Chris Rich has been a site agent for ICI Homes in Turtle Shores located in South Ponte Vedra Beach for five years.
HOW’D SHE GET THE JOB AT TURTLE SHORES?
“I was living in the community and I hounded them for about six months to hire me. We were just waiting for the site agent that was there to be transferred to Plantation Oaks, which was opening soon.”
TURTLE SHORES?
Turtle Shores started in 1989. It’s had several different developers, but ICI Homes purchased it about six years ago. There will be 298 homes when the gated community is complete. Lots remaining in Turtle Shores are from the mid $600,000’s to the mid $800,000’s. Rich said the only lots that remain are marsh front or have Intracoastal frontage. Amenities in the community include a swimming pool, two tennis courts, hot tub, tot lot, turtle tunnel to the beach and private pavilion and clubhouse.
Charlie Brown was the original developer back in the late 1980’s; he came up with the idea of the turtle tunnel to allow access from the residents from west side of A1A to the east side of A1A. After some resistance from environmentalists, he was able to build the tunnel.
GOOD LOCATION?
“The reason people like to live there is because it is not in the middle of a lot of traffic or commercialism. People who live out there don’t want to be in the middle of all that. And we are in the middle of two major bodies of water, the ocean and the Intracoastal. I can literally sit on my back deck and look at the sunset over the Intracoastal and listen to the ocean at the same time. That is very cool.”
TYPES OF BUYERS IN TURTLE SHORES?
“They are coming from everywhere. They are coming from the Northeast, South Florida, out West, Midwest and the Carolinas. It’s very mixed right now.” Turtle Shores started out as a place to buy a beach/summer home, but as time has gone on it has evolved to include all types of buyers.
RESIDES
Rich has lived in Turtle Shores for seven years and is working on her fourth house in the development. Her first house was a Charlie Brown house that she bought when they moved into the development. Then after she started working for ICI Homes, she bought a spec home. She sold the second house to get another spec on the marsh. “We are building a fourth house for ourselves. I help people customize plans. I help them design their houses. I have been buying speculations homes so far, this home is my dream home that I get to design.”
HOW IS IT WORKING WHERE YOU LIVE?
“I live across the street from the office. I could walk, but I actually do drive so I can take customers out to see lots. It’s funny. Sometimes, especially if someone is watching me, I’ll back from my driveway to the Turtle Shores driveway.”
WHAT WILL SHE DO WHEN SHE SELLS OUT?
Rich is involved in Royal St. Augustine, so she will move to that office when she sells out Turtle Shores. “It’s eight miles away.”
WHERE WAS SHE BEFORE ICI?
She lived in Tampa and sold new houses for a small builder, Hyde Park Builders, for two years. She’s been licensed since 1994 and started out in Ft. Myers where she was an assistant to a resale top producing agent. “He went into new home sales and I was left with his listings.” She did resales for a while until she moved to Tampa.
LESSONS LEARNED?
“Even if you are having a down day to always show your shiniest personality.”
PET PEEVES?
“When buyers aren’t open and honest with you. I think I am easy to talk to and if they let me know what they are looking for then I can help them find it, even if what I have is not what they’re looking for. I would refer them to someone else and not waste either of our time.”
ADVICE FOR
NEW SITE AGENT?
“There is always something to do. Keep at it and be tenacious at it. Too many people give up too quickly and they get nowhere.”
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
St. Augustine/St. Johns County Board of Realtors and St. Augustine Women’s Council of Realtors.
HOMETOWN?
Cleveland.
PERSONAL SIDE?
Chris has been married to Steve, who is in the restaurant business, for 15 years. They enjoy taking their puppy, Cassie, to the beach and exercising at Serenata Beach’s workout facility. She enjoys visiting three different Catholic churches in St. Augustine. A book she has read and would recommend is “The DaVinci Code” by Dan Brown. When dining out, she enjoys La Pentola, Caps on the Water and La Parisienne Restaurant in St. Augustine.
- by Michele Newbern Gillis