Happy New Year Naples Florida Fans!

I'm going to be bold and say the 2011 Naples Florida real estate season has already kicked off.  Although many don't think it really starts until January, many of my colleagues are agreeing they are busy and they're not just busy, they're writing contracts that are working out!  The good news looks like it may be leaning a little more towards the sellers this year for the first time in several.  I don't think we're at the point of raising prices in most Naples luxury communities although there are signs of some increase around town but I do think if you are a buyer, you probably need to get busy. 

There are two reasons why I really think now might be the time to buy. First, I'm not seeing the level of inventory increase as I have during past pre-seasons and I am seeing more buyers inquire for product that is either very low or non-existent and the shortage of supply can only mean one thing....STABILIZATION.

While there are still some Naples communities with an oversupply of inventory, stabilization is occurring more each day throughout Naples in many price ranges and pockets throughout. It will become increasingly more difficult to negotiate going forward into season but there are still plenty of sellers out there with a definite plan to sell so roll your sleeves up and lets get started!

Another factor to consider is recent buyer behavior.  Mindset for purchasing Naples real estate is considerably more positive, optimistic and defined this year compared to a grumpy/wishy-washy and indecisive group the last few years.  Be prepared to at a minimum have company while doing your searching this year as many of your friends and neighbors already have the same idea.  The snow does NOT hurt our activity in Naples LOL!  I'm already seeing signs of people losing out on properties as well.  Please don't look at property today and think you have several months, weeks or days to decide if you want to pull the trigger. If it is a deal, you could easily miss out this year. Some already have.

Another HUGE trend I'm seeing are people waiting until the last day they're in town to schedule appointments with our team and don't have a preplanned appointment.  You may be disappointed if we cannot arrange short notice showings especially on luxury properties my friends so please call us in advance so we can serve you!

For those of you who have signed up to receive my Naples blog, THANK YOU! I appreciate you!!!

I hope everyone has a safe and fabulous 2011! Now let's go buy some Naples real estate!!!

Best Regards,

Shannon Lefevre, PA
Your Naples Smart Girl!

Prepare For Naples Real Estate Today For The Wants Of Tomorrow!

Many of us have either heard or been  a part of horrible real estate buying experiences and while much of that responsibility may be on the part of the agent.  Some of that, believe it or not, may be on the part of the buyer.  Here are some tips to accomplish the most on your next Naples real estate purchasing experience.

Contact me as early as possible with as much information as possible.  The more I know, the better I serve. I'm able to compile a ton of information for you before you so we don't have to do very much fact finding by the time you get here.  While some of what I learn about you happens during the viewing process, I have found the more I know you, the more I know what you'll be purchasing thus leaving more free time for you to do things you really want to do.  It used to be that people came to look at real estate for days, weeks and even months.  Most of my clientele really doesn't want to spend a lot of time anymore and would prefer to hang out on the golf course or the beach.  We can do that if we're prepared.

The other thing about planning early (especially between December-April) is that I have a better chance of getting you in everything you want to see.  Many people are in residence during this time of year and simply won't drop everything to accommodate your showing.  Sounds funny but Naples is the land of enjoyment and you know as well as I do nobody enjoys having to change entertaining or relaxing plans because of somebody else's inability to plan ahead.  Most sellers assume if you're expecting to see something without notice means you are not a serious buyer.  You know as well as I do that's not always the case. Besides, do you really want to buy something that "is acceptable" or do you want to buy the best out of all currently available options?  Many Naples luxury properties require a 24 hour notice and although we call to see if we can make exceptions, the odds are probably less than 50% sellers will accommodate ESPECIALLY if they're in residence.  Help me help you get into everything that interests you!

It's ok if you don't exactly know what you want to buy.  I'm at a point in my Naples career that if you talk (or type) long enough, I can usually identify what you will like before sometimes you can.  I know it sounds funny but just yesterday I met with some people who thought they were looking for one type of product that seemed entirely out of their price range but after a few minutes discussing their overall objective, we discovered we could easily accomplish their goal.  My community intelligence coupled with whatever partial vision you may have can help you get the Naples property you will LOVE!

Of course things come up or we get crazy ideas on the spur of the moment. For that reason I'm spending everyday implementing new ways to make purchasing Naples real estate easier for you.  Knowing some of you, "last minute arrivals" are out there and being prepared for you is one of our focuses that puts our team ahead of the rest. 

