Key Lime Pie

Sign of the Mermaid is located up in Anna Maria City on the East side of Gulf Drive.  If Key Lime pie is not your cup of tea then no worries.  Sign of the Mermaid offers Chocolate Silk Pie, Chocolate truffle peanut butter pie, Chocolate peanut pie and finally, Gold Coast Key Lime pie along with an occasional daily special.  All the sweets are available with 24 hours notice.  For a quick sweet just stop in as they have plenty of other choices in their dessert case.

Don’t forget that the Sign of the Mermaid offers great entree’s with lots of great fresh seafood choices.  Visit the Island Real Estate Anna Maria Island Sign of the Mermaid post for more information.

Lastly, if you love baking or eating pies, below you can find the award winning Key Lime recipe courtesy of News 13, Roy De Jesus.   For more information on the story visit Tampabay New 13.

What You’ll Need for your Key Lime Pie:

* 1¼ cup graham cracker crumbs
* ⅓ cup granulated sugar
* ½ cup melted butter
* 6 egg yolks (whites reserved for meringue)
* 1½ cans sweetened condensed milk (14 oz. cans)
* ¾ cup plus 1 oz. key lime juice
* 6 egg whites
* ¾ cup granulated sugar

Let’s Bake!

First, preheat the oven 325 degrees.

To prepare the crust, mix crumbs, sugar and butter until well blended, and press into a 10-inch pie pan, sprayed well with non-stick spray.

These are not baked beforehand. They bake along with the filling.

Next, the filling: Separate eggs, reserving the egg whites.

Mix yolks and sweetened condensed milk well in a stainless steel bowl. Add key lime juice, mix until blended. Pour filling into crust.

Bake in preheated 325-degree oven for 6 minutes, until pie is slightly set up. Remove from oven and set aside, and leave oven on for meringue.

To make the meringue: With stand-up or hand mixer, beat egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add sugar slowly and beat until glossy, and whites hold their shape.

Spread meringue evenly over pie, making sure it touches the edges of the pie pan. Return to oven for 5 minutes until meringue peaks brown. Be careful not to overcook.

Remove from oven and chill for at least 4 hours before serving.

Below is Anna Maria Island real estate inventory as it stood the end of the calendar year 2009.

Anna Maria Island Inventory

Compare the breakdown of 2009 inventory to 2008 inventory and you see there is not much of a change.

Anna Maria Island Inventory - 2008

So lets talk details… Anna Maria Island Condominiums for sale in 2008 was 213 and at the end of 2009 the total condos for sale was 181.  Anna Maria Island single family homes for sale at the end of 2008 was 263 and 2009, 242.  Anna Maria Island Multi-families for sale for 2008 was 48 and the end of 2009 was 37.  Vacant lots for Anna Maria Island went up by one to 38 for 2009.

As you can see, the Anna Maria Island real estate market saw a healthy reduction in inventory for sale.   In total about a 10% reduction in real estate inventory for sale.  A nice reduction when the rest of the nation has gained real estate for sale.  The information above was taken from MLS.  If you have further questions don’t hesitate to call.

Headlines for Anna Maria Island

For the last year I have been sounding like a broken record. Anna Maria Island continues to make headlines in major newspapers and publications. New York Times, USA Today, Southern Living, Island’s and lots more. The latest positive press that Anna Maria Island has received is in the Boston Globe.

The Boston Globe just wrote a feature on great places to visit in Florida. They based the article on asking Floridians where Bostonians should visit? Orlando, Key West, Miami, and you guessed it, Anna Maria Island. It’s amazing that such a small island with only 6000 properties is mentioned in the same breath as Orlando. Awesome!!

Below you can find a portion of the article in the Boston Globe by Patricia Borns.

Retreat to Anna Maria Island
“If you came to visit me, I’d take you straight to the beach,’’ says Rhea Chiles, Florida’s former first lady. For her and her late husband, Lawton – known as “Walkin’ Lawton’’ for his gubernatorial campaign walk from Pensacola to Key West – Anna Maria was a haven from political life. “This place transcends thought and words,’’ Chiles says of the island, 3 miles long by a quarter-mile wide

Logo Boston Globe

(www.annamariaislandchamber.org). “It’s still one wide, noncommercialized beach. Go to the Sandbar Restaurant, order the wasabi-encrusted salmon, and wiggle your feet in the sand.’’ Chiles’s Studio at Gulf and Pine serves as artistic and intellectual salon (www.studioatgulfandpine.com). “We have one small thread of a bridge leading to mainland Sarasota,’’ she says, but visitors seldom take it. “They come for the beach experience. It’s a feeling there’s no place you’d rather be.’’

