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You have finally decided to move, you're excited, right? Suddenly life is about to change! The people you meet, where you go grocery shopping, schools and sometimes even the town you live in!

Moving house is a huge decision; for most people, housing is at the top of their lifetime major purchases list. So, it's no wonder that some first-time buyers are worried about making the right decision when choosing a home.

As a Realtor, I meet lots of clients. Some take homeownership in their stride, others, such as first-time buyers, find the process more than a little tricky.

The first thing many first time buyers do is to and start looking at homes. Find one they fall in love with, then realize they cannot afford it. They may have seen the home online,…

We are now at the one month point past Hurricane Irma and I am sure you like most of our clients have questions such as is the housing market affected by Hurricane Irma? or, Has the value of my home dropped since the hurricane? and will I be able to still sell my home in Naples after the hurricane?

It is totally understandable that everyone has worries regarding the hurricane, with so many people having a second home here confidence in our market is being tested.  I have to say that I myself had concerns about driving home after the hurricane passed, my family and I spent the time in North Carolina, we were going to stay, but my wife was discharged from hospital three days before it hit and my disabled sister was also a cause for concern, so we left…

Let’s pretend, you have a multi-million dollar home, living in Naples some of you may just be one of the lucky ones that this applies

You have been living there for quite a few years and for one reason or another, now it’s time to sell.  What do you do, as a Naples Real Estate Broker, my advice should be, get the best Realtor you can, choose one of the top Real Estate companies in Naples and let them do the work, after all, that’s what they are good at right?

Now, let me put the shoe on the other foot, I have a multi-million dollar client coming in from out of town, I have been talking to them for months, spent hours on the phone getting to know them, sent listings back and forth, exchanged photographs of their current  home and really got to know…

People are drawn to Naples from all over the world, just one of the many reasons they stay is the ambiance, here they find a lifestyle that makes Naples a truly cosmopolitan town. Part of the allure is the Olde town, where so many of our evening activities are based around enjoying the evening, strolling to the beach to watch the sunset then having dinner, so it makes sense that one of the great delights of Naples is enjoying the international cuisine.

Take a stroll along Fifth Avenue in Olde Naples and you will instantly find yourself surrounded by restaurants of all types. Dining tables tumble out of the restaurants to adorn the streets, where couples can enjoy candlelit dinners and enjoy the hustle and bustle on a warm evening.

Some of the top…

Times change and so do styles and ideas, for years designers and architects have styled their homes on a somewhat similar concept. Houses are traditionally built with a living room, dining room, kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms and maybe an office. All over the world, homes have similar features and include most of these basic rooms.

But things have changed and the way they have moved on in Naples is affecting the sales of existing homes. The way we live our lives has changed and therefore our homes have been altered to accommodate our needs. We all used to lock ourselves in our own little space, be it a bedroom, office or kitchen, privacy was important, using a landline for instance with everyone listening made walls important. Privacy is still important,…

Everyone has heard the saying First Impressions Count!  They count for lots of things, from first dates to the first day at school, the first interview!  Why, because if the person you are trying to impress will have other options, they will normally go for the one that makes the best impression first. 

Selling your home is the same, if you have inadequate photos of your home for sale online, then customers will likely skip over them to look at the flashy photos of a home that actually may not be as good as yours. 

When selling your Naples home, there are a couple of things you really should insist on, one of these is the use of a professional photographer!  A good Realtor® already knows this and has one waiting in the wings, if a prospective…

Moving home is one of the most stressful things we do, it has a huge impact on our well being and our ability to concentrate on normal things.  When you decide to move to a new home, you instantly emerge into a whirlwind of emotions, thoughts, and actions that do not exist in your normal life. 

Actually making the decision in the first place is huge, sometimes the move to Naples is corporate which helps with the stress level.  But for most of us, moving is something we do throughout our lives on our own for various reasons,  from renting our first condo with a group of friends to buying your first home to accommodate a growing family, new jobs, new opportunities.  There is a myriad of reasons for packing up our belongings and starting again in a new…

Remember when if you wanted to view a home you would go to the local Real Estate agency and talk to someone behind a desk! (Showing my age here!)  Actually it really was not that long ago. Before the digital age, homes for sale were presented on a paper listing flyer showing a quick overview of what the home had to offer, if you wanted to see the property, then you would pick up your phone, which in all probability was not a mobile one and call the Realtor to make an appointment to go and look.There were no virtual tours, no youtube to take a quick peek inside, no internet to help you with your decision, all you had to rely on was the word of the Realtor and his or her local knowledge.

Here in Naples Florida, we get a huge amount of retirees most of…

Coco Chanel once said,  fashion fades, only style remains.  That is probably true of fashion, but does it apply to other things, such as homes?  Homes are certainly not as transient as clothes, but their style has a huge impact on how we live our lives and how we are perceived by others.

Fashion applies to homes, but only in the way they are decorated, the style of home is something that evolves slowly then becomes a way of building for a few years, before another style or trend emerges.  For instance the Florida housing market has long been festooned with look alike Mediterranean homes, washed out orange walls, roofs with barrel tiles and rich interiors, these, although still sought after are now not the number one choice.  

Style does not only…

Almost everyone rents a vacation home before they decide to buy.  Why, because it's the sensible thing, you can check out the area, see if it's really a place you want to return to year after year, plus it gives you the chance to stand back and take a look at exactly what type of property you really need. 

Are you going to be visiting just for short vacations throughout the year?  Or are you planning ahead and trying to find somewhere to eventually move to as your permanent home.   Or are you like so many of our visitors to Naples, planning on being a winter resident?   

The question of whether or not to buy or rent is one that most people ask themselves.  As with most things, there are pros and con's on both sides.  Renting a property is easy,…