Featured Archives

Turnaround Year for La Casa Real Estate Inc

06/29/2014 By La Casa Webmaster

LA CASA REAL ESTATE, INC.

BY: Marilyn Kulibert, President

2011 has been a turn-around year for LaCasa Real Estate. We sold 51 homes and lots in our community. We also sold 12 shares to new homeowners who wanted to become a part of the shareholder community. Remember if you want to buy your share, instead of renting from La Casa, favorable terms can be arranged to help you pay for it over time if you see the office for details.

January 7, 2012 we will have a training and refresher session for all the people who volunteer to show our park and homes to prospective buyers. This will cover all the laws pertaining to what a volunteer can and cannot do legally under a real estate license. We will also show the volunteers how to run those new golf carts that we use in our trips around the park. Refreshments will follow the meeting, which is at 9:30 am in the Clubhouse. We are also looking for new volunteers to supplement our existing group. Both groups need to attend the training and refresher session. Deadline to sign up for the session is January 5.

In the near future we will have a TV with a CD/DVD showing photos of our park running continuously in the office waiting room, plus the availability of mailing a copy to prospective buyers who contact us by mail and email. We are going to update our website so it is more user friendly and include some of the new pictures.

The LCRE board is always looking for marketing ideas, so if you have any suggestions, please share them with our broker, Gary Beeler. We are anticipating another

April 2012 La Casa Real Estate Update

06/27/2014 By La Casa Webmaster

LA CASA REAL ESTATE, INC
Submitted by Marilyn Kulibert, President

Interest in our LaCasa lifestyle has been tremendous so far this year. People are finding their way to our part of Florida and are expressing their desires to become a part of our community. We usually have our busiest month for sales in April, but so far in February and March we have exceeded interest shown in previous years.

The LCRE board has been working on various promotional items that will direct more people to our website and through our front door. These promotions have been paying off with increased sales of homes. If you haven’t seen our video, go to www.youtube.com and enter “La Casa North Port” in the search box to see it. We are approaching 1,000 views and growing day by day.

One of the things people like about our park is the spaciousness of the lots and the lakes. Our homeowners do a good job in keeping their homes looking attractive and neat. The HOA maintenance staff keeps our buildings and grounds in top condition. All this contributes to a positive first impression when prospective buyers are taken around the park. It is one of the things that set us apart from our competitors. We would like to thank everyone for doing their part in keeping LaCasa looking so nice. It’s great to live in LaCasa!

La Casa Real Estate Inc Experiences Continued Growth

06/25/2014 By La Casa Webmaster

LA CASA REAL ESTATE, INC.

Submitted by Marilyn Kulibert, President

Since La Casa Real Estate was created in 2004, we have paid a total of $276,470 to the La Casa Homeowners Association for rent and fees.

In addition, we were able to pay the salary of our sales consultant, the broker’s commission, liability insurance, and advertising. While we had a profit for 2011, we still have accumulated losses from the bad years to cover in the future. We are hoping that 2012 will be a good year and we will be able to make more progress on eliminating those losses from earlier years.

From 2004 when we were created, to the end of December 2011, we sold 279 homes. While we sold more homes in 2011 than 2010, we experienced a decrease in the average sale price of homes. We now have a number of lots to sell, which will bring nice new homes to our area.

We couldn’t have sold the number of homes we did, and shown the houses to prospective buyers, without the help of our wonderful group of volunteers. We appreciate their enthusiasm and desire to share the La Casa experience with others. Remember, you as homeowners are the best sales persons.

Changing Home Valuations

06/23/2014 By La Casa Webmaster

La Casa Real Estate, Inc.
Submitted by
Marilyn Kulibert, President

It’s that time of year again when we get our real estate tax statements in the mail from Sarasota County. You may have noticed that the valuation of your home in La Casa has decreased in value compared to last year. Sarasota County revalues all property every year and it is based on the previous year’s sales of real estate in your area. If La Casa has 40 sales, they have 40 different properties to compare values on. Since the housing bust a few years ago, prices on homes have fallen, and not just in La Casa. While it is good news that your taxes might be lower, you also could have a lower value listed for your home. Some real estate professionals think that 2013 will show that homes will be climbing back up in value, and that will be reflected in the next statement from the County.

Remember that anyone can access the real estate tax records online within Sarasota County‘s website, including potential buyers of your home. If your home is for sale or if you are thinking about selling, this is just another reason to set the sale price reasonably close to what today’s market value is, plus any furniture.

Florida residents have a real estate tax advantage over out of state residents. For those savings, make sure you have your home listed as your homestead with the County.

If you currently do not own a share, remember that shares can be financed with the La Casa Homeowners Association at attractive rates. Ask about it at the office.

Why hasn’t my home sold yet ?

06/23/2014 By La Casa Webmaster

LA CASA REAL ESTATE, INC .
Submitted by Marilyn Kulibert, President

We get questions all the time like “Why doesn’t my house sell and the one down the street was sold after only a month?” There are a lot of factors entering into a buyer’s choice of a home in La Casa.

They have to like the floor plan of the home and the location in the park. Sometimes it is the screened lanai that makes one more desirable than another. People have to visualize their belongings in your space. It helps if you don’t have too many extra things around so they can see the space better. If the house is spotless and well maintained, they will feel that the roof, air conditioner, etc. are also well maintained. Are the windows clean? Is the carpet spot free? Does the house smell good? You never know what turns a buyer off. Why take a chance?

Look around at some of the other houses – can somebody move in without doing a lot of repair work or remodeling? Most people want to just move in and start living the Florida lifestyle. All these things are part of a buyer’s decision to make an offer on your house. One of the important factors would be the price of your home. The staff at the LCRE office can tell you if your price is in line with homes like yours that have sold this past year. Stop by and talk to them.

La Casa Real Estate Inc

06/12/2014 By La Casa Webmaster

LA CASA REAL ESTATE, INC.
www.lacasaswfl.com
Submitted by Marilyn Kulibert, President

Did you notice the headline of this column ends in INC.? INC. means that LCRE is a separate corporation owned by the Homeowners Association of La Casa. LCRE’s only stockholder is the HOA, which owns all the stock in our corporation. The HOA elects the members of our 5 member board at the annual meeting in March. Then, the board of directors elect their own officers each year.

Among other things, the LCRE board is responsible for contracting with a licensed real estate broker (Gary) to oversee the sales of homes in La Casa. The board is also responsible for contracting with a licensed sales associate (Vicki) to write the legal contracts for buyers and sellers. LCRE volunteers show the park to prospective buyers, but cannot do any negotiating of possible purchases with buyers. Obviously with only one full time person on staff and assistance from Pat in the HOA office, LCRE needs numerous volunteers to help in marketing La Casa to buyers.

With the help of our volunteers and the great people in La Casa who love it here, we have been able to sell a remarkable number of homes in 2012 and also so far in 2013, in spite of the state of the real estate economy in this area. It costs less to list a La Casa home with LCRE than an outside real estate company who doesn’t have the extensive knowledge of the inner workings of our park like our residents do. This is a big advantage if you are selling your home.

Check out our improved website (www.lacasaswfl.com) and see what people looking online are able to see when they look at homes for sale in La Casa.

Interested residents can stop by the LCRE office and see our broker, Gary Beeler, if you would like to become a LCRE volunteer.

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