We're ready for you even when you aren't so give us a shout.  While I may not be working with you personally, I now have a whole team of skilled, proven professionals who are prepared to respond when you need us.

Best Regards,

Shannon Lefevre, PA
Your Naples Smart Girl!

Choosing Naples Real Estate Wisely.

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!

Best Regards,

Shannon Lefevre, PA
Your Naples Smart Girl!

Earning $250,000 Per Household? These Links Are For YOU!

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!

Best Regards,

Shannon Lefevre, PA
Your Naples Smart Girl!

Shark Shootout at Tiburon in Naples This Weekend!

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! :)

Best Regards,
Shannon Lefevre, PA
Your Naples Smart Girl!

Aqualane Shores Naples Florida 12/3/10

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! :)

Best Regards,

Shannon Lefevre, PA
Your Naples Smart Girl!

Cyber Monday For Naples Real Estate

When most people think Cyber Monday, I doubt seriously anybody is wondering what kind of discount they can get on a Naples property by purchasing online today...in fact I'll bet that most people wouldn't even imagine clicking their way to purchasing a property in most places. Of course the more tech savvy the town is, the more house purchasing click happy buyers are but when many people think, "Naples Florida", we're barely what many would consider tech advanced.  In fact, I once saw on Fox News that Naples was at town rated "least likely to tweet".  Being @NaplesSmartGirl on Twitter, I was naturally offended. 

So back to those online Naples real estate deals.  Can you believe somebody actually purchases Naples real estate online?  They do! As a matter of fact, more of the buyers I worked with a couple of years ago purchased online than in person! 

I actually have a plan to make it easier for you to do so in the works right now! 
But for now it's as easy as 1, 2, 3!

1.  You click around www.ShannonLefevre.com and find something you like, contact me to get the additional details.

2.  I'll go take a peek at it and take some video and shoot just about anything there is you want to see.  Granted, this is not cinematography at its finest but it lets you see exactly what you're purchasing before you purchase without having to rush and get on a plane and deal with all that new hocus pocus at the airport.  Besides if it's a great deal do you think you're the only one interested in it? I hope your answer is "no" because my dear...you are no longer alone in your quest for Naples Real Estate!

3.  When you've seen it and you're sure you love it, we'll write an offer, work on getting it accepted, run inspections, get title work and get it closed for you just in time for winter...or Christmas or New Year's...whichever you want your deadline to be. 

Can you believe it can be that easy?  It happens all the time.  So in the spirit of Cyber Monday, I've put together my top 10 deals in my most favorite top 10 Naples neighborhoods.  Call me when you're ready to roll and in the meantime, Happy Clicking!

1. Aqualane Shores Deals
2. Bay Colony Deals
3. Grey Oaks Deals
4. Mediterra Deals
5. Old Naples Deals
6. Park Shore Deals
7. Pelican Bay Deals
8. Pelican Marsh Deals
9. Port Royal Deals
10. Quail West Deals

Best Regards,

Shannon Lefevre, PA
Your Naples Smart Girl!

Naples Real Estate Update 11/21/10

Hello Folks,

I have been pleasantly surprised about the preseason real estate traffic I've experienced over the last couple of weeks.  For those of you who are always looking for the latest Naples real estate happenings, you'll want to know besides the fact that our residential listing inventories are shrinking I'm also not seeing as many homes hit the market this time of year as I did last year either.  But I think the most interesting tid bit of information I can give you is that buyer behavior is REALLY different this year compared to the last several years.  People are MUCH more serious about purchasing this year and seem to be MUCH more excited to do it here in Naples compared to wanting to consider other locations.  Last year I saw quite a few people who were weighing the options in competing markets like Fort Lauderdale or Sarasota while this year I'm hearing people say that there are no other locations that fit for them and that they are in deed purchasing in ONLY Naples.  I've shown this graph before when times were not so great but I think it's important to show you again:

A few years ago we were easily seeing buyer behavior at the bottom and somewhere around depression I would've also added "angry" I saw alot of angry buyers the last couple of years.  I haven't seen any of that this preseason and have to say the temperature of the buyers I've assisted range between hope, relief and even optimism and I'll even go as far as to say that some are very cautiously excited.  While price is still a concern for all of my customers right now, many of my customers are indicating that "what they want" is equally or sometimes more important.  For example I've had a couple of buyers come expecting to purchase at a certain price point and push up significantly to get what they want.  The other thing I've seen some of that is different compared to past seasons is that there are a few people who are selling something back home and are prepared to take a bit of a hit to get moving on their purchase here.  The past few years I've heard buyers say something to the effect that they'd love to do something but they couldn't because they had too much money in real estate somewhere else and nothing was moving or they weren't interested in taking the level of a hit they suspected they'd be required to get the deal done. 

