Andie Pennell works for Key Realty Advisors and is a site agent for Las Palmas, a condominium conversion project, in St. Augustine.
PART OF A TEAM?
Pennell works with Holly Baker and Gloria Wilson as a team selling Las Palmas. Their sales manager is Rigo Avila.
RECENT SUCCESS?
At their last condominium conversion project, The Preserves, located off of CR 312 in Anastasia Island, Pennell and her team sold 300 of 328 units in the opening weekend.
HOW DID THEY DO THAT?
Pennell said advertising really helped them get buyers in there. They had appointments set up every half hour during the project’s opening weekend and many of the people they met with bought four or five units either for investment purposes or to have some time to decide which one they really wanted. So, after that weekend, they had units come back that they had to re-sell. “It’s like a wheel. People just got so excited on that weekend that they came in to buy one or two and bought six. They had 15 days to decide which one they liked best.”
LAS PALMAS?
Las Palmas used to be an apartment community, Bella Vista, in St. Augustine that overlooked the Intracoastal. When Key Realty Advisors purchased it and converted it to condominiums, they had to change the name so they chose Las Palmas. Coincidently, this community also has 328 units. “I thought that was kind of cool.” The residents of the original apartment community had the option to buy first. If they didn’t want to buy their unit, then it became part of the lot that sold opening weekend. Price ranges were from $120,000’s to $300,000’s.
LESSONS LEARNED?
They decided with Las Palmas that each appointment only allowed the buyer to purchase one unit. “So, we won’t have people coming in with one half-hour appointment trying to write six units. It wasn’t fair to people who had appointments on Sunday afternoon compared to Saturday morning.”
JUMPING IN WITHOUT A PADDLE?
“I worked with Holly at Arvida and I had worked with Gloria before when she was with Arvida and I was with Prudential. So we all knew each other.”
Baker and Wilson were working on The Preserves and the other person that was part of their team didn’t work out for whatever reason, so five days before they went public, they called Pennell to join them. “It’s been amazing, I’ve never done anything like this.”
TRAFFIC?
Pennell said many who didn’t get to buy at the Preserves are now vying for a condominium at Las Palmas. “Once the Realtors heard about it, it was toast. They had investors from all over the place and bought some for themselves because they were so well priced.”
TIPS FOR SITE AGENTS TO SELL MORE?
“Your Realtor base is really important. Treat your Realtors right and make sure you are fair with them. Also, on a conversion, it is really important that you treat the residents that are here with a lot of respect because they don’t know what’s going on. We give them 48 hours notice that someone is coming to see their unit. We work really hard to treat our residents and our Realtors right because they are helping to sell the units.”
WHY IS ST. AUGUSTINE SO HOT RIGHT NOW?
“I didn’t realize how popular it was, but it’s a really hot market. I think St. Augustine is turning into a bedroom community for Jacksonville because it is such an easy commute. It’s almost more of a tourist or resort community down here, which is perfect for the condominium market. We don’t allow short-term rentals in our condominiums, but people from all over love having a place in St. Augustine. And people who live in Jacksonville love having a little place in St. Augustine where they can get away for the weekend.”
HER HISTORY?
She started out as a secretary with Prudential Network Realty in 1991 and got her license in 1994. She didn’t use it right away, but instead became the marketing coordinator for Prudential Network Realty. Then she was asked to open the James Island Office for Arvida and started in site sales. She then moved to The Vintage Group where she sold speculation homes until she was called to work with Key Realty Advisors.
LIKE MOTHER LIKE DAUGHTER?
Pennell’s mother, Linda Pennell, is an agent with O’Malley Real Estate in Mayport.
PERSONAL SIDE
She has a fiancé, Tom Patton, who is the news director for Jacksonville’s Ch. 7 and FM-89.9 and is very involved in improvjacksonville. They will be married next year. When she is not working, she likes to scuba dive. “It’s nice there’s no cell phones, fax machines and you can’t talk to anybody.” She also enjoys watching improvisational theatre. When dining out, she enjoys Six Burner, a new restaurant in Atlantic Beach. A movie she would recommend is “The World According to Garp” and book she recommends is “The Devil Wears Prada” by Lauren Weisberger.
- by Michele Newbern Gillis