Fear Not

The blog item below titled "A scary thought?" brought this response from Realtor Marc Rasmussen of RE/MAX Properties in Sarasota:

"It is not uncommon for a home to be overpriced. That will happen in any kind of real estate market. You will always have sellers thinking their home is worth more than it really is," Rasmussen wrote in an e-mail.

"With the market moving so quickly, it is difficult to price a property. You don't want to underprice it and leave money on the table. So there is a tendency to price a property a little higher and lower it if the homes does not sell quickly.

"Reducing a property's price is not a scary thought at all. It happens everyday in the real estate market. The sky is not falling.

"Facts: Interest rates remain low; baby boomers are coming (high demand for Florida real estate); limited supply of homes for sale," Rasmussen concluded.

From the Sarasota Herald Real Estate Blog
:http://www.sarasotaherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=BLOG12

Lakewood Ranch Main Street Taking Shape

Main Street taking shape at Lakewood Ranch
LISA MARIE LENTZ
Herald Staff Writer

LAKEWOOD RANCH - The palette of sample colors painted on the side of one of the newly-constructed buildings hinted that Main Street will be the jewel that developers predicted it would be.

A retail and office vision rising from the grassy banks of Lake Uihlein, Main Street is a 20-acre, roughly $20 million project that will feature 120,000 square feet of retail space, including both stores and restaurants, and 46,000 square feet of office space.

During a hard-hat tour of the construction site Wednesday, stripes of moss and sage green, goldenrod and canary yellow, and peach and terra-cotta could be seen on the south side of the development.

The buildings will not be striped, of course, but eventually, the ubiquitous grays of cement, steel and sand will be replaced with vibrant color and the streets will be filled with shoppers, diners and moviegoers from around Manatee, Sarasota and counties beyond.

So say developers. Main Street is a joint venture between Lakewood Ranch developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch Inc. and Casto Southeast.

"I think it's going to be the best-looking project we have," said Casto Southeast president Brett Hutchens, who answered tour questions from off-site.

Main Street will also feature two residential components: The Lofts On Main, which will be built above retail space; and Lakeside Towers, a lakefront condominium complex along the western edge of Lake Uihlein.

The rest of the article can be read here:
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/business/12021191.htm

Many are buying Lakewood Ranch real estate

DUANE MARSTELLER
Herald Staff Writer

MANATEE - Manatee County is growing the most in its unincorporated areas, which are adding people at a rate 2½ times faster than its cities and towns, according to population estimates the U.S. Census Bureau released today.

While the county's population has surged by more than 32,000 people since 2000, the vast majority of them - nearly 28,000 - didn't call Bradenton, Palmetto or the island cities of Anna Maria, Bradenton Beach, Holmes Beach and Longboat Key their new home, census figures show.

Those cities' combined populations grew by 5.7 percent during the four-year period, well below the 14.6 percent gain in unincorporated areas such as Lakewood Ranch and Parrish.

See the rest of the article here:
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/12021291.htm