No matter what the studies tell you about why people retire to a certain location (like Florida or Arizona), and no matter how beautiful our weather, beaches and golf courses are, it's all about people. Retirees go to where there are people they know. If you saw a summary of why people choose a certain retirement location, you may be surprised at the list of criteria.

Bottom line is that housing is much more affordable today than three years ago. This is causing downward pressure on inventory. Add to this that the pipe line is not being filled with new foreclosures as fast as it was even two years ago and you will see price appreciation.

I receive comments on a regular basis on my weekly column. I appreciate every one of them. This column now goes out to over 7000 subscribers, a large portion of which are fellow real estate professionals. Most of my comments come from Northerners looking for the pulse on what's going on in the Southwest Florida real estate market.

My potential buyer was looking at the home with an eye to renovating it. She told me she would be buying this home without any financing. I almost said to her, "I can't not get you financing, you will have to buy it without something else." But I just smiled and told her that I felt sure this house would go quickly for cash. (most of our REO inventory sells for cash).

For the past three months Gail and I have been looking for a home to buy. Every few days I would check out new listings in the area we chose. We toured a few homes a week. We made an offer on a home on Wednesday. The offer was accepted. We still need to qualify for the mortgage and complete our home inspection, but I foresee no obstacles t a successful close Here are the reasons we bought now...

Successful investors need to see opportunity where others see obstacles. Where some look at an abandoned bank and see future blight, I see a plastic surgery center. Where others see a closed Publix location, I see a country western bar.

I believe we are in a real estate recovery mode. Most of my associates agree with me. Some do not. But okay. Let's assume you agree with me. Let's look at some underlying real estate recovery signs.