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Connecting Buyers and Sellers

Downtown Condo Connection attempts to make condominium market more transparent to everyone

ANDREW ASHBY | The Daily News

A local Realtor is looking to tap into the rising Downtown condominium market by providing an information center for potential buyers in the 38103 ZIP code.

Kendall Haney, owner of Kendall Haney Realty Group at 612 S. Cooper St., early this month opened the Downtown Condo Connection at 408 S. Front St. as a resource for potential buyers who might be confused by the sheer variety and availability of the area's condos.

In April 2006, 33 condos were sold in 38103, according to real estate information service Chandler Reports, www.chandlerreports.com. The average sale price was $188,301 and the average square footage was 1,161. In the first three months of 2006, 79 condos were sold in 38103.

The number of sales shows a steady rise from April 2005, when 10 condos were sold in 38103, with an average sales price of $179,530 and an average square footage of 1,383. In the first three months of 2005, 22 condos were sold in the same ZIP code.

Needles in a haystack

Many different real estate companies represent various Downtown condos, so it can be difficult for buyers or the Realtors representing them to get a feel for the entire market, which consists of more than 500 units spread across 43 buildings. Add in the 20 planned condo buildings and the 13 currently under construction, and it can be challenging to find the right unit.

"It's so hard to find out who's got them listed, where to go and where they're located," Haney said. "It's difficult for us as a Realtor, so it's definitely difficult for a buyer with no Realtor."

The Downtown Condo Connection actually is a converted condo in the Paperworks Building. It has a kitchen, restrooms and office space for three agents and an office manager.

The office contains information about every condo in the Downtown market, from a $59,900 unit in the Claridge House on North Main Street to a $613,000 model at the Shrine Building on Monroe Avenue.

DCC agents have created a book with floor plans, photos and information on condos that are for sale, as well as many that have yet to be built.

To narrow down what potential customers might want, Haney said agents ask questions about what the customers are looking for, from covered parking to river views.

"Then we can pinpoint certain buildings that will fit your needs," Haney said.

A piece of the pie

After discerning what buyers want, DCC agents call the condos' in-house real estate agents and set up a time to show the property.

It's a free service for buyers because sellers pay the commission. It's also good for the agents because it brings traffic to their offices.

"Every Realtor we've talked to has been happy to see us," Haney said. "It's a win-win because we can help them sell their condominiums."

Since DCC opened at the beginning of the month, the office has been getting two to three visitors a day just from the signage outside.

Principal broker Sue Tines said the company's e-mail list has been popular with visitors. After getting e-mail addresses from potential customers, Realtors can send them information based on their criteria, such as square footage or the number of bedrooms and bathrooms they'd like to have.

"That's less invasive on them, to do it that way," Tines said.

Tines has been in the Memphis real estate business 31 years and helped train Haney more than 20 years ago. She said all the in-house agents she deals with at the condos have been receptive since they can't leave and show buyers different properties around the Downtown area. The DCC Realtors can bring buyers to various properties, splitting the commission with the condos' real estate agents. Total commission for agents usually is 6 percent, with 3 percent going to the DCC agents and the other 3 percent going to the selling agents.

"They're glad for you to show the properties," Tines said. "They would rather have a piece of the pie then none at all."

Diversity of services

In addition to helping potential buyers find a condo, DCC also offers in-house mortgage lending. And the company is taking advantage of what Downtown has to offer. The company recently bought six trolley passes to take clients around various properties.

"It helps these condos that are on the trolley line," Tines said. "It helps people to understand how you can get around Downtown with it."

DCC affiliate broker Theresa Mynatt came back to Memphis after working in the Salt Lake City real estate market for five years. She said she thinks an event like the Vesta Home Show, which was held in the South Main Arts District in March, brought more attention to the growing Downtown real estate market.

"When I left, none of this was going on," Mynatt said. "I had heard rumors about people moving into the South End, but driving around it was like a ghost town full of nothing."

Young sees people moving back into cities as a nationwide trend.

"They want to get back into the city, away from the upkeep of a big home and the commuting," she said.

As an example of how the Downtown condo market has matured, Tines brings up the Claridge House, at which 400 hotel rooms were converted into 155 condos in 1985.

"The market was not ready then and they rented many of them out," she said. "Now, the market is ready and they have sold over 50 percent of their stock - just like you've seen the boom happen in Collierville, the boom happen in DeSoto County or the boom happen in Fayette County. Well, the boom is happening in Downtown Memphis right now."