Festival

If you are on or close to Anna Maria Island for the weekend of April 16th, 17th or 18th then the Real Florida Festival is a must visit.  It is the first ALL Anna Maria Island event of it’s kind.   That is Bradenton Beach, Holmes Beach and Anna Maria City are all participating in the extravaganza event.  The festival idea was that of Business entrepreneur David Teitelbaum of Island Real Estate of Anna Maria Island and Anna Maria Island Resorts.   The Anna Maria Island chamber of commerce is facilitating the three day all island event.

The highlights of the Real Florida Festival include but are not limited to…

Friday April 16th - Holmes Beach Founders day with arts, crafts, music, drink and plenty of food choices – Visit the Friday events page for more information.

Saturday April 17th - Continuation of the Holmes Beach Founder day with a skate park competition.  In the evening a parrot head dance at the Anna Maria Island Community Center – Visit the Saturday events page for more information.

Sunday April 18th – Bradenton Beach Bridge Street Beach to Bay Eco Day – live music, bands, food, drink, kayak

Anna Maria Chamber of Commerce

festival, shopping and much much more – Visit the Sunday events page for more information.

Just a reminder, this event is being held to further ensure our Anna Maria Island Trolley stays FREE.  The Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce looks forward to seeing you all three days on Anna Maria Island.  Please visit the Real Florida Festival website for more information or visit the save the trolley website for additional information on how to help SAVE the TROLLEY.

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.

Florida Realtor Logo

I had the pleasure of attending the 2009 Florida Association of Realtors® Board of directors meeting in Orlando on August 24th, 2009. Some important topics were discussed that impact all property owners in the State of Florida. Strategies concerning the progression of a National Wind insurance program was briefly discussed as well as a Foreign reprieve to green cards being issued without the requirement for employment for individuals with the fiscal fortitude to support an above average retirement lifestyle in the United States.

The consolidation of the FAR 9 and FAR/BAR contract was debated and discussed. It was a fantastic conference thrown by the Florida Association of Realtors® which I am proud to be a member of as well as a part of the 2009 Leadership academy team.

Finally, the big announcement was our associations new name for marketing purposes. No longer FAR or Florida Association of Realtors. We are now simply known as Florida Realtors®. Simple, classic, corporate and contemporary. I have been unable to find a clean logo that I could paste into my blog but will continue to watch for the “launch” of the new logo.

Florida Realtors® are the “bomb” and if you are not using a Florida Realtor® for the purchase or sale of your real estate then you are missing out on using a highly trained professional that works to a strict code of ethics. Our code of ethics is used to ensure we provide the service you demand and a Florida Realtor® demands of themselves. For a link to my Florida Living Network website.

ORLANDO, Fla., June 23, 2009 – Florida’s existing home sales rose in May – the ninth month in a row that sales

Florida Real Estate

activity increased in year-to-year comparisons. This is according to the latest housing data released by the Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR).

Florida real estate sales showed gains over the previous month’s sales in both existing home and existing condo real estate markets. More impressive is for the first time in many months, the Florida median sales price in May rose over the previous month’s figure, April.

Existing home sales rose 16% for the month of May with a total of 13,921 homes sold compared to 12,044 homes sold in May 2008, according to FAR. Florida Realtors reported existing home sales in May, increased 6.2% over April’s activity. Florida existing condos rose 21 % for sales in May and existing condo sales in May rose 3.8 % versus April.

“The improving sales of existing single family homes and condos is a trend we have been seeing for several months in Florida – what is new in this month’s data release is that we are seeing evidence of prices beginning to firm,” says Dr. Sean Snaith, director for the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Economic Competitiveness. “While one month of data does not a trend make, it is the first green shoot we have seen in some time as far as prices are concerned; until prices stop declining, we cannot state with confidence that the housing market has stabilized. Sales have risen to levels we have not seen since 2006, though the economy still faces headwinds. As credit markets begin to thaw this will help speed along this process of recovery in the housing market.”

