Guest Blogger: Tips on Buying on Sanibel Island

Though Sanibel Holiday is a vacation rental agency with no affiliation or ties to a real estate office, the agency enjoys the unique position of helping future home buyers on a temporary basis.

As an owner with a property managed by Sanibel Holiday, I am happy to share my own style and strategy in real estate acquisition with their blog readers.

In fact, I already do share my strategies regularly as many vacation rental guests who have stayed at my condo or at my home have rented with the purpose of "looking around" at what is available on the Island. To date, two families who rented the condo for a number of years have purchased their own places on Sanibel. And two others who rented the house have purchased as well.

One strong piece of advice I would offer to anyone looking to combine their vacation with a house hunt is to allow enough time. A few days on island, even a week, will limit your ability to combine business with pleasure. So stay two weeks, or three, and if you can swing it, come for the month.

Another suggestion strongly made is to do your house hunting off season. Like tourism in general, the house hunting crowd is largest in winter, and it's in your best interest to not be part of the crowd if you have a choice in the matter. You may find greater flexibility on the seller's part when you are looking in November or December and May or June then in the heart of high season. You will most definitely find your real estate agent's calendar not so crowded off season as well.

Which brings me to the most important advice I can offer to a prospective buyer. Choose your realtor carefully. You may want to talk to a couple of Realtors first before committing. Get to know his or her style and evaluate the compatibility with your own. Ask questions about their backgrounds and years in the business. Get a sense of how well they have done in not only getting listings, but making actual sales. Although we have found great integrity in all the agents we have talked to and worked with on and off island, the agent we will work with now is not only an honest and hard working guy, but someone who has proven himself to us by going beyond the expected to make us comfortable and show us that he cares.

Although all Realtors work off the MLS list, the differentiating factor can be just how much effort the agent you choose is willing to put in on your behalf. It can make the critical difference as we have discovered.

But you need to "know thyself" for any agent to be successful on your behalf. If your budget really can't reach for that luxury home you are smitten with, it's best not to waste your time or your agent's time on pipe dreams, as nice as they are. If a condo that you can more easily rent out makes most sense in the scheme of things, it's adviseable to concentrate your efforts on those kind of properties. That cute, little cottage is sure adorable, but how will it accommodate your large family and their friends?

And one thing is for sure, if you purchase on Sanibel, you will discover family and friends you barely knew you had!

I have enjoyed house hunting on the Island immensely. It is much akin to a treasure hunt with the best of Sanibel revealed with every turn and nuance in the search. But I have taken my time, paced myself, and blended my investment adventures with vacation explorations so that my stay on Island has always been a pleasure...even when the perfect property was not always discovered on that particular trip.


Sylvia Guarino, Guest Blogger