Good real estate writing seizes the attention of buyers, definitively communicates features and advantages, and ultimately gives your client’s property the advantage in a voluminous inventory of choices. Ultimately good writing paints a picture in a buyer’s mind, allowing them to understand your points faster, enjoy your information more and remember it longer. But most importantly great writing compels a potential buyer to action, which is to schedule a showing. Bulls-eye!
Writing great real estate copy artfully blends (boring but necessary) facts with a descriptive benefits for the buyer. Often we are challenged by limited space; therefore, employing concise and powerful words is key. Because real estate writing is a unique skill set, requiring both fact promotion and creative description, very few realtors possess (or have developed) the right brain/left brain ability to pull it off. Instead, skeptical buyers find themselves scrolling through a sea of clichés, over-used adjectives that reveal nothing except that the agent simply didn’t take the time to write a good description. At any given time there are approximately 7 million homes for sale in the United States. That represents a lot of breathtaking, stunning and amazing residential assets for buyers to endure.
Buyers today want instant gratification and understanding. They don’t want to waste their time being misled, or misinformed. They want affirmation when they walk through the door of a property after being influenced by photos and words. One of personal pet peeves, and a huge time-waster, is to make a property sound like something it is not. A misleading property description is just as bad as a lazy one that doesn’t do the property justice.
Today’s real estate buyers simply cannot get enough photos and video with written details that awaken the senses: “cool granite” (touch), “unobstructed, pastoral views” (sight), “fragrant garden border”(smell), “a seasonal creek gently flows past the deck”(sound).
The opposite side to the coin of effective real estate writing is that more real estate attorneys are advising agents to ‘avoid verbs’ altogether. Property descriptions and ad copy have been used in disclosure related lawsuits. Agents are more cautious than ever about editorializing their listing descriptions because of this. However, this should not prevent agents from writing accurate and compelling descriptions.Sadly, some agents spend less than a few minutes quickly typingfacts and clichés into the property description section when they load a new listing on to their MLS- bad spelling, poor grammar and all. These are the same agents who upload four photos instead of the 20+ photos most MLS programs allow. And forget photo details, though some will write “kitchen”, duh.
I applaud my colleagues who recognize that good writing plays a significant role in effective real estate marketing. Bad or lazy descriptions are like posting blurry (or upside down) property photos. Why not write in bold letter in the property description: “I’m lazy and I just don’t care!”
California’s real estate contracts are pro-buyer when it comes to protection and risk. Most California real estate professionals use the purchase contracts and related documents published by the California Association of Realtors to conduct business on their client’s behalf.
These contracts are written to heavily reduce a buyer’s risks. For example, when a buyer makes an offer to purchase any kind of real estate, and a CAR purchase form is used, an initial good faith deposit accompanies the offer. The amount of the good faith deposit a buyer puts forth is based on the buyer’s and seller’s discretion. Upon acceptance by the seller of the buyer’s terms the good faith deposit, made payable or wired to an escrow company, and is held in escrow throughout the entire escrow process.
Even though the deposit gets ‘cashed’ the deposit is not at risk until such time as the buyer states in writing that he/she intends to fulfill the obligation of the purchase within a time frame specified by the buyer in the contract. It is at that time the buyer is then required to make their deposit ‘hard’, meaning, if the buyer backs out of the deal from that point on, whatever deposit amount was agreed upon, is the seller’s money.
What typically happens at the point when a buyer removes the contractual contingencies in writing, or by passive lack of response by the contingency removal date, not only does the initial deposit become the seller’s money, but the seller likely negotiated in the purchase agreement that the buyer, upon removal of the contingencies, had to increase their deposit to an amount that would make it painful for a buyer to walk away. For example, on residential real estate of up to four units (including single family residences), according to the CAR purchase contract, the maximum amount a seller can require a buyer to risk in a deposit is no greater than 3% of the purchase price.
