From books to chocolate to real estate for Premier
Boston native Monica Slater is a licensed sales agent with Premier Properties of Southwest Florida's Sarasota office. She has more than 25 years of experience in the luxury real estate market. With a background in corporate marketing and brand development, Slater feels her ability to recognize market trends as well as properties with investment opportunity are assets in the competitive Sarasota marketplace. She has closed sales on five multimillion-dollar waterfront properties in the last two years. Slater has a bachelor's degree, with honors, in economics and has a marketing degree from Columbia University in New York and the CCNY Graduate Center. She had an award-winning career as vice president of marketing with Godiva Chocolatier, Brentano's Book Stores and various New York publishing companies. She also founded her own $12 million chocolate company and is a graduate of the Sarasota Chamber's 2003 class of Leadership Sarasota. In 2001, Slater co-founded the Women's Initiative of the United Way of Sarasota County. The organization awarded more than 500 scholarships to needy pre-kindergarten children. Recently Slater launched an innovative marketing initiative focusing on Sarasota's real estate development history. Staff reporter Stephen Frater interviewed Slater recently. _______ Q: You have recently launched a new advertising campaign you call "Historical Perspectives." Please describe the campaign and how you tie in history to real estate marketing. A: I was very impressed with the Herald-Tribune's Architectural Forum "Then and Now." It was thought-provoking to review our current housing market. We're reading that the national housing market is gloomy at best and I wanted to communicate with clients, friends and neighbors, and remind them of our progress and put today in historical perspective. Sarasota is both vibrant and a micro market with wonderful history of change. In a collaborative effort, Erin Edmondson, my assistant, and Debbie Zaroba, our graphic designer, decided to send our customers oversized postcards of historical pictures and current pictures to emphasize the growth and health of our community. For example, one photo shows the original Plaza at Five Points then, 1893, and showing now Five Points today 2007. The contrast is amazing. Q: What parallels do you see with other historical real estate cycles in Sarasota and what we are experiencing here today? A: History with its cycles is our greatest teacher. When I arrived in Sarasota in 1996, the new trend in real estate was a proposed condominium high-rise on Palm Avenue downtown. The developer was bringing upscale design, finishes and amenities similar to Longboat Key with Longboat Key prices. The developer was a visionary, but considered a risky venture. Curiously, Palm Avenue was the original Route 41 75 years ago, and the water bordered The Church of Redeemer on Palm Avenue. The building was a big success and triggered the residential development downtown. On my recommendation, my family purchased the lowest-priced unit with a view overlooking Marina Jack. It has turned out to be an outstanding rental property. Also, in the early '80s, the two new towers of Condo on the Bay on Boulevard of the Arts were difficult to sell as well as lots and homes on Bird Key. There has been a radical change and we will see our current condo inventory absorbed as Sarasota continues to grow. Q: Where do you access your historical materials for the campaign? How many images do you have that you will use in the campaign? A: There are volumes of information available on the history of Sarasota. We went online and found many helpful sites from the Sarasota Historical Society, the Sarasota History Center and many more. We are planning a series of twelve images of "Then and Now" and will increase as we go forward. We have a few other great ideas percolating. Q: How has Sarasota's profile changed over the years and what caused those changes, in your view? A: Sarasota has continued to grow as a cosmopolitan city. The Ritz-Carlton and the development of the Ritz condos was a benchmark that has positively affected the growth and profile of Sarasota over the past 10 years. The Ritz became a beacon and standard for architectural finishes in construction, an exciting venue for functions and charity events. The key was its ability to accommodate large groups. Sarasota was no longer a quiet city of the arts with a breathtaking coastline. The city became a player in Florida. On the other hand, we recognize that there are people who prefer the small sleepy Sarasota of the past. Q: With several billions of dollars earmarked for imminent investment in central Sarasota real estate, including the new Quay development, Pineapple Square, new hotels and theaters, what do you see as the future profile of the city? Are we headed towards becoming another Naples or Palm Beach in terms of median prices and social profile? A: I'm not surprised by the Quay question or the future of imminent investment in Sarasota. Over the past year, I've been in enough focus groups and developer meetings to know projects have been put on hold, and, in general, investors are proceeding with caution. The statistics confirm that even with sales slightly up over last year, we still have have a large inventory of unsold homes to sell. Sarasota MLS statistics indicate we're 18 percent ahead of last year's sales pace, year-to-date through the end of June 