Guy Harvey Ultimate Shark Challenge

The Guy Harvey Ultimate Shark Challenge Tournament and festival returns to southwest Florida by making its Punta Gorda debut May 13th through 15th at Laishley Park.  The tournament, hosted by Laishley Crab House, combines competitive big-game sport fishing with science, practical conservation principles and informative entertainment.  teams competing for 15,000 in cash and prizes as they fish Charlotte Harbor and Gulf of Mexico.

ultimatesharkchallenge.com

Holy Week at Community Church Includes Sanibel Causeway Service

As Resurrection Sunday approaches, Sanibel Community Church offers many opportunities to have faith renewed as it celebrates the season. 

April 17, Palm Sunday
Regular Service at 8am, 9am and 10:45 am
Children Singing-Palm Branches Waving-Hosanna to the King !

April 17th, Healing Service
6:00pm Fellowship Hall

April 21st,  Maundy Thursday
Noon: Upper RoomLuncheon, Fellowship Hall.
Reservations Required
7:00pm: Candlelight Communion Service

April 23, Easter Egg Hunt
11:00am-1:00pm

April 24, Resurrection Sunday
6:30am : Sunrise Service on the Causeway
2nd Island from Sanibel

Free Coffee and Donuts-Bring a Friend-Bring a Lawn Chair

Sanibel Community Church
1740 Periwinkle Way
239-472-2684

http://www.sanibelchurch.com/pages/page.asp?page_id=66539

Childrens Center of the Islands Spring Festival

The Childrens Center of the Islands Spring Festival is just around the corner.  Hop on over to the Sanibel Community Park on Sat April 23rd from 10am to 1pm for a free Easter Egg Hunt, sponsored by Bank of the Islands at 10am.

The festival begins immediately following with pony rides, face painting, bounce house, giant slide, games, crafts, silent auction, Easter basket raffle food and music.

Selling your home? Drop the nines

MADISON, Wis. – March 31, 2011 – While many Realtors continue to use 9’s in their asking pricing – setting a price of $499,999 or $599,000, for instance, to make buyers think they’re paying less – the strategy can actually minimize marketing exposure now that buyers typically use search engines to look for properties.

The search engines group properties in 0’s, 25’s, 50s, and 75’s, so Realtors would be wise to revise their pricing strategies accordingly. For example, a property with a price of $399,000 will be seen by buyers searching for homes up to $400,000; but buyers searching for a home between, say, $400,000 and $500,000 won’t see it.

Sellers should understand that buyers set the value of the home, and they should be more concerned about pricing the property correctly the first time.

Metrostudy: Housing shortage on the horizon?

WASHINGTON – April 1, 2011 – Mike Castleman, founder and CEO of Metrostudy, which tracks real-time data of the country’s inventory of new homes, says a housing shortage is looming that will soon create a huge surge in demand for new homes. As such, now is the time to buy, he says.

In the 41 cities Metrostudy covers, 78,000 houses are either vacant and for sale, or under construction – that is less than a quarter of the new homes that fell in that category during the housing boom in 2006 and way below the level of a decade ago.

“If we had anything like normal levels of buying, those houses would sell in 2½ months,” says Castleman. “We’d see an incredible shortage. And that’s where we’re heading.

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John R Wood Island Real Estate 1st quarter stats

John R. Wood Island Real Estate 1^st quarter statistics 2011

Up 7% in sales volume

Up 15% in units closed

Up 27% in pending sales

Current Pending  Sales Activity 2011 Residential  total #’s 

4/6   3/23   3/16      3/8      2/24     2/17

34      34        34           40        30         31

Pending  Sanibel 2011 Condominiums total #’s

4/6     3/23     3/16      3/8      2/24

33       31          30           24         16

Annual Letter Carrier Food Drive on Sanibel and Captiva.. May 14th

Residents are urgered to leave non-perishables in thier mailbox on May 14th to support the Lee County Harry Chapin Food Bank.  There is an increasing need for food in Southwest Florida and It is important that the food drive be a sucess.  If you are a snowbird returning north before May 14th you can drop off your no perishable food items to your local post office.

Fore more information visit:

http://www.harrychapinfoodbank.org/