Hey guys!

Well… as Hurricane “Irene”  makes her way up the East Coast, we are quickly reminded that it’s THAT time of year again… Hurricane Season in Florida!

Forgive me if I can’t get the images of being smacked by Hurricane Charley in 2004 out of my  head… but that’s just something you never forget.

Even though we Floridians know full well that it’s pretty unlikely for hurricanes to strike the same area twice in consecutive years, we continue to be ultra-prepared nevertheless.

From a historical perspective, “what comes around goes around”, so they say… pun fully intended.  So, I thought I’d share a few historical graphics (below) depicting exactly where hurricanes in Florida have fallen over the many years, just to make us feel super blessed when it comes to not typically being hit head on.

We need to count our blessings and hope that this year leaves us unscathed and smiling!

Have a great week,

Rob and Sandy

p.s. There are some great homes on the market, are you looking? Know anyone?  Send ‘em our way :)  SanCap One Source Realty


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Hey everybody!

Well, you’ve probably been seeing all the roadwork being done around the island, but I wasn’t sure if you’d heard all the details.

The City of Sanibel is widening the bike paths along Causeway Road, Dunlop Road and Pine Ave. from 6ft across to 8 ft across, and Periwinkle Way will be widened to 10 ft across due to its increased traffic.  Everything is expected to be finished by October as we gear up for a (hopefully) very busy tourist season.

Rob and I are thrilled with this city project because most people know that we frequent these trails quite often and simply love criss-crossing the island!

You can hear more about it in the video below, but also feel free to click the link just above the image and it will bring you over to the Interactive Bike Trail System Map so that you can plot your “plan of attack”… :)

Video Courtesy of www.WinkNews.com

 

 

Just click this link to play with the interactive map…  http://www.sanibeltrails.com/sanibel-bike-paths.aspx 

That’s it for this week, have a great one!

Sandy and Rob

p.s. SanCap One Source Realty… hmmmm


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Sea Glass of SanibelHey everybody!

There’s been a lot of buzz for awhile now promoting sustainable “green” living on Sanibel and Captiva, but no action was really being taken.

Well, it seems that two groups, Benchmark General Contractors and the University of Florida’s School of Architecture, have decided to make this buzz a reality by creating the first sustainable community for coastal living on Sanibel and Captiva Islands.

This 10-acre community of 12 eco-friendly homes, of up to 3,200 sq ft. each, will be known as the “Sea Glass of Sanibel” and will be located just off Periwinkle Way.  You can expect that these homes will have as many of the high-tech amenities that go with green living as possible.

Sea Glass of Sanibel broke ground on January 11 of this year (1-11-2011 at 11:11am) and is scheduled to be completed in early 2012.

You can read a LOT more about it at Sea Glass of Sanibel and they even have a Facebook page where you can follow their progress.

This is a great project for Sanibel and Rob and I are really looking forward to seeing it come to fruition!

That’s it for this week, have a great one,

Sandy and Rob

p.s. SanCap One Source Realty Rocks! Check us out!

 

 


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Hey all,

This weekend our brave firefighters of the Sanibel Fire Rescue District (SFRD) will bare their chests and show off their physiques while posing for the 2012 Sanibel Fire Rescue Calendar to benefit two local charities.  This year’s chosen charities are Caleb’s Crusade and F.I.S.H.

This is the second annual calendar after the 2010 calendar raised more than $8,000 for the two local charities chosen. The idea came from firefighter/EMT, John DeMaria, as a way to give back, have fun and get into even better shape!

The calendars will begin going on sale at Baileyfest in October when the models themselves will be on hand to personally autograph “their month”… it should be a lot of fun!  We can’t wait to see them!

You can find out more information here:   2012 Sanibel Fire Rescue Calendar

Hope you have a great week!

