Testimonials for the
Ruth Bethem Real Estate Team

"Our reputation is our best asset."

 

I found Ruth Bethem not the way I planned. I am a residential realtor and live in Wilmington, Delaware. I had a condo in Naples, Florida to sell and had to find a realtor. I did what most people do and Googled for realtors in Naples, Florida. It came up with too many brokers websites and too many realtors. I decided to go through some and even email a few. I never got any responses. Being a former professional photographer I decided to one day search for real estate photographers in Naples. I figured if I found a really good photographer that might lead me to a really good realtor. I found Rick Bethem's website and was blown away. His photos of real estate listings were just amazing, better than I thought I could find. I can't even find photographers that good where I live which is right by Philadelphia, PA. I got in touch with Rick to find out what he charged because I thought I might have to go the FSBO route which I wanted to avoid not living in Naples and not knowing the market. He told me his wife Ruth was a realtor. After I checked out Ruth's website and speaking with her I knew I had hit the jackpot.

Being a realtor myself I was going to be extra critical of who I was going to choose to list and market my condo. I wanted someone who knew the market, was full time, had a strong track record and most importantly wasn't going to "buy" the listing with a high price and tell what they think I wanted to hear. Ruth was very upfront about the market, competition, days on market, pricing, what to do to prepare for the market and did not sugar coat anything. Whether it was news I did or didn't want to hear, she told me how it was. It was refreshing to find someone with that approach because with the amount of condos on the market in Naples I didn't want to deal with a bunch of price adjustments and to be on the market for a year or two. Especially when the last sold condo in my building was several years ago.

Her pricing was right on point. I received an offer within 2 days of coming on the market from a buyer who hadn't even seen my condo and was living in another state. Since my condo was vacant and had no furniture we staged it which really helped. Rick photographed my condo as if it was a cover shoot for Architectural Digest. He was there all day and literally stayed until he could get a shot of the sunset over the ocean from my balcony. I received several other offers to choose from within days of the first offer, went under contract and settled much quicker than I expected. Ruth deals with everything from start to finish and will always call or email you back. I could always get ahold of her. The level of service she provides exceeded my expectations. I put everything in Ruth's hands. It was her market, I relyed on her and she delivered. She helped me get through the inspections, get repairs done, meet contractors at the condo even help clean out and donate some leftover items in the unit so I didn't have to fly down. She gave me peace of mind from start to finish and was rare find for me.

We contacted Ruth through her website.

From our first contact with her we knew we had reached a true professional. Searching for a property in Florida, from Toronto, initially seemed a daunting prospect. However, once Ruth was involved the process was educational, fun and smooth. Ruth always made us feel as if we were her most important clients. Her attention to detail, her organization and her great knowledge of south west Florida was vital in our being able to select exactly what we wanted.

We had a very short window of time in which to fly down to Naples from Toronto, see properties, select and put in an offer. Ruth had it all organized, she drove us around and efficiently and knowledgably informed us about all the details we would need to know in order to make an offer. Her knowledge of life in Naples was invaluable and was instrumental in our final decision. Ruth assisted us every step of the way giving us lists of insurance companies, home inspectors, lawyers etc, to ensure our purchase was completed in a timely manner without any unexpected glitches. Not only would we highly recommend Ruth as the consummate professional Real Estate Agent for south west Florida, we consider her a friend.

I had the good fortune of meeting Ruth recently, when a friend recommended that I contact her to help me in selling a condominium. Knowledgeable, personable, accessible, and of an enviable work ethic, Ruth guided me through the process that turned out to be a whirlwind. I expected that she would offer suggestions as to how to prepare and stage the unit for sale, but I never imagined that she would actually work shoulder to shoulder with me, providing her own sweat equity in carrying out those recommendations.

Ruth is the consummate professional and I trusted her to guide me appropriately. She did not disappoint. Granted, I took her advice to heart and did what she suggested. Ultimately, I only had to reduce it by $1000.00 to secure the sale. Despite the fact that I was hoping for a quick sale, I never dreamed that I would actually close on the unit two weeks after it was listed! I am grateful to Ruth and recommend her without hesitation.