Statistics courtesy of Florida Association of Realtors.

Florida Realtor Days

I had the opportunity to attend the Great American Realtor days in Tallahassee, Florida. I cannot say I enjoyed the drive from Anna Maria Island although I did have the chance to visit a few towns I have never had the pleasure of visiting. The most interesting visit was a small fishing village just North of Tampa called Cedar Key. Cedar Key is a very small village with the closest grocery store being 30 miles away. Their real estate has started to pick up in the last month and the realtor I spoke with proudly stated there were 2 contracts pending for her office which has not happened since 2006.

The Florida Association of Realtors (FAR) has the event very well planned. One meeting prepared the ~1000 real estate professionals with the talking points of our visits with our local representatives. Some of our highlights of the talking points were SB 1718, SB 2250, and HB 809 which was legislation to reduce the current eviction fees for landlords of $265. In addition, we worked to be sure our representatives knew we supported HB 7057 and SB 532 which limits the growth of property tax assessments on businesses, second homes, and non-homesteaded properties to a cap of 5% annually. Finally the last legislation that caught my eye was legislation that supports a “preponderance of evidence” for challenging property tax assessments. SB 1006 and HB 521 changes the philosophy of property owners challenging their assessments. Instead of a property owner proving their property is lower in value, the local tax collector must prove the value of your property is correct. There is a subtle difference between the two but if passed it could make a large impact on the ease of fighting your property value estimates. The above links for each individual bill is a link to the progress of each bill in Tallahassee. In addition for a list of more legislation visit FAR’s website.

Realtor Days - House

Our local boards made appointments with our local representatives so we could have about a half an hour with them during their open session. While the Manatee board chose not to attend the Great American Realtor days, (GARD) I was able to attend a few very well run meetings with the real estate board from Naples and they were a well oiled machine. It was very impressive.

Lastly I was able to attend the open session of legislation in Tallahassee. The most interesting point was while our political representatives were discussing legislation points there was a “circus” occurring on the political floor. Pictures being taken and conversations occurring were just a few of the activities taking place as the politicians voted on legislation. It is difficult to understand how our politicians can be productive in open session when a “circus” is occurring on the floor but I have always learned not to judge a book by its cover…

Part of 2009 Florida Leadership Academy

FAR has a lunch and dinner networking function that is fabulous. Wonderful food and wonderful company. The event was closed out with Cynthia Shelton and Charlie Christ giving a speech to the Florida Realtors on hand. Cynthia quoted some staggering first quarter real estate results for areas of Florida. Cape Coral, Miami-Dade, Naples, Tampa were among the few quoted with real estate transactions for the first quarter up more than 20% with some as high as 80% more transactions versus the first quarter of 2008. Unbelievable…Now is the time to buy!

Thanks to Cookie Douglas for the photo while our politicians were in session. She specializes in Fort Myers real estate.

2009 Florida Leadership Academy

Island Real Estate

accommodations on Anna Maria Island, check out Anna Maria’s leading real estate and vacation rental company, Island Real Estate.

Island Real Estate
6101 Marina Drive
Holmes Beach, Fl, 34217
(941) 778-6066
(877) 778-6066 Toll Free
(941) 778-6306 Fax
Main Website
Vacation Rental Website
Real Estate Website
Luxury Real Estate Website

La Casa Luxury Pool

I suggest visiting Island Real Estate’s website where you can view real time accurate availability for vacation rentals on Anna Maria Island. Your search will be more productive looking at Anna Maria properties that are available for the time frame you want to visit. Don’t be fooled by imitation websites! No vacation rental scavenger hunts allowed! -

Anna Maria Sunsets

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Thanks to Melinda Bordes for several of the sunset photos. If you are looking for more sunset memories until your next visit to Anna Maria Island don’t panic! Visit Island Real Estate’s Sunset blog where Melinda Bordes revisits the best sunsets for the week and month. Plenty of sunset pictures….website