Sandy and Rob

p.s. It’s a great time of year to relocate to Sanibel. Know anybody? Send ‘em here:  SanCap One Source Realty


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Ok, this post is for all you fishermen (and women) out there…

Due to a colliding of the July new moon and strange counter-clockwise winds out of the south and east (versus the normal clockwise winds out of the south and west), the next seven days should make for phenomenal fishing.  Only overcast skies could dampen the feeding frenzy that the fish will partake in this entire week.

The best hours to fish will be from 7:30-10:30am and again from 7-10pm with the evening peak being between 8 and 9pm. The sunnier the day, the more the fish will be active.  The worst time to fish is said to be from 2-7pm UNLESS the morning is overcast and the afternoon is sunny, causing the fish to shift their feeding feast into the sunnier hours of the afternoon.

So, what are you waiting for?  Grab your rod, call your buddies or notify your spouse and make plans now because once this new moon passes you’ll have to wait until next year before this phenomenon comes back around!

You can check out even more details here:  New Moon Weather Improves Fishing

Enjoy yourselves and have a great week,

Sandy and Rob

p.s. Beach Homes for Sale… Just sayin’…


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Hey guys,

This is so cool!

The next time you head out to J.N. Ding Darling’s NWR be sure to check out the newest (and coolest) feature on display… the new funky QR Codes on the trail signs all the way down Wildlife Road.

Here’s a quick video to explain it:

So what is a QR Code exactly?

According to www.Qurify.com (pronounced Q R ify .com)…  ”QR Codes are 2 dimensional barcodes that are easily scanned using any modern mobile phone. This code will then be converted (called “dequrified”) into a piece of (interactive) text and/or link…”

Hmmm… So why would we need these things?  Well, scan the code below and see why…

 

 

 

 

Pretty darn cool!!

Have a great weekend!

Sandy and Rob

 


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Hey all,

As I am always looking for new ways to increase tourism to our lovely islands, when I came across this book, Sanibel Captiva Handbook (updated annually and surprisingly current and funny)  one day on someone’s desk, I immediately thought what a great gift it would be if we all would send a copy to our friends and family members across the country as a birthday or Christmas gift in hopes of enticing them to come on down for a visit!

Whataya think?

It’s cheap enough and light enough as a paperback to send by mail, so I think it’s a great way to advertise Sanibel and Captiva in a really fun way…

If you’re reading our blog and you actually live outside of Sanibel and Captiva, then heck, don’t wait for one of us to send this to you, head over to Amazon and order it for yourself… You will be on a plane down here before you know it and we will all be waiting here with open arms to greet you when you arrive!

Times are tough, we all know that, but why not spread some cheer by letting people know what an affordable, great vacation spot we are for tourists to come down and have a real vacation… stress-free and full of sun and fun!

Let me know your thoughts on any other ideas you can think of that are cheap, easy ways to bring more tourists to our beautiful shores… I’m all ears!

Have a great week,

Sandy and Rob

p.s. We also hope when they come that they will want to stay and, therefore, buy a house from us at SanCap One Source Realty… of course!

 

 


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Hey all,

Well, homes sales in Florida are on the move, which is good news… but, ironically, the buyers that we are seeing are more foreign than domestic.

Which makes sense, I guess, beings that many foreign tourists that come to vacation in our beautiful state nearly always leave saying that they “would love to own a second home here”.  With prices down about 30%, they are now saying “Why not? Now is the time to buy”.

With Sanibel and Captiva being a little off the beaten path, we don’t see AS many foreigners as, say, Miami, Cape Coral or Naples might, but they do make their way over here every now and then and they definitely like what they see.

This article, “Foreign Buyers Lifting U.S. Home Sales”, references a few more statistics for you regarding this information and I’ve also pasted the chart in that article below for a quick glance and just where these buyers are buying within Florida and all of the United States.

Have a great week ahead,

Sandy and Rob

p.s. SanCap One Source Realty is located on 695 Tarpon Bay Road, Suite 14 – Come see us! :)

Florida Foreign Buyers in Real Estate

Image Credit to USA Today - Data from Trulia.com


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Photo credit: Greenpeace

Hey all,

As we celebrate our country’s independence over this long weekend, I thought it would be very “patriotic” to think back to one year ago when we were very much hoping and praying that 2 months after the largest oil spill in U.S. history, we would not see any sign of oil washing up on our beaches… and thankfully, we were spared!

