Trying to understand the credit crisis? Watch this!

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Birdies, Eagles and Alligators

Yesterday I played 18 holes at Hereitage Bay. The course is wide open with six sets of tees and large undulating greens. Some of the holes are completely surrounded by deep preserve with no homes in sight. You feel as if you are away from all the cares of the world. You have to love the wildlife!

There are some great buys in bundled golf communities right now!

Are your eyes bigger than your wallet? Don't let your home become a burden...

With house prices low and interest rates down, this is a good time to buy a new home, but read this article from The New York Times to see how much you can really afford.

What percentage of your income will (or already does) go to you housing costs?

(Googly eyes picture from Wikepedia.)

Walking the beach in north Naples this week

Tell

me

again

why

you're

not

here?

America's Top 100 Golf Communities

Travel & Leisure Golf has just published their "America's Top 100 Golf Communities" list. Five Southwest Florida communities were included! And the envelope, please...

In Naples:
Fiddler's Creek, Grey Oaks, Mediterra, and Twin Eagles

In Bonita Springs:
Bonita Bay

I have fallen in love with this coach home...

This week I previewed a TOTALLY BEAUTIFUL 3,101 sq. ft. TURNKEY FURNISHED 2nd floor coach home for $567,900.

The pictures truly do not do it justice.

Included features:
3101 sq. ft. under sir conditioning (3846 total sq. ft.)
3 bedrooms + a den
2 car garage
large lanai with beautiful golf course and water views
18' X 18" tile on the diagonal throughout the large living area
custom kitchen cupboards and a matching built in designer refrigerator
tiled back splash
granite countertops and work island
stainless steel appliances
custom paint
custom built in shelves/ bar/ TV hutch with adjustable lighting
upscale furniture, decorations, large screen TV's, etc.
I could go on and on...

I have seen a lot of homes and I was blown away by the whole package for only $567,900.

Community amenities include:
Har-tru lighted tennis courts
18 holes of championship golf
Swimming
A fitness club
Clubhouse with fine dining and a grill room
It is only 10 minutes to Bonita Beach.

All amenities and furnishings included. Call me right away on this one - before I buy it!

Looking down on entry foyer from second floor:

Upstairs entry area:

Dining room:

Living room:


Built in bar/ tv console/ shelves:

Kitchen:


Master Bedroom:

Bathroom:

Study:

Guest Bedroom:

Guest Bedroom:

HIGH Home Inventories + LOW Interest Rates = GREAT DEALS for home buyers

In this buyers' market with a large numbers of homes for sale and interest rates low (and dropping!), the time to jump off the sidelines is now. Read this article by Ron Leiber from the New York Times.

Will Washington help "main street"?

The New York Times reported today that the Treasury Department is considering a plan to bolster the housing market by subsidizing 30-year mortgages with interest rates as low as 4.5% for people buying houses!

Read the article here.

According to Bankrate.com, the average 30 year fixed rate fell to 5.58 this week.

Glass Design - Don't forget Oscar!

My last post featured beautiful glass doors from Glass Design in Fort Myers. It is really worth checking out their website.

This friendly company has been owned and operated for almost 13 years by Don, Sandi and their daughter, Bonnie.


Bonnie's little dog, Oscar, is also part of the family! (When Bonnie was a child, the family lived on a sailboat and travelled the seas!)

Glass Design : "If you can imagine it... we can do it!"

I was blown away by this beautiful door installed by one of my clients in her new home.

Her family's company makes incredibly beautiful custom (and standard) glass windows and doors.

Check out some of their gorgeous designs on this inspiring website!

What is your dream home?

Do you have a dream home?

When my husband and I first came to Florida, we fell in love with a courtyard home. After walking through the front door, one entered an interior courtyard filled with fragrant flowering plants, a gorgeous stone fountain (think "Alhambra"!)and an oak table for large family gatherings.

What was even better, there was a lovely casita (guest room) with a private bath which opened on to the interior courtyard. Wouldn't you love to visit home or friends and stay in a room like that!

Our fantasy is to build just such a courtyard home. Here is our favorite floor plan from Sanctuary Builders in Arizona:

(CLick on floor plan to enlarge.)

We would use Bedroom 3 as a study so we would each have "a room of our own" overlooking the interior courtyard. We put a pool and spa in the back off the covered patio by the living room.

