About Pasco County, FL

Although your home may have been housing a traditional family of a mom, dad and two kids, savvy real estate agents will tell you that in order to attract more buyers, staging your house as one fit for multi-generations is the way to go.

More parents and grandparents are finding a need to move in with family, as many can no longer afford the increasing rates of the adult communities where they once lived. Furthermore, the economic climate is forcing many kids to return home once their schooling is done.

A recent multi-generational study conducted by the Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C., revealed that multigenerational living has been on the rise over the past decade, fueled by demographic and cultural shifts.

“One of the things that struck me about this change is that it’s coming from all directions,” said Paul Taylor, author of the report. “More young adults are moving back home, more elderly are moving in with their middle-age children and more middle-aged children are moving back with their elderly parents.”

Data from the study shows that in the 10-year span between 2000 and 2009, the number of households practicing multi-generational living increased to 33 percent, with more than 49 million Americans currently living in homes with three or more generations.

Real estate professionals are tending to highlight features such as finished walkout basements and bonus bedrooms today more than ever. That’s why when your agent tells you that switching out your office or transposing the basement play area to one that resembles more of a bedroom is the way to go, you should be listening.

When selling your home, you need to look at the process from the perspective of all buyers, not just yours. Consider how a multigenerational family might use the various spaces available, and give prospective homebuyers options to easily transform from single-family to multigenerational living.

Therefore, any home that contains bonus space is a viable candidate for a multigenerational buyer who’s planning to bring an ill or out-of-work family member back into the fold.

Experts agree that intergenerational living is easier when each family subunit has its own space. “Everyone who is going to share the home should have a private area of their own,” said Amy Goyer, a multigenerational expert at AARP. “It is best if there is more than one common area so that children and adults have spaces to relax in without everyone having to spend all their free time in the same room together.”

Multigenerational house design can be applied to just one structure or can be accomplished with two or three units to keep families together while preserving their independence and privacy.

According to Cam Marston, author and founder of the research firm Generational Insight, there are a number of benefits for different generations of a family living together. “It’s less expensive, obviously, but more importantly, they can learn from one another,” Marston said. “Separating generations keeps them aloof from the trends and important things impacting each generation. When they are all under one roof, they can grow up sooner and stay young longer. It works on both ends of the generations.”

Another thing for home sellers to consider when it comes to attracting multigenerational buyers is the home’s accessibility for people who might be living with aging parents who use wheel chairs or walkers.

Creating a complete, accessible living space on one level with safety features can make a home attractive to people of all ages.

As they usually do each year, the residents of Colony Hill Community in Zephyrhills, Florida will be offering bi-weekly Pancake Breakfasts to people who live in the area or who are wintering here. Colony Hills is located on Lanier Road, just south of the State Road 54 Intersection. It is very easy to find and just a few minutes west of the city center.

The first one that they told me about will be on this Saturday, November 12, 2011 and then run more-or-less every other weekend, with breaks for Christmas Eve and New Years Eve.

Their offerings will be: pancakes, French toast, sausage, scrambled eggs, juice and coffee.

Donation of $3.00 is requested.

Time: 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM

Dates:    November 12

            November 26

            December 10

            January 7

            January 21

            February 11

            February 25

            March 10   

            March 24

            April 7

Those are the dates the subdivision office gave me. So, to the best of my ability, they are correct.

Posted by JOHN ELWELL - REALTOR at CENTURY 21 Bill Nye Realty, Inc. 813-783-4444  Licensed in Florida.

If you are looking for your place under the Florida sun, Zephyrhills could be just the spot that you are searching for. Remember, winter will soon be HERE!

To assist you, I am attaching an updated Adobe PDF file to this post that shows just some of the single-family houses, villas, condos, and townhomes that are currently available for purchase here as of November 6, 2011. From that date until the day you see this list, some of these properties may have been sold (especially if it is a very old post.)If that happens, please let me know, and I can get you an up-to-the-minute list. No problem!

All you have to do is click on the following link to download the pages that you can view and/or print: Download Houses, Villas, Condos 4 Sale as of Nov. 6, 2011 They are listed from lowest price to highest. If you just want to see them on your computer, increase the view to 100% at the top of the screen so you can see them better. If you want to print them, hit PRINT, and they should print up "full-page view" automatically. The arrows on the page will help you move back and forth between all of the different pages. There are more than just the first one!

These homes are just a few of the listings from our own CENTURY 21 Bill Nye Realty, Inc.inventory and I can also send you others that are currently for sale. Not only that, but I can also e-mail you listings from other real estate companies via our Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Just let me know what your housing requirements are. I can even set up an auto-notification system so you will get immediate messages when a new listing comes on the market that meets your needs! Convenient, right??

Do keep in mind that some or many of these homes could be in registered 55+ Housing subdivisions. To check this out, you can visit the State of Florida's 55+ registry page. Just click on the following link for a list of such subdivisions/parks from the state site: http://fchr.state.fl.us/housing_directory/search/Pasco/County . If in doubt, ask me, and I will get the information for you.

If you would like to contact me about these or any other homes, you can call me John Elwell - REALTOR at CENTURY 21 Bill Nye Realty, Inc. 813-783-4444 or e-mail me at: jelwell1@tampabay.rr.com You can also contact me if you have a property that you would like to sell. As you can see, I use the internet a lot and that is crucial when selling a home today!

You are also welcome to visit my main webpage at: http://www.jelwell.century21bnr.com/

Licensed in Florida