Well the numbers are out and it looks like August, usually one of the quieter months sales -wise here in  the Naples area, ( including Bonita and Estero) was a pretty productive month. Closed units were up!   The interesting thing is August 2008 reportedly had more sales than January, March or June of 2008.  Another trend for August was that many fellow agents myself included had a lot of European and Canadian buyers in town during August. Another exciting bit of information is that the number of pended sales for August is the highest for August in the past 3 years! Much of what is selling is under $500k ( 71%) with 36% of sales under $250k.  This is good news because it means that we are continuing to clear out some of the inventory and it also shows that there are great deals to be ha... 09/10/2008

Sellers in Naples Florida are already very well aware of what they’ll be getting into if and when they decide to sell their Naples homes. The necessary legwork and home selling tips have already been discussed exhaustively by experienced Naples real estate agents assisting homeowners in selling a home yet there remains that one all important component that many people tend to overlook: the MLS listing. Everyone knows time is of the essence in selling a home and how important it is to stay on top of pricing trends, particularly recent sales which provide the best indicators of how to price and/or adjust the asking price. Once that’s done, it’s equally important to go straight to the MLS listing and ensure everything is legit. It’s quite surprising how often the information in these listi... 09/09/2008

Closed Sales 9/7 - 9/8/08: Click Here Save this link for Local weather as reported by Fox 4 News.  It will keep you up to the minute on our local weather as it changes.  09/09/2008

Look at all the action in Golden Gate City over the last couple of months especially in August 2008. These charts are from Sunshine MLS and show Single Family Homes sold, pendings, new listings & median sold price. As you can see SOLD listings are on the rise up 43% from July 2008 PENDING or UNDER CONTRACT listings are up 38% from July 2008 NEW listings are down 30% from July 2008 MEDIAN SOLD PRICE is up 33% from July 2008 (Median means half the homes sold for more than $150,900 and half sold for less than $150,900)  These are all very good signs that the inventory is going down and people are buying up the great deals that exist out there in the market place. What happens now is that all the better looking properties get snatched up first leaving less and less great looking properties ... 09/08/2008

Between balancing new business, taking some much needed vacation and working on my website, I just noticed, it's been a LONG while since I posted here.  Blogging activity will pick up sometime in the next month or so but I didn't want you to think I've fallen off the face of the earth.  I love being ready for a new selling season and signs of our next season are already starting to appear.  Ask lots of Naples agents and they might be sure to shake their heads "no" due to the slow traffic many have been noticing lately.  Is it the economy, is it the heated up tropics...is it a bird..a plane.  Na, I doubt it.  It's a silly thing called "September".  It's not what we consider our hottest most productive selling month but it does give everyone here a chance to be in tip top condition to roc... 09/07/2008

Vanderbilt Beach Naples Many eyes including those in Naples are on the forecast... however today was just another day here in Paradise....gorgeous!  I spent the day at the beach after first making a stop at the new Whole Foods ( located conveniently at the end of Vanderbilt Beach Rd and on 41)  It was fabulous and I got some yummy snacks to take to the beach.  Vanderbilt Beach was aptly named reportedly by J. B. Conners. Conners from Tampa, was a  road  builder and land developer.  Around the 1950's he started platting the area and thought it would add a touch of class to name the beachfront Vanderbilt Beach.  He reportedly hoped to attract the wealthy and thought the name would add an air of status and affluence.  His influence is still evident in the fittingly named Conners Park on th... 09/07/2008

    Hey Folks, I don't know about you, but when I hear the words "Gumbo Limbo" I have thoughts of the Caribbean and more specifically Jamaica. But in the case of the blog, what this title refers to is the Ritz-Carlton on Vanderbilt Beach in Naples, Florida. Naples, Florida is the only city in the world to boast that it has TWO Ritz-Carlton hotels/resorts. My preferrence is the one on the beach ...... Are you surprised? The Gumbo Limbo is their outdoor restaurant which sits right on the beach with spectacular views. Today was the third or fourth time which I've gone to this restaurant to eat, but I don't believe it matters how weathly an individual may be, it is quite expensive..... In normal Ritz-Carlton style. The food is fabulous and the views can't be beat. This restaurant is only o... 09/06/2008

Short Sales are old news.Many buyers have made offers, written up contracts only to have the mortgage company respond too slowly or turn down their offers only creating more work for all involved. Then the mortgage company loses all that time only to start all over again. Then the buyers have to start from scratch. Oh well -- this is a learning curve for all of us in this industry. Looks like the buyers are also catching on and just looking for a good deal instead of a short sale -- they want to buy --- they don't want the BS. Here in Naples, FL where most have second homes only take this kind of treatment once, maybe twice and then they are done with it.... they no longer want that short sale. That's ok. Then there is the sleazy operators who always seem to surface in an unfortunate si... 09/06/2008

Closed sales 9/4/08: Click Here 9/5/08: Click Here Hurricane Update: IkeI know a lot of you who read this blog do not live in Naples full time but own property here. I always receive phone calls asking me about the weather when storms are approaching. We lucked out with A thru H with Hannah taking a turn north east and missing south Florida. As always, we have to wait it out for days to see where Ike is headed. With a nice high pressure system in place, it looks like he'll head southwest and miss us. Good news so far. We'll know in about 36 hours what the most likely track will be. Again, we'll be on the eastern side, like Gustav, so we may get some wind and rain. I'll update again on Monday. 09/06/2008

