Real Estate Views from St Pete

Just checking to see who else will be attending Howard Brinton's StarPower conference in Orlando this week. Runs from Wednesday July 23rd to Saturday July 26th at Grande Lakes. Perhaps ActiveRainers attending would like to get together for coffee one morning? There are lots of evening activities, so that might not work as well.

Online communication is great, but it's lots of fun to meet other Rainers. Orlando was the site of an early meeting of some AR people more than a year ago, and was lots of fun.

Who's coming?

Have you set aside half an hour or an hour to discuss something with one or more of your team? or a colleague? Move the meeting outside of your office. Go have lunch, or have coffee, or have gelato. And when you're there - eat outside!

It's a great way to remind your clients and your circle that you're still here and still in business. Sometimes buyers really care that you know lots of people - so that you can integrate them into the community.

Have you scheduled time to read your e-mail, or write your blog, or explore on the web? Take your computer out of your office and go where you might interact with your clients or meet a new prospect.

Travel usually exposes us to different things than we have at home - at least if we're adventurous. Even in the US, we experience different foods, different local art. When we travel to other countries, there's even more exposure.

Sometimes we bring back souvenirs or gifts for our family, colleagues or friends. Sometimes we bring something back for ourself, to remind us of the trip as well as the area.

It's all too easy to clutter up a home, so when I buy I want to bring home beautiful things that are also useful, that not only represent the area, but that I'll enjoy. It can be from a gallery, a shop, an antique store, or even a flea market. Why not visit a renowned flea market in London or Paris if you're there on the right day of the week? You might get a silver toast holder, for example, for less than you'd pay for a t-shirt. Don't need a toast holder? Use it to hold your mail or your bills to be paid.

What's your most memorable purchase?

Tami and I are often asked when teaching the CLHMS class, "How much money should be spent marketing a property?"

It depends. Not to hedge the question, but it really does depend. What's the property like? What is the price" How is it positioned in the market? How are YOU positioned in the market? Are you well established or trying to break in to a new market?

The Washington Business Journal recently quoted a study done by the marketing firm VHT in Chicago. Agents in the business for more than 5 years spend an average of $864 per home; agents with less experience spend $675 per listing on average. But experienced agents tend to have higher priced listings, as well. In the $250,000-$500,000 range VHT's respondents spent an average of $862 per home vs an average of $1,742 per listing on a $1 Million to $2.5 Million home.

Another interesting fact from their survey: 83% of the agents used newspaper advertising, but only 20% felt that newspapers were an "effective" way to market the homes.

Comments to my post on an upcoming auction of Russian art in St Petersburg brought back lots of memories.

My grandmother used to love going to auctions and had a gift of seeing what things could become. She was fortunate to live in Newport, Rhode Island  in the 1940s when so many of the beautiful estates (summer places) were abandoned and their furnishings auctioned off. Talk about antiques and treasures from Europe!

She'd have my grandfather repair any furniture that needed it, and she'd either paint it, stain it, or upholster it, or all three. That's how they furnished much of the 17 room house they bought and restored. I still have a few of the pieces she bought at auction back then. You never knew what she was going to come home with! She had such a wonderful sense of adventure.

Over 450 items of Russian art will be auctioned in St Petersburg on August 2, 2008. The auction is being held by Aberdeen-Auctions and includes some Russian icons.

The art items can be preciewed on august 1st from noon to 6 pm at the Gallery at 212 Beach Drive NE in downtown St. Petersburg. You can also view the auction online at www.LiveAuctioneers.com

One of the pieces, a watercolor by I.Y. Bilibin, is estimated at $45 Million to $60 Million. The items to be auctioned include paintings, drawings, porcelain, folk art, silver, sculptures, bronze works and Russian icons.

400 Beach is the second Opus project in downtown St Petersburg on Beach Drive. It was finished at the end of 2007 and has 94 residential condominium units. About 2/3 of them have been sold.

Pinellas Realtor Organization statistics show that there are 21 active listings, ranging from $749,000 for a 2,355 sq ft unit to $5,500,000 for a 7,000 sq ft penthouse. One unit, listed at $2,580,000 is under contract. The MLS shows 45 units have been sold.

