Little Harbor, a luxury condo and homes resort in Ruskin, Florida, has broadened its customer base to include renters. This luxury community rarely offered the opportunity of renting homes, but has decided that the current rental market is too big to ignore. Florida real estate in general is suffering from a glut of homes on the housing market driving down prices and consumer confidence. This is moving more and more people toward the prospect of renting over buying.

This resort community's decision to broaden its demographic reveals a growing trend in real estate, with more people leaning toward renting property. Renting was once viewed as anti-productive and a waste of money when the real estate market was booming. But now that the real estate market is on a downturn, renting has become popular enough to warrant attention from condos, communities and resorts. Florida condos and communities are having trouble selling their homes in the current market and have turned to renting out the property to stay afloat through the current real estate downturn. Is this a smart idea?  Can it keep business going in the depressed real estate market?

Resorts are "bearing the brunt" of the real estate market downturn, as Americans aren't investing in second homes like they used to only three years ago. The Little Harbor resort community is filled with luxury condos and homes with waterfront location that has maintained a high level of demand throughout Little Harbor's existence. Renting is a new venture for this luxury condo and home resort and should have interesting results as they begin deviating from buyers.

Foreign investors and others looking for less expensive vacations are now a part of Little Harbor's demographic. This actually serves as good advertising for buyers because these people may turn out to be buyers after they rent long enough and become enamored with the property.

The real estate market remains in a state of uncertainty leaving many buyers just as uncertain about whether it’s wise to buy and invest in a Tampa home.  This makes things considerably tougher for homeowners who are selling their homes in the Tampa area.  After evaluating property values, pricing competitively and following all the rules to ensuring home selling success, what happens when buyers still aren’t making any offers?

It may not be as satisfying as buying a brand new Tampa home that’s never been lived in but a home swap could work to your benefit.  Just find a homeowner who is interested in your property, agree to pay each other’s mortgage and whatever additional home costs are involved and you’ve essentially “sold” your home.  While most home swap searches are conducted online, it’s important to be aware of a few things if this sounds like a good prospect.

Keep your personal information private.  Even reputable home swap websites sometimes have tiny fine print saying they will share your information unless you opt out.  Chances are this isn’t something you want so do read the privacy policy.

Find your own agent.  Many home swapping websites will point you towards their personal real estate agent who probably isn’t focused on your individual questions and needs.  Find an impartial realtor familiar with the area instead.

Take the hands-on approach.  Pictures may be worth a thousand words but terms like paint chipping and faulty roofing are often missing.  Assuming the circumstances allow for it, do your own walkthrough and make note of things that need to get fixed beforehand.  After the trade, they become your responsibility.

Renting is an option.  In this case, renting equates to moving into the new home but still paying the mortgage that remains under the original homeowner’s name.  It’s a great way of circumventing problems like non-transferrable mortgages.  Do be aware however that since the mortgage is still under the original homeowner’s name, a missed payment will affect you, not them.

The real estate goldmine of the early 2000s was so fanatical that Florida became one of the most in demand states in the country in terms of buying homes and condos in order to achieve multimillion dollar profit.  The Tampa area and Miami attracted thousands of home buyers but alas, that fever has subsided almost completely today, plunging the market and consequently causing the economy to slow down.

Many will tell you that the Tampa real estate market is in shambles but the latest figures tend to provide a better perspective that while things may not be as good as they can be, they aren’t as bad as many would lead you to believe.  February surprised many by posting an actually home sales increase, a figure that did not repeat itself the following month.  What would happen in April?

April home sales statistics actually bring good news once again.  Home buyers contributed to a five percent increase in parts of Tampa during that month, certainly welcome news even if the demand for Tampa condos lessened in comparison.  It’s also interesting to note that median home prices dropped once again and it’s now feasible to find many properties in Tampa for less than $200,000.

With that in mind, yet another drop in prices—while not necessarily doing property values any favors—can be viewed as “sweetening the pot” for hesitant home buyers and investors since it increases the odds of being able to afford property that would normally be outside out of their financial reach.

The increase in home sales was not only limited to the Tampa area, home sales were also spurred in several markets throughout the country providing further evidence that the market is inching its way towards stabilization, albeit at what many would consider to be a snail’s pace.

NOW OPEN

We are pleased to announce the opening of our Antigua Cove single family model homes by Alvarez Homes and John Cannon Homes, Inc. These award-winning homebuilders offer a variety of distinctive, custom-built waterfront home designs featuring backyard boat slips with direct access to the sparkling waters of Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico beyond.

