Despite the bad news for the domestic real estate market in general, there are some positive developments in the local greater Naples Real Estate Market. Sales have certainly picked despite being in the throws of the summertime lull, although mostly in the lower end. More homes are selling at generally lower prices.

We are seeing many first-time homebuyers entering the buying fray and that is good news. ‘Short Sales’ and Foreclosures are accounting for many sales along with bank-owned properties and are becoming far more common. This in itself creates a drag on the market prices. The good/bad news here is that some people are benefitting at other’s expense.

Interestingly, when you look at 30–year fixed-rate mortgages which are up nearly a full point in the last week, they are still cheaper than a year ago. (Today’s rates look awfully inexpensive to me having endured rates years ago in Boston of over 18%.)

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One of the things that I have loved about my real estate career is personally doing the photography of my listings and creating my own virtual tours with photographs of the interiors and exteriors. It is always a challenge to get just the right shot or angle highlighting that particular shot and making it into the perfect scene.

As a semi-professional photographer, (I say that because I have sold some of my non-real estate work,) I find it exhilarating and quite relaxing to just go out and shoot some of the spectacular settings that we have here in Southwest Florida. I sometimes find myself a bit jaded living here in Naples and tend to forget how really beautiful the surroundings truly are.

This week I’m privileged and excited to be invited to go out and shoot the rarest of Orchid species, the Ghost Orchid, which now is in bloom some 45 feet in the air growing on a 400 to 500 year old Bald Cypress Tree. It will be in bloom for only about two weeks and it is something that most orchid lovers will never ever see in their lifetime,because it is so rare and only found in a few places here in Southwest Florida.

It will be worth the long drive and the trek through the swamp to get to it!

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Interestingly, we just listed several days ago, the least expensive single family home within the City of Naples. The home is small, only 900 square feet under air with 2 bedrooms and 1 bath, but was extensively re-modeled several years ago. Nothing was left untouched, the roof, the a/c, the kitchen with all new appliances and on and on. It was done extremely well, almost to perfection. Oh by the way, we priced the home to sell in the current market at $189,900.

Yesterday we received an offer to purchase at $183,000 and the owner is considering the offer as we speak.

What makes this so interesting is the fact that we had this same home listed back in the heyday, (‘04/’05,) the height of the market then. At that time it was again the least expensive home within the City of Naples at almost $400,000 and eventually we had a contract on it.

As the price of gas continues to rocket upward, the price of real estate has settled back down, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It just goes to show how far we’ve come in such a short time!

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I have been away from blogging for a bit, because we have been very busy in what has turned out to be a very challanging real estate market. Having said that I certainly do not want to sound like I’m complaining, because I’m not at all.

Throughout my career I have been primarily a successful listing agent, and now with the advent of the strong ‘buyer’s market’ that has taken firm hold, I find that I’m forced to shift gears and become much more of a buyer’s agent. Our web site at www.previewnaples.com has been producing a wonderful array of buyers, and as a listing agent, the challanges have been many, but the end result has been extremely rewarding.

Today buyers are squarely in the driver’s seat and should be for quite some time to come with the vast amount of inventory in the Greater Naples Real Estate Market. Once that inventory gets to a much more manageable level, the pendulum will again begin to swing the other way and the old addage List More…Sell More will become prevelant. Until that time and we get back to the listing game, one has to be thankful for those buyers coming to Naples to snap up the bargains. 

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