Watch The Today Show Rate Sarasota as the Best Place to Buy a House

Here's what we saw this morning on NBC's Today Show — Real Estate Expert Barbara Corcoran ranking Sarasota as the best place in the United States to purchase a house.

Check out this video:

Corcoran extols Sarasota as a sophisticated town with gorgeous beaches. Sarasota sustained a 34-percent loss in the housing debacle, Corcoran says. She goes on to say that property prices are "shooting back up" and that prospective buyers must act quickly to take advantage of the bottom.

"Now is the time to buy in these markets," Corcoran says.

NBC's real estate expert then ranks the Top 10 places where you can expect the get the best home buy:

1. Sarasota, Florida
2. San Francisco, California
3. Lansing, Michigan
4. Marietta, Georgia
5. Grand Rapida, Michigan
6. St. Petersburg, Florida
7. Naperville, Illinois
8. Trenton, New Jersey
9. St. Louis, Missouri
10. Saginaw, Michigan

We who live and sell in Sarasota also rank our town as the best place to live after you buy.

For more information, please call:

Louis Wery, CIPS, CRS, ABR, TRC, CLHMS
Coldwell Banker Real Estate, LLC
201 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Suite 1
Longboat Key, Florida 34228
Direct: (941) 232-3001
www.LouisWery.com

Cougar Town Ruins Sarasota's Reputation

"Forget the reputation as a home for retirees and senior citizens; the Sarasota area is about to be known as “Cougar Town,” writes Jay Handelman in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

If you watched the first episode of the new ABC comedy starring Courtney Cox as Jules Cobb, then you saw that the opening credits set the location in the Sarasota area, called the town Gulf Haven and nicknamed the place Cougar Town after the high school football team.

After the set up clips of Sarasota, the shooting locations shifted to California where similar Mediterranean-styled houses abound.

A 40ish real estate agent, Jules (Courtney Cox) parodies the profession with a revealing photo on her For Sale signs and a mouth that begs for prospects to overhear her snarky comments (which I won't repeat in a G-rated blog).

Here is a relatively clean videoclip:



After a passing reference to incest, Jules (Courtney Cox) flashes one of her son's classmates in an effort to show off her assets.

As it turns out, the only character with smarts is Jules's teenage son, Travis, played by Dan Byrd. The adults could use time in rehab.

The show ends up more on the sad side than hilarious.

As for reality? Yes, like Any Town USA, Sarasota has its share of "cougars," women between the ages of 30 and 40 who date much younger men. We also have our December-May romances.

Best of all, we love the many wealthy dowagers who bless our community with impeccable style and culture as well as incredible generosity. These ladies support Sarasota's claim to the sobriquet "Florida's Cultural Coast."

For more information, please call:
Louis Wery, CIPS, CRS, ABR, CLHMS
Coldwell Banker Real Estate, LLC
201 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Suite 1
Longboat Key, Florida 34228
Direct: (941) 232-3001
www.LouisWery.com

Beyond Curb Appeal

In real-estate jargon, curb appeal gauges a buyer's first impression on seeing a home for sale. The cliche "you never get a second chance to make a first impression" rings just as true for houses as for people.

When sellers decide to put a house on the market, they spiff the place up by installing exterior decorations, re-painting or updating the landscaping. 

Perhaps they watch one of the television shows such as Designed to Sell, House Doctor or Flip This House to learn how to improve curb appeal in hopes of garnering a higher selling price.

Once the house looks as good as possible, the sellers call their real estate agent to put the property on the market.

Dream houses follow a different script.

The owners love living in their dream home and care for every detail from the beginning. When the time comes to sell, the sellers do not worry about curb appeal because that quality stayed with the property from Day One.

That's the story of this home in the Del Sol Village neighborhood of Longwood Run in northeast Sarasota, a short hop from I-75.

Watch this short video showing this beautiful home tucked away from the daily hustle:



From your first look, you see a beautifully landscaped lawn with tropical planting. Perched on the banks of a lake and preserve, the home offers changing scenes of migrating wild birds and other beautiful flora and fauna.

Your excellent first impression continues when you enter this perfectly maintained home and see the floor plan designed to flow smoothly from space to space. The rooms are large enough for entertaining yet carry a feeling of sociability. The gourmet kitchen serves as a gathering place for informal entertaining.

Enjoy touring! Perhaps you will make this home your dream home, too.

For more information, please call:
Louis Wery, CIPS, CRS, ABR, CLHMS
Coldwell Banker Real Estate, LLC
201 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Suite 1
Longboat Key, Florida 34228
Direct: (941) 232-3001
www.LouisWery.com