However, and this is key, if a buyer, for any reason, decides not to purchase the property within the agreed upon time frame of the buyer’s due diligence, aka ‘contingency’ period, in almost all cases the buyer gets the good faith money returned upon cancellation of the escrow. Therefore, there is very little risk of a buyer’s deposit being lost if the buyer doesn’t like what he/she discovers during investigations of the property, or, if a buyer can’t get the desired funding, or if the property doesn’t appraise (if that contingency applies and was identified as a contingency in the contract), or a myriad of other reasons which are boiler plate contingencies pre-written into the purchase agreement.
As mentioned above, the standard language in a California purchase agreement provides several paragraphs of buyer contingencies, which are incumbent upon a buyer to investigate. California has a long list of ‘statutory’ disclosures a seller of California real estate must provide to a potential buyer. Even though we’re still a buyer beware state, buyers are provided with a boat-load of disclosures from the seller, the seller’s agent, the title company and companies’ who sole purpose is to provide buyers with Natural Hazard disclosures within the state and region of the property. Many California counties even have their own voluminous local disclosure document. In NapaCounty, where I practice real estate, the local disclosures include items such as the “Right to Farm”, which informs buyers that they are purchasing real estate in an agricultural area. It warns buyers of potential chemical spraying, tractors (delivering grapes) driving slowly on the sleeve of the interstate during crush, noise from frost protection wind fans in the vineyards, and many other very specific “hazards” of living in the NapaValley.
Many sellers feel the disclosure requirements are overkill. When an agent sits down with a seller to guide them through the disclosure documentation it takes up to several hours to get them all completed. If that isn’t enough, the seller’s agent is also required to comb through the property’s interior and exterior and note items and issues that are apparent.
A third advantage provided to buyers who are contemplating a real estate purchase, and this may be applicable in other states, is Home Inspection firms are not allowed to bid on repairs or other problems they discover in their inspections. This arms distance provides an extra layer of objectivity to the results of those inspections.
Lastly, even if after all these safety nets are put into place on a buyer’s behalf, and a conflict arises during or after the process of a purchase, virtually by utilizing a California Association of Realtor’s purchase contract, the boiler plate language for resolving conflict requires that mediation be employed as the first method of resolution.
One common mistake buyers make, especially when time is of the essence on a particular opportunity, is they begin their due diligence process outside of escrow. I agree with this process to a degree when due diligence is required to determine an offering price range. For example, if a buyer is considering a purchase that would require adding a second bedroom, or putting in a pool to make the house work for the buyer’s needs, it makes sense to check with county allowances and restrictions before making an offer. However, many buyers want to know everything there is to know about a property before writing their offer, and these are the buyers with the most ‘woulda coulda shoulda’ stories.
I am not suggesting a buyer should go around willy-nilly writing offers on real estate just because they get a free ‘get out of contract’ card. What I want to make sure California buyers understand is that working with a Realtor to write an offer on their behalf provides the many safety nets available to virtually eliminate the risk of losing a deposit, and provides solid guidelines and protections throughout the process of investigating and buying real estate. This reminder to buyers is intended to be timely since it appears there is a burgeoning trend of buyers stepping up to the plate after a long stand off between them and sellers. News in the mainstream media of imminent interest rate hikes is furthering the progress of buyers who are circling but not yet acting on their intuitions.
Call your agent today and thoroughly go over the California Residential Purchase Agreement form with them in advance. Get comfortable with the language, the commitments and the process before writing an offer. This way, when ‘the one’ property presents itself you will not hesitate to make your move and take advantage of the opportunities in a rare NapaValley (or any other) buyer’s market.
The majority of my clients are married couples, like me. Couples bring a particular set of challenges to the table when buying real estate. For example, clients who recently came to my office for their initial ‘wants and needs’ interview stated entirely different lifestyle preferences right off the bat.
“I want to live in a neighborhood and build relationships with neighbors”, said the wife.
“I want to live in a forest setting. I love the woods”, said the husband. Both of them laughed at each other and at my raised eyebrows.