Of course all of this could be just a quick little trend and may not at all determine how the rest of the season will be.  Time of course will tell and I will be happy to keep you updated.

As always, if there's something specific you'd like to know more about, let me know!

Best Regards,

Shannon Lefevre, PA
Your Naples Smart Girl!

New Homes and Condos In Naples

There are currently 114 new homes in Naples on the market right now (built in 2010).  You can't deny the joy you get from that "new home smell".  I LOVE new homes and new condos for that matter and if you too are a new condo person, there are 22 new condos in Naples right now (built in 2010).  Of course if you know anything about Naples Florida, you know they don't have to be built this year for them to be new.  Naples is HUGE on remodeling right now and there's 20 year old beachfront high rise buildings that have been magnificently remodeled and are selling furnished. 

Naples owe alot to our friend, Robb and Stucky for playing such a dominant role in helping our area builders and developers offer amazingly appointed furnished new and remodeled product and if you too are considering a new home or condo redo...and you have a happy checkbook, you might give Robb and Stucky a call.  Ava Thomas one of Robb and Stucky's most brilliant designers will be thrilled to assist you.

If you are not at all the type to remodel...and you want someone else to do the dirty work, no problem.  I can provide you with a fabulous list of new and fabulously remodeled homes and/or condos.  I have some personal favorites like Moraya Bay and there are some superb properties in Quail West right now.  I'd be a fool if I didn't mention what Port Royal has to offer too!

Give me a shout to check them out and don't forget, there's only 81 days left til winter.  Do you have your Naples home picked out yet?

Best Regards,

Shannon Lefevre, PA
Your Naples Smart Girl!

Naples Short Sales Possibilities

There are 1,065 Naples homes and condos under contract with contingencies.  Unfortunately, a majority of these properties (99.9%) will continue to show active on most Naples real estate websites who offer IDX capability like mine does.  The problem is, they're not really available because somebody else already has a contract on them and they get first shot until the contract expires or (sometimes) until they get kicked out.

Of the 1,065 contracts, 796 of those are "potential short sales" that's almost 75%.  The problem here is that many of these properties, while under contract, have not gone through the appropriate short sale process and will in fact not sell this time around or could take months and in some cases well over a year to get done. 

Yes, banks still drag their feet or simply never respond on some of these deals.  They are not required to report the loss on the difference of the loan until they close which means millions of dollars worth of property get caught in the web of "nothing is going to happen". 

Many agents and title companies are becoming educated on the processes which is better news because for quite awhile it was just one big mystery on how to get these properties sold. Another factor to consider is according to an article I read a month or so ago, many banks are selling delinquent loans faster causing new investors to foreclose quicker which should also shrink the amount of short sales we're seeing today. 

The point remains that if you're looking for a deal...a short sale may be the way to go but I wouldn't exhaust checking out what kind of deal you can make with an individual first.  You could cut a great deal without dealing with all that red tape and waiting so long to find out if you're going to be able to purchase at all.  While many of my buyers tell me they have "all the time in the world" right now.  For those of you who are like that, you might consider checking out these links to the short sales that may be available in the following areas:

• Aqualane Shores Short Sales
  
• Audubon Short Sales
• Bay Colony Short Sales
• Coquina Sands Short Sales
• The Dunes Short Sales
• Grey Oaks Short Sales
• Gulf Shore Boulevard Short Sales
• Lely Golf Resort Short Sales
• Mediterra Short Sales
• Moorings Short Sales
• Old Naples Short Sales
• Park Shore Short Sales
• Pelican Bay Short Sales
• Pelican Marsh Short Sales
• Royal Harbor Short Sales
• Tiburon Short Sales
• Vanderbilt Beach Short Sales
• Windstar Short Sales

I think we'll see a little more sense of urgency with our seasonal buyers who are starting to get chilly up north and who ultimately would like to use their property this upcoming season.

Besides, there are some excellent deals out there right now!  Check out my "Rental Requests Are Down..." blog post for some ideas where you can find them. 

By the way...I noticed rental requests have picked up just a little during the last week...the cooler weather is on it's way for sure.

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

Best Regards,

Shannon Lefevre, PA
Your Naples Smart Girl!