R Steffy, North Royalton, Ohio

In 2017 my wife and I started planning our retirement. Sarasota made the short list. We contacted Darlena along with several other realtors. She was the only one interested in seeing us. She showed us many houses and neighborhoods. Then, in 2021 when we were ready to move, Darlena showed us Sarasota again. With her guidance we build a new home in Bradenton. My wife died one month prior to closing. Darlena went to the final walkthrough, and the closing with me. After losing my wife, I left Florida for Ohio, and Darlena handled the sale of my home with characteristic smoothness. And a nice profit as well.

  Darlena has been a lynchpin throughout our seven years of holiday home ownership in Lakewood Ranch. From our first house hunting visit right through to our recent sale she has been ever generous with her time, patience and good humour. With her mine of information and contacts she has been our ‘go to’ person for so much.  We have appreciated her professionalism, reliability and ‘can do’ approach. I have no hesitation in recommending her. 

“Well, what can we say that has not already been said about Darlena? We have known Darlena for six years or more and in that time she has facilitated the buying or selling of six houses for us, so I guess she is doing OK!

Buying and selling houses in Florida is a complicated business and you need someone who has the knowledge and experience to do it correctly. We have nothing but praise for the way Darlena conducts her business, always putting the client’s needs to the forefront, always available to answer the many questions that we asked – what more could we want.

Thanks Darlena!”

  Darlena, we would like to thank you very much for your help and guidance.  It was a great pleasure to work with you and we love our new home in Sarasota.  And if any of our friends talk about looking for a place in Sarasota, we know who to recommend.  Again, many thanks. 

  Darlena Nelms is a highly organized, responsive professional, who made our recent relocation from Boston to Sarasota a breeze. While we knew a bit about the area, there were still a lot of unknowns. We initially contacted several realtors, but Darlena stood out for her responsiveness and thoroughness. Her experience with international clients caught our attention. This said  to us that she knew how to quickly and effectively orient a client to the Sarasota housing market, so that they could make the best choice. And this was certainly the case. She also committed the necessary time for us; in two brief visits, we found “our” house. Her work did not stop there. Darlena followed through on all aspects of the closing details right through the day of closing. We have already recommended Darlena to a number of our friends.  

Dear Darlena, I so much appreciate your help in finding me my perfect house in Sarasota.  Your patience was extraordinary.  Moving across the country from Califronia was daunting, especially being handicapped.  I never could have done it without you.

Finding me rentals while I searched, getting me the perfect mortgage broker, attorney and all the help I needed was invaluable.  I cannot thank you enough.  And once I was settled in, your referrals for maintenance and constant support have been nothing less than outstanding.  I would not hesitate to highly recommend your services to anyone.

Time for you to come over for a swim!

With the greatest respect and affection,

Murray 

Darlena, we are very impressed in how you sold our house at a price we felt comfortable with and in such a quick time period. As you know we were feeling less than confident going into the process, as houses on our estate were often taking at least several month and all too often over a year to sell.

We knew that so many Real Estate Agents  puff up their abilities to sell but in reality do little beyond placing a property on the MLS, placing some adverts in the press and magazines and then repeatedly come back suggesting the price be lowered, a price they themselves suggested months earlier!

The difference with you was the amount of research you carried out in the first place to determine a realistic price, your excellent recommendations to make the house maximise its seller appeal and all the time you spent with potential buyers and subsequent negotiations.

The service you provided was just that, a service focusing on research and experience leading to the sucesful and trouble free sale of our house in a time period that amazed us. At a time when eveyone seems to puff up claims of what they can achieve it really was a refreshing change to find someone who actually delivers over and above what we expected in such a pleasant and unassuming way.

 Darlena, can’t express the gratitude Anne and I have for the assistance, cajoling, enthusiasm and support you’ve given us over the last few months.  We really appreciate everything and are congratulating ourselves on our wise choice.  🙂  With our very best wishes, 

Mark and Anne 

 “We just wanted to say a very big thank you for all of the help and guidance that you gave us when we purchased our property in Sarasota .  It was a very big decision for us and we are naturally cautious people with regards to investments. At no time did we feel under pressure to buy and you were extremely patient when we changed our minds on a few occasions!  We are grateful for your honesty and integrity and would highly recommend your services.  Finally we had some great fun and it was a pleasure doing business with you.” 

 Darlena, we so appreciate your expertise and professionalism in completing the sale of our home. The professional photos you had taken of our home to be featured on your website were an extremely important marketing piece, which I believe was one of the reasons the house was shown over 20+ times in a matter of weeks! Your calmness and attention to the details in making this transaction work to our benefit were excellent. I know there were times when I felt I was coming unglued, but you would just reassure me by being so relaxed and take care of what needed to be done. We sincerely thank you. We wish you continued success in all your real estate sales. Now, let’s meet for that cup of coffee on my new front porch.

  In February 2011 we wanted to move nearer the school that our children attended.  We contacted Darlena as she helped us buy the home that we were living in at that time.  Despite a difficult housing market Darlena successfully marketed our home .  At the same time she also helped us find the lovely home that we now live in.  Unusually, both the sale and purchase presented significant challenges that could easily have placed the completion of both transactions at risk.  Darlena’s experience and knowledge helped us overcome these challenges and we moved into our new home in July.  We would highly recommend Darlena to anyone looking for a realtor who is dedicated to helping clients achieve their objectives whilst providing a professional, friendly, caring service.   

Having taken the plunge to buy my first property abroad, I can honestly say that without the help and assistance of Darlena and her team, I guess my dream would have just remained a dream.  From the moment of locating the property, all the way through to completing the sale, I ws give practical advice and was very much assisted by Darlena’s hands on approach. 

In addition, if you need an attorney, a broker or indeed a local builder, Darlena is always there to make sure you have all the information to make the right decisions and with her experience you always get the impression that she is one step in front of everyone else.

Make sure that Darlena and SandN Real Estate are your first point of call before you consider buying in the USA.

On behalf of my wife and myself, I would like you to know how delighted we are with the professionalism of Darlena Nelms in the way she has carried out her job. When we  embarked on a mission to buy a property in Sarasota last year, being foreign nationals, we were obviously a little nervous in the way we would be treated and how the overall sales process would be handled. 

From the minute we met Darlena, it was apparent that she was extremely keen to put our minds at rest, allay any fears that we might have had, and ensure that we enjoyed the entire process whilst finding the right property.  We found Darlena extremely knowledgeable on the property market as a whole as well as the local area. She was always keen to answer any questions we had throughout and explain many of the pitfalls of buying a property locally. Her experience was invaluable as we visited the many properties on our schedule and her preparation and planning was excellent in ensuring that our time in viewing the properties was well spent.

Above all, she was patient, understanding and sensitive to our needs without putting us under any pressure whatsoever. We did in fact purchase a new property and since that time, Darlena has always been on hand to provide information and offer advice whenever we needed it. In short, she has always been prepared to go that “extra mile” (and still is!).

We would have no hesitation in using Darlena’s services again should the need arise, nor would we have any hesitation in recommending her to others who are looking for guidance on buying a suitable property.