See who was honored by the Birmingham Commercial Realtors Council

The top commercial real estate professionals in Birmingham took home awards this week. The Birmingham Commercial Realtors Council held its 44th annual awards luncheon on Feb. 23. at the Birmingham Country Club. Here's who won: The BCRC's deals of the year were the Graham & Co. office group's First US Bank project, and the Graham & Co. industrial group's Gardner Denver Nash deal in Moody. The community service award went to Catherine Sloss Jones for the Pepper Place Farmers Market. Here's a look…

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2lD0ZIk

Ramshackle Home Isn’t Selling? Maybe Put Up a ‘Not Haunted’ Sign

1827photo/iStock; photographereddie/iStock; realtor.com

What do you do when your home has been on the market for a decade with no buyer in sight?

You get weirdly creative with your marketing efforts and hope they become an internet sensation.

That’s what real estate agent Jeff Mason did with the ramshackle home in Coeur d’Alene, ID, he was trying to sell. Mason decided a tongue-in-cheek sign acknowledging the home’s dilapidated state—including peeling paint and deteriorating porch—might be just the thing to finally close the sale. Or at least get people talking about the place.

So he got the owner’s blessing and slapped a plastic $10 sign with the words “Not Haunted” onto the “For Sale” sign outside the house.

See! It’s creepy-looking, right?

realtor.com

“I went to the homeowner and said, ‘You’ve been doing the same thing for 10 years. Let me take a little bit of a different angle on it,'” Mason tells realtor.com®. “The house is so run-down, I knew I had to make it stand out.”

This $10 “Not Haunted” sign has generated mucho buzz on social media.

Kaitlin Riordan, Taylor Viydo/ktvb.com

The result? “Two days after I put up the sign, it went absolutely viral,” he says. Photos of it were shared widely on Facebook.

So Mason went further. He rewrote the house’s listing description. Instead of trying to mask the home’s flaws with real estate euphemisms like “cozy” and “great bones” (that’s Realtor® speak for “small” and “needs TLC”), Mason wrote about the “sprawling front porch that can barely hold itself up, 3 bedrooms, 1 bath without a bath, kitchen has been fully removed for your convenience as there are enough restaurants downtown.”

All things considered, the 1,000-square-foot house is priced shockingly high at $300,000, so he poked fun at that, too: “You will be hard pressed to find a home in this condition at this price!”

“We wanted to mock those stereotypical real estate listings from Realtors who like to embellish,” he explains. That brutal honesty seems to have worked, because Mason says his phone has been ringing with inquiries about the house ever since he made the changes.

This is a gimmick that has worked before to generate buzz.

Three years ago, real estate agents in Clarksville, TN, posted a “Not Haunted” sign on the 1930s four-bedroom brick house they were selling.

“We were trying to come up with some creative slogans for signs to draw attention to some houses,” they told clarksvillenow.com. “That was one that seemed fitting for that house.” The house has since sold.

A Washington, DC, real estate agent also told the Huffington Post she affixed a “Not Haunted” sign to her property to get people talking, not necessarily to quash any rumors of ghosts.

Oh, and in the category of weird selling tricks: Remember the real estate agent who donned a panda suit in the listing photos and was then inundated with requests to tour the home?

So is the house in Coeur d’Alene really haunted? “I don’t know for sure,” Mason says with a laugh. “Buyer beware, I guess.”

The post Ramshackle Home Isn’t Selling? Maybe Put Up a ‘Not Haunted’ Sign appeared first on Real Estate News & Advice | realtor.com®.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2lD5lzx

Actor Stephen Dorff Lists Architecturally Significant Malibu Beach House

Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

Although he graced the pages of many a teen girls’ magazine in the late 1980s and early ’90s, actor Stephen Dorff never quite achieved A-level celebrity status. But he does have an A-list property to sell in Malibu, CA, for $8,450,000.

The “Blade” star, 43, has been working steadily since he was a kid, making guest appearances on shows such as “Diff’rent Strokes,” “Blossom,” “Roseanne,” and “Married … With Children.”

Dorff has also starred in a number of TV and movie projects, including Sofia Coppola‘s “Somewhere” in 2010, which enabled him to buy the architecturally significant Malibu beach house he’s now put on the market.

Stephen Dorff’s beach house

realtor.com

Built in 1968, the house was designed by prominent architectural firm Buff & Hensman. Dorff bought it for $2.5 million in 2002, but he doesn’t live there full time. The house is reported to have been on and off the rental market for as much as $50,000 a month.

Great room

realtor.com

These days, the actor is spending more time on the East Coast. He has a one-bedroom penthouse in New York City that has also flirted with the for-sale market, being listed several times at $3 million over the past couple of years.

Dorff is now betting that upscale beach lovers will be willing to pay big bucks for what’s dubbed the “Brown House,” which is prominently situated on 40 feet of sandy La Costa Beach, where stars such as Charlize Theron are neighbors.

The cedar-shingled, two-storied structure has a double-height foyer with floor-to-ceiling glass walls, and a spiral staircase that leads to three bedrooms and two baths on the second floor. There are ample decks on both levels overlooking the water and situated for a perfect view of the sunsets.

Master bedroom with deck

realtor.com

• Homes for sale in Malibu, CA

 

The post Actor Stephen Dorff Lists Architecturally Significant Malibu Beach House appeared first on Real Estate News & Advice | realtor.com®.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2lMWdZk

Massive $59.5M Greenwich Village Mansion Is the Week’s Priciest New Listing

realtor.com

A massive mansion in New York’s Greenwich Village—an area not exactly known for massive mansions—just hit the market at $59.5 million, making it the most expensive listing of the week on realtor.com®.