However, that does not mean that we should just forget what has happened and go on our merry ways!

On the one year anniversary (April 20th), British Petroleum (BP) had the nerve to to file a $100+ BILLION lawsuit against the owners of the Deep Water Oil Rig and the makers of the device that caused the explosion… all the while continuing on doing what they’ve always been doing (business as usual, as if nothing has happened) without missing a beat with regards to the continuation of offshore drilling and the great potential, once again, to affect our natural environment and every day livelihood!

I’ve included screenshots below of some very startling statistics of the past year regarding this issue… You can also find the entire article by clicking here

Any thoughts?  Just post them below…

Have a great week,

Sandy and Rob

p.s. Sanibel Beach Real Estate

Statistics credited to http://www.good.is

 

Statistics credited to http://www.good.is


 

 

 


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Sanibel Fireworks 2011Oh, how we love the Fourth of July on Sanibel and Captiva!

So, I sure hope that your plans are in place to be down on Periwinkle Way at 9:30am Monday morning for our Annual July 4th Parade and Road Rally…

It is always such a fun day and is then topped off by the spectacular fireworks on Causeway Road from 6pm (dusk) to roughly 9pm…

If you have not experienced July 4th on Sanibel Island, then you have truly been missing out and this year is YOUR year to get in on all the action!

Rob and I can’t wait to see you all down there… Sooo much fun to be had!

Have a very happy and very safe Fourth!

Until next week,

Sandy and Rob

p.s. Sanibel Beach Homes – Take Your Pick!


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Builders Virtual Tour - Tundra Homes - Cape Coral FL

This is a "Virtual" image, not a photo! Pretty amazing!! Image Courtesy of www.News-Press.com and www.TundraHomes.com

Hey all,

As the summer starts to heat up, not so surprisingly, so are home sales, as more and more tourists come down to our beautiful enclave and want to “stay forever”.

With inventory at an all-time high, meaning a great selection of homes to choose from, and home prices and interest rates at an all-time low, it’s pretty hard for an investor or someone looking for a second home to pass up these opportunities.

Enter… Rob and I, at SanCap One Source Realty over at 695 Tarpon Bay Road, who can not only show you all the perfect homes to match your specific homebuying checklist, but we can also give you the full “monty”, so to speak, as far as what it’s like to live on these gorgeous islands.  No one knows Sanibel and Captiva like Rob Coscia, that is for sure, having lived here for more than 30 years!

The other option that we are hearing some buzz about is tourists wanting to come down and build… hmmm… interesting.

Our best suggestion for those folks is to bee-line it over to our friends, David and Heidi, at Tundra Homes in Cape Coral, where they can put together a virtual model of the home that you are thinking about and let them show you exactly how to save time and construction costs by viewing it on the computer first in vivid 3D color.  Pretty cool, to say the least!

Whatever you or your friends and family decide when it comes to living on these islands, don’t hesitate for a second in contacting us about any little thing on your mind regarding a move, the type of home you are looking for or any of the community activities available to you here as a new resident… we LOVE to share our experience in living on these islands with new people!

We hope you have a great week!

Sandy and Rob

 


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Sanibel Sea School Calendar Summer CampHi all!

So, you guys know all about the Sanibel Sea School, right?

This is the place dedicated to educating kids (and adults!) about our marine ecology and marine conservation issues here on Sanibel and Captiva.

Their Summer Camp is starting this week and each and every week until the end of August focuses on a different species that lives here in our local marine environment.

As everything is experiential and hands-on, the students get to experience everything up close and personal, which gives a whole new perspective to the creatures and the ocean itself, versus simply reading about it in a book!