Then there was the couple who was relocating to the Napa Valley from another state. They started emailing me separately, lobbying for their strong preferences of outdoor living styles. She wanted a large back yard for entertaining and gardening. He said he didn’t ever want to own a lawn mower again- in all capital letters! They ended up buying a house that backed to a vineyard with a large rear yard, a pool, raised bed gardens, and a massive deck- not a single blade of grass.
These physical preference differences between the sexes aren’t difficult to overcome compared to the difference between the way men and women approach negotiation and sealing the deal. This issue hits very close to home for me. Before I was licensed and active in real estate, my husband and I purchased three homes in the Napa Valley during a down swing in prices in the late 1990’s. Each and every time, over a three year period, I forced him into looking, offering and signing the deals. Each and every negotiation he wanted to walk away from the purchase over what i saw as negligent amounts of money (in the big picture). If left to his instincts I can tell you with 100% certainty we’d still be renters.
Today, those three houses are our comfortable retirement. Now he brags about “our” timing and “our” foresight. Okay, fine, whatever. This real estate dynamic gets repeated to me over and again by many couples.
Call it moxy, call it instinct. When it comes to real estate many women get that, in real estate, the definition of ‘winning’ is owning. But to get to the owning you have to exit a negotiation with the prize, which isn’t bragging rights about walking away over a $2,500 difference. It all comes down to how the sexes define success differently. A man wants to win the negotiation battle. Women want to win the financial security war.
Let’s face it, ego plays an integral role in our society, and it is part and parcel of our progress as a species. I’m just saying there are reasons we enter into partnerships: finding balance in our individual strengths and weaknesses is one of those reasons. Buying real estate is one of the largest partnership decisions couples make. Not every couple follows the male/female dynamic I use as an example here, but regardless of sex, in most partnerships one person is more reason based, and one is more ego based. Both play key roles in the success of the partnership. When it comes to buying real estate, I am suggesting that the reason based partner should take the lead.
In my personal experience, and in my experience selling real estate for the last ten years, females tend to dominate the reason-based approach to real estate the vast percentage of the time- but I have seen the opposite on occasion.
Bottom line-when it comes to owning real estate, listen to the feminine side of reason. And if your partner is anything like mine, eventually, bragging rights about smart real estate investments become a plural pronoun, and it’s all good.
As a writer, selecting topics is like choosing from a dessert tray: you want to try them all. One subject I think about a great deal but have never penned is the admiration I feel for my real estate team- the lovely ladies of LifeStyle Properties. Jenny Heinzen and Nicole McIntosh have brought so much quality to my professional and personal life. Knowing them and growing with them has been an honor. Being associated with fine people is a gift I gave myself when I opened my own brokerage in 2003. I had no plans for building a “team” per se; the process was organic, based on the premise that quality people find you in a timely manner when you offer quality character to the world.
The unofficial credo of my brokerage is “Life is too short to work with assholes”. Period. The flip side of that coin is the conscious choice to surround yourself with special people, clients and colleagues alike.
Real estate is a numbers business- the more realtors you have the more revenue a brokerage earns. I have two fine agents working with me for the currency of their quality.
We don’t hang out at our office in downtown St. Helena very often. We each have well equipped home offices that allow us to be productive and effective as Realtors, while balancing our lives with family, children, pets and other joys. Nicole and Jenny don’t have a quota to meet, nor are they accountable to me for their time. This MO isn’t required when working with true pros, and a tiger doesn’t change her stripes if she’s caged or roaming free. Nicole and Jenny possess the kind of accountability I look for in an associate: the accountability of self. Their standards of income and quality of life are high, and they do what they need to do based on those standards.
