Our Villa in Windsor Palms
We first contacted Jerry in Aug 2011 with a view to purchasing an investment property in Orlando.
Whilst were getting near to having the funds to buy, it was just a waiting game for us and during the time from first contact to closing on our house, Jerry and his team guided us thru the whole process.
We were kept up to date with properties available on first contact and also as any come on to the market that Jerry may think we were interested in.
During the first few initial months Jerry introduced us to a bank manager who has been fantastic thru ought the process of buying and still are.
He also introduced us to a currency broker to handle our £ to $ transfer who also gave a very very good market rate for our exchanges making our purchase just that little bit better value.
Helping us secure tax consultants to ensure that all of the filing paperwork for state taxes and the IRS
Erin, who coordinated all of our purchase documents and administrating the finances and really keeping us on track with the purchase.
Finally a property management company that has got our home already listed and got bookings before photos are even published. Global PM really does look after us and our property.
Jerry Barker, his closing team, the people and companies he recommends has made the buying process so quick and easy that we are even considering another 1 or 2 more purchases with him.
Jerry, we couldn’t have asked for a better person to help us with this process, this is so much easier than buying in the UK (or you made it seem that way) We would highly recommend Jerry Barker and his team for purchasing and would welcome anyone interested in using Jerry’s services to contact us direct to back up our testimonial.
You will be our first port of call for the next purchase. Thank you for securing us such a lovely house.
Kirby and Paul
England and Windsor Palms
Our Home in Providence
We did not know where to start with buying a house in Florida, and were not even sure whether we wanted to, but with your careful and unpressured approach we gradually became both comfortable with the idea and educated on where we wanted to look. From day one we regarded you first and foremost as a true friend, and at no time did we feel any pressure from yourself in our search.
As you know our first choice evaporated as we were not looking to pay the full asking price for the preferred property, but none of us gave up and with your careful guidance we have ended up with a much more desirable property than we originally chose and at a much better price.
Now we are settling into the ownership role you have continued to support us in unbiased advice and kind recommendations whether we have bothered you day or night, and you have tirelessly encouraged us.
Thank you from us all Jerry – we now look forward to developing our friendship from our new house !!
The start of the journey was daunting in our ignorance – but you took us there by a most enjoyable route – you are a real professional !
Our Best Wishes to you and the family,
James, Julie, Daisy and Tilly Shepherd
England and Providence
Our home in Windsor Palms
When we decided to look for a vacation home in Orlando the best decision we made was to work with Jerry and have him represent us. We told him what we were looking for and he zeroed in on just the right homes to view. He anticipated just about every question we could have possibly had and had all the right answers.
He made introductions to a great property mgmt company, title company, home inspector, insurance broker, interior design company and tax accountant. He also represented us very well during our negotiations and ensured that everything went smoothly during our closing. We couldn’t have asked for anything more and we love our new home!
I would highly recommend Jerry to anyone looking for a vacation property in Orlando.
His knowledge of the market is second to none and he ensured that our experience was a positive one from start to finish.
Jeff & Donna Keeler
Nova Scotia and Windsor Palms
Karen and Robin at The Shire.
My wife and I made contact with Jerry while we were still in the UK.
In the run up to our trip to Florida he would send us details of available properties. This allowed us to compile a short list of interesting properties.
When we arrived in Florida and met Jerry we visited the ones we had shortlisted, and a few more he suggested, and came to a decision very quickly. Jerry was most knowledgeable VERY attentive and always available to answer any questions we had.
I would highly recommend Jerry Barker to everyone.
Thanks again Jerry!
Karen and Robin,
Scotland and “The Shire”
Our Home in Reunion
Hi Jerry,
Just thought that I would drop you an e-mail now that we are back in the UK following our first visit to our new vacation home, it was everything we expected and more.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all your help with the processes involved in buying our house in Reunion, from the first time we spoke way back in October through the purchase and even beyond that, your after-sales help with insurances, surveys, repairs and local tax issues was invaluable.
As you know buying a property even when you live in the country can be tough and buying our property could have been a huge struggle without you constantly assisting the process from Orlando,without your help I think our lives would have been made so much more difficult, but now,thanks to you, we have our dream home in beautiful Reunion and can begin to enjoy it.
In future if anybody asks me to recommend an agent in Florida your name will be in their In box in a shot, just wish that you could buy my houses for me in the UK!
