Foreign Aid

He estimates that Canadian traffic at the Estero waterfront community, with 540 homes from $295,000 to $639,000 and plans for 256 more homes, has risen from about 5 percent to 20 percent since late last year. One out of every five or so customers who walk through Rapallo’s doors is from Canada. They’re joined by French buyers, whom Wallace rarely saw in previous developments, and by more Germans than in the past, he says.

The declining dollar might be posing woes for Americans overseas, but some businesses are finding a variety of advantages.

"I don’t see it as a weak American dollar. I actually see it as a lower American dollar, and that’s a good thing for Americans," Wallace says.

From reports of European vacationers returning home with suitcases full of items purchased here, to American manufacturers beating out foreign companies for exports, the weakened dollar is proving a boon to particular industries.

"It’s a double-edged sword," says David Jones, chairman of the board of Investors’ Security Trust in Fort Myers.

And some believe the stalled real estate market will benefit. "They’re going to find huge bargains in terms of real estate here. And that could be a factor. That could put a floor under our declining market," Jones says.

As a result of the declining dollar, foreign investors can find assets in the United States—whether through companies, banks or real estate. Their investments could help America avoid a recession, or at least make it milder, Jones adds.

"We’re already seeing some of that foreign capital coming into the U.S. That’s highly critical from the point of view of helping the U.S. pull out of this nosedive, not only in real estate, but in the significant slowing of the economy," he says.

As the favorable exchange rate entices foreign visitors to focus more time and investments here, they’re opening accounts in local banks for convenience. Bob Guididas, president and CEO of Bank of Naples, has noticed a small increase in the number of accounts opened by foreigners, and the bank is trying to determine the best strategies to reach those potential customers.

Although there appears to be a higher proportion of international buyers in the market, commercial real estate broker Ross McIntosh is more skeptical about whether they will help the real estate market recover faster.

One of the difficulties is that buyers haven’t been willing to act, and McIntosh hasn’t seen an overwhelming change in that attitude, no matter the nationality.

"The buyers have the sense that there’s no urgency, that ‘I won’t lose anything by waiting another day.’ It is not my impression that the foreign buyer is behaving any differently," he says.

Wallace agrees that the increase in Canadian traffic at Rapallo isn’t the industry’s savior. "There aren’t enough Canadians that want to live in Florida to get the economy back to where it was," he says.

But he believes some are recognizing the advantages of buying now, while prices are dropping and they can get added value from the exchange rate. Although he hasn’t done anything differently to market his business, Wallace, who has a summer home in Canada, says a few visitors have commented that newspapers there are reporting the benefits of buying now in Florida.

Some local businesses are getting the word out as well. The Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort plans to send a sales manager to London later this year to tell travel agents about the property’s amenities.

"We’re going and hitting some major players in the London area, and basically letting them know what we have to offer," says Mac Chaudhry, the hotel’s general manager. "We are a great buy right now, for Europeans in particular."

Jones says businesses can take advantage of the adjustment in currencies by marketing their products and educating themselves about the opportunities. U.S. businesses of all sizes need to have a greater awareness of the potential to sell goods abroad where it might not have been possible before, he says.

Some companies in the automobile industry, for example, are finding new life because of the potential to sell elsewhere, and if major manufacturing areas such as the Midwest benefit, so could Southwest Florida.

"If the Midwest is healthy, it helps. That’s our feeder system," says Guididas.