Help settling a Fort Myers home — from the old houses off McGregor Boulevard to Gulf Harbour, Cape Coral and the beach — with a free walk-through, a written evaluation, and honest options for everything from the dining room to the garage.
the gallery wall
Fort Myers is the far end of our regular run — about forty-five minutes from Shirley Street — and we go often enough that a walk-through can usually happen within the week, sooner when a closing demands it. We cover the city, Cape Coral across the river, Fort Myers Beach, and the communities along Daniels Parkway and Colonial Boulevard.
Fort Myers is the oldest city on this stretch of coast, and it shows in the estates. The houses along McGregor Boulevard under the royal palms, the neighborhoods around the Edison and Ford estates, Dean Park and Seminole Park — these belonged to families who have been in Florida for generations, and they hold genuine antiques rather than things bought to furnish a retirement: Victorian and Empire furniture, coin silver, early Florida maps and prints, cypress and heart-pine pieces made here, and paintings by Florida artists that are now collected seriously. When a family calls from one of these houses, we bring more time.
The newer gated communities — Gulf Harbour, Pelican Preserve, Colonial Country Club, Paseo, the Plantation — follow the pattern we know from Naples and Bonita: northern retirees who brought the good dining room, the sterling and the paintings with them, and a gate with a visitor list we'll take care of.
Fort Myers estates turn up Florida landscape paintings more often than anywhere else we go — including work by the Highwaymen and other mid-century Florida painters whose canvases have gone from motel-lobby decoration to museum walls. They are easy to overlook in a house full of them. If there's a painting of a poinciana tree or a backlit river in the estate, don't put it in the garage sale; photograph the front and the back and send it to us. The same goes for early maps, Seminole and Southeastern Native American craft, and anything with a local maker's name on it.
A good share of our Fort Myers estates come to us through attorneys, realtors and property managers, and we're used to giving them what an estate file needs: a written evaluation of the contents, receipts for what was sold or donated, and one phone number that actually answers. Out-of-state heirs — common here — get the same, by email. Your attorney can tell you whether a formal appraisal is needed before the contents are sold; here's how that differs from our free evaluation.
Beyond the paintings: sterling flatware and hollowware, mahogany and walnut case furniture, clocks, Chinese export and English porcelain, rugs, books and maps, and the occasional collection assembled over decades — coins, stamps, decoys, fishing tackle. We don't buy firearms; we'll point you to a licensed dealer. Coins, gold, jewelry and watches go to our sister shop, Naples Estate Jewelry, in the same trip.
Cape Coral, across the Caloosahatchee, is on the same run — canal homes with the northern-retiree pattern and very few gates. Fort Myers Beach condos have the elevator reservations and move windows we plan for on Marco Island. For the rest of the coast, see all the areas we cover.
The same four steps we use for every estate — with the drive, the gate and the building's rules already factored in.
Where the home is in Fort Myers, roughly what's in it, and any dates that matter — a closing, a lease end, a flight home.
We come to the house, free of charge. Out of state? We can work from photographs, or with a neighbor, realtor or attorney who holds the keys.
What's there, what it's likely worth, and your options for each piece — buyout, consignment, auction, keep, or donate. The routes compared
Pickup, paperwork, gate and building coordination, auction submissions and payment — with a record for the estate file.
Yes, regularly, and at no charge for the walk-through. It's the far end of our run, so we group visits by area — tell us your dates and we'll fit the house into the next trip, or make a special one if there's a closing.
Often, yes — from the style, the materials and the back of the board or canvas. Photograph the front, the signature if any, and the back, and send them to us. If it's the real thing, it's exactly the kind of piece we'd place at auction rather than buy across a counter. How that works.
Sometimes — it depends on the estate and what the attorney needs for the inventory. Our free evaluation is a market opinion, not a certified appraisal. Ask the attorney; if a formal appraisal is required, we can refer an independent appraiser and handle the sale afterwards.
Not firearms — we'll refer a licensed dealer. Coins and gold go to our sister shop, Naples Estate Jewelry. Stamps, decoys, tackle and other collections we'll evaluate honestly and either buy or point toward the right specialist market.
We coordinate access with the attorney, realtor, property manager or a neighbor, send photographs and a written evaluation, and carry out the plan with your approval by phone or email. Payment and receipts go wherever the estate directs.
We buy single pieces and entire estates — antiques, silver, art, and furniture. Honest evaluations, free of charge and free of pressure.