August 2009

DON'T WANT TO SAY WE TOLD YOU SO...BUT

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009 at 8:42am. 233 Views, 0 Comments.

Last Sunday, the Naples Daily News re-published an article written by Holden Lewis from Bankrate.com that essentially said the same things that we have been saying for the past year or so...it ain't easy buying distressed properties. The article focused primarily on foreclose properties and one of their points was that there was minimal room for negotiation.

We have said that aside from that point, there are a lot of other issues regarding 'short sale' or foreclosed properties, especially here in Florida. One of the main issues of concern is the fact that in many cases the air conditioning has been turned off for an extensive period of time and that can certainly lead to mold in unseen areas such as walls.

There is also the issue of destruction caused by…

HIGHRISE LIVING AT ITS FINEST

Sunday, August 23rd, 2009 at 3:53pm. 208 Views, 0 Comments.

I've never been much of a highrise living kind of guy, but if I were, the building that I would most certainly choose would be the St. Pierre in the heart of Pelican Bay in Naples, Florida. The St. Pierre is an elegant 22-story building housing 105 residences with five different floor plans with ample square footage and defines luxury highrise living.

One of the most unique things about a unit in the St. Pierre is the fact that you actually gettwo views, a city view through the large kitchen windows facing east as well as a Gulf of Mexico view accross the mangroves through the living area and bedrooms facing west.

The complex contains a community pool, an exercise and workout room, a billiards room and bike storage. The tram that shuttles you out to the…

BAYFRONT TYPIFIES A MIXED-USE COMMUNITY AND DOWNTOWN NAPLES LIVING

Friday, August 21st, 2009 at 3:26pm. 168 Views, 0 Comments.

If you love downtown living, but are not wanting the hustle and bustle of being directly on a 5th Avenue S. in Olde Naples, you might just want to consider Bayfront, off 5th Avenue on Naples Bay. Bayfront is a mixed-use community containing one, two and three bedroom condominiums, with great shopping and dining below, all with the ambiance of being just off the water.

The condominiums range in size from 852 square feet for a one bedroom unit to just over 2,500 square feet for one of the three bedroom penthouses. The highest recorded sale in Bayfront was for $1,600,000 for one of the penthouse units in 2008. Currently there are 24 condominiums for sale ranging from a low of $329,000 for a one bedroom to a high of $989,000 for a two plus den.

Over the past…

OLDE NAPLES...PRESENTS EXCEPTIONAL VALUE IN TODAY'S MARKET

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 at 8:41pm. 161 Views, 0 Comments.

Downtown Olde Naples has always been one of the most desireable, yet least affordable places for a home or condominium in Naples until today. One of the primary reasons is that it is the only area of Naples where every avenue, (running east and west), ends at the public beach. It also houses both 5th Avenue S. and Third Street, two well-known streets for world-class shopping and dining experiences, not to mention the world-renown Naples Fishing Pier, a top attraction itself for many years.

How the market has changed from its height in '05/'06. Back then you would be hard pressed to find a lot, never mind a house, for much under $1,000,000. Today there are currently 99 single family homes for sale in Olde Naples, and despite the fact that it remains a highly…

NAPLES REAL ESTATE - PRIME TIME TO BUY!

Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 8:37am. 184 Views, 0 Comments.

The greater Naples Real Estate Market currently presents some amazing opportunities to purchase property in every area and in every category of product. The decline of the days on market for listings that we have seen over the past 6 months shows that the public has gotten the message that pricing is not about to go lower and may even be inching upward in some communities. The time for fence-sitting is over, and if ever you thought of purchasing property in Naples, now is the time. Inventory levels have been declining over the past several months, as has been the price per square foot.

Prior to the current market and over the last four or five years, finding a condominium on the beach for under $1,000,000 was nearly impossible no matter what the age,…

NAPLES IS CERTAINLY BEAUTIFUL BUT...

Sunday, August 9th, 2009 at 6:41pm. 197 Views, 0 Comments.

Sometimes we can get a bit jaded living in Naples full time with just how beautiful and pristine it really is. Yes it's a world-class destination and the like, but we can tend to forget that there are other parts of the world that are equally beautiful and some even have similar activities.

Recently Marlene and I had the pleasure of attending the RealEstateWebmasters annual summit in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island in British Columbia Canada. Nanaimo is located mid-island and to get there, you either have to travel by ferry which takes about two hours or by seaplane which takes about 20 minutes. We chose the seaplane and the experience was a blast!

Following the two-day conference which ended on Saturday, we had another day to explore because our plane back to…

REAL ESTATE WEBMASTERS SUMMIT A HIT

Thursday, August 6th, 2009 at 7:59pm. 170 Views, 0 Comments.

Marlene Suarez and myself did the lengthy trek up to Nanaimo Vancouver Island, Canada to attend the annual RealEstateWebmasters Summit. I must say that Marlene was quite a sport since the final leg of the journey consisted of a seaplane ride to the island and she really isn't big on traveling in small planes, but she managed like a trooper.

While there for the two day conference, we toured the RealEstateWebmasters offices and spoke with the many programmers that they employ. I found it fascinating that programmers live virtually in a world of darkness, sometimes in front of multiple monitors as light serves as a distraction to them. I also was astounded at how young a majority of them were, but then again it might just be because I must be getting old.…