1201 Monterey Blvd NE on St. Petersburg's Snell Isle

 Monterey Blvd., NE on St. Pete’s Snell Isle is featured in the September/October 2011 issue of Tampa Bay Magazine.  The feature titled, ‘An Italian Style Villa, A Snell Isle Treasure’ is reprinted herein for your enjoyment.  The property is listed at $1,700,000. 

This impressive Snell Isle property embodies the warmth of a Mediterranean villa within the walls of a concrete fortress that was built to withstand any challenge.  The centerpiece of the home is the entry foyer with its grand wrought iron railed hardwood staircase, which leads your eye to a soaring coffered ceiling that is finished with a beautiful cupola.  There is luxurious woodwork and marble throughout the residence, which was designed to be both a showplace and a livable residence with elegance as its touchstone.

A spacious great room next to the well-appointed kitchen makes informal entertaining or family living a breeze, as does the lanai, where loggias overlook the home’s pool and lush tropical foliage.

There are four bedrooms and three and a half baths within the home’s 4,421 square feet.  Other amenities include a three car garage, an irrigation system, a tile roof and mature landscaping.  In addition, there is an adjacent lot for sale, which would be suitable for building a guest cottage or a tennis court. 

The classic villa styling of this residence makes it a dramatic example of how modern engineering can enhance traditional design.  it is a home of which anyone would be proud.

‘Become a Grape Grower… The Easy Way to Succeed’

If you have ever dreamed of owning a vineyard, this is your chance to do so with ease.  Eric and Joanne Russell, who used to live on Snell Isle in St. Petersburg, are selling 45 acres of their vineyard to raise funds for the expansion of their highly successful Rabbit Ridge Winery.  The vineyard is located on a hillside overlooking the town of Paso Robles, one of the best known wine areas in Mendocino County, California.  The property also includes a 1,500 square foot farmhouse, two garages, a two bedroom mobile home and a two story barn style house.  It is deer fenced and has a 150 gallon per minute well to drip-irrigate the vines.  The vineyard will be easy to operate, since Rabbit Ridge is offering, as part of the sale, a turnkey operation, wherbyRabbit Ridge will provide everything from vineyard management to the harvesting and selling of the grapes.

The vineyard is planted with Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Sirah, Zinfandel, Grenache and Mouvedre grapes that have been used in Rabbit Ridge’s cult wines, such as Allure de Robles, Paso Robles Zinfandel, Barrel Cuvee Zinfandel and Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon.  Rabbit Ridge began making wine in Sonoma County in 1981, and moved to Paso Robles in 2001.  They now also make Le Lapin (the French word for rabbit) wines as well.

Rabbit Ridge is offering owner financing and will guarantee a minimum price per ton of grapes yielded.  In addition, there is no equipment to purchase, as Rabbit Ridge will provide any that is needed, so the only operational costs for the new owner will be contract labor, diesel, chemicals, and utilities; and Rabbit ridge will trade grapes to cover some of those costs to reduce any capital outlay.  The property even comes with a money-back guarantee.  If after five years the buyer is tired of the wine business, Rabbit Ridge will repurchase the property at whatever price the purchaser paid for it. 

So, if you have ever wanted to tell people about your vineyard in California, this may be the easiest way imaginable to get those bragging rights.  That and a ten dollar bill should get you a glass of wine almost anywhere. 

The Rabbit Ridge vineyard is located on the west side of Highway 101 in Paso Robles, California and produces some of the finest wines in the area.

In the November 10th issue of the St. Pete Times’ Neighborhood Times section, Staff Writer Katherine Snow Smith examines how after a long dry spell in sales along Snell Isle’s swanky Brightwaters Boulevard waterfront mansions, over a third of them have sold in the past two months at a deep discount.  Smith credits this recent spike in sales to the fact that some seller are finally offering buyers a deal they can’t refuse. 

In her article, Smith asks Brightwaters Boulevard real estate specialist Frank Malowany for his input on all the recent sales and their relation to the current state of St. Petersburg’s luxury real estate market.   In the article Malowany positively states:

“In the last six months, I think we’ve seen buyers who have finally realized this is pretty close to the price in the plateau,” said Frank Malowany, a real estate agent with the Malowany Group, which specializes in luxury real estate. “It’s not going to get much below what they are asking.”

To read the article in full, please click here.

duPont Registry – A Buyers Gallery of Fine Homes. 

We are reprinting the article here until a link is posted in a few weeks.  Thanks for reading!

