Real Estate Views from St Pete

Each night when I drive past this section of the Grand Prix racetrack (not blocked off) I'm tempted to step on the gas and race away ... but I don't.

Some of our downtown streets and part of our downtown airport become the Grand Prix racetrack each year. The first weekend in April is this year's race.

From an illuminated night parade to autograph signings, from an air show to a gala, there's lots to do that weekend.

The first of the megayacht has already arrived - those who join the weekend Yacht Club can moor at the floating docks and watch the races from their deck or from a luxury box seat. There's a "village" for RVs as well.

Come for the noise (though they say it will be quieter this year), the parties, or the excitement of the race ... downtown St Petersburg Florida will be an exciting place to be for that first weekend in April.

Since a potential buyer contacted me today for available listings in Bayfront Tower, it seems an appropriate time to do a Market Update for Bayfront Tower condominium in downtown St Petersburg Florida

There are currently 9 active listings in Bayfront Tower, ranging from $299,900 for a 1 bedroom unit to $559,000 for a 2 bedroom unit. There are three 3 bedroom units listed in this range.

There is one Bayfront Tower condo that shows a contract, a 3 bedroom unit listed at $345,000.

There have been 2 sales at Bayfront Tower in 2009, a 1 bedroom unit listed at $199,000 that sold at $195,000 and a 3 bedroom unit listed at $550,000 that sold at $485,000.

For more information on any of these, or to schedule a showing at Bayfront Tower, please contact Sharon Simms at ALVA International, Inc. 238 Beach Drive NE, St Petersburg Florida 33701  (727) 898-2582 or e-mail Sharon.

Market Update for Broadwater waterfront homes as of March 21, 2009

Broadwater waterfront home sales have been slow so far this year - in the first quarter there has been only one sale, a bank owned property that was listed at $350,000 and sold at $275,000.

Prices are stimulating activity, though - there are four waterfront homes in Broadwater currently under contract - two short sales and two "normal" sales (recognizing that foreclosure and short sales are the new normal). Two are listed at just under $400,000; the other two are listed at $475,000 and $549,999.

There are currently 21 Broadwater waterfront homes actively for sale, ranging from $400,000 to $1,250,000. Four of them are in the 400s; 5 of them are $1,000,000 or more. The rest are spread out in between.

For details on any of these, or to see any active property, please call Sharon Simms at ALVA International, Inc., 238 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg, Florida (727) 898-2582 or e-mail.

Elizabeth Anyaa is a talented and charming woman who has won the Fashion Group International Award. Tami and I visited her studio in Dallas while brainstorming with the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing.

Anyaa grew up in Sierra Leone and Ghana, and studied textile design at The Rovaniemi Institute of Industrial Art in Rovaniemi, Finland, where she earned her degree in Fine Arts. She expresses her artistic vision in weaving, felting and surface design - producing unique clothes as well as textiles for the home. She weaves metals and other unusual textures into her textiles.

Her textiles and fashions have appeared in national magazines. Seeing those articles, however, won't give you the feel of these wonderful materials - and you'd miss meeting this extraordinary lady.

Thanks, Liz, for adding this highlight to our recent trip to Dallas

Elizabeth Anyaa Studio, South Side on Lamar, 1409 South Lamar, Studio 104, Dallas TX  75215

Of course neighbors aren't happy about foreclosures because of the prices, but they also don't like properties that are vacant, abandoned, and not taken care of.

This is the pool behind a beautifully renovated waterfront home. Fortunately the lender has secured the pool so that children won't fall in.

But this doesn't stop the nastiness - and this can become a health hazard ... mosquitoes, snakes, rodents, etc.

Pity the poor neighborhoods where these are the rule rather than the exception.

Legislators here have discussed requiring lenders to register vacant homes, so that they will better be able to control this kind of nuisance.

Every year Broadwater, a waterfront neighborhood in southwest St Petersburg Florida, has a neighborhood garage sale. It usually generates a lot of traffic because there are so many homes with things set out to sell. It starts at 8, but of course people start arriving between 6 and 7.  Today was Broadwater's annual garage sale.

One enterprising homeowner, on the main entrance street, set out a large and a small tent for their wares. The tents were visible blocks away, and generated extra traffic as people came to see what the tents were all about.

Many of the neighborhood children turned entrepreneurs for the day - here selling sodas and grapefruit, one a few blocks away selling coffee and popcorn.

The Broadwater Civic Association is a voluntary group, with an annual fee of $30. They have quarterly meetings, an annual garage sale, an annual Christmas party, an annual picnic at Ft DeSoto Park, and various other events. They also sponsor a Neighborhood Security Patrol, and monitor what's happening in the surrounding residential and commercial areas. They provide a quarterly newsletter and a neighborhood website.

