Whenever I help clients sell a home, we identify all the value-added features of the property and work to accentuate them. Oftentimes, a little extra attention to a certain feature can return a big payoff. One thing that many people don't first consider is attic space, but there's a lot of value up in those rafters.

What tends to happen in a Florida home is that the attic gets used for storage and is largely forgotten about, except for around the holidays when we haul out the decorations. But if you're looking to upgrade a home, one of the first places you should look is up. Ultimately, an attic can serve one of two very important roles: energy efficiency or livable space.

Energy Efficiency
Although the Department of Energy has minimum

Life on the water gives people immediate access to an all-new world. Whether you want to explore the mangroves in a kayak, do a little fishing off the dock, or launch a trip into the Gulf, waterfront living has grand advantages for those who wish to pursue natural beauty and an active life. Just the opportunity offered in a waterfront home to step out your back door and onto the sands of Siesta Key is nearly invaluable already. 

In Herman Melville's Moby Dick, Ishmael says that "water and meditation are wedded forever." That's another important reason why people are attracted to water. Yet scientists are now realizing that there are even more advantages to living on the water beyond meditation and "fun in the sun." 

In his new book Blue Mind,

The face of Sarasota is always changing, and that means any real estate resource worth its salt must adapt to the city's evolution. That's why the Sarasota Property Finders site has recently undergone an expansion, now offering the ability to browse listings of villas, townhouses, and newly-constructed homes!

As the economy improves, developers are back in action and builders are back to work. You can witness the changing landscape of the downtown area in real time as over 500 new residences are being added to the community, but there are also quite a few homes that have just become available -- and might be just right for you.

New homes ranging from under a hundred thousand dollars to well over eight million have come on the market lately, and

Photo by Sanibel sun (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

In a prior blog post, I talked about some of the changes coming to downtown Sarasota (namely, the construction of five new hotels), but I left out a very big change that really deserves a blog all to itself. I'm referring to the upcoming Legacy Trail extension that will connect the existing bike and walking trail that ends south of Clark Road to downtown Sarasota. If you've ever tried to get around Sarasota by bicycle during season, you would not exactly call the area “bike friendly.” With roads that are crammed to capacity with automobile traffic, there doesn't seem to be much room for alternative transportation. But all of that is about to change.

Even if you are not a