2007, and the recent decline in median home sales prices have leveled off. Patrick Kelly and his Irish American Management Services appear to have timed their launch well. The Quay and Pineapple Square are exciting and interactive mixed use plans. They remind me of my Godiva days when I began to roll out the company-owned stores and we moved into Rouse and Taubmans mixed-use plans that were all very successful. These two projects alone will change the face of Sarasota. There will be units priced below $1 million for diversity in price points. I don't see us becoming Naples or Palm Beach since we are a real city with active commerce. Less we forget, much of our coastal areas along Siesta Key, downtown marina and parts of Longboat Key are older buildings built in the 1970s through the 1990s. This older construction gives us edge and uniqueness and I hope will be a factor in keeping average sales prices down. I wouldn't want to lose affordable condos that retired professors, teachers and artists can afford that make Sarasota so interesting. In my mind it is the high cost of taxes and insurance that will be a bigger factor. Q: Where do you see the current market headed? We have had some positive signs in recent months in sales activity, and prices have come back to 2002-03 levels, but many Realtors are suffering. Have we turned a corner even though inventories remain at unusually high levels? A: I agree with the economist Hank Fishkind of Orlando on the state of the market. I heard Hank Fishkind speak at the Ritz in 2004. He predicted that in 2006 and the last half of 2005 there would be a softening of the market. That is exactly what happened. On July 26, 2007, Mr. Fishkind calls the dire warnings and negative news overblown. He feels the market in Florida has bottomed out with the exception of Miami. I agree with him. We won't have tremendous growth and we have seen the worst of the cycle in Sarasota peaking in December 2006. Population growth is holding up well. I think we've turned the corner but we still have too much inventory. Unfortunately, there are many agents who don't have the experience to handle this type of market. How quickly we come out of this difficult market is to some extent dependent on the sellers. Are they going to accept 6-10 percent appreciation reflected in their sales price? Are they still hoping for the 2005 appreciation levels? We need to have realistic list prices and move our current inventory. Q: Can you tell me a bit more about your earlier realty career since Premier only entered this market last year? How long have you been a Realtor and where did your work before joining Premier? What do you estimate your career regional sales total to be? What was your best year? A: When I came to Sarasota in 1996, I looked at Sarasota magazine and noticed the high-quality advertising spread of Michael Saunders & Co. It reminded me of New York and Godiva's value-added campaigns. I wrote Michael Saunders a letter, she graciously saw me personally and offered me a job. I really never looked for a corporate marketing job since after Manhattan, it didn't seem realistic in Sarasota. I became an agent at Michael Saunders' Main Street office and stayed for almost 10 years before joining Premier Properties. It was a smart career change to move to Premier Properties. They are a different company than Michael Saunders. I'm very comfortable with the corporate culture of the parent company and the Lutgerts. They are private and low key in their approach but they have a strong commitment to their employees and to growth. They remind me very much of the period of time I spent at Campbell Soup, which was the parent company of Godiva. Steve Bailey, the vice president of Premier Sarasota, is a visionary with great people skills and he's building a special company in Sarasota. As a new company there are a lot of expansion plans but I'm not at liberty to share this information. I can only tell you that Premier management is conservative but smart in their expansion growth. They see a lot of opportunity in the market right now. Q: How much was the difference between 2004, 2005, 2006 and this year in terms of sales for you personally? A: It is our corporate policy not to divulge our sales numbers. I can tell you that I've always been a multimillion-dollar producer and 2004 and 2005 were my best years. This year is beginning to look very good and I see most of the growth coming in the fourth quarter. There is a perception in the public eye that real estate agents make high compensation for very little work. I can assure you that what we do is extremely difficult and surviving in this market takes skill, strategic planning and lots of tenacity. Q: What advice would you have for someone entering this market as a Realtor today? A: We are in a tough market in real estate. I would recommend this industry to a recent college graduate. You need to be a strategic thinker, technologically savvy, and long-term business approach and a personality that takes rejection well and an ego that doesn't bruise easily. As a new agent it's important to specialize and not be all things to all customers. When I first started the business, I specialized as a downtown expert. There is enough business in the specialty area that you can become an expert and still generate enough sales to make a good living. We have opportunity in this market and it will be very exciting to see Sarasota grow over the next 10 years. [HeraldTribune.com, 2007] |