We are three very different pillars who stand far enough apart to support the foundation of a successful brokerage, focusing on longevity, purpose and the consistent delivery of quality. Jenny has been with me nearly from the start, beginning as my assistant and ultimately growing into a completely independent agent with her own following of clientele who adore her soft spoken genius. She never misses a thing! I’ve never heard a cross word come out of her mouth, and she oozes grace from the pores of her porcelain skin. Gorgeous, smart and genuinely sweet. It is no wonder people are attracted to work with her as their agent. Interacting with Jenny is like being in the presence of someone who simply inspires you to be kind by example.
Nicole is passion in a bottle, like Champagne, which she adores. I have never witnessed an agent who gets more repeat business than Nicole. It’s as if her clients buy and sell every few years just to work with her again. She is helping a good number of her clients (many are young professionals in their 30’s like her) amass real estate wealth under her sharp-eye guidance and fierce negotiating style. She’s all heart and soul in everything she does- from rescuing an abandoned puppy from the streets of Mexico (bringing him home at great expense and risk) to her blog which is as close to perfection in every way possible. Style matters to Nicole- I mean, it REALLY matters. The NapaValley lifestyle is ideal for her, hence her blog, iheartnapa.com, which features her own photography, culinary passions and personal reviews of local events and businesses. Nicole took the time to become a green certified realtor because she believes and lives green. She certainly keeps me on my toes around the office initiating a strict recycling system and influencing me to lease a green friendly printer that uses non toxic ink. Nicole is the antithesis of big things coming in small packages. Standing tall at 5′, it would be a miscalculation to underestimate her force, much like that of a Champagne cork.
When the three of us do get together we laugh A LOT! In our business our clients have so much at stake with every transaction- intensity can build quickly. What is blurted and giggled about in the privacy of our office stays in our office, and you need that freedom occasionally so you can keep a cool head. That’s another currency of a small, trusted team.
It is imperative and key to our success that we give one another a lot of breathing room to be different, yet uncompromising in our expectations to uphold certain business values.
Looking back at 2009’s financial balance sheet, having a dozen agents at the brokerage would have added another zero or three, but the currency of adoring and trusting these two lovely ladies tips the scale for me. Considering the dismal state of the real estate market these two independent agents held their own in very tough conditions, and they did it with uncompromised ethics and honest advice. Their clients love them, and so do I.
There has been a good deal of media hullabaloo in recent days about web-based real estate information. Talk of Google buying Yelp, and a press release put out by Zillow claiming to have surpassed the traffic of Realtor.com shines a spotlight on consumer access to real estate information. As we enter the second decade of the new millennium who knows what lies ahead in the information age?
Here is what I do know: the likes of Google, Zillow and Realtor.com won’t effectively replace the value of a local Realtor in my child’s lifetime. Speaking as a Realtor, I fully expect the objectivity of my opinions and comments will be scrutinized- and well they should.
The internet has succeeded in making certain businesses obsolete, and/or eliminated many a middle man. Take the DVD and music business for example. Drive to a video store to return a movie? How archaic. In addition to altering the relevancy of certain businesses the internet has spawned an entire do-it-yourself (or at least try-it-yourself) movement. Is there any subject on earth that doesn’t have at least one how-to YouTube video?
The poor economy, coupled with the explosion of on line information drives more and more of us to become do-it-yourselfers. I get that. Last week one of my single girlfriends changed the faucets in her shower down to the stud pipes while following a YouTube instructional video on her IPod. Does this make plumbers obsolete? No it does not. Why? Because, although technical information is abundantly available on how to do just about anything, what is missing from the do-it-yourself-to-save-some-bucks equation is contextual knowledge, education and experience. No website or other source of information substitutes for these irreplaceable elements that a pro brings to the table.
Information is at the core of every decision and choice we make; whether it’s buying a car, selecting a physician or choosing a life partner. Gathering relevant information on any subject has never been easier and more thorough. Any consumer or real estate agent who short-sitedly still believes that the core value of a local realtor lies in their ability to provide information is sorely misguided.
