Help for families and executors settling a Marco Island home — beachfront condo or canal-front house — with a free walk-through, a written evaluation, and a plan that works around the bridge, the building and the season.
the porcelain corner
Marco Island is about forty minutes from our shop on Shirley Street — down Collier Boulevard and over the Jolley Bridge — and we make the trip regularly. Distance isn't the complication on Marco. The buildings are, and so is the calendar.
Most of the estates we handle on the island are one of two kinds: a condominium in one of the beachfront towers along South Collier Boulevard and Seaview Court, or a single-family home on the canals — Tigertail, Olde Marco, the Estates, or out toward Isles of Capri and Goodland. They call for different plans, and we've done plenty of both.
Marco's high-rises run on rules, and they are not suggestions: elevator reservations, service-elevator hours, weekday-only moving windows, certificates of insurance from anyone bringing a truck, a deposit with the management office, and a security desk that wants names in advance. Miss one and the moving day evaporates. We ask for the building's move policy on the first call, coordinate directly with management, and schedule the pickup inside the window the building allows — so the contents leave in one organized trip rather than a series of arguments at the loading dock.
The same rules make a traditional estate sale — strangers streaming through a unit for a weekend — impossible in most Marco buildings. It's one reason our approach works well here: a walk-through, a written evaluation, then buyout, consignment or auction placement, with nothing public in the home. The routes compared.
A great many Marco homes were second homes, and the family that inherits them lives in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois or New Jersey. The estate has to be settled between visits, or on one hurried trip in season. We're used to both. Out of season we work from photographs, with a neighbor, realtor or property manager holding the keys, and send a written summary you can act on from home. In season — January through April — families arrive wanting the whole thing done in a week, and the buildings' calendars fill up. If you know you'll be down, book the walk-through before you fly.
Much of the furniture is coastal and recent, and we'll tell you honestly what it's worth. But the good things in a Marco home are the ones that came down from the northern house: the sterling flatware set and tea service, the oil paintings from the old dining room, the mahogany secretary that didn't fit anywhere else. We also see nautical instruments and charts, mid-century furniture from the island's first wave of building, Southwestern and Native American art from retirees who travelled, and a great deal of Lladró, Waterford and Royal Doulton. Shell and coral collections are common and some pieces can't legally be sold; we'll tell you which. Jewelry, watches and coins go to our sister shop, Naples Estate Jewelry, in the same visit.
We serve Isles of Capri and Goodland on the same trip, and East Naples and Lely on the way down. For the rest of Southwest Florida, 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 Marco Island, 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.
Usually within a few days, and faster if there's a closing or a flight home. Tell us the building and any move-window rules on the first call and we'll schedule around them.
No — it's normal on Marco. We ask for the building's move policy up front, arrange the elevator reservation and insurance certificate with management, and take everything out in one scheduled trip.
Yes. We coordinate access with whoever holds the keys, send photographs and a written evaluation, and carry out the plan with your approval by phone or email. Many Marco estates are settled exactly this way.
Some. Certain corals and shells are protected and can't be sold at all; others have a modest market. We'll tell you which is which during the walk-through rather than guess.
We don't run public sales, and most Marco buildings wouldn't allow one anyway. We buy, consign and place at auction — nothing public in the unit. If a house on the canals is a genuine fit for a traditional sale, we'll say so and refer a company that runs them.
We buy single pieces and entire estates — antiques, silver, art, and furniture. Honest evaluations, free of charge and free of pressure.