Greenwich Village, of course, is the bohemian neighborhood in Manhattan that’s home to stately brownstones on tree-lined streets, funky retail shops, and zillions of bars and restaurants. Buying property in the neighborhood usually means paying top dollar for a relatively small apartment, like this 450-square-foot studio being offered for $410,000 (currently the neighborhood’s most affordable listing).

There’s nothing small (or particularly affordable) about this 16,560-square-foot mansion on West 10th Street. It has eight bedrooms, nine bathrooms, and 5,690 square feet of rare outdoor space, including a garden, terrace, and rooftop decks.

Exterior

realtor.com

The home has a storied history: It was built in 1847. In 1919, investment banker Jeremiah Milbank bought the property and donated it to the Ladies Christian Union, which used it as a boardinghouse for young professional women for the next 75 years.

New York University bought the property in 1994 and housed its Global Law School offices there, before eventually selling it to actress Margaret Whitton and her husband, former Bear Stearns executive Warren Spector. Together, they renovated the property, turning it back into a single-family home.

The five-story, Greek Revival–style mansion was designed for entertaining, with the lower levels housing common spaces, staff quarters, and kitchens, and the upper floors mostly containing bedrooms.

Starting from the top, there’s a rooftop deck with a greenhouse, views of the city, and space for gardening. The fifth floor is a full-floor master suite, with master bath, two walk-in closets, a study, and powder room. An interior balcony looks down into the library on the fourth floor, which is home to four additional bedrooms.

The third floor has a theater, gym, two en suite bedrooms, and a terrace. The theater notably includes a powder room, naturally.

Parlor with wet bar

realtor.com

Dining room

realtor.com

The second floor, which is accessible from the street, is the home’s main floor for entertaining guests, with a reception lounge, onyx wood-burning fireplace, and wet bar. There’s a formal dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows, and a butler’s kitchen with dual dishwashers and a wine fridge. Elsewhere on the floor, there’s a music room, powder room, and coat closet.

The first floor has its own entrance under the stoop, and it houses the chef’s kitchen, which includes a pair of Sub-Zero refrigerators, a Viking stove, center island, and a temperature-controlled, walk-in wine cellar. This floor includes a breakfast room and den, with access to the ground-floor garden. Elsewhere, there’s a laundry room, powder room, and staff quarters with a separate entrance. A commercial elevator services each of the floors.

Spector told the Wall Street Journal he plans to donate the proceeds from the home’s sale to charity.

• For more photos and details, check out the full listing.
• Homes for sale in New York, NY

The post Massive $59.5M Greenwich Village Mansion Is the Week’s Priciest New Listing appeared first on Real Estate News & Advice | realtor.com®.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2mqeY24

NFL Hall of Fame Coach Don Shula Punts on His Florida Vacation Home

Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The man responsible for the most career wins as a National Football League head coach is looking to pick up another W on the real estate gridiron.

Former Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula is selling his “gently used” vacation home in Palm Beach Gardens, FL, for $2.7 million. He had purchased it in 2004 for $2,059,000.

The Mediterranean-style, multilevel mansion is ideal for a golfing aficionado. It sits in the middle of the Lakefront Golf Villa overlooking the design work of legendary golfer Raymond Floyd. The mansion is located just 10 miles from the beaches at Riviera and comes with beach club access on Singer Island.

The 6,000-square-foot home has four master suites, dramatic ceilings, spacious living areas, a chef’s kitchen, and an extended patio with plenty of space to add a pool, according to the listing.

Entry

realtor.com

The location also boasts a fitness center, pool, spa, and salon. Four golf club memberships are included in the sale.

Golf course views

realtor.com

Shula is an iconic figure in the NFL. The 87-year-old holds the record for most career wins as a head coach, 347. He was a five-time Coach of the Year, and the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year in 1993.

He and his wife also live in the posh enclave of Indian Creek, FL. Shula’s other real estate endeavors include a chain of steakhouses and a 205-room hotel in Miami Lakes, FL.

• For more photos and details, check out the full listing.
• Homes for sale in Palm Beach Gardens, FL

The post NFL Hall of Fame Coach Don Shula Punts on His Florida Vacation Home appeared first on Real Estate News & Advice | realtor.com®.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2mhE2cm

Monroe apartment complex fetches $1.2M in private sale

A 61-unit apartment complex in Monroe has been sold for $1.2 million. Located at Castle Road and Riverview Lane, the apartments were bought by the Coroneos family of Charlotte. The seller was EverBank, and the deal closed on Dec. 31, according to Union County tax records. Kevin McClave, director of sales and broker-in-charge for Henderson Properties Realtors in Charlotte, made the sale. “This successful transaction reflects the continued demand for multifamily product in the greater Charlotte…

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2ldPftb

EXCLUSIVE: San Antonio, Austin Board of Realtors explore merger

San Antonio and Austin's respective board of realtors are in early discussions to determine if the two associations' multiple listing service systems should be merged into a single platform. The San Antonio Board of Realtors and the Austin Board of Realtors have put together an eight person task force, hired a private consultant and are doing due diligence to evaluate if a merge is worth pursuing. San Antonio Board of Realtors CEO Angela Shields and Austin Board of Realtors CEO Paul Hilgers both…

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2mbIRa3