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| Issue #24, September 8, 2006 |
Real Estates by Diane Strecker
When most of the Hamptons real estate offices have either consolidated or been acquired by the national real estate moguls such as Corcoran, Prudential Douglas Elliman, Sotheby’s International, or Brown Harris Stevens it seems a bold move for a small boutique style office to plunk itself down right in the center of Bridgehampton. But that is just what Eden Portfolio plans to do. With the recent buy out of Allan M. Schneider, one of the leading Hamptons realtors by the Corcoran Group, the phrase “Corcoranization” of the Hamptons has now been coined.
In the past five short years we have watched as Hamptons realtors who have done business here for decades were gobbled up by the larger concerns. Things changed and the Hamptons market was open to the rest of the country and international buyers as well. This exposure simply blew the lid off East End real estate. Advertising was expansive drawing buyers from all corners of the country and the money spent on property seemed to have no limit. The demand for East End properties was incredible and prices were driven up to three times their value in just a little more than a year. Bidding wars were commonplace and properties were selling as soon as they hit the market, very often for well over the asking price. What we have watched take place here in the past few years is a phenomenon. The East End market is a unique one that has taken on a life all its own. While the nations market continues to ebb the market here is actually steadily rising, particularly in East Hampton at 4%, and in Southampton at 14%, just over the past twelve months. Of course, this is no comparison to the spikes in the market we saw in 2004 and 2005, but it is still substantial.
There are some small firms here that have hung in through all of it, preferring to go it alone. Selling real estate from a small boutique style office that offers a high level of customer service is nothing new here in Hamptons, where it is required in order to accommodate discerning buyers that shop the East End market.
Tina Fredericks, nicknamed “realtor to the stars,” has remained independent for more than 35 years and continues to run her boutique style office in the Georgica Pond area of East Hampton where she has sold many estates to many high-profile individuals. Others, such as John Keeshan in Montauk and Devlin McNiff in the Village of East Hampton have also held their ground, but this is getting shorter all the time.
Jim McGinnis, head broker of Eden Portfolio says the office plans to handle just a few properties at a time and that the brokerage plans to be very selective as to what they will offer and show. “We want to present our clients with a handpicked array of the very best properties worldwide and do it in a way that is exclusive, intimate & stylish, with superb customer care. We feel it is a terrific time to be an independent firm and offer an alternative to the larger, more anonymous brokerage houses with their enormous inventories. It is our intention to be the mouse that roared, “says McGinnis. The Eden Portfolio staff is multi-lingual and each listing on their website is currently being translated into eight different languageswith the intention of reaching the global market. Isabel von Fluegge, director of marketing and sales for the new brokers, claims “The real estate industry is really about five years behind the rest of the world as far as innovation in marketing is concerned.” They claim to be the forward thinkers of the industry and, as 7-Up became the “Un-cola,” they plan to be the “unreal estate company.” The new office will be located at 2405 Main Street in Bridgehampton.
You can reach Diane at eastendrealest@yahoo.com.
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