THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 30, 1995 TAG: 9509280306
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LOUKIA LOUKA, SPECIAL TO REAL ESTATE WEEKLY
LENGTH: Long : 167 lines
Gerry Bohler remembers real estate the way it was. Say, 15 years ago. A nice property in Norfolk. A power pad with a ZIP code more golden than 90210. Back then, selling the house for more than $300,000 would be a really big deal.
Today, $300,000 is considered by many in real estate to be the line of demarcation. The magic price that just begins to define a truly upscale home. From there, the numbers get totally cosmic.
``Fifteen years ago, to have a $300,000 (home) was really something. It really has changed,'' said Bohler, vice president for William E. Wood and Associates Realtors.
What's happened, Bohler and others in the industry say, are increased property values, industry that has lured well-paid executives to South Hampton Roads and a strong balance between the laid-back beach atmosphere and cultural activities like the opera and symphony.
According to Metro MLS figures, there are more than 300 single family residences selling for $300,000 and up in South Hampton Roads. That figure doesn't include condominiums or townhouses.
Tom Tye, a real estate appraiser, explains the surge like this:
If you go back about 15 years, a prime waterfront lot in Virginia Beach could be had for about $60,000. Today a lot like that could run as a high as $500,000.
There are several reasons for the boom. Waterfront property is in high demand but limited supply. That, coupled with the population increase, has caused prices to skyrocket, Tye said. Even lots that aren't on the water have increased, but not as much as waterfront.
Tastes are different, too. Houses are jazzed with stuff like Jacuzzis and humongous master bedrooms. ``There are more expensive things being put in today than there were 10 to 15 years ago,'' Tye said.
As proof of how things go up, Tye cites a waterfront home in Middle Plantation in Virginia Beach that sold new in 1981 for $165,000. The house resold in May 1995 for $385,000, for a 6.24 percent per year annual increase.
Agents know these big digs aren't going to sell by punching a For Sale sign in the front yard, listing the house in Metro MLS, and putting a lockbox on the front door. You can't do that to estates of the art. Times have changed.
And Priscilla Trinder knows it.
Trinder is managing broker and vice president for the Fine Homes Division of The Prudential Decker Realty. The program, up and running locally about six months, offers a marketing strategy for upscale homes and special training for associates who are called ``fine homes directors.'' The Prudential's Fine Homes has 20 associates who are directors. Trinder, who doesn't list or sell, is their mentor.
At The Prudential, Trinder says, a fine home is something in the top 5 to 10 percent of the Metro MLS market.
``For our area, when you are talking about top five, it's approximately a price of $400,000 and up. If you are talking about 10 percent, you are talking about $300,000 and up,'' she said.
There are a number of things that determine how much a home will be listed for: Its location is a biggie. If it is in a high-end subdivision on the water, there's a strong chance the price will be knee-weakening. Sometimes, the homes have a historical draw or a famous name attached to it. It must always show well and be in mint condition.
``By virtue of price, you will find many of them on water in the fine homes category. These homes are expected to be in fine condition and show well,'' Trinder said.
And they do. You will see pools. Winding staircases and chandeliers. You will hear the Atlantic lapping at the shore, making you both wistful and envious. Mexican tile replaces linoleum in the kitchen. Fireplaces. Wine cellars. Rooms with a view.
It is likely you will hear tunes from something like, say, Immortal Beloved, but unlikely you will hear anything from Deliverance. You are humiliated to realize that you didn't have the aforethought to leave your very high heels at home. Don't you know they ruin hardwood floors? What were you thinking?
Agents trying to sell these upscale homes have to do the hustle. No time for a moderate waltz. They chat it up with associates from different agencies. They work the community. Go to meetings, put out color brochures and postcards. They make videos of the homes. Put up special signs. They invite other agents to open houses and serve awesome stuff. It's all catchy. But beyond aesthetics is the pressure.
Teresa Jalbert, an associate broker with William E. Wood, knows all about it. She frequently deals with high-end homes and knows they typically sell slower than a less expensive residence. It might take two days for an $80,000 because there are so many more people who can afford them.