Fantastic Pool and hot tub

There has been some great strides made in educating the marketplace on Vacation rentals versus hotels.   Each one has its place for providing good accommodations.  If you are staying on business or as a couple for one – two days then a hotel is probably the best bet.  You don’t need a ton of space and just one bedroom works fairly well for short stays.

Staying for longer than a few nights with multiple people makes a hotel room no longer the best choice.  Taking out multiple hotel rooms which are small and just not built to support multiple folks is where a hotel room no longer makes sense.  What does make sense is renting a vacation rental condo, home or villa on Anna Maria Island.  A few large vacation rental home networks have begun to show the drawbacks to renting a hotel room for a vacation.  On Superbowl Sunday several advertisements will be shown and expect the “Griswold’s,” America’s vacation family to poke a little fun at hotels versus Vacation Rentals.  This is just one post of many and hopefully very soon after the official commercials I will be able to post the videos.

For now I will wet your whistle with vacation rental commercial done by another vacation rental company.  Don’t forget if you are looking for vacation rentals on Anna Maria Island, look no further to Island Real Estate Vacation Rentals.  Enjoy the video!

Anna Maria Island 2010 Wedding Festival

If you are a bride to be or think someone is about to pop the question soon then visiting the 2010 Anna Maria Island wedding festival is a must visit.  The wedding festival is on Sunday February 28th from 11AM to 6 PM.  It takes part all across Anna Maria Island.  There are many wedding stations that have several vendors at each location to help you plan your wedding.  Florists, limo services, venues, catering, clothing, you name it!

Registration is at the Anna Maria Island Chamber of commerce and if you pre-registered then it is $7 per person or at the door $10.  Just visit the Anna Maria Island Chamber of commerce for the exact address and if you are hungry visit the BeachHouse for a pre-event brunch.

There is over $10,000 in prizes that will be given away at the end of the event.  Fantastic prize baskets, weekend packages, lots of prizes that any bride to be would love to have.  For more information visit the Anna Maria wedding festival information website.

So how does the public differentiate between cheap talk and a results oriented Anna Maria Island Real Estate company?  The first step is to recognize quantitative versus qualitative results.  Qualitative results are warm and fuzzy.  A great qualitative example, ” Our office uses the highest degree of ethics when selling your Anna Maria Island

Anna Maria Island Real Estate

property.”  So what does this really mean?  Does this statement confuse action with results?   You bet it does.

So now that you know what to look for lets talk quantitative results and lets talk action that creates results…

Island Real Estate is the only Real Estate office on Anna Maria Island that is open both Saturday and Sundays.  Do you think our office being open 28% more than the rest creates results?

Island Real Estate averages 30,000+ visitors per month on our website.  Depending on the month more than 25% of those visitors are from Europe.  Do you think Island Real Estate has a better chance of selling your home compared to most real estate companies that have 5000 visitors in a good month?

Island Real Estate displays between a half page and full page of our listings every week in a local newspaper.  Island Real Estate consistently takes out the largest ads in our local newspapers.  Do you think displaying your real estate listing consistently in local newspapers creates more opportunity to sell your home?

Do you think an office that sells twice as much as its closest competition has a better chance of selling your property?

Quantitative results NOT qualitative!

Island Real Estate’s closest competition on a bad month has half the transactions we see.

Hopefully I have helped create some quantitative statements that help you work through the “bull” of everyone claiming they have the best real estate service on Anna Maria Island.  If you have any doubts who supplies the best service focus on quantitative results and when all else fails, Call Me and we can discuss specifics.  Better yet, just try to call your top pick offices at about 4 PM on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday.   When no one answers give Island Real Estate a call (941) 778-6066.

I look forward to helping you sell or purchase your “peace” of paradise on Anna Maria Island.

Larry Chatt (941) 345-1288 or Email me.

