Greg Snow - Southwest Florida Real Estate Expert provides real estate services to Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Sanibel and Captiva Islands

 As our schoolchildren escape from their school year imprisonment (according to many of them), I can recall a song by Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Robert Plant, and John Bonham named "The song remains the same", www.ledzepplin.com. I have lived here in southwest Florida's Lee County since they let Ronald Regan take office for a second term and many things have stayed constant and many have REALLY changed. Let's have a look-see: The unadultered shriek from both parents and their children when school ends covers opposite ends of the joy-horror spectrum and is most likely a national , if not international given. Our weather pattern is hot and humid n the early morning changing to really hot and really humid by noon to the loud roar of thunder and lightning and pounding quick shower around 4:00ish to the heat is back on around 5:00ish. The desire for water, for consumption, bathing, cooling off, boating, swimming, or fishing is at the top of your demand survival list. Everyone's countdown for football seems to go on and we yearn for our country's passion to arrive sooner than later. The service and retail industry tightens their belts, locals vacation in N.C., Key West seems to be calling for a visit, and our real estate market goes into a kinda of somnabulistic trance and crawls through the summer and early fall.

 As we roll into a hot, humid, thunderstorm driven time of the year in Southwest Florida, one thinks of all the good and maybe not-so-good occurences that accompany "the rainy season". Our eyes and ears are in tune with any developments in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic. Our fabulous demand location has fine beaches, fishing, golfing, parks, concerts, arts and crafts, musuems, and sports events to watch or participate in. Real estate is really affordable. Mortgage rates are attractive. Quality of life is often the preferred item at the top of everyone's list to live in southwest Florida. Health care is readily available as is care for our oldest generation. Schools have improved. Roads have.... well, the BOB barricade people must be really doing great. Our County Commissioners just approved $20 million to buy land near the airport and I-75 interstate to build a new stadium for the Boston Red Sox, www.bostonredsox.com, and will find another $40-50 million for construction. Lee County is also angling to get the Baltimore Orioles to re-locate here which would give us three Major Legue Baseball teams (Minnesota Twins ) www.minnesotatwins.com .

 One of our great destination hot spots in southwest Florida Lee County is Bonita Springs and recently it has garnered news in a not so positive fashion. My brother Dan, has a wonderful Italian restaurant, Futuro's, on Bonita Beach Road, where beryone raves about the food, especially the Philly cheesesteak and the pizza's. Our local newspaper, www.news-press.com, had a story about the late James Bernet's empire of commerical properties going on the market for a $61.2 million dollars in a stale real estate market. Included in the almost 300,000 square feet of office, retail, and warehouse space is the First Florida Bank, along with the Bernwood Shoppes, and Bernwood Design Center. With a vacany rate climbing from 7% in 2007 to over 35% today, it's gonna take a special person(s) to want to pull the trigger on parts if not all of this offering.

 Door number two: The Bonita Bay Group has been told by it's lenders to get rid of the money losing clubs, along with the five golf courses, or else. Difficulty with paying off $120 million line of credit will get anyone's undivide attention. Current membes quarterly dues must be paid by July 1st or all club operations will probably be suspended soon after. Somewhere between 30-35% of the Bonita Bay membership use the club year-round. Many members are upset, and are asking for ownership based on $54 million in deposits already contributed. Stay tuned as one of our area's real estate success stories heads for bankruptcy, the courts, and hard feelings by the residents in these communities. It will be very difficult to buy or sell in any of these properties: Sandoval, Verandah, Twin Eagles, Mediterra, Shadow Wood, or Bonita bay.

 On this sultry Saturday, May 23rd, Memorial Day week-end, so many thoughts, ideas, and feelings run rampant through our southwest Florida area. If I MAY wax realistically (Being that it is MAY :), The entire week-end has so many connotations from area graduations, stark and profound hunger here in Lee County, Bonita Bay Group unloading it's six clubs at it's area developments, Jon Gruden getting the Monday Night Football gig, www.sports.espn.go.com, to the Indy 500 and Coke 600, French Open opens, National Basketball semi-finals, www.nba.com, a new American Idol is crowned, some favorite TV shows get axed, homers flying out of the new Yankee stadium, and of course the news of Amy Mickelson being diagnosed with breast cancer.

Internationally we have turmoil in the world's financial markets, our U.S dollar falling against other benchmark currencies, the continuing issues with the Fab Four of Iran, Iraq, North Korea, and Afghanistan, Somali pirates still ahead on style points, our shuttle still out in space, drug cartels still ahead on heads in Mexico, and a world that resembles the film "Rollover", www.blockbuster.com/movies/rollover.html, with no all of us with "our oars in the water".

  On Thursday May 21st, the remaining 48,000 plus tax certificates for unpaid 2008 property taxes are auctioned off to the lowest interest rate bidder (no higher than 18 %). This is a great opportunity for savy bidders to get a better return rate than on U.S Treasury bills. The winning bidder must deposit $300 or 5%, which ever is higher and complete the payment by May 25. If the property taxes remain unpaid by April 1, 2011, the certificate holder can intiate a tax deed to gain possession of the property, www.leetc.com.

 For whatever reason the owner did not or could not pay the tax bill, the certificates begin earning interest, even the ones not purchased earn 18% for Lee County, Florida. We have over $116 million in unpaid tax bills. The largest is over $800,000 on a 583 acre  parcel on Bonita Beach Road owned by the Ronto Group, www.rontogroup.com. Some tax bills are alot less like $359 on a residential lot in Lehigh Acres. Since anyone can participate in bidding, it is good sense to have someone knowlegeable so one doesn't purchase a "problem" property with environmental issues. This is a nice safe return on investment if one doesn't mind the wait.

 When our Lee County Florida Property Appraiser, www.leepa.org, Ken Wilkerson warned us of a likely 30% drop in our property values , and maybe 50% or more in Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres, the idea of extra revenue to keep our area going was only a remote possibility. The May 6th Wednesday edition of the News-Press, www.news-press.com, had 88 pages of 7 lines each with tiny print of all the tax certificates from 2008 that are delinquent, many are unimproved land , but homes, condos, income property are all well represented. Our unemployment rate at almost 12%, the hungry and homeless incresing in large numbers, funding for arts and other civic projects on hold, local leaders and businessmen getting fired or facing jail time, rainy season on the horizon and hurricane season only 17 days away, we're hoping we have reached the time to look for the best opportunities for redemption and resuscitation.