A million dollar baby might take weeks, months, sometimes years. It all depends.
``They don't want to have a house sitting for a long time. They want serious, professional marketing. They mean business - even if they are your best friend,'' Jalbert said.
Agents from different firms often work together, showing property and networking.
``We look to each other and they look to us. There's tremendous strength between the agents. They are competitors, but they are friendly competitors,'' Trinder said.
Above all, they know that to make money, they have to spend money. All the things they do with these high-end properties is at a cost.
``These people have a significant investment. These are people in their own lives who are very successful and they like dealing with successful agents. The agents like to give them the service they expect. It is a challenge,'' Trinder said.
The Estates Club, of which William E. Wood and Associates Realtors is a member, allows luxury properties listed by Wood to appear in Estates Internationale and Leading Estates of the World along with other colossal cribs throughout the United States, and other countries.
One issue of Estates Internationale features an eight-acre estate in Virginia Beach that ``welcomes country living at its most refined.'' The house, a Georgian Colonial, has six bedrooms, a 50-foot pool, guest quarters, stables and a 400-foot pier. Asking price: $2.4 million. If that isn't enough, there's an entire page dedicated to the ``Virginia Beach Gallery'' - nine homes (one of them in Norfolk) selling from $305,000 to $1.8 million.
Those ads run in the neighborhood of $400 to $2,000, depending on whether it is a full-page ad for one estate or smaller blurbs, Bohler said.
When a house is marketed through the Estates Club program, gold-trimmed stationery, with gold seals and gold paper clips are used for correspondence with buyers and sellers. ``All of this, of course, is desirable for marketing because the sellers of these houses like this kind of look,'' Bohler said. ``At first everyone thought it was more for the seller, more of a marketing tool, but now we see it's bringing buyers in,'' she said.
If a William E. Wood agent doesn't belong to the Estates Club - there's a $100 initiation fee plus $100 for annual dues - there are other methods they use to market an upscale home, Bohler said.
Nancy Chandler Associates has had connections to Sotheby's International Realty for about 10 years. Other agencies, especially those that don't have a specific program in place, use individual methods to sell a power house. No firm, and no particular agent, has a lock on high-end homes.
At the same time, no agent wants to appear elitist. The very upscale market still is relatively small. Knowing that is an agent's lifeline.
Tye, the property appraiser, said Metro MLS statistics show that from January through June of this year, the average selling price for a home in South Hampton Roads was $116,136.
``I never want to handle just one segment of the market because I learn from all segments,'' said Brenda Rawls of Womble Realty. ``That house they buy for $55,000 was as important to them as the $2-million house.''
Rawls, who is a major player in Womble's upscale listings, networks with other agents in higher end markets in different states. She's on the Internet, gives seminars, takes continuing education courses and said she begins her listing by understanding the seller.
``You need to understand the seller. You are their employee. For me, it's crucial,'' Rawls said. ``You have to go beyond their expectations . . . that's what is expected of you.''
Some of the high-end homeowners don't want For Sale signs on their property. Rawls designed a smaller, less conspicuous than usual sign for a Bay Colony property she has listed for $3.5 million.
``The sellers are used to very sophisticated, sleek, professional-looking compositions of any kind. What I do has got to be beyond first class. We turn homes that we call headlights into spotlights,'' said Rawls, who has worked in real estate for 11 years.
The effort is the same for any house, brokers and agents say. The difference is the audience you expose to a property.
``Each situation is unique,'' said Stacy Goode, associate broker for Nancy Chandler Associates. ``What we try to do is to present an individual approach to every property we market.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS
Teresa Jalbert, an agent with William E. Wood Realtors, shows an
$899,000 home for sale in the Croatan section of Virginia Beach.
Staff photo by L. TODD SPENCER
Brenda Rawls of Womble Realty with her special, less conspicuous For
Sale sign.
Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS
The living room in the Croatan house, featuring stained glass over
the entrance.
by CNB