Parkshore Plaza is a luxury condominium in downtown St Petersburg, Florida, on Beach Drive. It was completed in 2006 by Opus and has 116 residential units. The ground floor has retail and The Parkshore Grille.

Three condominium units have sold in 2008, ranging from $408,000 for a 1,421 sq ft townhouse to $2,750,000 for a 4,962 sq ft penthouse. There are currently 19 condominiums listed for sale, ranging from $625,000 to $2,655,000. One unit, listed at $964,900, has a pending sales contract.

For additional information, contact The Simms Team at RE/MAX Metro in St Petersburg, Florida.

The Sage is a new condominium development by Miles Development, with 114 units. It's on the edge of downtown, being on the west side of 4th Street South and just south of 4th Avenue South, on the north side of I-175. It was completed in 2007 and about 25% of the units have sold and closed.

According to the Pinellas County, Florida, Multiple Listing Service, 25 units have sold, ranging from $250,000 to $663,900. 11 units are currently "Pending Sale" and 10 are actively listed for sale. It's typical for a developer to list typical units rather than all of the units that are available. The Pinellas County Property Appraiser also lists 25 units sold, but shows them ranging from $317,900 to $699,900.

For more specific information, contact The Simms Team at RE/MAX Metro.

What is it about a bungalow that calls you home?

A front porch is the first thing - a place to swing and talk to neighbors or just rock and read. Inside it's the wood floors, the built-in cabinetry with glass fronts and mullions. It's the plan of living room in front of dining room (perhaps all in one) in front of kitchen, with the bedrooms lining the other side. It's the moldings and the detailing. It's the nooks and the bumpouts. It's people-sized rooms.

What's wrong with bungalows? Well, if they're typically old, there's not much closet space, there's only one bathroom, there's an OLD kitchen, there are sloping or sagging floors, there's not much insulation, and the energy costs are high!

So - what about having the best of both worlds? Here's one of a pair of bungalows that have just recently been built, with the charm of everything old, but the benefits of everything new. Still the hardwood floors, the glass-front cabinets, the old floor plan, the charm - but with spacious closets,a modern kitchen with granite and stainless steel, lots of closet space, and energy efficiency.

If you'd like this Best of Both Worlds in St. Petersburg, Florida (and only 5 minutes from downtown St Pete), check out Home 1 or Home 2. Such a bargain at $315,000 and $300,000 - or call The Simms Team to ask aboout either buying or renting one of them.

I live in Florida,

but drinks don't want me.

My neighbors, the lemons and the limes - they get sliced and wedged all the time and get to show off in people's drinks.

I'm tart, too - nicely tart.

My friends down the street, oranges, get to see lots of vacationers who want frozen, fruity drinks.

Even the cherry that lives in a jar gets picked before I do.

Why doesn't anybody want me?

   
.............the Lonely Carambola

Curves are not only good Feng Shui, they are a theme that plays throughout this renovated kitchen.

Not only is the center island a circle, all the ends of the counters are curved so there are no corners to jab you.

There's the circle above the lights that are also circles, and the circles that decorate the ceiling. Look at the three square openings in the wall - see the circles inside them?

How about this curve - look at the backsplash on the wall, and note that the same curve extends through the cabinets in the line between solid wood and glass.

p.s. - this kitchen and it;s surrounding house, offered for $725,000 in St Petersburg, went under contract last weekend. It comes with a pool, a waterfront location, and a dock where you can gaze out into Tampa Bay at the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

"Is there really glass there?", asked everyone who looked at it - and even then, each one had to go up and touch it to be sure.  Though "Museum Glass" is more expensive, it's startling in the difference. With a shadowbox piece of art, it's even more evident. 

That was my biggest Aha a week ago when I attended an opening party for The Frame Shop in the historic Grand Central Business District of St Petersburg. The new business is owned by new residents (and clients) Susan and Jeremiah Rohr, who have settled into a wonderful old bungalow in the Kenwood neighborhood.