When my wife and I decided to buy a house in SW Florida we weren’t really sure how to take the next step. OK, we’d focused in on the area we were interested in, but we really didn’t understand the machinations of the US/Florida system. We aren’t exactly real estate novices, as we have bought and sold in other countries. When it came to choosing a realtor we went through several steps to try and weigh them up. I’d ask about houses in areas which would not be desirable, or about properties on streets where Chinese Drywall is recognised as a problem etc. We wanted to get a feel for their knowledge and judgement etc. Some never responded at all, and others appeared to be less than enthusiastic to help us find the property that was right for us. Some didn’t seem very clued up at all. Frankly I wasn’t too impressed. Then we found Ruth Bethem! Thank goodness that we did!

I was initially attracted to Ruth’s site at Downing-Freye Realty in Naples FLA because of her experience in dealing with British and Canadian clients. We fall into both camps being English but resident in Canada. What a great decision it was to contact Ruth.

From Day 1 we knew that we were in professional and dedicated hands. Nothing is too much trouble. Ruth helped us to narrow down and eliminate unsuitable choices and was in constant contact by phone and email to keep us up to date with new properties, and to inform us when others had gone to pending. I can’t speak highly enough about Ruth because she’s awesome! She’s gone from realtor to friend to us, in the time that we have known her.

She is diligent, and determined to do the best that she can for you and will always go the extra mile to make sure that what can be a stressful process is made easy by calling upon her considerable real estate experience. Ruth was there every step of the way through to closing (and beyond). If you are looking at real estate in the Naples, Bonita Springs, Estero area etc thenyou just need to call Ruth. She’s a lovely lady. A wonderful person to deal with and you really don’t need to talk to anyone else. Take it from us. It will be the best decision you will make.

If you want fantastic service with a smile then stop here. When we decided to buy in Naples I sent our requirements to 4 different realtors. 3 could not be bothered to return my emails. Given the market conditions at the time this surprised me. Ruth took the trouble to make contact and from that moment we did not look back. She maintained regular contact throughout the searching and buying process and always returned my calls or emails promptly. She started by listening to what we wanted to achieve. She then drew up a list of potentially suitable properties and sent the details to us from which we selected a short-list for viewing. I made 2 viewing trips. On both occasions Ruth met me on time at my hotel on the first day and on each occasion she presented me with a file that contained details of all the properties we were going to see, with a front summary sheet showing the essential information in an easy to read format. She took me to view all the properties and spent time discussing the pros and cons with me afterwards. She worked hard to get second viewings at short notice and always checked out facts I wanted to know so that I had answers as soon as humanly possible. This often meant working late in the evening as we had spent the whole day out viewing. At all times she worked professionally and at no time did she step too far into the arena and start imposing her own opinions, ensuring that while the information was made available, the decision was mine to make. She has a good relationship with the other realtors in the area and has contact details of all the people you might need to use during the purchasing process. This purchase has not been without its complications, all out of Ruth’s control, however they have all been managed with speed and expediency and absolutely no fuss. She works with high quality professionals who you know you can trust, because she trusts them. Her service has continued after the closing date, as there were a few minor issues that still required sorting out. There has never been any doubt that Ruth has worked in my best interests throughout this process. In doing so she has saved us from possible financial disaster and ensured the property we have bought is the right one for us. Her appropriate interventions have ensured that the house is in the best possible condition. Having put my trust in her she has never let me down. I am thrilled with what we have achieved together.

 

When we first mooted the idea of owning a property so far away, it seemed a bit fanciful to imagine it actually happening, but Ruth helped us enormously to realise our dream and did it with the minimum of fuss and hassle.

We had been coming to the Naples/Gulf Coast area for several years as holiday makers and were particularly fond of the Olde Naples area. After one such journey we decided to see whether it would be possible to dip our toe in and see how difficult it would be to try and buy something. We initially contacted several random realtors on the internet ("estate agents" to those living in the UK), hence although it was quite by chance that we came upon Ruth, from an early stage her extensive local knowledge and professionalism shone through. Although at first it seemed quite a daunting task to first find and then successfully negotiate the many aspects of a property purchase in a quite alien legal, practical and administrative framework, Ruth helped us every step of the way.

