We have updated our latest Housing Statistics for Fort Myers Cape Coral real estate, and for SW Florida Real Estate.  Latest charts show number of homes closed 2006 Vs. 2005 by month, and sale prices 2006 Vs. 2005 by month, as well as a breakdown of all major Florida cities.

This page is a one-stop shop for all SW Florida real estate value statistics.  If you have any questions regarding values in SW Florida real estate, please contact us.

Miami Herald featured Brett Ellis of the Ellis Team re: Blogs and what they can do for your business, as well as the time it takes to be successfull in the Blogging world.

It takes comittment, and if you do it, results will come as customers appreciate timely news about SW FLorida real estate.  Not only do we post timely news, we also post articles helpful to consumers regarding buying and selling real estate in SW Florida.

We focus on Fort Myers, Cape Coral, and all of Lee County but our tips and insight work virtually anywhere.

In preparation for the 2006 Hurricane Season, Lee County Emergency Management encourages all homeowners to remove coconuts from your palm trees as in heavy winds they can easily become projectiles that can cause severe and expensive damage. Other items to be sure to remove and/or store before June 1 st include lawn furniture, planters, pool toys and similar outdoor items.

Also, please monitor the storm drains in the street in front of your home in Reflection Lakes to be sure it is always clear of debris before a storm. After the storm has safely passed, drains should be cleared again to remove any storm debris and standing water.

Several complaints have been received about kids/teens rollerblading and/or skateboarding in common areas (sidewalks, parking lots, playground, tennis courts, etc.) of the community. These activities are strictly prohibited for safety reasons and unit owners/ parents may be subject to Violation Notices and possible fines. So please be sure that your children/teens are going to a safe environment specifically designed for these activities, one of the new skate parks in Lee County. You or your kids can call the Lee County Parks and Recreation Department @ 461-7400 for in
formation about locations, hours, etc. Everyone wants the children and teens of Reflection Lakes to enjoy their leisure activities in the safest manner and environment possible.

Recently, there have been many verified violation reports of children, teens and adults on the pool decks and in the pools well past 10:00 PM. POSTED POOL HOURS are from DAWN until DUSK SEVEN (7) DAYS A WEEK and swimmina after dark is strictlv prohibited. Avoid possible Violation Notices and fines by ensuring that you, your guests, kids and teens are always safe by only allowing them to swim during posted pool hours. Also glass containers of any type are a tremendous safety hazard and not permitted under any circumstances in pool areas.

The annual meeting was extended to April 11, 2006 and a second proxy mailing was sent in an attempt to collect enough votes to amend our documents. Unfortunately, it was NOT successful. The most important of these amendments was a change to a majority vote in order to amend. Currently, we need 66 2/3% of unit owners (542) to vote the same way, a number which you can tell is just about impossible to achieve. Hopefully, next year a door to door campaign can get under way to affect this change.
For those of you who are involved in selling your home, since the amendment did not pass the documents govern signs. That means no signs will be allowed except the 1 foot square for sale/rent Reflection lakes logo sign. Open
house signs are not allowed and the Board can take no action to change that. A thank you to those who did vote
their proxy. Your effort is appreciated but the community is still being controlled by the apathetic. Shame on them!
My congratulations are extended to the residents of the community who attended the annual meeting and discussed the gate issue in a thoughtful and reasonable manner. I recognize that with an issue such as this, that not all resi­dents will be pleased with the outcome. As much as possible the Board will try to address your concerns; however, once a decision is made to move forward the community needs to work together. Divisive action by a few individu­als serves no purpose except to pit neighbors against each other and in the long run it can cause the community to lose value to its residents and well as potential buyers. It never takes long for bad news or negative information to become public. There was some misinformation that circulated during the weeks prior to the annual meeting re­garding the gate issue. The gates were originally proposed to the Board by the safety committee in December. At the candidate’s forum before the election, gates were supported by those candidates who attended. They were dis­cussed at multiple Board meetings including two special meetings held in early April. At all of these meetings resi­dents were allowed to express opinions. Why have gates? While our location is wonderful and central to all things, we are between two heavily traveled roads. As Fort Myers grows so will the traffic and all the problems that come with it. That makes it important to control access to our community.
In order to clarify the issue the following is factual information:
First, REFLECTION LAKES PARKWAY
Nothing can be done on the Parkway until Engle turns over the Storm Water Council. When will that be? I have no idea. We have been waiting at least 3 years already. The Promenade Apartments and the Commercial Center are also mem­bers of the Storm Water Council, and Promenade has deeded access to the Parkway. It is unlikely that we could deny them access to the Summerlin end. Without individual entrance gates the hundreds of residents of Promenade will continue to have drive and walk-in access to the entire community. To gate the Parkway with a Guardhouse between Bay lake and Bald Cypress is likely to be as or more expensive than the individual gates. Extensive engi­neering studies will have to be done. Architectural plans will be needed for the Guardhouse. Electric and plumbing will be required and this only gets you started. Bay lake will be outside the guard so metal swing gates and carded walk gates will be needed there. Then the plans must be submitted to Lee County. While information tends to make us believe that it would be allowed, that is not an absolute guarantee. Guards from a reputable company on a 24/7 basis will add about $15 per month to the maintenance.

