neighborhood

All About Snell Isle St. Petersburg Florida

November 11, 2021 By Deborah Ward

St. Petersburg Snell Isle, Florida is a great place to live. It has great neighborhoods and one of the older neighborhoods is . Snell Isle has always been a higher end neighborhood, and today is no different.

Developed in the 1920’s

Snell Isle was established in the 1920’s when a local developer, C. Perry Snell, developed a portion of what Snell Isle is today. C. Perry Snell was a All About Snell Isle St. Petersburg Florida druggist from Kentucky. He moved to the St. Petersburg area in 1900 and began purchasing properties in the area to develop. Those properties were then developed into upscale neighborhoods, commercial areas and also public parks. Snell Isle was one of those neighborhoods and it was named for him.

Muddy mangrove

Snell Isle was originally a typical muddy mangrove island. By the time the neighborhood officially opened in 1925 there was only 39 acres above the high tide line. Of those 39 acres Snell still managed to sell over seven million dollars worth of lots. Today there is 275 acres above the high tide line and homes still sell in the millions.

The Renaissance Vinoy Golf Club and Resort

In 1926 The Renaissance Vinoy Golf Club and Resort opened on the island. It is still there and is currently on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s also the home to the St. Petersburg Woman’s Club, which Snell built on Coffee Pot Bayou. There is a memorial on the island to Snell, its founder.

So come check out the Isle when in St. Petersburg.

Home Buying: Top 5 Things to Look For

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

Home buying is exciting, but don’t let the excitement blind you to what will possibly become your everyday reality. The top 5 things to look for before you buy are important to making a great decision.

Do your homework. Make sure to do research on a neighborhood or area ahead of looking at home buying in it. What should you be looking for? Visit the home/neighborhood at various times of day or evening. Is it quiet or busy; is there a school next door that will be very busy 9 months out of the year? Check the newspaper for things like crime stats, or recent issues with water quality, proposed “improvements” to the area, etc. Talk to neighbors and see who owns or rents. Check land records for things like high turnover or the city/county for permits to rent properties.

Look for neighborhood/homeowners associations. They can protect property values, and socializing in the neighborhood. A great association can mean making fast friends who will be helpful look outs for your kids or your home if you go away. They can also be very restrictive, or prohibit you from doing things with your property. If you have a boat you want to park in the yard off season, will they let you?

Ask questions! What has the seller fixed and when? What improvements did they do and where are permit records? A perfect example would be a “fix” done to stop a leak in the basement. You wouldn’t want to unwittingly undo it, so being aware is a good idea. However, finding there were no permits pulled for that new room, kitchen or bath can be a huge red flag. Get a home inspection. Know what you are getting into when you buy. Forewarned is forearmed.

Ask about “incidental” bills. Find out average utility costs, electric, water and sewer. Find out what the yearly real estate taxes are and if they are slated to go up. If the home hasn’t been assessed in several years, expect that the sale will trigger a new assessment and tax bill.

When you are home buying, look at the extras on the home and make sure you can afford the upkeep. That pool or automatic sprinkler system may be great, but there are costs. Water bills, maintenance and so forth. They won’t go away, so be sure it is something you can afford.

Lastly, what is the area like? Look at what is two blocks away. Is there an airport nearby? Find out how far away the closest farm is. Agriculture is great for keeping wide open spaces, but it also means dust, and seasonal smells when it’s time to fertilize.

Things To Do At A Real Estate Open House

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

You’re going to an open house for this great house you saw online. Of course the pictures online were flawless and you fell in love with the house. You also know that the Realtor will have the home looking in tip top shape. So what kinds of things should you also look at or do at a real estate open house.

First, don’t go directly to the house

Check out all the information you can find on the house and neighborhood. Local land records can tell you about who the neighbors are. Crime stats can tell you about it’s safety. The state school board can tell you about the local schools. Even assuming you did your homework and the neighborhood “checks out” you want to drive through or even walk around.

Take the time to really go through the neighborhood and see how it feels to you. Remember, the home is on it’s “best behavior” but the neighborhood is just being itself. If you don’t get the right vibe, move on. If you do, keep heading to the home.

During the drive around, eye up the local schools

During your homework phase you found out about the stats, now go see what they look like. Neat and tidy, with safe playground equipment or not well taken care of? Numbers can be misleading, or not, but how a community cares for its schools can scream volumes about the community. It can tell you whether you want your children to attend it or not.

Lastly, concentrate on the house

Not specifically how it looks, but on the changes made to it, and what will need to be changed. If there were changes, were they “legal” as in were the proper permits pulled and inspections done? If the need to be done, how extensive are they?

Don’t just fall for the picture the open house presents, do your own homework and make sure it’s really the home for you.

Buying A Home – Make Sure To Visit More Than Once

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

FINALLY! You found the home of your dreams. You went and saw it on a sunny Saturday morning in November. It was perfect! The perfect neighborhood. Fantastic schools close by for your kids, parks and recreation fields just a stone’s throw away. The home has plenty of natural light pouring in the front windows. Before you sign that offer, you should go back and see it at different times of the day and week.

Remember that great natural light pouring in the front windows? Well in the late afternoon it’s on the other side of the home where there aren’t as many windows. Now the front is dark and in need of a lot more light.

Those fantastic schools?

Did you know that the bus stop for your neighborhood for all of them, elementary, middle and high school, is right in front of your house? Besides the fact that the bus will block your driveway six separate times (pick up and drop off), all the neighborhood kids will be wandering around and probably across your property to get to the bus stop.

Not to mention that most of the elementary kids will probably be sitting in mom or dad’s car before the bus gets there and guess where they are parked? Right in front of your home. If you have to be somewhere during that timeframe, good luck navigating the trip out of your driveway!

Now onto the park and rec fields

Not too much going on there on a cold November Saturday, but you should probably think about a much warmer Saturday (and Sunday too). Think baseball/soccer/football then all of those vehicles parked to get the kids to practice and games. Practice is probably in the evenings on weekdays.

Traffic in the area

Looking at a home at different times of the day will also give you a feel for traffic in the area. Is it problematic for your commute to work? Seeing the home at different times of the day also gives you the chance to talk to neighbors about some of the issues that may be there at different times of the year as well. So be smart and go back more than once. That perfect home might just be perfect, but it also may just have a few well concealed blemishes.

The Deb Ward Team