Antigua Cove brings to life the dream of waterfront luxury living in its most natural and refined expression. You’ll be taken with the coastal setting and casual elegance of Antigua Cove’s classic Anglo-Caribbean style residences winding along the emerald waterways and preserves of Little Harbor.

Ready to welcome you now are Little Harbor’s full resort amenities including a secluded beach, three deepwater marinas, wet & dry boat storage accommodating boats up to 60 ft in length, private social room, waterfront dining, Tiki Bar, heated pools, state-of-the-art fitness, tennis courts, massage therapy, eco-tours, water sports rentals, professional services and more. In addition to an endless array of waterfront amenities, residents will enjoy membership privileges at exquisitely planned facilities such as a Beach Club, Yacht Club, River Club, Racquet Club, open-air Village Center, fitness/wellness center and resort spa.

Please Click HERE for photo tours of Antigua Cove’s single family model homes.

Spacious 2 & 3 Bedroom Townhomes with Many Extras Included
Now Available for Long-term Lease (7 months and longer)
Lease/Purchase Option available
Rents starting at $1,200/month

• 1/2 Mile of Secluded Beach
• 250’ Fishing Pier
• Heated Pools & Jacuzzi
• Fitness Center
• Picnic & BBQ Facilities
• Tennis and Basketball Courts
• Children’s Playground

Little Harbor also offers two waterfront restaurants and Tiki Bar with entertainment - just a short walk from the townhomes! Little Harbor is conveniently located within an easy commute to Tampa, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, and Brandon. Click HERE for directions.

For information and tours, please call Little Harbor at
813.645.3291, ext. 400
611 Destiny Drive • Ruskin, FL 33570

The monetary and environmental benefits of applying “greener” approaches and technologies into your Tampa home have a tendency of outweighing any of the potential costs to get started and make the planet a better environment for all of its denizens.  Whether you choose to make a better effort to recycle or invest in a more efficient air conditioning system, existing options and the following simple to execute tips are a great way to get started.

Use power strips for electronics.  While the latest computer systems have become better about their energy consumption, they can still eat up a lot of electricity, especially since many of them have peripherals that remain on even when they’ve been turned “off”.  Instead of using traditional outlets, replace them with power strips.  Having to spend a little more time waiting for a computer to boot up should become moot when your cheaper energy bill arrives.

Opt for fans if and where appropriate.  Fans push out the accumulated air that causes interiors to feel hotter or more humid and they also use considerably less energy than a traditional air cooling or heating system.  During the summertime, fans can save Florida homeowners hundreds by reducing the need to lower the a/c.

Cut energy costs wherever you can.  Do a walkthrough of your home and jot down any areas or items that can be improved to help the environment and cut down your energy consumption.  This list can then be taken to a knowledgeable hardware supplier who should be able to assist in purchasing the requisite items to get the job done.

Improve insulation.  The smallest holes or improperly sealed gaps in doors and walls can reduce insulation which forces the air conditioning system to work harder, especially if you live in a Tampa home.  Use the same approach for doors and windows.  Make sure they close properly and aren’t letting unnecessary air escape.

Every other day there’s usually some news story about the housing market difficulties, the economy, and consequently, what state and national governments are doing to fix them.  You already know about the tax rebates coming up in May and the lowered interest rates.  Here in Florida, legislators devised their own strategies to assist the housing market by proposing lower property taxes, an initiative that Florida voters agreed with and will go into effect two years from now.

As expected, the passing of the tax cut raised the ire of some who disagreed with having to pay a higher sales tax, the tradeoff of lowering the taxes.  Their argument is sales taxes would require additional spending on goods and services that extend to Florida tourism which is a major source of the state’s revenue and therefore tourism in the Tampa area, in Orlando and other vacation hotspots would all suffer.  This argument is indeed quite valid and does go beyond tourism but it doesn’t cancel out the bill’s positive ramifications.

Essentially, reduced taxes give homeowners a larger reserve.  A larger reserve that can be applied towards anything real estate related or otherwise whether that means giving a down payment on a vacation villa, being able to make regular mortgage payments or something else.  Mortgages that homeowners can actually cope with combined with renewed interest and assurance in the Florida real estate market is one of the key components in getting people interested in vacation homes and luxury condos again.

Obviously seeing if any of this will actually happen will have to wait until 2010 but most experts agree things will be improving and property sales have posted modest gains recently.  If anything, homeowners trying to ward off foreclosure or anyone who has ever wanted to own a Florida vacation home have something to look forward to for a change.