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Lots riding on bidding process

After facing complaints from people who lost out on homes, the builder at TreeTops development has revised the way the remaining homes will be sold.

By JUDY STARK
Published July 30, 2005

TAMPA - More than 200 people want to buy one of the last 17 homesites at TreeTops, a leafy neighborhood near Westchase of 113 homes built around a 25-acre lake where the average price this year of a home and homesite is around $1-million.

They really want to buy. Some of them really, really want to buy, to the point where they've threatened builder Charley Hannah if he doesn't sell them a homesite.

"People would get angry if I hadn't held a house for them while they thought about it and instead sold it to somebody else who didn't need to think so long," Hannah said. "In more cases than not, it was sold to somebody who would walk in, see the house and say, "What do I need to do to make sure this house is mine?' "

The think-about-its complained that Hannah should have called them first. Some people accused him of selling to someone who would build a more expensive home on a lot they were considering.

Some of them, he said, did more than complain.

"Evil threats," said Hannah, a big ex-Tampa Bay Buccaneer who doesn't intimidate easily. "All kinds of things, from the sensible to the nonsensical." The threats were of a legal nature, he said, along the lines of "If I don't get a lot, I'm going to get my attorney. You discriminated against me."

Such a complaint "could never be won, but who wants to fight?" asked Hannah, whose Hannah Bartoletta Homes is the only builder in TreeTops.

So how to sell those last few homesites in a way that avoids lawsuits, feeding frenzies and slugfests at the sales center?

Well, try this: Buyers, you decide what it's worth to you.

Cobbled together by Hannah from ideas he's picked up around the country, the sales procedure - Hannah calls it "an offering" - will work like this:

Hannah's company, which he owns with partner Mike Bartoletta, will design a house for a given homesite, with "the features and amenities that are in keeping with the neighborhood and how we want it to finish out." (The eventual owner will still be able to pick colors and make limited changes to the house.) The home and homesite are a package.

The builder will set a minimum bid. None of the homes will be offered at less than $800,000, and most will be priced "in excess of $1-million," Hannah said. They'll range in size from 3,000 square feet to 6,000 square feet.

Then interested buyers - it's open to anyone - will have three weeks to ponder exactly how much that home and homesite are worth to them, and submit offers in a box at the model center. The best offer takes it.

The first house to be sold this way is the Legacy, to be built at 10710 Beagle Run Place, on which offers will be accepted from Aug. 6 through 28. The house has four bedrooms, four baths, a den and game room in 3,567 square feet of living space, plus a three-car garage.

The minimum offer is $954,951.

If that minimum offer is the maximum offer, fine. Sold! If no one meets that minimum, the builder leaves the house on the market as an inventory home. (Hannah Bartoletta has never had an inventory home last on the market more than 10 days.) And if the winning offer is far higher than the minimum, Hannah said, "the worst that can happen is that we make a little more, and that's not a bad thing."

"This allows everybody an equal opportunity to purchase a home," Hannah said. He expects to offer two or three homes a month this way until TreeTops is sold out.

A second home that opens for offers Aug. 6 is the Custom Dartmouth II, to be built at 9512 TreeTops Lake Road: five bedrooms, 41/2 baths, den, loft, 4,765 square feet, three-car garage. Offers will be accepted starting at $1,283,007.

It's really not much different from the way sales operate on resale homes. The seller sets a price, but if lots of people want that house, offers may come in way over asking price.

"It's somewhat unusual in new homes," said Robert J. Kanjian, president of Building Solutions in West Palm Beach, which specializes in marketing new homes for builders.

He had a couple of concerns about Hannah's plans. The "sold-to-the-highest-bidder" approach should level the playing field for buyers and avoid any sense that the builder played favorites, but unsuccessful potential buyers may still be upset.

Buyers think of buying a home as a retail sales experience: The price is the price. But with so few homesites in a very desirable location, "we had to do something with people who were coming in, wanting houses and premium lots. It became a bigger and bigger issue," Hannah said.

Theoretically, Kanjian said, the make-an-offer approach is "the best way, but it may not be the best way for public relations," he said. "Some people feel funky about it."

Further, potential buyers may not want to wait six months, making repeat offers as homesites come up for sale, to learn whether they can buy a home in TreeTops. They want to know now so they can make other plans accordingly.

Kanjian also was concerned about the three-week window for offers. "I'd compress the time frame," he said. "You want to make this a hyped-up deal, exciting."

Selling all 17 homesites this way may be a premature decision, he said. "I'd let the overall success of the program be determined by the first two sales," he said, to gauge market reaction. If it's positive, sell the others that way. If there's negative feedback, end the program "and it won't look like a backtrack."

At one point the list of interested TreeTops buyers was over 300. Hannah had to restrict the list to only those who could pay $800,000 or more. That shrank the list to 160, but now it's back to more than 200.

"We think this is a sane, not unreasonable idea that allows for the smoothest transition into the completion of the community," Hannah said, "and to protect the investment other people have been making."

Kanjian recommended that instead, Hannah "push the envelope on dollars. I would set my pricing rather aggressively. I would have no problem saying, "This house was $1-million, now it's $1.2-million, if you want it, you'll buy it.' If 100 people want to buy 17 homesites, he needs to raise the prices so 20 people want to buy 17 homesites."

Hannah has a different take on dealing with several hundred people who are clamoring to buy his homes. "If I've got to pick a problem," he said, "that's the one I'll pick."

- Judy Stark can be reached at 727 893-8446 or stark@sptimes.com

To reach TreeTops, take the Veterans Expressway to Linebaugh Avenue. Travel west on Linebaugh 1 mile to Sheldon Road. Continue straight ahead 1 mile on Linebaugh to Montague Street. Turn right on Montague and travel 1 mile to the entrance of TreeTops. The model center is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. Sunday and Monday. The phone number is 813 920-3648; Web site http://hbh.info To be placed on the e-mail list for information, e-mail sales agent Ted Chronis at

[Last modified July 29, 2005, 09:02:04]