Royal Harbor annual Meeting

WE had the Royal Harbor Homeowners annual meeting last Monday. The Mayor and 4 council persons as well as the Assistant City Manager came to meet with us. Each gave us a little talk about how important Royal Harbor was to the city.
Then the members of the Association Board who were committee chairpersons reported to the group on the past year. Various topics included the addition of new street lights, a new web site, the planting of new trees along the right of way, the dredging permit and expectations on when we will see the dredger and reports on the past year activities. This was a one hour meeting and all who attended were pleased, (at least I had no negative comments)
As president I held the meeting and the final election of 2011 board members was affirmed.
This looks like it is going to be an active year in Real Estate. I am very busy and have several deals in here right now. We have goine from 68 listings in Royal Harbor to i9n the middle 40's. So inverntory is shrinking.
There are 12 new homes under construction at this time.

My new resolution is to try and keep this more updated. Since 2008 the Real Estate market in Royal Harbor has dropped, dropped and dropped in value. A look at a graph of values in the Naples area will show a bell curve. In 2000 and 2001 prices were about where they are now. The in between years shows a steady rise until 2006 and 2007 when prices began to fall and now here we are back at the level we were in 10 years ago. So is this the low?
No one can forsee the future but look at the signs. 12 new housing starts inRoyal Harbor right now. (some are complete make-overs but still will result in a new home) the number of homes for sale has gone from the upper 60's (68 to 69) last year to now in mid 40's. So supply is slowly getting back to balance. With 415 homes in here, 40 some on the market should be close to a correct number.
So why are we here? Is it forclosurers, short sales or just -lower prices? Well, all 3. The few forcosures and short sales helped drive prices down but the real drive to lower prices was the market at work. Buyers refused to buy at the higher levels. As prices dropped more and more people were willing to jump in and buy. The low end is now in the 600,000,s (an exception may be a really poor lot or torn up home) and the upper is is ????. Most of the upper end has sold in the 2.5 million range. Still there are a few holding out for 3 million or more.
I have several listings in the area and I am really busy with showings and offers. I have 2 pending and several I think are going to go to contract in the next few weeks.
This is an overview. If you are reading this and want up to date information on a specific price range in here then email me. trforshier@premiereplusrealty.com

If you are looking for a condo with access to waterfront that is a different market. More on that later this week.

Royal Harbor's new entrance

here is a look at the new Entrance to Royal Harbor at the corner of Sandpiper and Marlin streets.This looks great and is one of only a few projects that made past last years budget cuts. Safety being the main reason it passed. This new look really helps the overall "curb appeal" of Royal Harbor. The homeowners association and the late Fraser Smithson are to be congratulated on completion of this project as they kept on the Council until it passed.

City Dock gets new leadership

Many residents have followed the city councils review of the Naples City Dock and the disclosures that it continues to lose money. This is not just due to poor management. It is also poor accounting that was imposed on the city by the council. Council requested the staff interpolate costs of doing business there. So with what information it had the Staff tried but some of the results were pretty far off actuals. I can't remember exactly but for writing checks it was something like $200 per transaction. Also the city decided charge an interpolated tax to the dock. In other words although the dock paid no tax they were charged as if they did. The feeling was that put it on an even keel with the regular suppliers that had to pay tax. Then also included was a very large amount for legal fees. There have been some dandy law suits filed against the city dock over tha past few years and these are chaged against the dock. Now the Dock lost money, true but Nothing like was first reported.
The City Dock should be shining example to the boating community but it has not been. It has been mired in the mud with controversy around the bay. Anchorages, live aboards, speed zones, moorings, facilities and really relativly poor dock side services.
Lets hope that Bill Moss, who really seems to get this, can push, pull or shove the new manager and staff into making this a proud spot for Naples.

East Naples Bay Dredging hits snag

The East Naples Bay taxing district has hit a snag. After several years of planning and the permit ready to file it now appears this project is in jeopardy. The reason the amounts of money to be collected will not meet the bank ratio of what they now want to fund the project. I and a member from the taxing district went before the city council and asked the council to use the city funds to finance this project and then collect the repayment from the taxing district. This would be a win win. The plan narrowly passed on a 4/3 vote but only thanks to the help from city manager Bill Moss who proposed the plan. More on this later after the Royal Harbor Homeowner association reviews upcomming plans for the "straw pole vote".

IKE misses Florida and Naples Waterfront

IKE was pushed south by the strong Bermuda high and kept in check by wind sheer. this kept Naples and South Florida, even the KEYS, from the hurricane winds. All Naples had was another small surge in tide levels.
On the Real Estate front a few foreclosures in Royal Harbor are starting to sell in the area showing that most think we have reached the bottom of the market. Good news for buyers not so good for those wanting to sell.

Formation of East Naples Bay Advisory board

The newly appointed East Naples Bay advisory board met today for the first time. they were updated by the engineering firm hired by the city council to do the research on the area. they elected a chairman, Ted Toybe and V. Chmn Jim Doan other members are Bonnie Mattieo, Terry Green, Harold Oldak and chip Harris (who was not present.)
The meeting was an organizational one. One public speaker (me) spoke to the new committee regarding funding and the 4 separate areas to be dredged. Royal Harbor, Oyster Bay, Golden Shores and Naples Bay. It was suggested each fund its own area. The committee asked the engineers to break out the costs by these 4 areas and to have them ready for the next meeting Oct 6.