Brandon Florida Real Estate

Moss Landing is a gated community located off the beaten path on the outskirts of Riverview.  Secluded from the hustle and bustle of the busy roads, yet just a short drive to I-75 and I-4.  Moss Landing is within a short drive to Brandon, Tampa, restaurants and shopping.

Moss Landing consists of 310 single family residences surrounded by old beautiful trees and preserves.   

There are currently 2 builders building in Moss Landing.  KB homes and Adams Homes.

Single family homes range in size from 1,277 to 3,508 sq ft.

Moss Landing is located in Riverview off Balm Riverview Rd.  Take I-75 to Exit 250, head East on Gibsonton-Boyette Road. Turn right at Balm Riverview Road, Moss Landing is 1 mile on the right.

I took my first drive through this community a couple days ago and I was pretty impressed.  It's a beautiful community.  You are welcomed into the community via a long winding road lined with lush tropical trees, greenery and rock waterfalls. 

Valenica Lakes is a resort syle community for adults, which means there are age restrictions.  They are currently in the process of building a 27,000 sq ft club house.  They will also have plenty of other amenities when completed.

• complete fitness center
• resort pool
• resistance pool
• pool area spa
• cabana bath
• aerobics studio
• art studio and gallery
• wine bar
• social hall with raised stage and dance floor
• gaming room
• multi-purpose room
• internet cafe
• locker facilities with steam
• saunas
• evaluation rooms
• 6 Har-Tru tennis courts with shade pavilions
• Pickle ball and bocce ball courts
• Half court basketball
• Grandchildren's tot lot
• Horseshoes play area
• Community gardens
• Dog park with agility training
• RV and boat parking
• recreational paths
• wide variety of clubs
• concerts

One thing I noticed was that all of the homes have tile roofs and brick paved driveways. 

You can select from villas or single family style homes.

Valencia Lakes is located in Wimauma off Hwy 301 just a couple miles north of CR 674 and just a short drive to Sun City Center, a brand new Super Wal-Mart, restaurants, hospital, doctors offices, pharmacies, grocery stores, shopping and banks.

I found a commercial on YouTube and several other short videos that walk you through the model homes.  Feel free to watch them!

The prices are lower now than mentioned in this video.  Their website as of today says the villas start at $159,900.  Prices are subject to change at any given time though.

Belmont is a brand new community in Ruskin that is currently being built.  Belmont sits on nearly 1,000 acres and will have over 2,000 residences when completed.

Once completed, Belmont will offer a lot of amenities:

• 10,000 square foot pool complex
• Olympic size pool
• Splash zone
• Flume slide
• A 7.5-acre park area
• Fishing pier that will extend into one of the park's ponds
• Putting green
• 2 playgrounds
• Basketball courts
• Sand volleyball
• Fields to play in
• A colorful main boulevard to take a stroll down
• Outdoor picnic pavilion
• Bocce Ball Courts

Belmont is located in Ruskin off Hwy 301 about 2 miles south of Big Bend Rd.

I was reading the news online this morning and of course this headline caught my attention right away. 

"The report says the Florida Office of Financial Regulation issued licenses to more than 10,000 people with criminal records, including more than 4,000 that cleared background checks despite committing crimes such as fraud, racketeering and extortion."

"The office is also accused of failing to perform criminal background checks most of the time, despite a state law that mandates such checks."

"The man in charge of the Office of Financial Regulation, Commissioner Don Saxon, says he has no idea why his staff issued licenses to bank robbers and those convicted of fraud."

What the heck were they thinking?  Issuing a license to someone with a criminal record?  Good grief, all those people need to be fired!  That's pretty pathetic to say the least!  These people they gave a license to have access to all those people's financial information and they didn't think it was important enough to read through the background check, to check for crimes before issuing them a license?  DUH!

So what are people supposed to do now?  Run their own background check on their mortgage broker before giving up any personal or financial information?

Earlier this year, I wrote a blog post about the South Florida Museum and the Parker Aquarium located in Bradenton.  Manatee Counties famous manatee named Snooty lives at the Parker Aquarium.  He is turning 60 on Monday and they are throwing him a birthday party this weekend!

When: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday

Where: South Florida Museum, Parker Aquarium, 201 10th St. W., Bradenton

Special admission Saturday: The event in the courtyard is free. There also will be reduced admission prices for the aquarium, planetarium and natural history museum.

Information: 746-4131 or www.southfloridamuseum.org

*Video is from the Bradenton Herald

Hillsborough County
Condos
# of condos Active on the market - 2,241
# of condos sold in the last 6 months - 588
Average condo sale price - $188,787
Median condo price - $135,000
Average days on market for condos - 240

Single Family Homes (SFH)
# of SFH Active on the market - 9,612
# of SFH sold in the last 6 months - 3,985
Average SFH sale price - $262,523
Median home price - $205,000
Average days on market for SFH - 146

• Hillsborough County is 1,266 square miles
• In 2007, the Hillsborough County Planning Commission conducted a population estimate that put the county's population at 1,204,770.

