The participating Realtors: Sara Gallagher and Scott Sullivan of Prudential Network Realty of Fleming Island, Connie Owen of Watson Realty of Fleming Island, Joan Reynolds of Zip Realty, Carole Keane of Watson Realty of Fleming Island, Eden Jordan of Re/Max Specialists, Frank Gerwe of GMAC Vanguard Fleming Island and Tammy Thykadavil of Lee Daniell Realty.
Getting together for an open house
Getting into a gated community to browse homes for sale presents challenges for prospective homebuyers.
“For the past three years I have headed the Welcome Home Committee here at Pace Island,” said Joan Reynolds of Zip Realty, who lives in the gated community. “We meet every newcomer within the first two weeks, if possible. I began to notice that two out of every three families moving in were renters, not owners. I also had a home listed here and was unable to figure out a way to have an Open House that would draw outsiders without breaking covenants about signage or spending a fortune on hopeful newspaper advertisements.”
So, she came up with an idea for the Tour of Open Houses at Pace Island.
“It was a huge success,” she said. “About three months ago, I began putting together a proposal to organize the 12 Realtors who live here as well as all the other Realtors with listings.”
Reynolds said they had about 20-50 families go through the open houses.
“They were well dressed and very interested in both community and homes,” she said. “We handed out a brochure with community information, a map and a list of homes that were open. We provided water and cookies as refreshments and sent them out on their own. Any listing agent who didn’t participate will probably never miss an opportunity like that again.”
Reynolds said they opened a 2-4 p.m. window on a Sunday afternoon. They put up a banner and had over 75 cars at the gate that day.
“Many more were brought in by neighbors who came with their friends and relatives,” she said. “It was fabulous, and I think all the other gated communities would like to know what and how we did it.
“It is really important to realize that sellers are more nervous than ever and feeling isolated as we all run around trying to explain why the things that always worked before aren’t working anymore.
“They need to see our creativity, not our fear. Taking a look at every situation from a new and perhaps radically different perspective is important. We don’t know how real estate will look in the future, and we have to be open to changes because they are happening whether we accept them or not.”
Since the open house, they now have a brochure about the community with a map of the areas where the 667 homes are located.
“We also have some pictures of common areas and a welcome letter from the Welcome Committee,” she said. “There is also a list of resident Realtors and their cell numbers. Visitors to the gate are given the brochure and asked to pull over and make a few calls until they find one available to welcome them in and show them around. Often they have driven from a distance, found us on the Internet and just wanted to check it out.”
Al Benham
Another Realtor author
Al Benham took slightly over 10 years to complete his novel, ‘Essence of Time.’
“On the surface, this is a science fiction novel with an early to middle age hero and heroine,” said Benham, a Realtor with Watson since 2002. “The man is from the present day while the woman is from colonial New England.
“They are captured by occupants of a flying saucer and taken into the distant future. They get the opportunity to observe the society of the future time and also receive training for surviving in the distant past. They are dropped off into the very distant past where they spend almost the remainder of their lives.
“The book’s ending brings it all together where we learn the reason for it all.”
Benham said he formed the idea for the book’s content many years ago.
“Essence of Time’
“I knew the beginning and I knew the end,” he said. “The writing process required the creation of the means to get from the first to the last. Most of the concepts and ideas in the book actually came as it was written.
“A sculptor once was asked how he carved a piece from a hunk of stone. He said the finished piece was there in the stone when he began and all he had to do was cut away the excess material. Writing for me is much the same. The idea is there. It’s just cutting away the wrong words.”
Balancing real estate and writing a novel wasn’t very hard for him since it took so long to come to fruition.
“There isn’t much to balance,” he said. “If you do the math, a 379-page novel spread over 10 years is about 1/10 of a page a day. Of course, I didn’t write 1/10 a page a day. Often there would be months between putting words to a page. Writing for me comes when I have something to write. Ideas hit at all times, even when showing properties. It’s just a problem to remember the idea long enough to get back and put it down.
“That seems to be getting harder and harder as the years go on. To suggest there is any balance in the process, however, would be misleading.”
Before real estate, Benham had jobs that helped him tune his writing skills.
“As for writing in general, my previous career included responsibilities writing for marketing and advertising,” he said. “That stems back to the early 1970’s. In the mid-80’s I wrote a murder mystery stage play called ‘Of Their Own Making’. It was produced and was my first introduction to real creative writing.”
Benham said he has always been the type of person interested in the future.
“Looking at where we are today, how we got here and devising where we will be tomorrow,” he said. “I mean that technologically and socially. The book offers a look into a possible future through the eyes of a person of our time. It’s an interesting future and like today has its goods and its not so goods.”
Benham said his book can be ordered online from most every bookstore.
“Currently in the works is a sequel, ‘Essence of Existence’,” he said. “I have no completion date in mind but, it will not take 10 years. My wife will attest to that.”
- Michele Newbern Gillis can be reached at