There is no question that web based real estate information has caused a paradigm shift in the way real estate is conducted-and for the better. Empowered, informed consumers are replacing vulnerable ones who once depended entirely on the knowledge, motivations and character of their Realtor to guide them through the maze of buying and selling real estate. What the information age has done for real estate consumers in the last 10 years has shifted the power of access of information. Additionally it has inserted a new level of marketing accountability into our profession. An agent inferior at marketing stands out like a red head in Amsterdam. That is a given. However, I can watch all the instructional videos in the world on how to perform an appendectomy to the point where I am performing the procedure in my sleep. Information is one necessary element of success, but it will never replace contextual knowledge, advanced education and experience.
An additional caveat to web based information is its consistent inaccuracies and faulty, formulaic conclusions. There is simply no way wholesale satellite intelligence can compete with the quality and relevancy of information that comes from a specialist on the ground, talking, walking and listening at the source. That is a key difference between the values of ‘contextual knowledge’ versus linear information. It’s a quantity/quality equation as well.
Advanced education is inarguably what consumers look for in a professional: otherwise, why pay for the services if the so called pro knows about as much as you do? Education isn’t just about technical and legal aspects. In this fast pace, ever changing world, the rules of the games change quickly. And unless you’re living and breathing a profession, you can’t possibly keep pace at the level required to insure your choices and decisions.
The advantages of experience are self-evident. In real estate, when you’re talking about your nest egg, unintended consequences are not something you want knocking at your door. You can’t under-estimate the value of day after day, year after year lifetime of experiences with a particular specialty.“Exactly how many Volvo engines have you replaced?”, but more importantly, “How many have you replaced lately?” So far I’ve compared Realtors to plumbers, doctors and auto mechanics to make a point: saving money is not an immediate gratification concept! Realtors are paid to advocate for your best interest by sharing their contextual knowledge, applying their most current education, and lending their experience of tested theories and skills of flexibility and a Plan B when Murphy’s Laws decides to pitch hit in the stretch inning.
The last simile to make my point that Realtors can’t be replaced by the internet is this: Realtors are like hair dressers. Both are hands on professions. Both can see the current you and the future you from all angels and choices. Both can steer you away from disaster by gently pointing out that the style in the magazine (or the house on the internet) is not in your best interest based on their contextual knowledge, higher education and experience.
Informed consumers have raised the bar on real estate knowledge. I am guilty myself of knowing nothing about what takes place during a tune up on my car. I drive into the dealership and trust they’ll do the right thing. This is dumb, I know. Which is why I personally appreciate having buyers and sellers armed with information and engaged in the process of evaluation and strategy. Most sellers now know what the house around the corner sold for. Buyers know how long a property has remained on the market. They don’t necessarily have to rely on their agents to deliver this kind of information. However, knowing the circumstances surrounding why a house sold for what it sold for, and why a house is still on the market is significantly more valuable than the actual numbers without insight. The what without the why is a dangerous foundation to base a decision on. The what if is another pitfall a Realtor can help you avoid. Lastly, eliminating regret from a real estate transaction is a value that keeps on giving.
When most people talk about a traditional Thanksgiving menu they list the bird (or some main meat dish), stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, a side vegetable and cranberries.
My family has one of the most unusual Thanksgiving menu items. I say most unusual because of the response it gets when folks hear about it: enchiladas. Until you’ve had turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes with a bite of stacked enchiladas on your fork you haven’t lived.
The story behind the tradition is a separate blog. Suffice it to say, my mother didn’t start it, but she would not be forgiven by three living generations if she didn’t include three trays of moist, cheese enchiladas to feed the masses and for leftovers. Friends and in-laws who have become acquainted with our Thanksgiving tradition come from far and wide to join our feast. Annually we host up to 40 people on average. Anybody can make a Turkey, but only my family makes the ultimate accompaniment- stacked enchiladas.
It is encumbent upon any blogger from the Napa Valley who writes about food to offer a wine pairing recommendation, so here are two favorites: If you like white, serve Honig’s Sauv Blanc. If you’re a red person we enjoy Raymond’s reserve Cab each year with our Thanksgiving meal.
