Naples Florida Real Estate: December 2010

I showed a high rise condo in Pelican Bay yesterday to a fabulous family looking to accomplish a lot of square footage with a Gulf view for a good price.  They were similar to many of my clients who are already familiar with where they want to purchase and by the time they called me, they had already been clicking around on my Naples Florida real estate website and had identified two properties in Pelican Bay appearing to fit their needs.  Unfortunately one was already under contract. 

After showing the unit, it became evident that while they though the unit was priced well and offered enough space...it may be difficult to resell in the future.  That coupled with a few other concerns regarding how they intended on using the property made them hesitate writing an offer.  I won't go into details here as to why but let's just say there's compelling evidence to suggest when they're ready to do something different down the road, there may be other options where their investment will do better.

When you're working with me, I'll give you all of the details you need to make the smartest purchasing decision possible.  Even if you decide to purchase property that might have some additional risk involved, at least you know about it and that risk won't become a surprise when you decide to sell.  It's called an educated purchasing decision. Something you won't have the luxury of when working with an agent who simply can't offer inside intelligence.  This is one of the biggest attributes that separates the superior agent from the inferior one.

For more information regarding the Naples real estate market, contact me direct!

Every year I am in Naples real estate, I am more thankful to help my customers accomplish their goal.  I think it's because I get more customers who are interested in not just purchasing a Naples property but are more interested in purchasing a Naples experience.  More often they're anticipating Naples being a place where friends and family from near and far can join together here to spend time, reconnect, unwind and have a great time.  Parents with kids visualize being able to spend extra time here where their kids might enjoy coming. Grandparents look forward to entertaining grandchildren during spring break and even older kids (like me) look forward to mom and dad being able to get out of the cold and enjoy holiday time where the weather is still beautiful. 

While many consider Naples a place to lounge on a beach or swing a golf club...many consciously and even subconsciously imagine Naples as a place to make memories with the people they love the most...that's what I think I'm best at...I help people set a stage for some of their favorite future memories.

If you've been wondering how you can get all your favorite people together for some good times a fabulous location certainly helps!  Contact me and I'll help you identify the perfect Naples property to make it happen for you and yours.

If you happen to be a person or a family who makes $250,000 or more per year, you may be feeling a little unappreciated lately with all that tax credit extension mumbo jumbo.  I'll never understand why anybody would want to punish the producers so I'm going to take this time to give you 3 cheers!

• Hip Hip Hooray
• Hip Hip Hooray
• Hip Hip Hooray

I want you to know that I appreciate you and I'm proud you are here clicking around on my website!

With all of that hard work you've been doing, you might be ready for some rest and relaxation, especially if Congress decides to knock your head off. Heck, you might even decide to retire...LOL.  Here's a few links I picked out to help you enjoy yourselves while you're here in Naples.

Naples Gulf Access Homes
Naples Gulf Access Condos

Naples Beachfront Homes
Naples Beachfront Condos

Naples Golf Homes
Naples Golf Condos

Of course if nothing looks interesting after clicking around on those links, you can always call me direct and tell me what you want.  It really is that easy!

FORE! One of the biggest reasons why people purchase property in Naples Florida is because of the GOLF! Although I don't play myself, I've learned over the past several years how to appreciate the sport and provide content to buyers who are passionate about playing the game.

One of two big tournaments Naples hosts is going on this weekend at Tiburon in Naples Florida. The Shark Shootout is quite an event and if you've never been and you like golf, you gotta go!

Here's a link to all of the information: Shark Shootout

After you're done reading about that, let's think about Tiburon!

Today there are a total of 46 properties on the market in Tiburon and 23 have closed during the past 12 months.  That means the market is in OVERSUPPLY and it's time to play Let's Make A Deal! Whoo Hoo!  3 people already knew that because there are 3 pending in there right now.

Here's what's going on in each Tiburon neighborhood:

Bolero at Tiburon - I don't have specific blogging permission on the best deal in Bolero right now but you can pick it out yourself by clicking on the link.  If you take a look at the 8 available, pricing will pretty much give that one away! Literally. :)

Castillo at Tiburon - Same thing here.  There's a clear winner on pricing but I can't talk about.  Effective marketing don'tcha think?  Don't let my restricted ability to talk about a great deal prevent you from missing out.  You should be able to find it pretty easily by clicking the link. ;)

Escada at Tiburon - Another clear winner here if you're looking for value but you'll have to keep clicking to see for yourself. 

Marquesa Royale at Tiburon - There's only 1 here...

Marsala at Tiburon - There's only 1 here...

Norman Estates at Tiburon -There are only 2 here...

Serafina at Tiburon - There are no screaming deals here.

Ventana at Tiburon - There's 13 for sale here and YES there are some deals!  Check 'em out!

Tiburon has SUPER amenities and The Ritz Carlton is your neighbor so if you like lots of amenities and don't mind paying a little higher fee for them, Tiburon is for you!

If you aren't necessarily excited about slightly higher fees...there are tons of other Naples golf properties currently available.  Just shoot me an email or give me a shout and we can get started right away!   SWING! :)

No worries, I'm not hosting a Naples Real Estate throw down but I do want to bring some attention to The Dunes which is a high-rise/coach home development located at the corner of Bluebill Avenue and Vanderbilt Drive.  While most of my clientele prefers Pelican Bay over The Dunes, an interesting percentage of you might consider The Dunes over Pelican Bay and this is the purpose of my post. 