Manatee County
Condos
# of condos Active on the market - 1,797
# of condos sold in the last 6 months - 404
Average condo sale price - $275,475
Median condo price - $175,000
Average days on market for condos - 128

Single Family Homes (SFH)
# of SFH Active on the market - 5,709
# of SFH sold in the last 6 months - 1,905
Average SFH sale price - $333,987
Median home price - $250,000
Average days on market for SFH - 108

• Manatee County is 741 square miles
• The U.S. Census Bureau 2007 estimate for the county is 315,108

State Farm has asked for an average increase of 47% on Florida Homeowner's policies. 

If the rate hike is passed, south Florida residents in Miami-Dade could see rate hikes as high as 70%.

"State Farm, which has been working aggressively in recent years to reduce its catastrophe risk in Florida, said earlier this year it wouldn't write new homeowner policies in the state. State Farm hasn't written new policies in South Florida for more than a decade. It's also not renewing about 50,000 policies in coastal areas throughout the state over the next year."

"State Farm's last rate increase was approved in 2006. That rate hike left many South Florida policyholders with premiums that jumped 100 percent or more."

If this is passed, it would effective for policy renewals starting March 1, 2009.  An August 12th hearing in Tallahassee is set.  It will be interesting to see what happens!!

How's that commercial go again?  "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there"......NOT!!

What are your thoughts on this?

If you live in or around the SouthShore area, then you're probably already familiar with the areas that are encompassed within SouthShore.  However, if you don't then you may be asking yourself "where the heck is SouthShore"?

The term SouthShore relates to the areas located within South Hillsborough County.  SouthShore includes the following cities/areas:

• Apollo Beach
• Balm
• Gibsonton
• Lithia
• Riverview
• Ruskin
• Sun City Center
• Wimauma

If you're interested in learning more about the SouthShore area, please feel free to contact me.

If you want to live in a gated community, on the water with a Key West style home, MiraBay might just be the community you're looking for.

MiraBay sets right alongside Tampa Bay in Apollo Beach. 

There are a variety of different types of homes available in MiraBay.  Townhomes, villas and single family homes.  Townhomes start at 1,943 sq ft and go up to 2,627 sq ft.  The villas start at 1,518 sq ft and go up to 1,966 sq ft.  Single family homes start at 2,252 and go upwards of 4,200 sq ft.

MiraBay offers a lot of different amenities:

• A junior Olympic lap pool
• Large tropical pool with water slide
• Children's pool
• Fitness center
• Racquet club
• Tennis Courts
• Admiral's Lounge
• The Galley Cafe'
• On-site spa and beauty treatments
• A 4,000 sq ft banquet room for parties/receptions/gatherings
• Kayak Tours
• Sailboat classes
• Deep Sea fishing excursions
• The Outfitter's bait and tackle shop
• 1,000 acre nature preserve
• 10,000 sq ft clubhouse
• 135 acre lagoon

MiraBay is located in Apollo Beach off Hwy 41.  If you are interested in MiraBay or would like more information about MiraBay, please feel free to contact me.

Everytime I drive past this community, I want to drive through it.  I'm not sure what it is, but I just love this community.  I love the style of homes and the way they designed the shops and restaurants within walking distance of this community.  

The homes were designed in a Key West style with large porches and white picket fences and the nearby shops and restaurants at the Winthrop Town Center were designed to feel like an old town.  With brick paved steets and sidewalks, restaurants where you can eat outside while listening to live music, movies on the lawn, a farmers market and Sunday brunch...you really do feel like you're in a little town of your own.

There are 3 different types of homes in this community. 

The Cottage Series range from 3 to 4 bedrooms, 2 to 3.5 baths and 1,943 to 3,203 sq ft. 

The townhomes range from 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and 1,703 to 2,384 sq ft.

The traditional series range from 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and 1,928 sq ft to 2,467 sq ft.

The tradional series are detached stand alone single family homes.  The cottage series are attached single family homes.

Some of the nearby shops, restaurants and businesses are listed below.

• Publix
• MJ Barleyhoppers
• M oe's Southwest Grill
• Shane's Rib Shack
• Mojitos Latin Cuisine
• Starbucks
• Bellafia chocolate shop
• Happy Paws and Tails pet shop
• Heaven Scent Soap and Bath Boutique
• Anew Lifestyle & Wellness Solution
• Downtown Divas clothing boutique
• Broomstick Baby infant and toddler boutique
• Asonipse Spa and Salon (Aveda)
• Optics Soho
• King Solomon Tailor
• First Choice Hair Cutting
• Regions Bank
• Railroad Federal Credit Union
• Allstate
• H&R Block
• St. Pete Times Building
• Beaux Arts Gallery
• Surgical Center

Winthrop is located in Riverview behind the Winthrop Town Center located at Providence Rd & Bloomingdale Rd.