Now, for the recipe. I dare you to put this dish alongside your family’s traditional ones!
Start by slow cooking a chuck roast, or one that will shred easily. We seer (brown) it, put it in a shallow baking dish, throw in a 1/2 of a loosely chopped onion and several cloves of garlic, a bay leave and pour a cup of water over it. Cover w/ tin foil and cook on low. Bake to pinkish medium. If you’ve selected the right cut of meat and baked slowly the roast should shred easily with a fork.
When done, remove roast and set aside to cool before shredding. In a large stock pot bring to simmer two ex-large cans of Red Chile (La Victoria is best). Choose mild or medium, but taste them each first. they have a tendancy to absorb a tinny taste from the cans. if you get a tinny taste, don’t use it! We buy 3 or 4 cans for this reason. Do not buy Enchilada sauce. it has a different flavor entirely which does not suit stacked enchiladas.
On very low heat stir the red chile sauce and add all the strained juice reserve from the roast. Add 3 heaping tsp of chopped garlic, about a tablespoon of cumin and 1/2 cup sour cream. when all this is blended and bubbly, thicken the sauce by mixing 3 tablespoons of pancake mix with a enough water to make a paste (like you would with flour for gravy). This will both thicken and take the edge off the chile powder taste. Your sauce is ready.
WE DO NOT PUT THE STRINGED BEEF IN THE ENCHILADAS. It is frozen for making tamales at Christmas.
For assembing the stacks (like lasagne) you’ll need at least 2 13″ baking dishes, a large stack of fresh corn tortillas, about 8 cups of shredded Longhorn cheddar cheese, about 4 to 5 cups of finely chopped onions and 8 small cans of chopped olives, opened, drained and lids removed.
Start with a ladle of sauce on the bottom of the baking dish. Dip each corn tortilla in the warm sauce before layering onto the pan. Six tortillas overlapping does the trick. Ladle more sauce, then cover with cheese, onions and olives. More sauce. Repeat this layering 3 to 4 times depending on how deep your baking dish is. Finish off with a layer of cheese, onions, olives and a few rows of ladled sauce.
Cover with tin foil tent (we poke rounded toothpicks all around to prevent the tin foil from touching the melting cheese layer).
If baking from room temp. bake 40 to 45 mintues at 375. If baking from the refrigerator, add 15 minutes. Serve in squares as you would lasagne.
Look around the table at your dinner guests. You’ll see them again next year.
A buyer’s market is not a strategic time for purchasing fixer upper real estate for a typical buyer. Fixer uppers at any time present challenges and risks for even the most experienced remodeling experts.
No, in a buyer’s market, the smarter strategy for most buyers is to buy the best house you can afford and close your checkbook. Developing equity in a buyer’s market has far less risk when purchasing a house that needs only minor or no cosmetic upgrades or repairs. So buy what you want, not what you can “make” something turn out to be. There is no way to really know the cost of a remodel, and since many buyers can now afford more house for their buck, this is the best time to get exactly what you want in your affordability category.
Fixers and flippers are fine when you’re in a seller’s market and the only way to develop equity is through sweat. There is less risk buying a fixer in a seller’s market because home values are typically on the rise, allowing for a somewhat measurable return on remodeling investments.
However, in a declining or stale market, buyers need to know the full extent of their investment so they don’t end up being upside down from going over budget on a run away remodel.
Think of this investment strategy in terms of wholesale versus retail: in a stale or declining value market buyers of fixer uppers pay retail dollars for improvements they make, but the market is demanding wholesale home selling prices. Therefore, in a buyer’s market it is more strategic to flip that coin and pay wholesale dollars for the seller’s retail improvements already in place! For more Real Estate Straight Talk advice contact me at katie@lifestyleproperties.com- make a smart move to the Napa Valley.
