Sal Antsipenka

Verona Walk luxury home and townhouse community in South Naples Florida is one of the most popular home purchase places with international vacationers and investors. It's worth mentioning that out of 2,000 homes over 500 is owned by Italians and most of the streets have Italian names. Verona Walk offers great community center with landmark clock tower, a gas station, post office and bank on the premises accompanied by tennis courts, lots of places for social events and sports. Verona Walk is a one destination solution for vacation lovers and real estate investment pros. Townhouses start from low $200K and single family homes from high $200K.

Here is the video of Verona Walk Community Center, Townhouses and Single Family Homes:

I have a number of clients seeking "a steal" on Naples Florida condo market for less than $70,000 with 2 or 3 berdrooms, 2 bathrooms, possibly gated community in good location with good pool and clubhouse. Here is the pointer and a description of what these communities are.

First of all the major number of foreclosures besieged the so called "rental conversions" - communities that before 2006 were pure rental communities, but then on the height of the Boom desided to get "a little" greedy and sell their rental apartments for up to $270,000. Whoever bit the bate and bought those units in 2005-2006 with customary ARM mortgages at the time felt the chill of loss just a year later when the market froze and then spiralled drastically down. Hence - foreclosure prices well under $100K.

Most prominent foreclosure heavens in Naples Florida were Reserve at Naples, Enclave, Fairway Preserve, St. Croix, The Oasis, Granada Lakes and some others. The most common characteristic of these mostly gated condo communities: they were built in very late 90s early 2000s either very closely west of I-75 or east of I-75 in North and East Naples where land was available for condo construction at the time.

However with an increased numbers of nuveau flippers galore these days and international real estate investment companies the number of super deal condo foreclosures is running out by the day making way to short sales which are customarily priced $10K or something higher for starters, then go down.

So "Stealers" and "Super Deal Seekers" if you have your eyes on Naples Florida condo in a good location and priced just right, hurry up - this season is going to be interesting for realtors and quite frustrating for those who wait. So talking Boom again?

Here are videos of most of the communities I was talking about so that you have a very good idea of what to expect. I am including videos of some units as well for more complete picture and better judgement.

Fairway Preserve - North Naples

Reserve at Naples- North Naples

Granada Lakes - East Naples

St Croix - North Naples

Reserve at Naples Condo Video

The Enclave - East Naples

The Enclave Condo Video

The Shores is a quiet gated community in Naples Florida conveniently located on intersection of Santa Barbara Blvd and Radio Road within 15 minutes drive to downtown Naples and Olde Naples beaches. The Shores features single family homes, villas and townhomes ranging from $130,000 to $500,000. Community center boasts one of the largest pools in Naples, Club house includes a gym, poker room, event hall with Sunday movies, billiards room with two tables and two tennis courts. The Shores homes, villas and townhomes were built between 1999 and 2002, so this community is favorably newer than surrounding properties with the exception of Glen Eagle Golf and Country Club nearby, where homes were built in 2003-2004.

The Shores is just minutes from I-75 on the way either to southward Miami or north to Miromar Outlets, Coconut Point, Ft. Myers and Tampa. Townhomes are especially popular with excellent floor plans, available in one or two floor design, extended lanai and two or three bedrooms. If you are looking for a very affordable townhouse in Naples Florida the Shores is definitely one of the best places to check out.

The Shores at Naples Florida Video:

A number of Russian speaking people in US read this blog, so here is my Russian version of the Shores video:

I have encountered a very definitive trend among buyers who look up Naples Florida homes and condos on the internet and empowered with optimistic figures rush in to Naples for some very cold shower despite all the Florida sun.

First myth about Naples Florida homes - you can buy 3 bedroom 2 bath 2,000 sq ft home with pool built in 2002-2004 West of I-75 in gated community with golf course for less than $100,000. It's just not going to happen even this time around.

Second myth about Naples Florida condos - you can buy 3 bedroom 2 bath 1,400 sq ft condo or townhome built in 2002-2004 in gated community within 3 miles of the beach for under $40,000.

So my advice for everyone who is looking to buy in Naples, please do not trust websites that do not remove old listings or allow just anybody to upload whatever they want. Neither Zillow nor Trulia and the gang are accurate. Find a realtor who really knows the area and home values and consult in all seriousness of what can work for you. Also be ready for some curbing of appetite and applying some realism in your home project if you spent too much time on six month old internet listing uploads.

The time to buy in Naples is now, but Naples is not a dirt cheap place. With realistic goals you can get a terrific place for yourself in paradise, prestige and style with a bunch of bragging rights. However even if you start looking on internet, hold off forming your affordability assumptions until you talk to a realtor.

That will save you a bunch of frustrations and time wasted.

I start thinking that with the speed my friends are buying homes in Naples and refer their friends, we will have to start a community or some kind of a club.

I visited Naples first back in 1993 on a business trip. Fascination was instant, especially compared to a European country I am coming from. It's not that my country is less beautiful, it's just completely different and mostly cold. I remember dreaming of the sun, the sea and palm trees when I was a small kid. My grandma called me "a Southern Race", unwittingly by the way but prophetically nevertheless. It took me only one time and I was completely hooked on Naples.

I was very busy building my business and travelling extensively in Europe and US, however my trips to Naples became more frequent by the year. So in December 1997 I surrendered and just moved to Naples. Here is the deal, guys. People dream of paradize a lot, but they don't realize that paradize places are abundant and not that far away. You have to determine where your paradize is and just go there. You know what, I did and I still enjoy walking out of my house to look at the sun, palm trees and the Gulf every morning, the same way I did back in 1993. I have been to and enjoyed many places, however every time I return back to Naples from a vacation or a business trip I am happy like a child. There is a sense of relief that you are back home.

I run two serious businesses now: real estate marketing and industrial exports. Multitasking comes easy for me. It's just fun to do different things during the course of day. But believe me, there is nothing better than jump in the car, drive to 5th Avenue or Park Shore Beach and jump in the water at any time of day. All pressures are gone in neno-second. Complete piece of mind and relaxation. There is no chance to have any of that in Maimi, Chicago, LA or New York - too much running and aggravation.

So when you think of Paradize - think of Naples as one of the places. You might stay here for a long time.