time. The area is pricey, so that percentage wrong is a hefty difference (like $15,000 to $50,000 difference). In other areas it’s been shown that Zillow’s Zestimates only fall within the 5% admission that Zillow has conceded only about 25% of the time.