-posted by Katie Somple, WineryX Real Estate/LifeStyle Properties
A few years ago wineries that were advertised on the MLS were not considered ‘serious offerings’. They were either priced way out of reason and/or they were weather worn and their appeal was shriveling on the vine. The real winery opportunities were confidential pocket listings bestowed upon a small handful of us brokers with experience and expertise in this highly specialized, highly frustrating genre of real estate.
That is not the case today. The best winery opportunities are on the Multiple Listing Service for all the world to see; but they are, for the most part, being foolishly ignored by legitimate and insider buyers because of historic beliefs and practices mentioned above.
This paradigm shift from confidentiality to public exposure happened for a few reasons:
1.Many of the wineries currently on the MLS were confidential listings 3, 4, 5 years ago. Unfortunately they chased the market with unrealistic price expectations and switched agents a few times. When they were fresh and confidential offerings they were likely asking nearly double what they’d settle for today. Active buyers, then and now, tend to write these wineries off for good once they’ve reviewed the opportunity and passed.
2.Financial strains force winery sellers (especially those who’ve been underground in their efforts to get sold) to get sold now. To be ‘for sale’ is simply no longer an option. To get sold a seller of a winery needs three things: an asking price that will appraise; lots of exposure and re-exposure; and a strong-minded agent to navigate them into and through the waters of reality. The exposure part comes from the MLS, open advertising, etc.
The winery real estate market is no different than the residential and commercial real estate market in the irony of our current economic conditions: the best deals in our life times are a deposit check away but few buyers have the daring to make a financial commitment right now. Conservation and discipline are the rules of the day, and this situation further lends to the idealwinery real estate opportunities because the wineries have reached the ‘must get sold’ placein the cycle and have reduced their price to reflect reality and still no buyers are to be found.
According to my keen eye account there are 14 wineries currently for sale in Napa County, ranging in price from $3 to $20 million. Nine of them are on the MLS, three were removed to cool off and two are still underground. The sale of the no-name winery adjacent to Don Giovanni, which was owned by The Altamuras recently sold for $6M. I must have shown that winery a dozen times over the last 5 or 6 years. I’ve written two offers on behalf of buyers, the last being for $8,500,000 two years ago.
I’ve been specializing in wineries since 2001 and have an entire file cabinet on wineries that either are or were for sale, or have been sold. I still have a marketing flyer on the Altamura property from way back when it was being marketed confidentially to a handful of brokers for $10,000,000. Several winery brokers listed it over the years and it ended up selling through an agent who priced it for the appraisable value and put it on the MLS. That is the new trend.
One advantage to this new trend, for me anyway, is that now when a buyer calls and says ‘tell me all the wineries that are for sale” I practically can! In the past I’d match them up with a winery opportunity one at a time, based on the buyer’s stated needs and preferences. This is still my practice on confidential winery opportunities but it’s a liberating feeling to send buyers a list of opportunities, like I can do with a selection of homes. Now a buyer can get the same bird’s eye view of the market that an insider specialist like me has, in minutes.
Plus, I know the history, the motivation, the challenges and what the real opportunities are on all these wineries since I’ve been following and showing them to buyers for some time.
The reasonable Altamura sale will affect new appraisals. Now is the time to step up and buy a winery for a rescue price. Negotiating with sellers is so much more productive and easier than negotiating with banks and foreclosed note holder’s attorneys.
What are the ramifications of this paradigm shift of public winery offerings? With wineries priced so reasonably, and with so many for sale a buying frenzy could occur and drive prices back up if the inventory gets absorbed. Waiting for a winery to slip into never-never foreclosure land may not be the wisest strategy either. A winery buyer whose real estate investment strategies are more like Warren Buffet (pay a well negotiated fair price) than the shark-ish Donald Trump (wait until you see blood in the water) may slide right in under your tapping feet. Remember, pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered.
No one can say if this trend will continue well into the future but for now the best winery real estate deals are a phone call to me away.
Luxury homes are a specialty of mine. One thing I absolutely love about that is being invited to private showings for the creme de la creme. These are the estates tucked away that most people, even locals, don’t even know exist; or, the houses on the crest that require binoculars to spot, and you wonder, who lives there?
