by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Ten years ago, a $1 million home on the First Coast was rare. There was a smattering here and there, with most on Ponte Vedra Beach and a few in Atlantic Beach in what’s referred to as Seminole Beach.
It was easy to spot them: they were on the beach and they were enormous.
Today, a million dollar home is still exceptional, but it’s hardly the exception. In fact, many of them aren’t anywhere near the ocean — those houses passed the million dollar mark and haven’t looked back — but can be found blocks off the beach and in posh inland developments like Marsh Landing, Glen Kernan and Epping Forest. Many, especially in Neptune Beach, St. Augustine Beach and Atlantic Beach, afford only the luxury of smelling and hearing the ocean and require one to walk to actually see the Atlantic.
To real estate agents, this influx of million dollar homes bodes well for the checking account, but for the average person with a modest income, the dramatic rise in the number of million dollar homes on the First Coast is having a trickle-down effect that may eventually make some neighborhoods unaffordable.
What exactly, though, constitutes a million dollar home?
Sure, location — the tried and certainly true real estate adage — is paramount. But other factors are working together to make million dollar homes more common, yet quite conspicuous. The reality is, many people drive by million dollar homes every day and don’t realize it simply because a million dollar home doesn’t have to be a mansion in an exotic locale anymore.
Jan Shields, an agent with Watson for 17 years, sells homes in every price range because she enjoys it, but she does have a flair for selling the expensive houses.
According to Shields, a water view or access is the magic ingredient. Whether it’s oceanfront in Atlantic Beach or waterfront in Queen’s Harbour, if the house is a million bucks, it’s on the water.
“It’s location,” said Shields, who both lives and works in Atlantic Beach. “In Queen’s Harbour, for example, the keys are, typically, navigable water, a dock and at least 3,500 square feet with great views.”
While there are plenty of big, and certainly adequate houses at the beach, Atlantic Beach’s 32233 zip code is becoming the new chic place to live. According to Shields, home values in Atlantic Beach are going up as quickly as any community in the country. What was once affordable is now out of reach for a vast majority of the general public.
“Every oceanfront house in the area is [worth] at least $1.5 million,” said Shields. “I am closing on a lot in Atlantic Beach that’s worth $1.225 million. And, that’s just for the lot. Every oceanfront home in Atlantic Beach is worth at least $2 million. It’s pretty amazing and exciting.”
Million dollar homes aren’t limited to Jacksonville’s beaches and Ponte Vedra Beach, although that’s where a majority of them are located. Once again, water is the key and there are plenty of million dollar homes lining the St. Johns River, especially in the Ortega, Mandarin and Epping Forest areas.
Linda McMorrow and her twin sister Selby Kaiser of Prudential have been tag-teaming the million dollar market for years now. Like Shields, she’s amazed at the dramatic rise in the price of homes the past decade. Unlike Shields, McMorrow doesn’t usually have the luxury of throwing open the blinds and showing a potential buyer the sun rising over the Atlantic Ocean.
Although she can sell anywhere, McMorrow concentrates primarily on the Epping Forest and Ortega areas where she can show clients the sun setting on the river.
Regardless where the agent chooses to sell, location is the key.
McMorrow also contends marketing is a close a second. It takes a lot of hard work and agents often spend a lot of their own money to sell a million dollar home.
“It takes a lot of marketing. You have to let people know it’s available,” said McMorrow. “There’s a lot of advertising that’s out-of-pocket.”
McMorrow said she and her sister use the trade magazines and a few high-end local publications to showcase homes locally. Outside of Jacksonville, McMorrow advertises only in the Wall Street Journal. Surprisingly, most buyers of million dollar homes in the First Coast area are First Coast residents.
“I keep tabs on who buys and most buyers in Epping Forest are local,” said McMorrow. “National and international marketing does not bring us much.”
So, what exactly do you get for a million dollars? According to Clare Berry, owner of Berry & Company in Ponte Vedra Beach, that depends and location dictates the price. A smaller home on the water may actually go for much more than a much bigger home that’s land-locked.
“Out on Sawgrass Island, there are under 100 one-acre lots and they all face the TPC [Stadium] golf course,” explained Berry. “They are grand homes that average 6,000 square feet and they all average over $1 million.
“If there are fine points to the house, it doesn’t have to be as big or on the water. The ocean speaks for itself.”
Because a million dollar home has become common, the better question may be: when will a $500,000 house that’s two blocks off the beach be worth a million dollars?
The answer: perhaps not long.
Skyrocketing real estate values will soon mean that nondescript, three-bedroom, two-bathrooms homes close to the beach are just a few years — and a few near million dollar sales — away from being worth a million dollars.
Shields says she never saw these kind of values coming.
“I thought this would never happen,” she said.
Berry admitted she often catches herself wondering if there’s a ceiling or if the day will come when she sells a $10 million home.
“I totally do,” said Berry, who grew up in Jacksonville, graduated from Episcopal High and, when she got into selling real estate in 1985, never dreamed she’d see these kind of values in Jacksonville. “Oceanfront property has quadrupled in the last 10 years. That rule of thumb of location, location, location is where it’s at. We [real estate agents] didn’t see homes going over $2 million or $3 million and last week I closed on a house that sold for $4.8 million.”
And, Berry isn’t complaining.
“I’m taking the ‘Why not?’ attitude,” she said. “I certainly didn’t see it coming. What a fascinating thing this has become. Every client and every day is different.”
While selling a million dollar home or three or four in a year can certainly cover the bills, it’s not easy and a successful sale requires much more than spending a small fortune on marketing. Quite simply, a real estate agent has to show the house repeatedly.
“There’s no rule and I’ve never sold one on just one showing,” said McMorrow. “Very rarely will people walk in and buy any house after seeing it the first time. They usually get a first impression [of a million dollar home], go ‘Wow!’ and go back and think about it. In Epping, where I’ve sold a lot of homes, I’ll show a house five or six times. Rarely are buyers that impulsive. That’s a huge investment and they want to be comfortable with that size of an investment. That’s fine with me. I do not want them to be remorseful of their decision.”
It’s no surprise that the Internet is becoming a key marketing tool for real estate agents. While there’s nothing like seeing a house, its amenities and view first-hand, the Internet allows potential buyers to look around the house as many times as they wish, day or night.
“I do a lot of marketing and virtual tours on the Internet,” said Shields.
Virtual tours allow the potential buyer to spend as much time looking at the house as they want without having to be there and without having an agent present. Most virtual tours include high-quality video and plenty of hard facts. Outside of smelling the ocean, new carpet or feel a cool breeze, there’s not much a potential buyer can’t learn from a virtual tour.