Punta Gorda, FL

Straddling Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda, Florida, nestled in between the beautiful Peace River and popular Kings Highway is Deep Creek - a gorgeous deed restricted community. I have had clients who, having just moved to this area, didn't know that Deep Creek was anything more than a creek! The truth is that it's so much more...

Deep Creek is bordered by the Deep Creek Preserve, which is a 2000-acre park with miles of trails that wind through the beautiful forest. Plans for the future include horse trails and campsites to be enjoyed in Deep Creek Preserve. Deep Creek has wide open spaces and direct access to Charlotte Harbor and the Gulf Islands. While Deep Creek is known for its natural beauty and freshwater lakes, don't forget about the golf course! Designed by Mark McCumber, a renowned golf course designer, the course found at Deep Creek is both fun and challenging.

Deep Creek is in the perfect location; it's just off of I-75, so it's only a hop, skip and a jump to airports, hospitals and cities like Tampa, Sarasota and Fort Myers. Southwest Florida has some of the best shopping and dining in the state, and you'll have it all at your back door. Deep Creek is very close to schools, grocery stores, hospitals and parks, too! Deep Creek straddles two very nice cities, so you will always have multiple options for amenities, activities and common areas.

The homes that can be found in Deep Creek can be found in all shapes, sizes and styles. Some of the smallest properties (some are less than 1,000 square feet) make great vacation homes, and are condominiums, townhouses and villas. There are also single family homes, which range in size as well from modest to grand!

If you can't wait to see if Deep Creek has homes that suit your needs, simply click here to see homes for sale in Deep Creek. You'll be glad that you looked into this amazing community!

All was not well in Paradise. Burnt Store Marina is the crown jewel of the Burnt Store corridor. This beautiful gated community contains the largest deep water marina in Southwest Florida, a waterside restaurant, a 27 hole executive golf course, a fitness center, tennis courts, walking and biking trails and more. Its residents enjoy a quality of life that is hard to find anywhere else. The community had successfully recovered from the spate of Hurricanes in 2004 and 2005 but it looked unlikely that it would be able to overcome the even greater devistation in 2006 when their beloved 27 hole executive golf course was unexpectedly closed.

The owner of the Amenities had decided to close the 27 hole executive golf course at Burnt Store Marina without notice. There were several parcels that made the course attractive for development and the owner of the amenities hadn't been running the course with the thought of making it a going business. The costs were kept high to discourage play so that there would be the appearance that the golf club was not supported by the residents which in turn would provide an argument for re-zoning the golf course for residential use. A challenge to the development plan by the residents created a running feud with the owner of the amenities and the future of the golf course at Burnt Store Marina looked bleak at best.

When the rezoning was unsuccessful, the Master Association approached the owner of the amenities with a plan to lease the golf course for 5 years. The lease would be contingent on the residents voting to support a yearly assessment. The subsequent vote ended with the residents supporting the assessment and the golf course re-opened under the management of the Master Association. The residents began to use the club with renewed excitement. However that excitement was not to last. A small group of residents began a series of law suits questioning the legality of the assessments which resulted in over a year of litigation, court cost and legal fees; again the golf course was at risk of closure.

Enter in a group of determined and concerned residents who came up with a plan to form a not-for-profit entity that would run the golf course and use the club house as an activities center. There would be no assessments. Membership to the Golf Club would be voluntary and limited to only those who joined the "activity center". To join, a member would have to agree to pay a one time initiation fee and yearly dues. Only Activity Center members would be eligible to join the golf course as a member. Activity Center members would also get discounts in the pro-shop and in the club house restaurant. The new corporation would rent the facilities from the owner under a lease that was similar to the one the Master Association had negotiated. The only block to the plan was getting enough members to agree to join in advance to make the plan work. With a very short deadline to get this done, the new committee reached out to the local residents and within a very few months had enough commitments to save the golf club!

Thank you everyone, the golf course has been saved. In fact, after only a few months, the activity center and golf course are being well used. Activities are being planned monthly for the club house and the course is in great shape. The biggest benefit to this whole situation is the added sense of community that resulted from everyone getting together to save the course.

For those of you who have visited Punta Gorda recently, I think you will agree that we have a lot of development going on in our downtown. It really is quite exiting. A recent articles in the Charlotte Sun gave an update on two projects; one on the home stretch and another just starting. I have electronic copies of the article available for those who are interested. Simply contact me and I'll forward it on to you.

The project on the home stretch is the Sunloft Center. They just removed the large crane off the top of this 4 story building which has been there for over a year. If you haven't seen this building in person the pictures don't do it justice. With the mix of façade styles, owner Franz Hartl and architect Bill Pansari have made this building much different than your typical downtown office building. Once completed, this will really be an asset to our downtown.

The project just starting is the ground breaking of the much talked about Sheraton Four Points Hotel. This will be part of Harbor Yacht Club which will front on our downtown waterfront. Many of you will remember that this is where the Holiday Inn (and Howard Johnson's) used to be. An important part of this project is that our city negotiated an irrevocable easement that will become part of a public promenade along our waterfront. Our city officials have long envisioned a pedestrian walkway along our waterfront and this was one of the pieces needed to make it a reality.

Conctact me for more information on Punta Gorda or more specifically, the Punta Gorda real estate market. I'm always happy to share my knowledge of the area with anyone interested.

The most common question that I hear from prospective buyers these days is, "Has the real estate market hit bottom yet?". That is a difficult question to answer because you can never tell when you're at the bottom. In fact, you won't know for sure until the market data shows that you have already started to rebound. At that point, for those trying to time the market, they have missed the bottom.

What I can tell you is that our office has definitely noticed an increase in activity. I looked at our MLS data that shows year to date (1-1-08 thru 5-15-08) there have been 61 homes sold in Punta Gorda Isles. This compares to 45 sold in the same period last year. That's a 35.5% increase. Plus there are another 33 homes in PGI in pending (under contract, but not yet closed).

The Charlotte Sun reported on Wednesday, May 14th that the Punta Gorda area was leading the state with a sales increase of 6% for the first quarter of 2008 compared to 2007 and a 23% increase over the fourth quarter of last year. Remember, when they cite Punta Gorda as a metropolitan statistical area, we are so small that it includes all of Charlotte County, not just the city of Punta Gorda.

Is this the bottom of the market? No one really knows. Only time will tell.

Visit our website for more information on recent Punta Gorda home sales or to search available Punta Gorda homes for sale.

~ Kevin

Kevin Hughes
Buyer's Specialist for
The Andreae Group
RE/MAX Harbor Realty
www.ilovepuntagorda.com

Punta Gorda Isles, Florida

Simply Paradise!

Punta Gorda Isles is a community with over 129 square miles of waterfront on Charlotte Harbor with access to the Gulf of Mexico. The Peace River and Myakka River are easily accessible as well - a true fishermans' paradise! Punta Gorda was named one of the top 10 "Best Small Cities to Live" by Money Magazine twice - in 1996 and again in 2003. Incorporated in 1877, it is the only City in Charlotte County.

Punta Gorda Isles is a deed-restricted community. Many different housing options are available.

Downtown Punta Gorda provides many charming dining and shopping opportunties. The downtown area is undergoing many revitalization projects. Many Historic homes and Historic buildings can be found in the Punta Gorda dowtown area.

For more information, visit my website.

Watch a video about Charlotte County sponsored by Charlotte State Bank. Click on the movie camera icon on their website.