When I got the invitation to see “The Rock” last week I had no clue what awaited. Having seen so many Napa Valley luxury estates over the past 10 years you’d think that seen one seen them all would damper enthusiasm but in this genre of real estate architectural and interior designs things are seldom repeated. High net worth individuals are extremely individualistic and statement oriented so each estate property is an opus, much the same way the wine country’s wineries are unique.
The Rock’s uniqueness blew me away- mostly in an impressive way, but sometimes in an over-the-top, tone-it-down way. The house is called The Rock because it is constructed literally on top of a huge hillside boulder just south of St. Helena. The location and driveway is one of those head scratchers: “How did they get all that construction equipment up here to build this?”
The Rock is all about glass, views and shiny everything! The lighting is an experience unto its own. Every fixture is a wow. I would swear they hired a glass blower from Murano full time. Literally every light fixture is a masterpiece. The main focus of the home is a 3-story-high custom lighting pole (I’m sure there’s a better word for it than pole) with colored glass shards extending from its center. Pure drama.
The kitchen had features i had never seen in any luxury kitchen. The island was literally shaped in an imperfect, rounded oblong shape, like an island, with an access path that allows the host to stand in the middle of it and reach every edge.
The cooking station featured 2 side by side commercial ( 8 or 10 burners I think) ranges with a custom range hood and mosaic tile backsplash that in and of themselves are works of art. The kitchen sink area faces the expansive eastern views.
The main access floor, which houses the kitchen and main living room, open entirely to an eastern facing veranda. Floor to high ceiling glass pocket doors are accordian folded and virtually disappear, making the transition of indoor/outdoor seamless. Just off the main floor’s living room, at the end of the veranda is a complete outdoor kitchen with a semi-circle bar and another mosaic back splash of an image that looked a bit like Ariel from the Little Mermaid, which i didn’t quite resonate with.
The top floor houses strictly the master suite, featuring THE MOST OPULENTLY decorated bathroom I have ever seen. Floor to ceiling ( I mean INCLUDING the floor AND the ceiling) mosaic tiles in mostly red, amber and orange designs. The center of the bathroom features a red velvet comfort couch, the kind you see in old movie scenes of brothels with one these couches in the foyer for sitting in a complete circle. That wasn’t my favorite either.
The master suite has a private balcony with amazing views. Descending the staircase with that gorgeous light pole beckoning you down to the low-lit media lounge (lounge being the key word because it features a full-length bar set up like a fine dining drinking lounge.)Across from the lounge is a 6 seat media center. But the piece d’ resistance of this home is the wine cellar. Nothing like it anywhere. It adjoins the lounge and media center behind swivel walls that are lined with textured aqua colored glass panels. You would never know it was there. Once inside the interior walls are lined with acrylic coveys for the bottles and a Dallas style corporate conference (tasting) table made entirely of glass. All the chairs are clear acrylic. Very futuristic.
The landscaping was minimalist, and felt a bit under-done considering the detailed interiors. So I’m touring this amazing home with surprise after surprise around each corner, sometimes eyebrows raised, sometimes jaw dropped and then the agent says her client is selling the whole thing, furnished, for $5 Million. Wow. The lighting alone must have cost $500,000 to a million. All that square footage, all those improvements and all the custom furnishings and those amazing views for $5M. Despite that some of the interior may not be everyone’s cup of tea, a fixer-downer if you will, the house overall is magnificent. Great flow, high quality finishes, seamless indoor/outdoor living, privacy and views, yet no more than 3 or 4 minutes to downtown St. Helena.
Needless to say The Rock impressed me. The deal impresses me, even in this unprecedented buyer’s market. All I can say about The Rock estate is “Wow.”
p.s. if you want to view The Rock (as a serious buyer of course) give me a call. Needless to say I’d love to return and would really love to sell it to someone I know so i can visit occasionally.