Thanks again for all of your help,
Andrew and Amanda,
England and Reunion
Click to swim in our pool!
We contacted Jerry after seeing his advert in Place in the Sun magazine in February. We told him our specifications and he provided us with many properties that matched our criteria. When we found the property we felt was right for us he put together a virtual tour for us which we found invaluable as we reside in the UK. Throughout the whole buying process Jerry was on hand to guide us and spent a whole day with us when we visited the US to check out the property for ourselves and chauffeured us around to various people we needed to meet.
He put us in touch with people who could assist us in different areas from Tax matters to property management. Nothing was ever too much trouble, even my endless emails!!.
Everyone we dealt with throughout the purchase were friendly, professional and efficient.
We really can’t thank Jerry and his team enough for helping us realize our dream of purchasing a house in Florida.
If you decide to use Jerry’s services we really don’t think you’ll be disappointed, we weren’t.
The Cottendens
England and Emerald Island
The Winters @ Highlands Reserve, Click to rent!
When my Sister & I first decided to look at purchasing a vacation/rental property in the Orlando area, we quickly became overwhelmed with the number of properties and market price variations we were seeing on the internet. While browsing one night, we came across one of Jerry Barker’s information videos on an area that we were interested in getting more details about so sent an initial email which Jerry immediately responded to with the answers to our questions, along with additional information we hadn’t even thought to ask. We were very impressed with Jerry’s knowledge and expertise of the market which resulted in us utilizing Jerry as our primary contact to facilitate our real estate purchase.
As we narrowed down our selection criteria we decided to visit Orlando in person (from our home in Canada), Jerry was instrumental in this process by researching the properties he thought would interest us in the desired areas, arranging various property viewings and taking us on a guided tour which helped us confirm the vacation community meeting all of our needs, we landed on Highlands Reserve in Davenport.
Once we had decided on Highlands Reserve and returned back to Canada, Jerry was instrumental in getting us the property of our dreams. He went to several properties in the community and videotaped the ones we expressed interest in, which led us to eventually putting in an offer on a property based solely on the video & Jerry’s insight into our needs and expectations. When we visited the property in person to close the deal, we were extremely pleased as the video was a complete representation of the property and there were no “hidden” surprises when we arrived allowing us to sign the purchase agreements immediately.
The services Jerry offered did not stop with the purchase agreement, equally valuable were the closing services to assist with finalizing the purchase. A lot of agents will leave you on your own to navigate through this unfamiliar territory, but we felt very secure and in very capable hands with Jerry and his team who were able to walk us through the process without any issues/problems.
The services Jerry provides extended even further; my Sister & I immediately wanted to have some painting and decorating done to our new vacation/rental property to make it our own, Jerry put us in touch with some excellent professionals, including a decorator, painter and tradesman who all maintained the highest of service levels we came to expect from Jerry.
Now that our purchase is complete and renovations finished, we must say we are very (very) happy with our new Florida home, thanks to Jerry this complicated process was expertly managed with ease.
We have since recommended Jerry to our friends and family and wish to thank him for making our dreams become a reality.
Susan Winter & Cindy Harrison
Ontario Canada & Highlands Reserve
Click to rent our Villa!
We started looking for a vacation home over two years ago and had difficulty in finding someone who would dedicate the appropriate amount of time to educate us on the process. Searching on the web one day we came across Jerry Barker.
Jerry was instrumental in getting the awareness required enabling us to take our dream to the next level. While the prospect of buying a vacation home in Florida was really exciting, the fact that we live in Canada made it a bit scary.
We visited Orlando for a day and Jerry took us to see a number of properties. Additionally, he took the time to introduce us to a tax expert and a property management company. These visits allowed us to ask as many questions as we wanted to become more comfortable with the process.
From start to finish, Jerry was there for us. This is not the type of sales person that makes the sale and disappears, instead he is a great partner throughout the process. I recommend Jerry to anyone looking to make an investment in Orlando.
Carlos.
Ontario, Canada & Windsor Palms
Watersong Vacation Home
We first came across Jerry in a magazine article and decided to contact him, along with two or three other realtors. Jerry was the only realtor who replied and in all our dealings with him we have found him to be courteous and very helpful.
Nothing seemed to be too much trouble. He very quickly worked out the type of property that would interest us and consistently provided us with details of properties that were appropriate. When we finally decided that we had found the right house, we flew over to Davenport for a weekend.
