MARCO ISLAND —
You might say that every weekend on Marco Island is “open house weekend.” This past weekend, though, the real estate salespeople made it official, as the National Association of Realtors declared April 28 and 29 “Nationwide Open House Weekend,” urging all member offices to get out there and host.
The Marco Island Area Association of Realtors (MIAAOR) is the local arm of the national group, and members would be out in the homes holding open houses, said Gerry Rosenblum, MIAAOR president, although he didn’t have any specific numbers of open houses that would be held during the weekend.
“This nationwide event offers buyers the chance to visit some of the many homes in their local area while learning more about homeownership,” said Rosenblum. “Open houses are also an opportunity for Realtors to connect with consumers in their communities about the housing issues that matter most to them.”
Sunday is traditionally the biggest day of the week for open houses, but some agents feel they get a jump on the competition, and stand out from the crowd by starting their events a day early. Cynthia Corogin of Re/Max Results Realty was sitting her listing at 764 Hernando Drive on Saturday afternoon, and eager to show off its advantages.
The home has six bedrooms, a den and five baths, a dock and boat lift with direct access, and is “close enough to walk to Tigertail Beach – if you have long legs,” she said, or you could ride your bike. Having recently listed the house at $1.4 million, she said her goal is to sell it within six months.
Saturday open houses make it easier to get buyers’ attention, said Corogin.
“I think everything runs together after you see three or four homes,” she said. “On Saturday, people aren’t bouncing around from one to the next as much.” As an additional memory-jogging device, she set up a Scrabble board on the kitchen table, with the home’s key points spelled out in the tiles.
Patrick Murtagh also worked Saturday to beat the rush. With his assistant (and significant other) Monica Umpierrez, he manned a listing at 601 South Barfield Drive, made a little difficult to reach with the road in front being torn up for the installation of sewers.
“This home has everything but the water,” he said of the “builder’s masterpiece” with 4,000 sq. ft. of air conditioned area, massive entry doors and a truly outstanding master bath, complete with rainforest shower and two Jacuzzis. On sale for $1.125 million, the house was built in 2003.
Judy Appel of Tropical Investment Group sat an open house at a palatial estate at 1547 Caxambas Drive on Saturday, with 6,370 square feet of A/C, and a $4.49 million price tag. Her own home on Scott Drive in the hilly estates area was also open, and full of the artifacts of a lifetime’s worth of international travel and collecting.
The local Keller-Williams office had a list of 10 open houses over the weekend, and Re/Max Results indicated nine.
While realtors are congenitally the most optimistic of people, and have been seeing market turnarounds for years, they are getting some company in seeing a rebound in home prices and a strengthening of the real estate market.
“The market is much, much better. The low-end stuff is starting to move,” said former MIAAOR president Bill Filbin.
Cindy Carrroll, a principal at Naples-area real estate appraisal firm Carroll Carroll, confirmed that entry level markets are tightening.
“Some of those areas have only a few months of supply,” she said, with stability classified as one year of supply.
So if you’re thinking of buying a home, you may want to take advantage of one of those open houses and take a look, or you may find the “open house” has closed.
Open all references in tabs: [1 – 5]