Bradenton and Manatee Information

educational resources.  Manatee county offers a wide diversity of home choices.  Gulf Front, boating, golf course, country club, single family, condominiums as well of lots of other choices in finding the perfect home makes Manatee county a great place to live.  Some of the more popular communities in Manatee county are Terra Ceia Bay which is in Palmetto, University Park which offers the high life county club style living, plenty of newer communities can be found in NorthWest Bradenton, plenty of gorgeous historical homes along the Manatee river and of course the beach cities that can be found on Anna Maria Island;  Bradenton Beach, Holmes Beach and Anna Maria City.  One additional community that needs mentioning is Lakewood Ranch.  Lakewood Ranch is an award winning Master planned 8500 acre community that has successfully incorporated both commercial and residential development.  Seven villages have been developed to combine recreational facilities, restaurants, arts and educational establishments.

Estimates on the population of the Manatee County are as follows:
1995          -     233,000
2000          -     264,000
2005          -     300,000
2008          -     330,000
2013          -     370,000  (Estimated)

Population by City  (2008 Estimates)
Anna Maria City     -  1,829
Bradenton                -  53,500
Bradenton Beach  -  1,553
Holmes Beach        -  5,017
Palmetto                  -  14,284
Unincorporated    – 251,000

G.T. Bray Santa

If you have never visited Anna Maria Island around Christmas you need to give it a try, Why?

There are a ton of Christmas activities all around the area. Santa comes in on a helicopter at G.T. Bray Park. Downtown Bradenton brings in snow to go sledding. Holmes Beach plaza on Marina Drive has a Christmas bash where shops serve free appetizers and the children of Anna Maria Island dance under a snow machine.

Not enough? Vacation rental accommodations in early December are more than 50% off compared to high season rates. The weather is sunny and beautiful. The only white we have is the sand on our gorgeous beaches. While I write this the entire East coast is in a blizzard that will average one foot of snow fall!

Lastly, who does not like a good parade? Every year the Anna Maria Island privateers put on a Christmas parade. Beads, candy and party favors are all thrown during the parade. It is fabulous fun for all!

So what are you doing? Call Island Real Estate today and book next year’s holiday season. Island Real Estate has more than 175 hand picked rentals with more than 25 high luxury vacation rentals. More than anyone on Anna Maria Island!

Have a great winter and a wonderful holiday season! Thanks to Michael for the great video below.

Public Pier Tear Down

public beach. That’s ok we have several on Anna Maria Island, Florida. Just swing up to the Anna Maria City public pier or the Rod and Reel pier. Oops, don’t forget about the pier at the end of Bridge Street in Bradenton Beach, Anna Maria Island, FL.

I have to admit there is not much Holmes Beach or Manatee County could have done to delay the construction of the pier. Some heavy waves made the pier unsafe and soon there after the pier was scheduled to be replaced. Sure we had our normal banter regarding how long the pier should be but the commisioners of Holmes Beach and Manatee County quickly worked through those details and early December 2009 the pier began to get ripped down.

Unfortunately the tear down has seen some unexpected delays. The temporary debris bridge the back hoe operator created to get out to the last piece of the pier gave way and much to the operators surprise he found himself and his backhoe pictured here in the salt water of the Gulf of Mexico. It has been about 1 week and have not seen any progress on ripping down the rest of the pier?

Holmes Beach Pier

So, not to worry Spring 2010 visitors, grab our free trolley up to Anna Maria City and try out a new pier! We will have a new and improved pier for your visit in 2011! Have a fantastic holiday season.

Looking for additional Anna Maria Island property information?

The parade begins at the Anna Maria City Bay Front park and ends at Coquina park in Bradenton Beach, Fl. The parade travels East on Pine Avenue, South on Gulf Drive, on to Marina Drive/Palm Drive to Gulf Drive, then a quick trip along East Bay Drive on to Gulf Drive where it finally ends in Bradenton Beach. The parade travels almost the entire length of Anna Maria Island.

If you are traveling from Tampa, Sarasota or Bradenton I would suggest parking at Coquina or the Manatee public beaches. These are easy access points and easier to get off the island just after the parade. It takes Anna Maria Island about 1 hour to get traffic back to normal.

If you are planning to spend a few more hours on Anna Maria Island then stop in at Island Real Estate where we have plenty of free maps as well as Anna Maria Island Real Estate for sale packets. They understand if you are not in the immediate market and just looking. Make sure you visit one of Anna Maria Island’s great restaurants and get a bite to eat for lunch or maybe even an early dinner.

Details of the Anna Maria Island Parade… Starts at 10 AM finished around 11:15 AM and it’s on December 12th, 2009. See a few photos below for past Christmas Parades.

Pravateer's Christmas

Privateer Ship during the Christmas Parade

Island Real Estate

Island real Estate in the Christmas Parade