Yes, if you're here in the St Petersburg area they'll go to your home to hang the art, or to consult on suitable matting and framing. You who live away from here can benefit, too, though - they'll be happy to crate and ship the art for you.

Planning a move? Why pack and pay a mover for those art pieces you've wanted to have framed or reframed? Have Jeremiah and Susan frame them and ship or deliver them to your new address.

Today I spent some time looking at both our local IDX search and our state IDX search from a consumer's eyes. It wasn't pretty.

One of my biggest concerns was that each had a scroll down box to choose the city you wanted to search. Well, some choices were towns but other choices were neighborhoods.

    How on earth would a buyer unfamiliar with the area know which names are part of the area he's considering?

People might know that both St Petersburg and Clearwater are cities on this peninsula that's Pinellas County, but they wouldn't know that 22 of the other choices in the dropdown box are here, too.

From the other side, our boards are here to help us. What about the agent and seller of a home in Safety Harbor? Is that property never to come up when someone searches for St Pete or Clearwater?

It seems to me it's a disservice to both our buyers and our sellers.

                                                                   Is yours more customer friendly?

This week, on a listing appointment, I spent a lot of time discussing blogging. Why do I do it? What does it mean to a seller?

We talked about the "long tail" and how continuous bloigs about benefits can attract potential buyers.

We discussed the difference between "putting a listing up on the internet" and really marketing a property.

How do you rank in search terms that matter to your client? Bring printouts and graphs to your listing presentation.

Bring copies of your statistics - the number of visitors, the number of flyer requests, the geographic  demographics of your visitors.

Don't just say you're on the internet, and/or that their property will be on the internet, show them why it matters.

Whether you're in a hot market or a slow challenging market, you need to work not only IN your business, but ON your business.

What's changed? What's working and what's not? What do you need to do to sell your listings? Where xan you find buyers ready and able to buy?

It's easy to get caught up with minutia and interruptions. Be sure to schedule some time away from your business to do some planning. It's important to work ON your business.

We're in a tough market, and I do understand that many agents, seasoned as well as new, can't survive with reduced income and have to take a job with a steady income. Many agents want to continue with their real estate business in a "part time" basis.

What's your obligation to your clients? To your colleagues?

Leave a message on your answering machine saying when you'll be returning calls. Check your messages for showings or offers. If you can't chek various times during the day, make arrangements with a full-time agent in your office to handle your messages and/or showings.

It may be easy to continue working with buyers, particulary if they're on the same work schedule you are, but if you're under contract, be sure that someone is available during normal business hours.

For many months we've been talking with potential sellers about their properties and our local market. More often than not, our advise is NOT to put their property on the market. If you're relocating and need to sell, ok. If you're making a lateral move or upgrading in the local market or a similar market, great - go ahead and sell and take advantage of the price when you're buying. But - if you're downsizing or getting out of the market entirely, maybe you should just hold on to your property and wait for the pendulum to swing in the opposite directron.

After a lazy day and a typical 4th of July cookout, we went up to our Sunset Room (a roofed, open air room on the top of our roof) to see the fireworks. We have a great location - the closes fireworks display was from Gulfport, where we could see the largest fireworks display and hear the most noise. Looking across Boca Ciega Bay we could alsoi watch the firework from St Pete Beach and Treasure Island. We can no longer see much of the St Petersburg display as the neighbors' trees have grown high enough to block the view. In all directions we see the private fireworks going up. How nice to see the display and not have to deal with traffic or crowds.

Florida governor Charlie Crist (one of the suspects for John McCain's vice president) is now engaged! The 51 year old Florida resident asked 38 year old Carole Rome to be his wife. He made the proposal at his St Petersburg condo, Bayfront Tower. The wedding is expected to be here in St Petersburg in September.

Governor Crist is a familiar face here in St Pete - he's always smiling and ready to talk with anyone he meets. His fiancee is not living a frugal life, so we'll see whether Gov Crist stays in his Bayfront Tower condo, moves to a larger one in the same buiding, or looks for a single family home.

Congratulations, Carole, and welcome to St Petersburg!