‘St. Pete House Breaks with Design Convention’ – If you think of Florida luxury property and visualize Mediterranean homes with clay roof tiles, consider revising that vision.  A St. Petersburg property departs from local aesthetic traditions with a contemporary design that was inspired by properties found on the Caribbean Islands of St. Barts and St. Kitts.  “This was a vision of the owner and builder, who spends a lot of time in those places, and there is nothing like this house along the west coast of Florida,” comments Rebecca Lemmon, who is co-listing the home with Frank Malowany.  They are part of the Malowany Group of Smith  & Associates Real Estate Inc., in St. Petersburg.

The house is situated on Snell Isle, a peninsula that Malowany says offers residents luxury living on the water, a beach lifestyle, access to marinas, a choice of three private schools, and no congestion.  Yet, it is less than two miles from the increasingly cosmopolitan downtown St. Petersburg, which is accessible either by car or via a scenic bike ride or walk.  The 4000 square foot villa features five bedrooms, five baths and offers multiple lifestyle options to prospective buyers.

On one hand, it can be a venue for entertaining and recreation.  After all, the design features what Lemmon and Malowany call a relaxed indoor-outdoor flow and a sprawling open floor plan that is capped by vaulted and beamed ceilings.  Floor to ceiling windows deliver exceptional water views.

and for boaters and car enthusiasts, the property offers a four car garage and a dock with a seven ton boat lift that and a harborage that can accommodate a 60 foot yacht.

On the other hand, the property can also serve as a sanctuary.  The back of the property offers covered outdoor living space, a fireplaces and a Travertine marble sundeck that surrounds a negative edge pool.  “It’s like being in a resort year-round,” comments Lemmon.

Moreover, Malowany sees tremendous value in the St. Petersburg market, particularly for someone relocating from more costly areas.  “St. Petersburg took a change in the recent economy, but not a hit,” he says.  “Someone selling a $6 million-dollar home elsewhere can come and buy a comparable home for $2 million here.  They can live the high life and put a yacht in the backyard on someone ’ money.”

Reprint from ‘St. Pete House Breaks with Design Convention’ by Elyse Umlauf in the December 2010 issue of duPont Registry.

Old Northeast Cape Cod Bungalow

This week our newest listing in the Old Northeast, 153 29th Avenue N in St. Petersburg was featured by the Smith & Associates Real Estate Blog.  To view the article, click here http://smithblogonline.com/2010/09/09/featured-property-153-29th-avenue-n/

“The discounts were hefty. One St. Petersburg home was listed for $2.95 million and sold for just over $1 million in March. Another in Redington Beach had a loan for $1.5 million and sold for $1 million flat.”

Luxury homes like these around the Bay area can now be had for less than the cost of their original construction. And yes, financing may be scarce, but for those capable buyers who may be taking the “wait and see” approach, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better deal on a luxury home than right now.

To read the full article and learn more about the state of jumbo loans in the Tampa Bay market, click here.

Before Staging Photo - 29th Avenue N

I admit that for years, I didn’t understand the real value in staging a home to sell.  I thought it looked nice but wasn’t worth the cost to the seller and to me as a Realtor.  That is until now!

Over the past year or so I began noticing that the homes that were selling quickly, particularly in the Old Northeast section of St. Petersburg were almost all professionally staged.  I recently took on a listing at 153 29th Avenue N in the Old Northeast.  I knew the home well and had the listing as a rental off and on over the years.   This past June, the tenants moved out and the owners decided to list it for sale instead of as a rental.   We priced the property to sell and had every confidence that a quick offer was right around the corner.   After a month, we had dozens of showings and no offers.  I repeatedly received comments from prospective buyers and their agents that the house “looked like a rental, not a home,” or “it showed too cold, tired, or empty.”  That is when I decided to approach the owners about staging their home to sell.  We had to breathe some life into this house if we were going to get it sold!

The owners were open minded and interviewed several different companies.  They finally settled on Pam Fox with Artistic Staging & Design.  Pam had a ton of industry experience and came highly recommended by friends and other real estate agents in the area who swore by her service.   Pam’s success rate was evident as well, most of the homes she stages sell within the first two months.  Moreover, Pam’s rates were more than reasonable, which didn’t hurt in making the final decision too.

Upon the owners signing the contract, the work was complete in less than a week.  As Pam says, you want the prospective buyers to say “Wow, I want to live here!”  I can tell you that when I walked into the house for the first time after the job was complete on Friday, I said the same thing!

After Staging by Artistic Staging & Design

This weekend we had the property professionally photographed (you can see the before and after pictures here).  Upon loading the new listing and photo spread into the MLS I received three showing appointments right off the bat too!  Take a look here at the virtual tour, it is truly amazing!  I know it has only been two days, but the property is priced to sell and shows like a million dollars.  I am confident that it is only a matter of short time before we receive that offer!  I will continue to keep everyone posted on the progress.  It should be fun!

Thanks to Pam Fox for doing such an outstanding job and to Don Miller of Don Miller Foto for producing such a fabulous photo spread, as usual!