INDIVIDUAL COMMUNITY GATES
The gates selected are 16ft. swing gates with a fast drop bar at the entrance to help prevent tailgating One entrance at each community will be resident only. There will be transponders for your car for entrance at all gates. One gate will be for residents and guests. That will work on transponder or key card (clubhouse) for those times when you are not in your own vehicle. The transponders and cards will be coded to residents and entry will be recorded. The guest gates will have new entry boxes with lighted dials for guest phone entry. The gate can then be opened by your phone. The directory will contain the names of residents in only that part of the community that the gate serves. Vendor codes will be avail­able for reoccurring vendors. Ex: UPS, Mail, lawn Service etc. These codes will be set up with a limited access time, for example from 7am to 6 pm only. The gates by law are coded for 24 hour emergency vehicle en­trance. The walk gates will be new and work with the key card for entry and exit. Individual community gates does not mean that nothing will be done to control cut through traffic on the Parkway.

This is a brief summary meant to provide basic facts. Further questions can be addressed to the Board or Tom Smith, our property manager at Ben­sons. Once again, in closing I want to say that the residents of the community can take pride in the way that they approached, discussed and handled an issue that a few have tried to make divisive. WELL DONE!

CyberProfessionals held their annual meeting May 4th and 5th in Annapolis, MD.  CyberProfessionals are leaders in using technology and sharing marketing ideas in the real estate industry.
 
Brett Ellis of The Ellis Team at RE/MAX Realty Group, leading agents in SW Florida real estate, attended the meeting.
 
We always enjoy attending this meeting.  We enjoy networking and sharing Top ideas from other Top Agents in the industry.  Each year we focus on new marketing techniques and ways to make our clients properties stand out, and this year was no exception.
 
Not only do we focus on marketing, we also focus on better communication with clients, and ways to make our team more efficient.  The end result is our clients benefit in untold ways..

Lee County schools recently announced this year’s 2006 Science Fair winners.  The students submitted projects from a broad range of topics and skill sets, and proved once again that Lee County students really shine.

All students who entered are really winners because each presented unique topics and learned through testing, investigation, and  presentation.

Hello from Bella Terra,
Now that summer has rolled around again US Home Condos at Bella Terra have begun our "Summer Value Days".  Save your clients up to $18,730 in incentives and upgrades.  Additionally, anyone that purchases this weekend will receive a $3000.00 voucher for Best Buy when they close. 

Danforth Lakes Market Update

Currently there are 19 homes on the market with an average list price of $405,684  Of the 19 homes on the market, 1 is pending with a list price of $329,800

6 Listings have closed since January 1, 2006.  Average Sale Price was $367,150  2 of the 6 listings were Ellis Team at RE/MAX Listings, giving the Ellis Team a 33% market share of the sold listings this year.

The Ellis Team listed and sold 100% of their listings in Danforth Lakes.  This is primarily due to market knowledge, product knowledge of Danforth Lakes homes, and superior marketing.