You can read more about the program and view the entire schedule of events over at their website: Sanibel Sea School’s Summer Camp Class Calendar

They also have a great Facebook page over at:  Sanibel Sea School Facebook Page

So, we hope that your kids and/or yourself, get out there and have fun learning about the incredible marine ecology that Sanibel and Captiva have to offer!

Have a great week,

Sandy and Rob

p.s.  SanCap One Source Realty


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Saving Oyster Beds on Sanibel IslandHey guys!

A quick, last-minute heads up for a fun volunteering opportunity coming up this Tuesday morning, June 7th at 8:30am on Bowman’s Beach…it should only take about an hour.

This will be the third and final installment toward the very worthy cause of restoring the oyster bed reef in Clam Bayou.

The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation‘s Marine Laboratory has already shoveled, bagged and relocated literally tons of shells to Clam Bayou in order to bring back the vibrant and eco-stabilizing environment of the oyster beds.

This is a great opportunity for us all to give back to the island and contribute when we can…

You can contact Sabrina Lartz at 395-4617 and you can also find out more information over at CaptivaSanibel.com

Hope to see you there!

Have a great week,

Sandy and Rob

p.s. SanCap One Source Realty Still Rocks! ;)


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This post goes out to all of you who have been touched by war on this long Memorial Day weekend…

It’s important for us to have a day of remembrance at least once a year and on this day I wanted to share with you a powerful video that I found online that has incredible music and some beautiful imagery, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Rob and I join all of you today in the hopes of ending war and remembering those that we have loved and lost.

Have a wonderful week,

Sandy and Rob

p.s.  SanCap One Source Realty – Sanibel Island’s Resource for Real Estate

 


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Yikes… Time flies!

Yep, it’s that time of year again, when we need to brush-up on the basics of hurricane management and get ourselves completely prepared, in the hopes of never needing to ever use our brushed-up “hurricane skills”.

Well, as with every year, the City of Sanibel puts together their annual “City Hurricane Plan” and this year the public meeting will be held at the Big Arts Center on Dunlop Road on Wednesday, June 1st, from 1pm-3pm.

There are many things on the table to discuss such as the predictions for the upcoming 2011 Hurricane Season, Family Hurricane Planning, City of Sanibel Building codes and much, much more!  Everyone is welcome!

You can read more about it over at CaptivaSanibel.com:  Hurricane Season 2011 Seminar on Sanibel Island

Hope to see you there!

Have a really great week,

Sandy and Rob

p.s. Homes are still at really great prices if you’re in the market – Call us at SanCap One Source Realty


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Anyone in the mood for baseball?

Well, on Wednesday, May 18th, we carry forth the lovely memory of island legend, Sam Bailey, and one of his two legacy events, “Islands’ Night”.

Started in 1993 as “a way to celebrate the two islands, Sanibel and Captiva, together”, he suggested an evening out at the baseball stadium with events for the family throughout the game that would benefit the different charities on the two islands.

It was a huge success and has evolved today, 18 years later, into including a parade, tailgating, games and contests for the kids, as well as taking every opportunity to highlight and recognize all of the local talent on the islands!

Thank you Sam for everything that you’ve done for our islands, you are so missed and will never be forgotten…

You can read more about the event over at CaptivaSanibel.com:  Click here at 18th Annual Islands’ Night

Hope you all have a great week!

Sandy and Rob

p.s. SanCap One Source Realty


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Rockin in the Tropics Concert - Captiva IslandGreat music!  Great Cause!

Hey everybody… We have an exciting week ahead as spring is in full bloom and we are gearing up for a busy summer season!

This upcoming weekend, on Saturday, May 14th, we are in for a real treat as the “Parrot-heads” descend upon us to come and enjoy the amazing “Caribbean-rock, rhythm and blues” music of two longtime members of Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band — Michael Utley and Robert Greenidge of Club Trini - alongside the incredible music of our very own Danny Morgan Band!