You might prefer The Dunes over Pelican Bay if you:

• have no/limited interest in a golf membership (because you know you can play golf at countless locations around the Naples area).
• prefer newer construction over older buildings.
• are interested in coach home or high-rise product only.
• like the idea of a drive up beach club.
• likes a pool at their beach club.
• don't mind driving a short distance to entertainment etc.
• prefer to spend less and get more square footage for your money.

You might prefer Pelican Bay over The Dunes if you:

• loves availability of 2 beach clubs with sand side umbrella and chair service.
• like the nature berm and boardwalk
• like close proximity to grocery, Waterside Shops, Philharmonic
• like in building fitness centers (offered in most buildings)
• like the ability to join a stable golf club
• like kayaking, sailing, beach side aerobic classes
• like the ability to walk to the beach on quiet neighborhood streets

There are 68 properties for sale in The Dunes.  That's about 10% of The Dunes.  There's 7 pending and 48 sales year to date.  That's 17 months of inventory which makes The Dunes nearly stable.  The instability is reflective in the 88% sales price to list price ratio.  The other point worth noting is average price per square foot sold is only $323.00 and the average age of the unit sold is 2004. Average days on the market=209

Comparatively I took all of the product in Pelican Bay except single family homes and came up with 375 units on the market.  That's about 5% of Pelican Bay.  There's 18 pending and there have been 231 sales to date.  That's a little over 19 months of inventory left on the market meaning that The Dunes is a little more stable than Pelican Bay right now. WHAT?  Yes, it's true. Pelican Bay is also at an 89% list to sales price ratio but the average price per square foot is $391.00 and the average age of the unit sold is 1992.  Average days on the market=216

It's just another fine example of how location can change everything...or some things anyway.  So what does all this mean?  Mostly this means that if you've not purchased a high rise on Pelican Bay Boulevard or a coach home in Pelican Bay because they're old and pricey...then maybe you should call me and we should go take a peek at The Dunes.  

It also means that if you took a look at high-rises in Bay Colony but didn't purchase because they were too small, ready for an update and pricey that maybe we should go check out Moraya Bay...but that's a throw down for a different day.

Currently there are 44 properties in Aqualane Shores on the market.  Pricing ranges between just under $600,000 to nearly $650,000 for an Aqualane Manor condo and Aqualane Shores homes start at just under $1,300,000 and increase to nearly $6,000,000.

There are 4 pending properties in Aqualane right now.

20 sales have occurred on the open market so far this year leaving just over a 2 year supply of homes still on the market.  While some locations in effect have leveled it's apparent that Aqualane Shores still has some selling off to do before she can be considered a stable market. 

Stability is also reflected in the sales price to list price ratio at closing.  On average properties are selling at about 85% of list and 76% of original list in Aqualane Shores right now.  Now don't get too excited...some of these homes were on the market for quite awhile and that's why we're currently seeing that 76% number. 

That brings me to two different negotiating topics I want to explain to help you better understand the Aqualane Shores market and really Naples as a whole.  We are not blessed with a real estate market that thinks alike in whole which leads to confusion and frustration when it comes to negotiating.  Typically a market shares a like mind and it's easy for buyers, sellers and agents to grasp and understand how negotiations are handled and understood in a market.  Naples isn't like that.  With so many people coming from so many different places, owners and agents tend to take with them their negotiating strategies and other beliefs with them when they come here.  That leads to chaos...LOL.  Here's a perfect example of what I'm talking about.  Some owners think they need to list their property high so they can negotiate alot of money off the price so the buyer feels like they're getting a great deal.  If you've ever seen this done, there's no mystery...the numbers can be  impressive.  Take 440 15th Avenue for example:

They negotiated from $1,890,000 which was the original list price to $1,275,000.  That's only 67% of list price.  Now TONS of people are thinking...well if I would've known they'd go down to that, I would've bought it...sigh...the thing is it's hard to determine what an owner will take until you have your Realtor do some homework for you or you take a stab at it. 

Here's another example:

260 18th Ave. S. was on the market for $5,495,000 and sold for $5,300,000.  That's 96% of list price.  As you can see if you were expecting to purchase this property at 67% of list price you would've felt like you'd been smacked in the head to get that counter from the seller.  You just can't assume in Naples....trust me. 

The other topic I'll touch on is market time.  It's the weirdest thing you'll ever see but when I put it in this light, you might understand it better.
Too many sellers especially those located in REALLY great areas are willing to wait to sell.  From what I've gathered there's two reasons for this.

1. Because they'll use their place during season if it doesn't sell.
2. Because cause they can wait.

Seriously, Naples is not a rough place to hang out while you're waiting for your property to sell and I have never had anyone say, "Oh my GOD get me out of this town".  It's typically a bittersweet departure if they're even fully leaving town to begin with.  Many sell and purchase something else here...

My whole point of this post is to explain...now would be a good time to purchase in Aqualane Shores and pick a smart Realtor to help you do it.

By the way, did you know there's only 17 days til winter?  It's supposed to snow in Chicago, Boston, Minneapolis, St. Louis and Bloomfield Hills this week.  Maybe you should call me! :)