APRIL 2018 Thinking of Listing Your Property?
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
APRIL 2018 Thinking of listing your property? The EVOLUTION of St. James Properties HistoricalHistorical perspective.perspective. WhileWhile we werewere alwaysalways thethe 2018 Sales leleaderader inin resalesresales forfor alalmostmost 2020 yeyears,ars, St.St. JamesJames PropertiesProperties Top Companies — Home and Lot Sales — 1/1/18 – 3/7/18- St. James Plantation sosoldld moremore developerdeveloper sales.sales. Understandably,Understandably, mmanyany owownersners Rank Name Sides SOLD Volume ststillill maintainmaintain thatthat perception.perception. 1 St. James Properties, LLC 64 $15,183,300 2 Discover NC Homes 11 $3,823,800 ButBut timestimes havehave changed.changed. Here’sHere’s why.why. AfterAfter moremore 3 Coldwell Banker 10 $3,164,470 tthanhan 4,7004,700 salessales overover a 23 yearyear period,period, momorere aandnd mmoreore Sea Coast Advantage ppropertiesroperties comecome up fforor rresale.esale. TThat’shat’s whwhatat happenshappens asas a cocommunitymmunity matures.matures. AAss a result,result, ththereere araree farfar momorere rresalesesales 4 RE/MAX Southern Coast 5 $2,022,500 avavailableailable thanthan developerdeveloper sales.sales. 5 Three Rivers Realty 3 $1,408,000 So,So, a fewfew yearsyears ago,ago, wewe changedchanged ourour of Brunswick County, LLC wholewhole approachapproach ttoo sales.sales. Source: Based on North Carolina Regional MLS Statistics We becamebecame Buyer’sBuyer’s AgentsAgents vversusersus Seller’sSeller’s Agents.Agents. We alsoalso formedformed a separateseparate exclusiveexclusive groupgroup whowho areare ListingListing Agents.Agents. TheyThey workwork solelysolely forfor oourur listinglisting QUESTIONS TO ASK owners.owners. Before you list your property with anyone. 1 How many St. James Plantation sales has We specializespecialize in St.St. JamesJames PlantationPlantation only,only, your company made in the last 12 months? whilewhile otherother realreal estateestate fi rmsrms sesellll andand listlist allall ooverver thethe county.county. 2 What is your marketing budget for St. James Plantation specifi cally? MillionMillion dollardollar marketingmarketing budget.budget. ForFor thethe pastpast 2020 yeyears,ars, wewe havehave sspentpent ooverver $1,000,000$1,000,000 annuallyannually to 3 How many prospects physically come ppromoteromote St.St. James.James. ThisThis consistentconsistent efforteffort resultsresults in overover through your offi ce annually? 2,2,000000 prospectprospect tourstours eacheach year.year. ThinkThink aaboutbout tthat!hat! TThehe ttypicalypical REALTOR®REALTOR® bbringsrings in 110000 oorr llessess prospectsprospects 4 Do you specialize in St. James Plantation? ttoo theirtheir offioffi ce.ce. 5 Are you an exclusive buyer’s agent? Results. As a result of the changes, approximately two-thirds of our total sales are now resales. Moreover, we sell more resales in St. James Plantation than the other 880 Brunswick County REALTORS® combined. 800-245-3871 Listing Agents St. James Properties - Lisa Frye, Joanne Penezic and Lisa Nieves © 2018 St. James Properties, LLC. Obtain the Property Report required by federal law and read it before signing anything. No federal agency has judged the merits or value, if any, of this property. Void where prohibited by law. This product does not constitute an offer to sell real property in any jurisdiction where prior registration or advanced qualifi cation is required but not completed. This is not to solicit property currently listed by another broker. Page 2 WHAT'S INSIDE 4 Editor’s note VOLUME 25 - ISSUE 4 - APRIL 2018 5 President’s column 6 Mayor’s column Please email photos, articles and 7 St. James Fire Department comments to [email protected] For Your Information Submit address changes to POA 9 Did you know? Popular southern grasses 9 Architectural FAQs: 2018 design guidelines STAFF 10 From the Cat-Tales archives editor associate editors 11 St. James by the numbers Arthur Hill Mariza Arantes 11 In case you missed it managing editor Laurie Danko Inside The Community Cheryl L. Serra Marilyn Rudolph photo editor Russ Yarrow 12 The Gores: A home-grown charm John Muuss associate photo 14 Harbormaster Ladies luncheon editor 14 American Legion hosts aircraft speaker Judy Wagner 15 St. James Service Club bridge tournament 17 Activities Committee: Irish Pub Night CONTRIBUTORS 17 Activities Committee: Men’s Night Out 18 The birds of St. James Nancy Adelis Barbara McGreevy 21 Fairway turned runway: Golf and tennis fashions Jim Carey Jeff Mount 23 Music to the ears — a cappella carolers Beth Erskine John Muuss 25 Dinners for Five or Six Dave Filios Hannah Neale 27 Dispatches from Pyeongchang Margie Foote Ann Elizabeth Orsillo 29 St. James’ landscaper Fran Goodman Genna Porter 37 Serving Brunswick