Luxury moves

And, in many cases, moves fast. Real estate pros say the demand of multimillion-dollar estates exceeds the supply in some bay area neighborhoods.

By TERESA BURNEY

TAMPA -- Dee Thaxton was prepared to spend a year selling the $2.7-million red-brick estate on Davis Islands.

That's how long it can take to find someone with the money and the desire to buy a house that big and that expensive. So the vice president for luxury homes at Smith & Associates Realtors planned a long-term marketing extravaganza.

She hired photographers to shoot every angle of the waterfront house, ordered color brochures, took out an ad in Sotheby's international Domain magazine of exclusive estates.

And, under the guise of a reception for a Sotheby's jewelry appraiser, she invited to the home a group of local people with the wherewithal to spend a couple of million.

But only three weeks after taking the listing, after the brochures were printed but before the special reception, Thaxton had an offer. The deal isn't final, so she won't say what the sale price is, but "this will probably set a record for waterfront in Tampa," she said.

It's unusual to sell a house that expensive, that fast. But it is becoming more common as demand for exclusive, unusual properties has climbed, according to Thaxton and other agents who specialize in selling the priciest houses in the Tampa Bay area. In fact, buyers of such homes have become more plentiful than the houses they crave in some areas.

"We truly don't have enough fine estates in the marketplace to satisfy the market," Thaxton said.

Before last year Thaxton might have heard from a few people every six months who were looking for estate-quality homes. "Now we have a few people in a few weeks," she said. "They are finding us."

Cary Bond Thomas, a Tourtelot Brothers real estate agent who specializes in selling homes in St. Petersburg's more costly neighborhoods, agreed. "I would say, three or four times a week I am showing homes that are over a million dollars," she said.

"It's just incredible, it's just a different world," added Carole Merritt of Arvida Realty Services' office in Treasure Island. Her average sale last year was about $900,000.

"I could remember about three or four years ago when over $500,000 was just considered incredible," she said. "And 10 years ago, we would not have believed that we would have been sitting around talking about this."

To be sure, there are expensive homes that languish on the market for months, particularly in areas where buyers have the choice of an existing home or building one from scratch.

But in desirable waterfront or golf course communities, where there is a shortage of lots for new homes, sales have been brisk. Agents credit the soaring stock market, the success of local businesses and advances in technology that allow people to live far from their work.

"People in this price range will sometimes move to a city because of the home," Thaxton said.

But being a broker to the rich and famous isn't all gravy, even if the commissions can amount to tens of thousands of dollars.

Even now, estate homes are frequently on the market longer than more moderate-priced homes, and real estate agents and their brokers aren't paid until the sale is final.

While the commissions are high, so are the marketing costs, which can be 1 percent to 11/2 percent of a home's asking price. The number of people who can afford such expensive homes are few, and they are scattered all over the world. To reach them, agents pay thousands for glossy advertisements in exclusive home magazines.

The sellers of these estates expect a higher level of service from their agents.

They want the agent to arrange for all the utilities to be turned on or off, to make sure the property is well cared for if it is unoccupied and to be available 24 hours a day.

There are no lock-boxes on estate homes. The listing Realtor personally shows the property, but only after screening potential buyers to make sure they can afford the house. "I find no one offended, if I inquire about them. . . . who are they and what do they do and where are they coming from," Thaxton said.

Even when a sale is over, buyers sometimes keep calling their agents, just to find out how their home's value is holding up or for referrals for other necessities.

Thomas recently sold a home to a new Home Shopping Network executive who called after the sale was final, asking for a list of quality restaurants that offered take-out.

"They want you to recommend the butcher, the manicurist, the tutor, the school, the whole nine yards," Thomas said. "It's a long-term relationship that we have."

One thing high-end Realtors usually don't have to worry about is their clients qualifying for loans. Many pay cash for their homes.

"They will sit down and they will write a check for their earnest money -- $100,000," Merritt said. "Then, when it comes time to close, they will write another check."

However, in recent years, with interest rates low, some have chosen to take out a mortgage for part of the home's price, agents said.

Frequently, high-end real estate agents are held to a high level of secretiveness.

Merritt once showed a home to Lisa Marie Presley, but first she had to sign a document saying she would not mention anything about it for months afterward.

Sometimes the sellers value their privacy so much that they don't even want a "for sale" sign in the front yard.

There's no sign in front of the $1.49-million home on Brightwaters Boulevard that Thomas is selling for David F. Dyer, the former HSN executive who recently became the CEO of Lands' End.

Nonetheless, Thomas said, "you can be assured that this property is being totally exposed to the marketplace."

The estate is advertised in the most recent issue of Christie's Great Estates magazine. Tourtelot Brothers recently became the only bay area brokerage affiliated with the auction house's real estate magazine. Owner Bill Tourtelot hopes the affiliation will give his company an edge when it comes to landing home listings.

It's not uncommon for the wealthiest to require that their names not even appear on public documents at sale time. The Davis Islands house recently sold by Thaxton was titled to a special trust set up by the owner in the name of a lawyer. The new owners will also take ownership in the name of a trust. That makes it nearly impossible to find out who the owner is, unless somebody talks. Don't expect to hear anything from Thaxton.

"They value their privacy," she said.

Just in case the sale falls through, Thaxton went through with her reception/open house even though a contract was pending.

The event at 42 Ladoga Ave. was dubbed a reception for a jewelry appraiser from Sotheby's, the famed auction house. Attendees scheduled private appointments with the appraiser for the next day. But they really came to wander through the 5,650-square-foot house.

Waiters, bearing trays of wine and exotic hors d'oeuvres, circulated among the well-dressed guests, who gathered in knots of conversation in the library, by the pool overlooking Tampa Bay, in the soaring entry hall and even in the vast kitchen.

The event was not in vain, Thaxton said. She met a few people who might hire her to sell their homes, and another person told her that he might be interested in the Davis Islands house, if the deal falls through.

"You can be sure I know how to get in touch with him," Thaxton said.