Events like this are a great time to meet the people who live here, and ask questions about the area.

With the window lettering now done, we're ready for our Grand Opening of ALVA International, our new real estate company on Friday, March 27th, here in downtown St Petersburg Florida.

"What does ALVA mean?" is a question we're often asked. ALVA is my maternal grandmother, Alva Swanson Lagerberg, a feisty, entrepreneurial gal. She was born on March 29, 1896, and this is as close as we can come to celebrating her birthday as well (coincidentally, March 27 is also my late father-in-law's birthday).

You're all welcome to come and join us, but PLEASE call or e-mail and rsvp - then we'll give you the time and details.

We've been "moving in" since Christmas week, and we're ready as we'll ever be ...  and have certainlay been busy. We've had buyers, sellers and CLOSINGS, and we love our office, our location, and our new company.

ALVA is home to just The SIMMS Team - Sharon, Rob, Tami and Amy. We're happy to help you and/or your clients with your real estate needs in St Petersburg and the whole Tampa Bay Florida area.

This view of Playa Hermosa is very similar to the view from a condo I crave in Playa Panama in the Guanacaste region (north Pacific coast) of Costa Rica.

When I was there in January, Mike Simons told me - no, showed me - all that's happening in this region of Costa Rica. We hear that prices are dropping ... but much of that is the dropping of unrealistic asking prices and "never sold at" prices, rather than declines in actual prices.

Kevin Brass is the international real estate reporting guru for the International Herald Tribune. Today he posted a blog with his impressions of the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica.

Would you believe all this is just a 30 minute drive from the international airport in Liberia, Costa Rica? Mike proved it to us when we were there.

So - all of you who are still having snow, or rain, or cold ... think south and warm and casual and welcoming. Think Costa Rica!

Michael Cannell of Fast Company write an article entitled, Suburbia R.I.P. Though his vision of subdivisions as "ghost towns patrolled by squatters and looters" seems extreme, there is food for thought in the massive overbuilding in some states, where subdivision after subdivision gets further and further from the transportation arteries. His premise is that these neighborhoods were created by cheap gas and disposable income. His conclusion is that people will return to urban living.

I think that's a pretty stark contrast. I do, think, though, that it makes a statement of the difference between neighborhoods that have matured and those that haven't. Many of the mature neighborhoods have a variety of home styles and sizes, a variety of landscaping, and have developed a community. Many of the new subdivisions built when markets were booming are street after street of nearly identical homes on tiny lots, with few distinguishing features. The latter seem to be the ones with the most downward price pressure (commodities) and the most foreclosures.

A year ago a waterfront pool home in the Broadwater neighborhood in St Petersburg was listed for $809,000. It wasn't large at 1,900 sq ft, but it was beautifully renovated - custom cabinetry, granite, Tuscan style. From the circular paver driveway to the private, lush pool area, this was a beauty. Nothing to do but move in. Southern exposure in the rear, a path of pavers going from the pool to the dock.

Now it's a short sale, and I noticed that it has been listed at $459,900!

What a difference a year has made.

You can see the attraction here as the living room and dining room are open to each other and filled with light. It immediately has you saying - Yes, I want to be here.

and then you look outside and you see the beautiful ocean, the quiet bay, the sailboats.

and then you step outside onto your patio  ...

Oh, Yes, I could live here! Now - if only I had the $450,000 to buy it !

It's just 20 minutes from Liberia International Airport, and only a few minutes from Playa Hermosa. And the large community pool, just steps from the doorstep in another direction, is even larger and more beautiful.

Theres more than one way to have a Harley - this modified bicycle was at one of the beaches near Tamarindo, in the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica.

Many of the roads in Tamarindo are dirt, which shouldn't phase the owner of this bicycle.

Note the bottles as well - the owner's prepared for anything, though it looks as though he's already taken care of what's in the bottles.

This was taken at Outback Jack's, a popular beachfront restaurant.

Last night Tami took this photo of The Pier in downtown St Petersburg. She posted this and a couple of other photos on her Facebook page.

The Pier is an inverted pyramid that sits out in the water at the end of a long pier. You can walk, drive, or take a trolley to get there. There are restaurants and shops, and a top observation platform.

You get a great view of downtown St Petersburg from the top observation roof or you can sit on the city side of the Columbia Restaurant and get a great view of the St Petersburg skyline.

The approach to The Pier now needs millions of dollars in repairs, so there is once again a discussion of what to do with The Pier.

I liked the old Pier, a Spanish Renaissance style, which seemed more appropriate for our small city. You can also visit the Pier Acquarium here

ALVA International, Inc., the new real estate company on Beach Drive in downtown St Petersburg welcomes international visitors and clients.