Jerry introduced us to a tax adviser, helped us open a bank account, and showed us a a number of good alternatives to the property that we were interested in.
Throughout the purchase process he has remained interested and involved and has recommended suitable people to help us along the way.
Based on our experience, we would have no hesitation in recommending Jerry to other overseas buyers.
Nick and Jane,
Jersey, UK and Watersong, Davenport
When my husband and I started our search for a vacation home in Kissimmee, Florida, we were looking for a resource that provided a comparison of the top 5 resorts that offered vacation homes for sale. During our search, we came across Jerry Barker’s website. The website pretty much summed it up. Not only did Jerry’s website list most of the resorts, it was well designed, easy to navigate and most importantly it had videos of the resorts and chock full of information well targeted to our search criteria. As a web developer, this was very important me. This proved that he took his business seriously which made me feel very confident that he was the real estate agent quite capable of making our dream possible without the stress component.
Click to rent our vacation home!
Not only was Jerry’s website professional, so was his communication. Jerry never missed a beat. He made himself available to us 100% and he was extremely prompt, night or day!. We were totally impressed. He shared very valuable information that would assist us in making this very important decision. After a series of email discussions, Jerry was able to quickly extract exactly what we wanted, which made our decision easier.
In a couple of weeks we finally met and we were not disappointed. Jerry is very professional, knowledgeable, honest, personable and has a great sense of humour. Although we were 90% sure where we wanted our vacation home, he still showed us several properties in different resorts and gated communities. This ultimately solidified our decision. When we returned to Canada, we continued our communication virtually. Jerry posted a professional video tour of vacation home. We then made the leap and purchased a property as recommended at the beautiful resort Paradise Palms. During the transaction from making the offer to the closing, Jerry made the entire process very smooth and through it all he was very positive. To add icing on the cake, Jerry graciously gave us a recommendation that saved us thousands of dollars in this transaction, a piece of information that we are eternally grateful for.
After the purchase, Jerry introduced us to all the players in the vacation home business and I must say they all are very professional. Jerry went over and beyond in taking care of us. He is a true top notch vacation specialist and real estate agent.
Hands down! I would recommend Jerry to anyone who is interested in purchasing a home in Florida whether it is for personal or investment use. Jerry has earned 5 stars in our book and we have earned a great Florida real estate agent!
Thanks Jerry!
Egon & Lisa
Ontario Canada & Paradise Palms
About a year ago (October 2009), we decided to spend the next summer holiday in Florida. We have never been to Florida before and having four kids from 4 to 10 yrs it seemed to be a good idea to explore the Disney Magic. We finally made our trip and even much more…
Looking back, it is difficult to say now what was the main impulse to buy a vacation home in Orlando area. Very attractive vacationing place especially for the families, reasonable property prices combined with the favorable exchange rate (we come from Slovakia – a small mid-European country) – all of it led to the Realtor search. Educated by the web recommendations, I knew it was important to find a good Realtor.
But probably we were more lucky than smart to end-up by Jerry.
Now I am more than happy we started communication with Jerry.
I cannot imagine we would find a better person for our property purchase.
Jerry is very professional but at the same time human, pleasant and empathic. What you read in all the manuals and recommendations about the realtors attentive to the customers needs, full of valuable information about the local market, prices, locations, resorts, property companies and much more – this is all materialized in the person of Jerry.
We must have exchanged hundreds of mails but in about 6 weeks from the start of our communication we had the deal closed! – And we talk about REO/bank owned property.
Jerry visited about 20 properties for us, took videos, provided the recommendations and invaluable advice. He answered every one of my thousand questions.
Thanks to Jerry and the people he carefully picks up to work with, the whole closing process was so fast and smooth for us that it still amazes me – all exclusively through the E-mail communication.
To shorten the story – on June 23rd we stepped into our own vacation house which was in the excellent condition, newly painted, cleaned and ready for the first tenants/ owners.
We are very happy about it, we cannot thank Jerry enough.
If I had a chance to buy another property, I would not think about other realtor. I have the one whom I trust.
THANK YOU, JERRY!
Dana Kadarova and the family,
Bratislava, Slovakia and Regal Palms
Our Home In Windsor Palms
When I made the decision to purchase a vacation/sort-term home, I knew I needed a Real Estate professional who completely understood the market and who I could trust. Finding Jerry was one of the best steps I took in my search.
Jerry is very professional,extremely efficient and has the expertise in both the Orlando market and dealing with buyers from out-of-state.
