In the past few years I have extolled the joys of certain movies, television shows, books, restaurants, charities, and a host of personal stuff I’ve been involved in.

Today’s blog is presenting great real estate agents.

My recent move from the Blue Hell of Minnesota to the Red Utopia of Florida is case in point. I grew up one place, plan to die in the other, and have had great agents in both places. 

Let’s start with my Minnesota agent, Kevin Horan. Not many people have the guy next door as their agent. We did. It made it easy to wander over with a bottle of adult beverages and some snacks, sit around the center island in his kitchen, and plan the strategy. It made it easy to get the house ready to list, and for him to show it as well, since he just had to look out the window to see what was going on.

But the little things count massively. Example: he cleaned the joint out for us after we moved out. I hired a team of 800-GOT JUNK people to come in and make it all vanish. Kevin was there to let them in and supervise. Likewise with the cleaning crew (whom he recommended) that left the place far better looking than at any point when I lived there. Finally, it got warm before the new tenants moved in, and the snow melted. That meant that a winter’s worth of Chewy poop was visible. Kevin did poop patrol. I owe the man a steak at a minimum. 

He was in constant communication with us, got us a great price, and made it all happen painlessly. Not because he was my neighbor, but because he’s a rock star and a great agent. If you are in the Twin Cities and need to sell, or buy, a home, give him a call at:    (612) 910-3704 Mobile and email at: kevinhoran@kw.com 

As far as hobbies and whatnot goes, I know he tells a great story, loves his family, and is handy with a poop scoop.

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Now, on the other end of the country, we found our agent through my sister. She’d already been looking in Florida and knew Marybeth as a good agent. Good enough for me. We had put out calls to a couple of agents and she was the first to respond, cinching the deal.

She’s fast. Really fast. No phone call or email went unanswered. She asked us what we wanted in our new home. We gave her some precise goals, and she provided 21 homes within a couple of days. We checked the listings, and eliminated most, highlighting what we liked, the areas we liked, and changed our specs a bit. 

This went back and forth several times until we figured out what we really wanted. At that point, the market was turning fast in Florida. Marybeth drove all over to look at homes for us, and used her extensive network of people to find what we were looking for in our lives.

Simply stated, I never would have bought a house over the internet if she wasn’t my agent. We trusted her. We knew she would do right by us. And, with great confidence, we bought our house on Christmas Eve. She has little ones, and she was up late cinching the deal for us. 

She wasn’t done. She went to the closing walk-through on our behalf. She made sure it was all good. We met her for the first time at the closing.

But she wasn’t finished. She helped us find a good fencing contractor and water treatment company. She guided us through the steps needed to make our landing in Florida soft.

So, if you’re looking for a house anywhere around Naples, Florida, you’re wasting your time if you don’t call her at:    239-319-8464 or, you can email her at:  marybeth.alford@compass.com.

Hobbies:  She’s a runner, couple of marathons under her belt, and she hunts wild hogs. Let’s see…. yup, don’t mess with her, she’ll run you down and  – well, let’s just say she’s formidable.

If you need an agent in either market, start with these two. Fine people with great work ethics. They have our vote.