She is very perceptive and realised very quickly what type of properties we were interested in and the areas which would be most suitable. This helped enormously in cutting down the time spent otherwise trawling through endless lists of properties. She helped us whittle things down to short lists and was very thorough providing us with all the information we would need. She then made herself available to us on two separate visits from the UK to view these short lists; driving us around over several consecutive days so that we could obtain a very good feel for the area. She helped us to initiate the legal side of things (providing a short list of attorneys) and also put us in touch with other services we would need (i.e. property inspections, caretakers, gardeners, cleaners, etc).

Nothing was too much trouble and having had many bad experiences of realtors (especially in the UK) we were delighted with Ruth's honesty, professionalism and thoroughness. Several months after buying our home Ruth is still helping us with information in many different respects;such a providing a list of recommended local doctors or helping with additional legal aspects of the purchase.

 

We both feel very fortunate to now be owning our lovely place in Naples and are looking forward to many happy years of enjoyment in such a beautiful part of the world. None of this would have been possible without your strong support, your calm guidance and understanding and Hilary and I are extremely grateful to you for all of this. Thank you for everything you have done for us.

"We met on the internet". We were contemplating a Florida home and fell in love with Olde Naples on a rather hurried visit in April. On returning home to Canada, we spent hours on the internet searching for that perfect place. That’s where we met Ruth!! Her website was always up to date, easy to navigate and best of all she waited for us to contact her! And we did. We returned in June and finally met her….she was on time and well prepared for visits to some of the properties we had indicated an interest in. She even prepared a binder for us with all the listing, pictures and so on that was a great help to us as were started to narrow our choice. Ruth was always pleasant, always on task. My husband remarked that he could have used a few good salespersons like her in his business. She did close the sale for us, but her attention to detail did not end there. She has walked us through the intricacies of Florida real estate, flood insurance and everything else we have had questions about. All of this was accomplished with great efficiency through email, attachments and phone calls. So it is true, we did “meet on the internet”.

Aside from being utterly impressed with their expertise and knowledge of the Southwest Florida real estate market, Naples in particular, and their consummate professionalism and trustworthiness, we found it remarkable how they went that "extra mile" for us as clients.

When we contacted the Ruth Bethem Real Estate Team, we were looking for a fast, efficient, and professional sale of our single family home.
We chose Ruth Bethem because we liked Ruth's hands-on, personalized approach to the sales experience. Ruth understands that communicating effectively is at the heart of what motivates people to action.
We sold our home within sixty days and were really pleased with the results, especially her assistance in helping us stage our home for the quickest possible sale.
We recommend Ruth and her team of professionals to anyone who desires practical and proven tips and techniques based on sales research. Her "out of the box " suggestions are attention-getting and proven to get results.

Ruth is an outstanding, comprehensive realtor who carefully managed our limited time, thoroughly screened homes, provided advice in the negotiation process and addressed all post-sale issues. We have been purchasing homes and investment properties for many years, so we appreciated working with such a professional.

Dave and I found Ruth a pleasure and a treasure in the Real Estate world of Southwest Florida. Her website gave us a good idea of the market even before we arrived in Naples to begin our search. She was organized and efficient in presenting homes to us and worked tirelessly to find what we feel is the perfect Canadian snowbird community for us to migrate to. She has a good working knowledge of real estate practises in the area. Her colleagues in the business and the businesses that support and provide auxiliary services obviously like and respect her. Altogether, she made looking for and acquiring our new home a great experience. We have already recommended her to friends and acquaintances who are looking to make a similar move."

We want to thank you for a totally professional experience in locating and negotiating for our beautiful new estate home in Medittera. Throughout the arduous process of first locating the right community, then finding the right house, and then negotiating the right price in unusual market conditions in Naples, you were always highly professional but, most of all, you kept it fun with your great sense of humour.
We valued your insights as we reviewed the various locations and homes for sale, and we found they were always correct. Without hesitation, we will recommend you to friends in the future.

We were extremely satisfied with Ruth's professionalism, real estate etiquette and knowledge, and overall attitude towards a successful completion of the sale of our property.

--Mr. and Mrs. George Trotter, Naples, FL

Ruth was exceptionally thorough and helpful. She was quick to return phone calls and always was pleasant to deal with. We appreciated her good advice and guidance. We will recommend Ruth again.

With Ruth as our realtor, buying a house is as easy as 1-2-3. Thank you so much! We will recommend Ruth to our relatives and friends.