Jack and Maryellen,
Pennsylvania and Windsor Palms
Our New Vacation Home - Click to Rent!
We recently purchased a vacation home in Orlando and could not have done it without Jerry’s assistance. Not only was he knowledgeable and helpful about the market and the buying process, but he went out of his way to assist us through every step.
We do not live in the area so Jerry previewed potential homes for us and even took videos for us to review prior to our visit so that we could narrow our choices. His input was invaluable and made for a very efficient process.
I would highly recommend him without reservation to anyone needing a Realtor.
Deb and Laura
New York and Emerald Island
We loved Bahama Bay!
We asked Jerry to help us purchase a property and it was the very best decision we could have made.
Jerry’s help was invaluable and I am positive without it we would have been mired in frustration and complications. However Jerry walked us through everything step by step.
When we needed a service provider like a home inspection, Jerry recommended someone who was very efficient and reasonable. When we needed an insurance provider, Jerry had another excellent contact as well.
Every question or problem we had, Jerry had an answer or resolution to. Jerry made the process complete and simple. We recommend Jerry for any and all of your property needs.
Should you wish to ask more specific questions we would be happy to advise further about our positive experience.
Don and Wendy,
Vancouver Canada and Bahama Bay
The Ferriers
We are a family of 4, Chris and Cath (Late 40′s)and daughters Roisin and Siobhan (both 18).
We decided to look at buying a property in Florida, mainly as a holiday home and somewhere to stay for longer periods when we would both semi-retire. We also got married there in 2009 and it is a very special place for us.
Looking at various different websites we found conflicting advice dependent on the real estate agents (Realtors).
I emailed several Realtors as I was in a position to view properties when calling into Port Canaveral on a cruise ship. As this was a Sunday there wasn’t a lot of positive response from the others apart from Jerry, which was only a small reason for dealing with him.
The main reason we decided to go with Jerry was that he gave sound advice on his website in comparison to the different resorts, in addition to this the information regarding purchasing all the way through to closing appeared straight forward and covered everything.
He responded to my questions quickly, he was honest and gave you the negatives alongside the positives so that you could make a well informed decision to the type of property and resort that would best suit our needs. This advice proved invaluable.
Once in Orlando, Jerry took me to see several different resorts and homes and I found a lovely townhouse on Emerald Isle that I put an offer on. Unfortunately by the time I returned home the house was sold as the owners had already received an offer which they had accepted.
Although we did not buy this property I did not consider this as a waste of a visit as it gave us an insight into what we wanted to buy.
Less than a week later we received an alert from Jerry saying that two homes fitted our criteria and one was another townhouse on the same resort which looked in better condition than the previous one. We emailed Jerry straight away and asked him to take a video of the property. He did this immediately and within that day we had received the video and made an offer.
The offer was accepted and the closing process started. This was pain free and Jerry’s closing assistant Erin took over. She was very professional and liaised with everyone at great pace, keeping you informed at every step.
The transaction was so swift and we closed within 3 weeks of submitting the offer. (we were pleasantly surprised by this).
Jerry and his team are a credit to his profession and they not only gave advise on the purchase but put us in touch with Bank Managers, Maintenance companies, handymen (for any improvements), insurance companies and tax advisers, it was really a whole package and service.
We are now proud owners of a 3 bed townhouse in Emerald Island resort, it is being rented out as a short term rental program and we are looking forward to our first visit in September (hopefully).
My advise to anyone looking for a dream home in the the Orlando area would be to find a Realtor you can trust (like Jerry – he states in his website), be honest with him when you tell him what your looking for and put your trust in him to find your home.
Good luck with your house hunting and your more than welcome to contact us in person.
A huge thank you to Jerry and his team for finding our dream vacation home in Florida, its been a pleasure working with you and Erin.
Chris and Cath,
England and Emerald Island
Our Villa in Lake Berkley - click to rent!
The excellent support provided by Jerry Barker along every step of our property search made the potentially stressful process clear and straightforward.
From meeting him in UK at a ‘buying a property abroad’ show to meeting him in Florida, he kept us fully informed as to what was available and what was happening. He answered all our questions and had a clear understanding of what we wanted.
He was open and direct and applied absolutely no pressure to buy anything. He would give an informed opinion if we pressed him.
We would use him again and have no hesitation in recommending him to anyone.
Ian and Julie,
England and Lake Berkley
