Realtor Renee Hahn moved to Naples, Florida ten years ago from a GE corporate job and explains why. Year-round warm weather, low crime, strong schools, and cultural attractions like a zoo and Philharmonic draw people there. Housing costs are high, summers are brutal, and bugs are relentless.
What makes Naples special, you ask? Well, I'm glad you asked, and I'm going to tell you. By the way, my name is Renee Hahn. I am your Naples real estate expert, and I moved to Naples about 10 years ago. So, bit of a backstory: I worked in corporate America as a senior executive with GE, and so I had my share of addresses all over the United States. And we always joked that although we lived a lot of beautiful places, we were never too terribly sad to move from one to the other. It was kind of an adventure. That all changed when we moved Naples. We got to Naples and Tom and I looked at each other, at one another, and we said, you know, this is pretty close to paradise. We kind of like it here, so we might want to think about a career shift to get off the corporate train and get to pick our, uh, pick to stay in our home for longer than we've traditionally historically been able to. So that started our Naples journey. So why did we do it? Because we've, as I said, we've lived a lot of really great places. I'll just kind of rattle these off in no particular order. This is not scripted, so this is the raw Renee version. The first is, um, the weather. I'm not gonna lie, I am from Michigan. I know about cold winters. We love to ski, we love to play in the snow, but living in it is another story. We do not miss the potholes and the damage they cause to the cars. So the weather is a huge attractor. I love the fact that I can wear sandals year-round. I don't wear closed-toe shoes very often unless I'm going to the gym or I'm going to visit up north. So weather. Second is it's so clean. You forget sometimes because we get so insulated until I visit other areas, particularly other areas of Florida, and I see the trash in the sides of the street and the curb. I see a lot of panhandling. We don't have that. Um, it— we do have homeless, I'm not going to lie about that, but we— the way the town manages it, we do not have a panhandling problem. So you don't get into town and immediately see people swarming to your cars holding up signs everywhere. Um, so generally just a very clean place. I love that. It's safe. You know when you turn on the news and there's not a whole lot local to talk about, so you end up talking about silly local things? Um, that's just because there's just not a lot of crime. It's not that there's not crime, but there's not a lot of crime and there's not severe crime. So we have found it to be very safe to live in. Schools— I was super, super nervous when we came here about Florida schools because they do not have a good reputation. We hired an education consultant because we were so worried about it before before we would agree to come here, and we have been incredibly pleased. My daughters have done well, they have thrived, they've been in the gifted programs, they've been challenged, and they are both going to highly selective esteemed colleges. I say both because, you know, if you know, I have 3 daughters. My one did not go to school here. She is an adult and she has moved back here, uh, 2 years ago, so she likes it too. But schools are really great. We didn't know if we would need to go the private route, but we decided to give the public route a try. There's some great private schools both, you know, religious, uh, grounded schools as well as just private schools, some great ones. But we never ended up making— having to make the shift. So very happy with the schools. We like that even though it's inconvenient because it is so far south and west, candidly, there's still a lot of things we can go do. We can jump on the Key West Express to go down to the Keys for the weekend. We can go across the coast and jump on a cruise ship. We can hang out in Miami. We can be up in Orlando to Disney and, and other parks up there in 3.5 hours. We can go to Tampa. We've got lots of airports. We can go out of Fort Myers, RSW, Punta Gorda. The Fort Lauderdale one is only an hour and I think 20 minutes away. We can go to Miami. So there are a lot of options. The other thing that I like is it is a small town, but it is small town with a lot of conveniences. So Naples is pretty big from a pure acreage standpoint, but not like a Tampa, not like a Miami, not Cincinnati. But because of the wealth here and the amount of people that come down and invest in the area, for a town this size you would never expect to see— it's got a really nice zoo, it's got a Philharmonic, it's got a museum, it's got live theater, it's got botanical gardens, it's got more restaurants than I can ever possibly visit with, you know, trying one different one every year. Or every day, I should say. So lots to do. Um, what have I not mentioned? Friendly. So it's got kind of this Midwestern friendliness to it. It doesn't mean we can't have idiots and mean people. They exist everywhere. I haven't found a way to keep them out. But generally speaking, people are really friendly here. And it doesn't mean that everybody's from the Midwest. It just means that those attracted here have that kind of tendency towards what we have coined the Midwest friendliness. Um, those are the major ones I would say. What don't I like? Because it wouldn't be a balanced discussion if I didn't tell you what I don't like. It is expensive. Now I will tell you, my husband just came in. By the way, this is the second time I've started recording this. The first time my daughter walked in, now my husband just walked in, so we'll have to wrap this up soon before anyone else runs in. But what don't I like? It is expensive. You can find things at about every price point, so the question is just what does that point actually get you, and does it align with your expectations? So no question, housing and other things are expensive. It is expensive to eat out. Sometimes when we go back to the small towns in other places we've lived, we love opening up the menu and seeing how cheap things are. So groceries, insurance, whatnot is expensive. So there is a price to pay because this is such a hot area and people love to be here, without question. What else don't I like? Um, you know, sometimes bugs, but they're everywhere. We go up to Georgia and we have roaches outside too, so they just kind of like that steamy hot weather. Um, I don't like that sometimes in the summer— not sometimes, all the time in the summer— it does get really, really hot. But I will tell you, if I call any of my friends in any other places, it doesn't get as hot here as it does other areas. It's just prolonged, it's long. We have a lot of moisture, humidity in the summer and other times of the year, but it is offset by gorgeous weather during other points in the, in the year. So I don't mind it, I tolerate it. We go into the water a little bit more in the summer, and we use the air conditioner a little bit more in the summer. So I would love to talk to you about Naples. And if you haven't been here and would like a visit, I've got some great recommendations for you. In fact, you can find some things on my website. There's a page with things to do, places to stay, things to see. I'm happy to direct you there. And if you've already been to Naples or not and think you might be interested in purchasing property here, You know what I do? Yep, real estate. That's how I stayed local. So feel free to reach out to me, 239-287-2576, anytime, and I'm happy to share my expertise with you and, uh, find a place within the beautiful area for you to call home too. Have a fabulous day.
North Naples vs. South Naples: Which Area of Naples, Florida Is Right for You?
North Naples vs. South Naples: Which Area of Naples, Florida Is Right for You?
