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July 2012

Found 14 blog entries for July 2012.

Marco Island Homes Image

Ahh, inspection items...  When purchasing a home on Marco Island, it is typical to have it inspected by a professional inspector between contract signing and closing.  The home inspector will typically crawl through all the nooks and crannies that he can reasonably access in about three or four hours and give you a report of his findings.  This is where problems can develop. First, there is no standard for home inspections and every inspector operates differently.  Second, some reports are unnecessarily inflametory.  Thirdly, there are inspectors that are not either experienced or competent to do their jobs.  I've seen an inspector call attention to a nail hole in a garage door while missing the fact that all of the window sills on the rear of the

5,767 Views, 0 Comments

Marco Island Restaurant on the Beach

People are often surprised when they discover the number of great restaurants available on Marco Island.  They assume because we're on a relatively small island that the selection will be limited.  Nothing could be further from the truth!  No matter what your taste may be, there's something on the island to satisfy it.  If you enjoy Italian, try Verdi's American Bistro, Arturo's Ristorante Italiano or Davide Italian Cafe.  All received great reviews on Yelp and feature classic dishes like Chicken Penne, Pasta Pomodoro and crusty bread with olive oil for dipping.  This is only the tip of the iceberg.  There are many other restaurants that feature Italian as well. 

If you're more into seafood, you might like Snook Inn.  Close to numerous boating

2,337 Views, 0 Comments

Marco Island Single Family Home Pic

A week or so ago, I wrote an article entitled "Marco Single Family Home Sales Are Lagging?"  So, today, in an attempt to dig a little deeper, I thought we'd take a look at a few more numbers.  We're only looking at single family homes in this.  Condos and lots are a little stronger and we'll look at those in upcoming articles.

First, the number of Single Family Home sales on Marco Island this month was 25.  This is down from 33 just last month and 45 in July of last year.  What do we make of this?  Well, inventory has been steadily shrinking as the market has bottomed.  There are 282 SFH listings on the market right now compared with 397 this time a year ago.  Everyone's confidence in a solid bottom has brought many buyers off the sidelines and

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Marco Island Foreclosures

The inventory of foreclosures on Marco Island has been steadily shrinking over the last year.  It's great news for our market. While Marco Island had a relatively low foreclosure/total sales ratio, foreclosures still brought down the broader market.  With the foreclosure inventory drying up, prices will naturally rebound.  We've already seen this in condos and lots.  Prices have popped a little this summer.

What has been described as an "over-correction" seems to now be righting itself.  Just as the market spazzed-out from 2004 through 2007,  it overreacted in the other direction as well.  This has resulted in a huge buying spree that has continued into our off-season on Marco Island.  We are seeing value-buyers in droves grabbing up anything that

2,064 Views, 0 Comments

Home Staging Marco Island

"You never get a second chance to make a first impression."  This old fact of life has been said millions of times in millions of contexts and there have never been truer words spoken when it comes to selling real estate.  In my experience, people decide whether or not they'll buy a home in 10 seconds.  They may grind over details for days or weeks but they always end up choosing the home I thought they would buy. 

Home buyers all have imagined their next home and have subconsciously developed a picture of it in their mind's eye.  They are searching for the home that matches this picture and they can usually decide whether they've found it very quickly.  As sellers, we have to play into this buying process.  We have to stage our homes in such a way

3,266 Views, 1 Comment

Caxambas Tower Image

Caxambas Tower is one of our favorite waterfront condos on Marco Island.  It was built in '79 and has forty-three units on its nine floors.  Caxambas Tower is certainly one of the landmarks of the South End.  Its basically in the center of the island facing south, overlooking Caxambas Pass.

One of the great things about this condominium is the views.  They are spectacular from every unit.  Imagine looking out over the Ten Thousand Islands from your living room.  It's almost surreal.  Of course residents have their choice of a long list of amenities that include heated pool, spa, covered parking, fitness room, tennis courts and fishing dock.

Caxambas Tower makes for great year-round living too.  It's quiet and not bouncing with tourists.  There

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If you spend any amount of time on Marco Island, you most likely have visited Tigertail Beach.  Free to locals and only $8/car to visitors, it's located on the northwest side of the island and the perfect place for bird and other animal watching.  In fact, it's actually listed as a birding site by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.  You may see Osprey, Bald Eagles, Roseate Spoonbills, Pelicans and more.  People have also been known to spot Stingrays and Horseshoe Crabs.  It has a great rustic feel with a small inlet that leads out to the Gulf.  After a short trip across the tidal lagoon, you'll reach Sand Dollar Island, a barrier island in the making. 

Tigertail Beach also has a snack bar at the entrance that serves breakfast and

3,594 Views, 4 Comments

Snook Inn Image

Welcome!  This is our first article in a series that will showcase each of Marco Island's great neighborhoods.  It's typical for newbies to Marco to see the island as one big, homogeneous, tropical paradise.  After you've spent a little time here, though, you begin to see nuances of various areas that give each its own personality.  Today, we'll look at Olde Marco.

Four thousand years ago, the Calusa Indians made Marco Island their home.  These hardy people prospered on Marco and southwest Florida.  Many of their artifact have been recovered in Old Marco including the Marco Cat, a panther-like carving that is, today, housed in the Smithsonian.  In the late 1800s, William (W.T.) Collier was credited with founding Marco Island when he settled on the

5,137 Views, 2 Comments

Marco Island Property Image

There are six mistakes that many homesellers make that can prevent them from maximizing their profit and create more stress than is necessary during the homeselling process:

  • They don't analyze why they're selling
  • They don't make sure the home is ready for the buyer's eye
  • They overprice their home
  • They hang out during showings
  • They sign a long-term listing agreement without a written performance guarantee
  • It's difficult for buyers to find information on their home

Using the following system should prevent mistakes like these, maximize your profits and reduce the stress the comes with the home-selling process:

  • Understand the reasons behind your decision to sell and don't tell anyone what they are.  Your answers will
2,383 Views, 1 Comment

Boat Club Condo on Marco Island Image

We have a rare find for you today.  We just listed a 3 bedroom / 2 bath condo in The Boat Club in Marco Island's south end area.  If you've been searching for a boating condo on Marco with 3 bedrooms, you know how tough it can be, especially if you don't want to spend $800,000.  They're just not out there.  In fact, there usually isn't anything available in Boat Club at all.  The 22 owners in this luxury complex love it and the turn-over rate is close to nil.

When we say luxury, we mean Luxury.  The Boat Club has everything including a beautiful pool and spa, an elevator, storage, spectacular views from the panoramic living rooms, sun decks, and much more.  Of courese, the thing residents love the most are the deeded boat docks that come with the

5,025 Views, 0 Comments