September 5, 2008 the long awaited Whole Foods supermarket is now open at The Mercato in north Naples at the northeast corner of Vanderbilt Beach Road and U.S. 41. Whole foods is one of the anchor stores for the mixed used "lifestyle center" that is home to 330,000 square feet of retail space including a Cine Unidos 11-screen movie theater, 140,000 square feet of Class A office space (partially committd to by three law firms), and 175 condominium and villa residences at The Strada. The Mercato comes on the heels of Coconut Point outdoor mall and residences open just a while back located in Estero, FL. This is clearly a trend for other similar developments that are on the books or are already under way. The Mercato is different in that it is smaller in scale and home to retailers and res... 09/06/2008

BUYER SERVICESRent-to-own options are becoming popular again after falling out of favor during the last couple of decades. A rent-to-own arrangement can help buyers with poor credit or renters who want to try out homeownership without making a costly commitment.Read the full story:http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n2-090508.cfm MORTGAGE RATESRates on 30-year mortgages fell for a third straight week, dropping to the lowest level since mid-July at 6.35 percent, according to Freddie Mac's weekly nationwide survey.Read the full story:http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n1-090508.cfm 09/05/2008

First time homebuyers now's the time to buy and stake your claim at home ownership, with the passing of the new Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. Home prices are lower and interest rates have dropped, this is the time to get off the fence before you lose one of the best oppurtunities to own a home in SWFL.  The legislation provides a temporary $7,500 tax credit to qualifying first-time home buyers who purchase homes between April 9, 2008, and July 1, 2009. To learn more about it, click here www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com. 09/05/2008

LOS ANGELES - Aug <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> LOS ANGELES - Aug. 28, 2008 - Is this the real estate turnaround? On the heels of an increase in Florida home sales, a spike in new home sales and an upswing in consumer confidence, traffic to Realtor.com went up significantly in July with month-over-month increases in both traffic (29 percent) and time spent on site (26 percent) on Realtor.com, the official consume... 09/05/2008

The Village on Venetian Bay Tonight ,Thursday September 4th, is another Village Nights Event at The Village on Venetian Bay! This free event is an opportunity to come down to The Village, shop, listen to some great live entertainment, and have a bite to eat.  The Village is centrally located here in Naples. Take Park Shore Dr off of Tamiami ( 41) to Gulf Shore Blvd. North.  The Village can be accessed from either the right or left. There is a pedestrian walkway that connects the two sides and eliminates having to deal with traffic.   The surrounding  Park Shore area is home to a variety of living options from Gulf front high rise to single family homes... Park Shore has it all; beaches, location, shopping, dining.....   As always when you need real estate help I am here At Home By The ... 09/04/2008

Lots of new listings to check out in Naples.   9/4/08Closed sales: Click Here  9/2/ - 9/3/08Click Here page 2Closed sales: Click Here As always, let me know if you need additional information. 09/04/2008

Market Report for Golden Gate Estates ending August 2008 shows that new listings are down 26% from July while pending sales are up 18% from July. Closed sales were down slightly from July and most loan financing has been convetional loans over cash deals.  In closing based on these Sunshine MLS charts new listings are down pending sales are up which can only continue to start bringing balance to the current market with the supply & demand ratio. 09/03/2008

Market report for Naples ending August 31st 2008 shows that new listings ard down 17% from July 2008 while Pending Sales are up 13% and cash transactions are slightly above financed transactions on Closed Sales. So based on these MLS charts as New Listings go down and Pending Sales continue to rise that will gradually keep bringing down the high inventory which will start balancing the supply & demand ratio.   09/02/2008

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Here is what happened in the real estate world.Closed Sales 8/30-9/1/08: Click Here   09/02/2008

AARP The Magazine's Healthiest Hometowns By Sarah Mahoney and Brad Edmondson, September & October 2008 We all want to live long and be healthy. As it turns out, where you choose to live in the second half of your life can make all the difference. So, exactly what makes a city healthy? In doing our research, combing through the government records of hundreds of cities for more than 20 measures of vitality, we looked not only at the physical aspects of a community (clean air and water, for instance) but also at the health and habits of the people who live there. The two are closely linked: if you live near a hiking-and-biking trail and all your neighbors use it, you'll probably use it, too. If a farmers' market is just down the street, you're likely to eat more fruits and vegetables. If ... 09/01/2008

Fifth Avenue S Naples   Many of us are familiar with the fun you can have at an Evening on Fifth .... However did you know there is also fun to be had during the day? Coming up this next weekend on the 5th there will be a great sidewalk sale from 10 - 5p.m.  Then on Saturday the 6th and Sunday the 7th.. there will be an Arts & Crafts Festival. , also held from 10- 5.  This takes place right on Fifth Avenue and is FREE!  There is always live music and a variety of food stands ( forget the diet)!  Might be a great time to get that unique gift for dare I say it .... the upcoming holidays!  Some suggestions if you have never been -  dress comfortably, expect to walk a lot, wear sunblock, bring a hat and bottled water.   The Next Evening on Fifth  will be Thursday September 11 from 6:30 -9:... 08/29/2008