Today’s Friday blog is a little late and comes to you from the Florida Realtors Convention in Orlando. SanibelSusan teammates Elise and David have been covering things on the island this week since I headed north on Tuesday.

I spent all day Wednesday auditioning instructors for state-approved classes. We recommended several which we will vote on in commitee meeting tomorrow.

Yesterday, I attended a variety of technology and broker classses, plus attended the annual Keynote Awards Luncheon with entertainment by funny guitar virtuoso Mike Rayburn. There are some good recordings of him on YouTube.com.

Thanks to Florida Realtors and our convention work with Forms Simplicity, The SanibelSusan Team will be joining the electronic-signature age when I return to the island. Anyone with an email address will be able to sign our listing and sale contracts electronically, from computer, laptop, iPad, or smart phone. It’s pretty cool!

At the awards luncheon yesterday, several pals from Southwest Florida were recognized. Fort Myers Beach Realtor and friend, Cynthia Shafer, was awarded the state 2015 Humanitarian Award. For more than 20 years, Cynthia has volunteered helping children in Southwest Florida. Through the Guardian Ad Litem Foundation, 20th Judicial Circuit’s http://www.Voicesforkids.org, some years ago Cynthia started Beds for Kidz. With her husband, she spends weekends providing beds, sometime for the first time, to children in foster care. It was great to see this humble gal acknowledged for her efforts. Writing a check to Beds for Kidz makes me feel good as I know every penny and then some goes to children, often in dire need.

Today after acting this morning as Education Ambassador for two classes about financing, I attended the General Session where Lengendary Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz was the motivational speaker. What a great presentation!

The Professionalism Forum met later this afternoon, while tomorrow, I have three more committee meetings (Professional Standards, Professional Development, and Resort & 2nd Home Specialist Forum) before heading back to Sanibel Sunday morning. To say, we come away from these meetings fired-up and inspired is an understatement.

This year our local leadership team convinced several real estate newbies to come to the convention. Great to hear them say “they are glad they came and have learned so much already.” With multiple educational sessions occurring simultaneously all-day every-day for four days, not to mention the numerous forums, subcommitte and committee meetings, everyone here has plenty of opportunity for personal development and business growth. I’ve already collected a couple of referrals.

Elise and Dave prepared the remainder of this update, which includes a new listing we received yesterday. Not a lot of local real estate sales action was reported this week, but our local association has a membership meeting next Thursday, where we hopefully will have more.

All over the state in the other resort markets, reports are that business is brisk, inventory is low, and many are worried that we won’t have enough product to sell this winter. Good news for our listings!

Sanibel & Captiva Multiple Listing Service Activity August 14-21

Sanibel
CONDOS
1 new listing: Sundial #B206 2/2 $579K (our listing).
1 price change: Tennispalce #E31 2/1.5 now $349.5K.
4 new sales: Sanibel Arms #B7 1/1 listed at $334,999; Mariner Pointe #951 1/1 listed at $449K; Island Beach Club #F230 2/2 listed at $649K; Nutmeg Village #209 2/2 listed at $720K.
3 closed sales: Sundial #C301 1/1 $282.5K, Captains Walk #B4 2/2 $305K, Oceans Reach #1A4 2/2 $925K (stats only).

HOMES
2 new listings: 1661 Sand Castle Rd 3/2.5 half-duplex $499K, 575 Piedmont Rd 3/2 $535K.
3 price changes: 1717 Sand Pebble Way 3/2 now $469K, 1644 Atlanta Plaza Dr 2/2 now $479K, 2010 Sunrise Cir 5/3 now $999K.
5 new sales: 987 Sand Castle Rd 4/3.5 listed at $675K, 430 Surf Sound Ct 3/2 listed at $805K, 1198 Harbor Cottage Ct 3/3 listed at $899K, 2981 Wulfert Rd 4/4.5 listed at $1.54M, 1137 Golden Olive Ct 5/3.5 listed at $2.175M.
1 closed sale: 1409 Causey Ct 3/3 $575K.

LOTS
2 new listings: 5706 Sanibel Captiva Rd $499K, 5048 Joewood Dr $625K.
No price changes.
1 new sale: 592 Sea Oats Dr listed at $339K.
No closed sales.

Captiva
CONDOS
No new listings, price changes, or new sales.
1 closed sale: Marina Villas #707 2/2 $555K.

HOMES
No new listings or price changes.
1 new sale: 16785 Captiva Dr 3/3.5 listed at $1.395M.
1 closed sale: 1105 Tallow Tree Ct 3/3 half-duplex $1.75M.

LOTS
Nothing to report.

This representation is based, in whole, or in part, on data supplied by the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Association of Realtors® or its Multiple Listing Service. Neither the association nor its MLS guarantees or is in any way responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by the association or its MLS may not reflect all real estate activity in the market. The information provided represents general real estate activity in the community and does not imply that SanibelSusan Realty Associates is participating or participated in these transactions.

Until, next Friday! Susan Andrews, aka SanibelSusan