Prudential Douglas Elliman Realtors Joint Tour Brings Brokers Together To Serve Clients In Key Market Areas by Sheila Smith Drapeau
June 18, 2011 The lowest interest rates in nearly 60 years should be cause for
celebration among home buyers, but the reality of a dragging economy,
tight credit
market and major job losses is leaving a deflated gray gloom over the party. But when the going gets tough, the tough get on the bus. And realtors are tough. So last Wednesday when the Commerce Department announced housing prices were actually up three and a half percent from April, but new home starts were still at historically low levels, Armonk’s new Prudential Douglas Elliman real estate branch welcomed 110 brokers bused into town from Manhattan and Long Island to meet their counterparts here. A little networking, a tour of a few great properties in Armonk and Bedford and a stellar lunch all provided the perfect backdrop for a group ready to support one another through these trying times.
“It’s all about the connection that these areas have and the culture of
the company,” noted Ted Holmes, vice president and director of
operations, Westchester, Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate, and
co-founder of Holmes and Kennedy Real Estate, formed in 1968 and a part
of Armonk for decades. The realty firm was recently acquired by Douglas
Elliman, a 100-year-old business, and Mr. Holmes explained that
longevity in the market is key.
“We know what the client wants,
what community will best serve him or her, and we know that lifestyle,
proximity to jobs and good schools are as important as the perfect
house. Most important, we know how to put them together.”
Westchester real
estate has been floating a little higher in the water than many areas
of the country, thanks to the dynamic Manhattan-driven market.
“Sales
here are holding up because of our clients’ need to be here, whether
it’s a job, good school district, or a simply better lifestyle,”
explained Lisa Hogan Theiss, Prudential Douglas Elliman’s director of
sales, Armonk. “Most buyers are in a great position right now as sellers
are being urged to take reasonable offers without long periods of
haggling.”
Another reason for this area’s market strength is the
fact that buyers tend to migrate north when shut out of the southern
and mid-county markets for lack of inventory.
“Serious buyers
are in prime position. The art of the deal is now all about making that
deal,” Ms. Hogan Theiss added. “Sellers are being urged to consider
buyers’ offers very seriously today. Local area inventory has remained
stable. In June 2010 the Byram Hills district had 155 houses in
inventory. In mid 2011 we have 156 houses in inventory. So we’re really
seeing more of a flattening out rather than a drop in sales.”
The
group tours (an earlier tour of the Hamptons was hosted for Westchester
brokers by Long Island’s Prudential Douglas Elliman agents) highlighted
the more complete service that agents offer clients by working
together.
Asked about the competitive reputation of realtors,
Gayle Marriner-Smith, a visiting real estate associate from Mattituck,
NY., was quick to dispel the notion. “In this market it’s really all
about what you can do for the client and I’ve found these tours to be
instrumental in connecting realtors to that idea of complete service.
Everyone has been very kind and cooperative and we’re genuinely glad to
be working together.”
Ms. Hogan Theiss said her realtors felt the same way, and enjoy working as a team.
“The
point is that our company can offer better service to our clients by
helping each other,” she continued. “A New York City couple can go to
their agent looking for a good suburban school district and the agent
calls the Armonk branch. Someone comes to us looking for their dream
beach house and we call our realtor in the Hamptons. The whole idea is
to service the client and find exactly what they’re looking for quickly
and easily. And that makes all of us happy.”