Among us (3 real estate agents working with buyers and sellers, 1 real estate agent handling our website-internet-transactions-coordination, and 1 part-time receptionist) we speak 7 languages, so we had Welcome printed in 7 languages on our front window.

The window lettering went up on Saturday, and it happened that 3 of the team were in the office for the afternoon. In less than one hour after the lettering went up, we had a Dane come in, exclaiming "I can't believe you have Welcome on your window in Danish!" He was visiting from South Tampa, and after chatting a while, requested some real estate information on downtown St. Petersburg.

The team could hardly restrain themselves from shouting "YES!" as they so quickly saw the results of the window lettering.

On Saturday we got the lettering on our front window, so that people know we're a real estate company. The window reflects the Museum of Fine Arts just across the street.

This was Try #3 on window lettering:

Vendor #1 was the man that the awning company contracted with to do the lettering on the awning. The lettering was in the wrong font (looked like McDonalds's rather than Sotheby's) and had to be redone. Obviously we didn't want to contract with him for the window lettering since he couldn't match our samples.

Vendor #2 was a local company, and for weeks upon end he couldn't open the mockups we sent. Then he ordered the fonts, and the "M" was wrong and more weeks went by. We kept saying, "tell us if you can't do the job, or don't want to do it." Finally, we just said Goodbye,

Vendor #3 was prompt to come out and measure and in less than a week went from inquiry phone call to finished product. Guess who now has the order for our license plates?  Yes, Vendor #3.

There is so much going on in downtown St Petersburg Florida that lots of people want to buy or rent in the ara. Right now is a great time to rent.

You can rent a condo in downtown Saint Petersburg Florida with choices from $800/month (1 bedroom, 1 bath, 650 sq ft) to $5,500/month ( 3 bedroom 2.5 bath, 3,373 sq ft).

There are 43 condos offered for rent and in February an even dozen leased, randing from $800/month to $4,200/month. There is a just over a 3 month supply of rentals in the Multiple Listing system.

Right now you can rent a condo for less money than you can own one. So, should you rent? It depends.

It all depends on your own situation, so we'll be happy to discuss with you your situation, motives and objectives.

The Kessler Group has asked for a 3 year extension on the commencement of construction for their Grand Bohemian Hotel in downtown St Petersburg Florida.

I say - Yes, by all means, extend their deadline.

The Grand Bohemian St Petersburg, which started as luxury residences atop a luxury hotel, went through a few changes that decreased the condos units and increased the hotel units until it was all hotel.

The high road is: Richard Kessler has put a lot of time, money and passion into this hotel project. Hotel financing is nearly non-existant. Why not say THANKS for your efforts, and yes, we'll extend your deadline.

The low road is: what is the alternative? No one is beating down the City's doors to build either a hotel or a new luxury condo. Is the alternative another empty lot downtown?

WHEN the Grand Bohemian is built, I think it will be a wonderful addition to downtown St. Petersburg. If the Orlando Grand Bohemian is any example, it's THE place to be after work.

So, please, St Petersburg City Council, say Yes on March 19th, to extend the deadline for The Grand Bohemian Hotel in St Petersburg Florida!

In today's economy it's not unusual for us to be offering a home For Sale or For Rent, which ever comes first.

We rented both of these this week. The one on the left was listed for $1,000,000 or $3,000 per month. The one on the right was listed for $225,000 or $1,400 per month.

The owner of the Million Dollar Home was apologetic that we were only renting it rather than getting a sales commission. I reminded him that we weren't One Transaction Agents - it was all about what was best for our clients (and he's VERY happy to have rented his home for the next 2 years) - to which he replied that we'd eventually have TWO of his homes for sale - this one, and the new one he built for nearly twice the price.

It's always all about doing what's best for your clients.

Was it because it's newer? no, that happened months ago.

Was it because it had more storage space? no, I hadn't used even half of what I had.

Was it because it's faster? Well, somewhat. The web browsing is slow on the old one.

Most of all it was because of the cumulative effect of their full page ads about all the apps for the iPhone. Yes, most of them will work with the old phone, but some that are cool work with the GPS function on the 3G phone.

By the way, the difference in monthly cost with AT&T is only an increase of $10/month - plus of course an extension of your contract.

Tomorrow our new waterfront home in St Petersburg goes live in the MLS at $1,250,000.

The sellers have a commuting marriage. The husband, working here, took the listing papers to his wife in Montana, and returned late last night. We discussed logistics, and I'd be leaving earlier in the morning than he would, so we arranged for him to leave the signed listing paperwork in his mailbox, which I'd pick up at 5:15 am this morning on my way to the gym.

When I pulled in to the driveway, I discovered he had left the outside lights on. Yes, I could have just used my headlights to see the mailbox, but ...

it was so welcoming that he left the outside lights on for me.

You see - little things mean a lot!