January 2007

Anyone For A Community Open House?

Monday, January 29th, 2007 at 4:58pm. 65 Views, 0 Comments.

With the glut of inventory on the market, it sometimes takes creative thinking to help make people aware of your particular home or condo and generate traffic.

This coming weekend is the Super Bowl Weekend, and it has been my experience that Sunday, in particular, is a fantastic day to do an open house. I’m not sure why, but maybe it’s because people know, for the most part that during the evening, they will be parked in front of the TV watching the game and they’d better get out during the day and do something. Hopefully that something will be to tour the open houses. The times that I’ve done them on that weekend, they have been excellent!

I have one listing that is a brand new 3 bedroom/2 bath new construction home in a good upscale gated community and…

It's All About The Kids

Sunday, January 28th, 2007 at 5:15pm. 65 Views, 0 Comments.

How quickly the long-anticipated Naples Winter Wine Festival comes and goes, and once again, toping its own world record raising $16.5 million dollars for an assortment of deserving charities benefiting the underprivileged children in Southwest Florida. Talk about kicking it up a notch, every year it gets better and better, with more and more famous chefs and celebrities than ever. The festival has quickly become the most significant charity wine festival in the world and has raised a staggering amount of money over the few short years of its existence. 

The Naples Airport, already the 3rd busiest private jet airport in the world was bustling as some 160 private jets flew in Friday from all over the globe with an array of important people, the chefs, as…

Help!!! My Insurance Company Is Going Broke

Friday, January 26th, 2007 at 4:28am. 73 Views, 0 Comments.

Like many other people residing in the state of Florida, the recent property insurance rate adjustments are driving me crazy, and it is with god reason. My recent adjustment for the coming year increased by 130%. I read in yesterday’s paper that the new Governor of Florida, Charlie Crist yesterday signed a bill that “he and others hope will lower Floridians property insurance costs”. By signing it, it means that the state could end up paying billions of dollars, should a major hurricane hit and do extensive damage. The savings, estimated to be between 5 to 20 percent, depending on whether one resides inland or on the coast, are not expected to take place for a while.

One of the things that I think about doing is dropping coverage completely and self…

You Just Can't Have A bad Day In Naples, Florida

Wednesday, January 24th, 2007 at 3:32pm. 70 Views, 0 Comments.

One of the great things about being a real estate professional in Naples, Florida, (and there are many), is the fact that we live in a world-class destination. That in itself makes working the business a whole lot easier, since we don’t have to totally rely on potential clients from North America. Understand, I certainly have nothing against my clients from the States, but in an off market, we have the luxury of being able to deal with the influx of Europeans, as well as the English, whose money is worth far more than ours because of the Pound/Euro/Dollar relationship.

Because of the constant sunshine and beautiful weather, it’s hard to have a bad day in Naples. I recall all those grey skies, even during the summer, when I lived on the North Shore of…

My Passion For Hockey And Real Estate

Wednesday, January 24th, 2007 at 4:33am. 62 Views, 0 Comments.

Having grown up in the northeast section of the country and enduring all those cold winters, I grew up pond skating and playing hockey until it got so dark out, you just couldn’t see where you were going. As the years grew, I continued playing the game all the way through college and beyond. I even had a tryout with the Nashua Maples Leafs, a professional team in the old New England Hockey League.

I hung the skates up long ago, moved to Florida and began my real estate career. I longed for something that would keep me connected to my Boston roots, as I spent quite a few years as an on-air personality in radio, where I maintained my love of sports. I did a stint as ‘the voice of the Boston Red Sox’ for Spring Training, yet it has always been hockey that I…

My Listing Presentation Secret

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007 at 6:05pm. 81 Views, 0 Comments.

When I’m doing a listing presentation I find that many potential clients want me to immediately tell them where I feel their home or property should be priced. I have a hard and fast rule, (and I stay true to it) that I will not divulge my price point unless I know that I do indeed have the listing. In other words, I ask for the listing and go for the close prior to my talking about the price of the home or property.

One of the biggest challenges in a listing presentation is always keeping the presentation in the order and way that you wish to present it. The potential clients will be trying to get you to change that order by asking you if you would like to see their home before you are ready, or what do you think our home is worth, etc. The key for me has…

BACK TO BASICS...EXPIREDS AND FSBOs

Saturday, January 20th, 2007 at 3:31pm. 76 Views, 0 Comments.

In a down market with many challenges, it may be time to get back to some of the basics that we've most likely ignored when the market was on fire, working For Sale By Owners (FSBO) and Expireds. Most of us have drifted away from working them, because we really haven't needed the business. For the longest time, we have allowed the business to be taken over by the newer agents, who might not be the best qualified in terms of knowleomdge, etc. They were willing to do what we weren't, stop instead of driving by or calling in the case of an expired.

The market has changed, and now despite the fact that we can cull leads from a variety of different sources, places like the internet and such, time has come to get back to two of the better prospect sources.…

SELLING ONE...BUYING ANOTHER

Thursday, January 18th, 2007 at 2:45am. 68 Views, 0 Comments.

If you are not a first time home buyer and are selling your current property and purchasing another, there are some interesting scenarios that can occur. If the closings are scheduled to happen within the same basic time frame, a simultaneous closing, you run the risk that you could end up with two mortgages. If you schedule a staggered closing, with a lag time between, you may have to pursue a short term rental and endure the cost of moving twice. There is inherent risk in either situation.

Some people will opt for a simultaneous closing, which unless planned correctly, can be quite risky. Basically, when you are considering a simultaneous closing, you have to analyse everything from all sides to make sure things go as smoothly as possible. You have to…

PRICING A HOME TO SELL

Wednesday, January 17th, 2007 at 7:01am. 73 Views, 0 Comments.

Making the decision to sell your home is an enormous step, and now it’s time to price it correctly. It is imperative that a home be priced at market, or you will forever be chasing that market and most likely, it will never sell. In a down or declining market, there is much more inventory to choose from and it becomes critical to price it correctly to achieve the maximum amount of showings possible. With a large inventory, buyers will typically not show any real sense of urgency because they realize that there is much to choose from.

When working with sellers, we as agents must not fall into the trap of pricing a property higher than normal just to get the listing. As David Knox would say, when competing for a listing that another agent has overpriced,…

WHEN IS TOO MUCH...TOO MUCH?

Wednesday, January 17th, 2007 at 12:05am. 60 Views, 0 Comments.

Naples has certainly become a world-class destination for the rich and famous and in the 15 years that I have been here, I’ve witnessed  tremendous changes. Some of those changes haven’t necessarily been for the better either. The growth of the area has been absolutely staggering and I can only imagine how people feel that have been here most of their lives. We all sound like our parents when we say “it just isn’t like it used to be” or “in my day…”

One of the most bothersome things to me has been loss of the ambiance of Olde Naples, where it all began, with the advent of the building of the mega-mansions everywhere you turn. It seems as though it has become one huge game of one-upmanship. If you build a 20,000 square foot home, I’ll build a 30,000 square…