County law enforcement Tish Gordon Neil Rosenberg 39 Poppies in the median FJ Harmon Judy Rubin Arthur Hill Marilyn Rudolph Special Section: Bob Hughes Cheryl L. Serra Liz Hughes Nancy Seyferth 30 The neighborhood ambassadors of St. James Jerry Iverson Hugh Shaw Bill Jenkins Monique Stenquist Fundraisers Beth Klahre Jean Toner Harvey Lind Liz Ventura 41 Diamonds and denim Rick Margin Barbara White Healthcare ADVERTISING 43 Vial of life Coastal Printing & Graphics Sports 910-754-5929 or [email protected] 44 Minor league baseball — major league fun Cat-Tales is published monthly by the St. James Plantation Property Owners' Association (POA) of St. James, North Carolina to communicate information of interest to its property owners. Reproduction in whole or ON THE COVER: parts is prohibited without permission from the publisher (POA). The views "Mistified in Southport" and opinions of the writers are their own and do not necessarily reflect that of the POA. Per the POA communications policy, the POA does not (photo by Cheryl L. Serra) endorse commercial products, services, or does not publish advertorial, partisan political or religious belief articles. APRIL 2018 Page 3 arch 4 was National Grammar Day. But I’m sure other residents perform the same function. it slipped right by us, with little notice Sadly, we couldn’t give Marilyn Rudolph, the associate or fanfare. That’s why visitors to the St. editor who managed this project, enough space to MJames Community Center couldn’t, as in years past, feature every one of our ambassadors. But those we attend seminars on split infinitives and stranded include represent well the work they all do. prepositions, followed by the ever-popular sentence- Neighborhood ambassadors aren’t the only ones diagramming competition. encouraging friendship and new relationships. Look at Just kidding (happy April Fool’s Day). But National Beth Erskine’s piece on Dinners for Five or Six to find Grammar Day, an event fostered by the Society for out how the Activities Committee uses wine and good the Promotion of Good Grammar (SPOGG), is for real. food to foster fellowship. As most of our contributors know, the editorial staff Harmonious takes on a different note in our story on at Cat-Tales is a little geeky about grammar and style. the birds of St. James, co-authored by Dave Filios, We’ve had many discussions on serial commas, how Margie Foote and Hugh Shaw. If you’re hearing more many exclamation points should go at the end of melodious sounds recently, it’s probably because St. a sentence (one, as few times as possible) and the James is now a bird sanctuary. To pay tribute to this like. When we can’t reach consensus, we refer to the important event, we’re launching a series in praise of Associated Press Stylebook, which most editors use to our chirpy friends — even those who year after year create a harmonious tone in their publications. build their nests on our front porches (mind you, I’m not complaining). Jim Carey is our stand-up guy for coverage of the St. “As most of our contributors James first-responder community, and his column know, the editorial staff at appears once again this month. Also this month, Nancy Adelis writes about how St. James residents Cat-Tales is a little geeky are helping the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office. Don’t miss Nancy’s story on VOICE — Volunteer about grammar and style.” Observers Impacting Community Efforts. Also beyond our community, Tish Gordon, president Staying with the harmonious theme, this issue of of the Garden Club of St. James, explains how Cat-Tales features the growing popularity of the Cape our state’s major highways have for the last two Fear Carolers, the “a cappella” group known for its decades been havens for wildflowers, and why that’s close harmony and for its take on music that cuts important. Perhaps members of the Town’s task force across musical boundaries. on landscaping the new, expanded State Road 211 should include this program in their planning. Speaking of transcending boundaries, we’re featuring this month a group that works hard to make St. James Meanwhile, we’ll keep our eye on SPOGG and update a friendly and welcoming place. The group — our you on its many activities. We’ve already booked the “neighborhood ambassadors”— is not exclusive. Community Center for next year’s National Grammar Day. Page 4 uring the 2017 annual meeting, “St. James POA Sports Newsletter." I do I presented data showing the not have room in this article to describe annual POA assessment in St. the efforts put in by the rest of the DJames Plantation (SJP) compared to other committees, but they all do great work gated or private communities in our for our community. local area. You will note we are among All committee members contribute the lowest. When compared to other significant