The View From Here

Dear friends:

SCHOOL DAZE!

It’s hard to believe summer is passing so quickly. Just days from now school bells will ring out and those giant backpacks crammed with textbooks and supplies will be slung back over small shoulders again.

Having once been a teacher myself, I feel a tinge of nostalgia every year at this time. So I can think of no better moment to sing paeans about the fabulous educational institutions that add so much verve to our community. Read all about our truly excellent menu of educational opportunities in “Another Huge Checkmark in the Plus Column.”

No doubt summer has been such a daze because buyers have finally unleashed two years of pent-up demand; swooping down on opportunities to purchase homes at once-in-a-lifetime prices. The news media is stumbling over each other to break the news that the market has bottomed and is trending towards a sustainable recover. We remain cautiously optimistic, but pending sales continue to forecast more good months ahead. Buyers are scouring the market for the best values even as sellers are setting their prices to accommodate. It all adds up to great opportunities for everyone as you’ll discover when you read “Words of Wisdom.”

Lastly the enthusiasm we feel for our recovering market is tempered by the disheartening fact that the tide of foreclosures still threatens many local homeowners. Over the past several months we have lent our advice and expertise to Sarasota County in its efforts to assist those who are still in a position to save their homes. The county’s first Hope for Homeowners seminar was held this past weekend in which representatives of Michael Saunders & Company joined more than three dozen representatives from Sarasota County, numerous social services agencies, the Sarasota Association of Realtors and other not-for-profit agencies who are united in helping our friends, families and neighbors stay in their homes. “Fighting Back Against Foreclosure” is a must-read if you or anyone you know might be in danger of losing their homes.

On that sobering note, I’ll simply say that I look forward to the day when the market is healthy again and the word foreclosure slips back out of our vocabulary.

We hope you find this edition of Saunders@Home entertaining and informative. Read on and enjoy!

Cordially,

We would love to hear your comments and suggestions as to what you would like to read in the weeks and months ahead. Please email them to me, care of editor@michaelsaunders.com. Meanwhile enjoy our sixteenth issue.

Did You Know? Our office in the lobby of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Sarasota is staffed by an elite team of real estate professionals with extensive knowledge and expertise in our area’s three Ritz-Carlton properties. Contact 941.364-8884 or visit michaelsaunders.com for more information.