Lakewood Ranch, located about 18 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico and about an hour south of Tampa, in both Manatee and Sarasota Counties, seems to bucking the nation’s downward direction in home sales. Even though the rest of the nation seems to be struggling, this town, an 8,500 acre master-planned community, has already sold over 170 houses this year alone. As the president of LWR Commercial Realty Brian Kennelly recently stated, “Lakewood Ranch is without a doubt the growth corridor in the region and the state right now.”

Additionally, the overall Sarasota market is also picking up. Total sales are up just over 4% for the year and the Sarasota Association of Realtors reports that they just had their 2nd best volume of sales in the past 6 years.

Having said that, what is important to remember concerning all these statistics that have been emerging lately regarding the Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch real estate markets is that they are specifically speaking about the amount of sales or transactions, NOT the price of the homes. Although there is undoubtedly data to suggest that Lakewood Ranch home prices are on the rise again they continue to remain very low.

There are a number of reasons why home prices are low. One, there is still a fair amount of anxiety about the real estate market nationwide and the national economy appears to have stalled once again. And two, it still is harder to obtain a bank loan in the present day than it was prior to the housing bubble burst. As a result, despite the fact that prices are low, people are still hesitant to buy a home and people who wish to purchase a home might not have an easy time obtaining a loan. This, in turn, has held prices low even in a region that generally seems to booming.

The good news is, this creates a market that is great for real estate investors. First of all, the fact that the national economy is still flat is keeping interest rates very low making purchasing a home even more inexpensive. And, here’s the key piece…the fact that home loans are hard to get combined with the hesitancy of people to purchase a home has created a red hot rental market in Lakewood Ranch.

Rentals will often have multiple offers the same day they come on the market. With rents in Lakewood Ranch averaging $1/sq. ft. you’ll have a positive cash flow almost immediately. Not just that, but rent prices have actually risen in the last few years. In fact, there’s no question that the landlords are 100% sitting in the driver’s seat in Lakewood Ranch.

If you want to be one of those landlords making money on Lakewood Ranch rentals then call the Lakewood Ranch real estate expert, Tanya Waxler – Florida Licensed Broker/Owner of uKeepCommission Real Estate, at 941-465-9207.

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Submitted On June 17, 2011. Viewed 1 time. Word count: 448.