The Rockin’ in the Tropics Outdoor Concert and Auction will take place from 1pm-5pm on Saturday, May14th at the South Seas Resort on the tip of Captiva Island.

The auction includes some pretty impressive items to bid on, to be sure, including 7 different luxury vacations and a $1000 gift certificate to Congress Jewelers.  Proceeds benefit the HOPE Clubhouse, which is a non-profit organization helping people with mental illness throughout South Florida to obtain job skills.

You can read much more about it at the two links below:

Enjoy the week and we’ll see you there!

Sandy and Rob

p.s. Homes are heating up, especially beach homes… come and get ‘em!


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Sunscreen on Sanibel IslandWow, there is a lot of talk about sunscreens these days, don’t you think?

It seems there is report after report showing that most current sunscreens on the market today are not blocking the rays that they say they are and therefore, are putting us all at risk of unwanted skin cancer.

I saw an article the other day called “84% of Sunscreens Unsafe or Ineffective…” (click here to to read it) and so I thought I would delve a little bit deeper since it’s pretty important to those of us who live in Florida and deal with more sun than most other states.

What I found was quite a bit of misinformation out there… it seems that there are those that claim (as the article does above) that Retin A-derivitives found in the majority of sunscreen products on the market today actually CAUSE our skin cells to be more susceptible to skin cancer (click here for the article)… Yikes!  And then there are those that say that this research is flawed (see the video below, yes it’s a video from Detroit, but the sun is the sun, right?) and that these products are not dangerous at all, but rather prevent skin cancer from occurring… Oh boy!  Who to believe?

But, the truth of the matter is that the FDA does NOT regulate, or “police”, sunscreen products… which leaves them off the hook, so to speak, if these sunscreen manufacturers are actually putting us in danger… Ugh!

I also found a couple of articles on more “natural” products just to balance it all out…

In the end, we each have to come to our own conclusions and approach to the safety of our skin.

Summer’s just around the corner, so we need to prepare now!

Have a great week,

Sandy and Rob

p.s. Sanibel Island Beach Homes – Oh yeah!


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Happy Friday!

Hey guys, I have a question for you…

  • Are you on Facebook?
  • Do you watch videos on YouTube?
  • How many “followers” do you have on Twitter?
  • How often do you update your LinkedIn profile?

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then we definitely need to talk! ;)

Social Media is taking over the world (literally!) and is fast becoming the fabric for which, not only personal relationships, but business relationships, are developed, sustained and grown…

The video below is pretty shocking in the statistics that are presented, but I thought it was an incredible summary of what’s going on in the world today.

So?  Are you at least dipping your toes in the water of this new “social landscape”, or are you going to be stubborn and be left in the “cyberbial dust”?

Thoughts?  Comments?  Please click the “Read More” button below after watching the video and enter your comments there… I can’t wait to hear them!

 

Have a great week,

Sandy and Rob

p.s. Home Sales are picking up… stop by and see us at the office!


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Sanibel Beaches - Top U.S. Beaches

Wow! This is really cool!

TripAdvisor.com is one of the most active travel sites on the web with the basis of its service being real customer reviews based on real experiences of travelers to a particular location.

This year, 2011, is the first time that they have put out a list of the “Best U.S. Beaches” and “Best World Beaches” based on the thousands and thousands of customer reviews on their site.

And guess what? We did pretty darn well!

Sanibel Island Beaches ranked #5 and Captiva Island Beaches ranked #8 on the Top U.S. Beaches List… Now, THAT is impressive considering the hundreds of beaches to choose from in the entire U.S.!

Be proud of your beaches, they literally ARE some of the best beaches in the world… :)

I copied the list for you below, but if you want to read the entire article, you can simply check it out here: Travelers’ Choice Beaches Award

Top U.S. Beaches - Sanibel Island - Captiva Island

Woo Hoo!  I’m feeling pretty proud right now!

Have a great weekend,

Sandy and Rob

p.s. Come on over to the office and let us show you the great new Sanibel and Captiva listings that we have… it will be well worth it!


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