Add the Spanish doors from my previous post and the fantasy is complete...

Bienvenido a mi casa!

My husband spent some time in Madrid many years ago and loves all things Spanish.

These gorgeous solid oak hand-hewn double doors from Arte de Mexico are right up his alley. Wouldn't they make a dramatic entry to a lush interior courtyard? I especially love the romantic barred speakeasy.

Arte de Mexico is also a source for other gorgeous architectural elements.

1920's Mediterranean Revival in Coral Gables

The home at the top is featured in October's Veranda magazine. Elegant, but understated. Imagine the light streaming in from those windows!

(Click on picture for larger view.)

Money Never Sleeps

There's been a lot of sales activity in the Naples area real estate market lately. Prices have dropped and there are some great deals on pre-foreclosure "short sales".

If you are among the lucky ones who are insulated from the current economic woes, this might be a good time to find your dream home.

The New York Times had this to say in an article this week:

The new reports signaled to some analysts that the sharpest corrections in home prices and sales might be over. “The biggest declines, they’re all behind us now,” said Nigel Gault, chief domestic economist at Global Insight, a research firm.

Beat the financial meltdown: My daughter's upbeat money saving tip about house swapping...

As the economic saga continues, forgive me for being a proud mother and sharing this video of my daughter, Joanna, being interviewed on CNN today about her recent article in "Budget Travel" on apartment swapping!

I would love to swap my condo in Florida for an apartment anywhere in Spain or France sometime soon. Where would you like to swap?

Read Joanna's article in "Budget Travel" here - and enjoy the Vice-Presidential debate tonight!

Semi-custom dream homes

Some of the top mass-market home builders are getting into the custom home game.

You get more bang for the buck by choosing one of their tried and true floor plans and customizing it to your personal needs rather than working with a private builder and starting from scratch.

Read this article by June Fletcher from the Wall Street Journal.

Everone is downsizing...

Even the rich and famous are downsizing. Read about Candy Spelling's $47-million dollar LA condo. Quite a pied-a-terre!


This is the former home.

(Condo photo: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times; aerial photo: AP)

The Secret Garden

"The Secret Garden" will run from June 27th through August 2nd at the Snugden Community Theater in downtown Naples.

It is a bit melodramatic, but nevertheless moving with memorable melodies. My daughters and I love it!

Happy 4th of July!

Catch the fireworks tonight at 9pm at the Naples pier!

Read an article about the preparation by Zambelli Fireworks Internationale.

(Picture of last year's fireworks courtesy of DAVID ALBERS / Daily News. See more photos here.)

Snowbirds flying south flock together

I am from Michigan and bought near Naples in Florida.

I thought I chose this location of my own free will, but after reading this article in the New York Times, I am not so sure...

Where do you want to buy in Florida - and why?

Click on picture to enlarge. (Picture courtesy of Gary Hallgren.)

Rising rates still historically at low end

The current buyers' market is coupled with the historically low interest rates.

See average rates and points tables for various loan types since 1971 at FreddieMac's website here.

(Graph courtesy of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis website.)

Retirees starting to think this is the right time to buy

"The New York Times" reported yesterday that retirees are starting to benefit from the good deals available in today's buyers' market. Maybe it is time to get off the sidelines and buy your dream home in Florida! Read the entire article here.

(picture courtesy of David Sanders for The New York Times)

Good news for the Everglades!

"Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and U.S. Sugar Corp. representatives announced Tuesday the state was working on a deal to buy U.S. Sugar’s nearly 300 square miles in the Everglades south of Lake Okeechobee."

"Jeff Danter, The Nature Conservancy’s state director, called the potential deal “an unprecedented opportunity to completely rewrite the course of Everglades restoration.”

WOW! Great news for the amazing ecosystem which is the Everglades!

Read entire article here.

Time to jump into the SWFL housing market?

It looks as if buyers who have been sitting on the sidelines are starting to jump into the Florida housing market.

Read this interesting article.

(Youtube video credit: "Fiddy jump into house")

Wit

The Naples Players will be performing Wit from May 31 through June 14 at the Sugden Community Theater in Naples.

I was lucky enough to see this intensely moving play several years ago in Ann Arbor, MI.

Here is a review from the Naples Daily News.

(Picture is of the 1999 Faber and Faber edition of the play courtesy of Wikipedia.)