Proposal for Aiding Home Sales in Kings Point to be = Heard

From The Observer = News (www.observernews.net)

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Proposal=20 for Aiding Home Sales in Kings Point to be Heard
By =
Jan 10,=20 2008 - 9:45:09 PM

Judie McFarland Photo As an = unobtrusive=20 symbol designating an available residential property in the = Symphony=20 Isles section of Apollo Beach, this treble clef has been = used=20 successfully in the gated waterfront community. Realtors = working on=20 behalf of Kings Point residents who want or need to market = their=20 homes are advocating adoption of a similar symbol - a royal = crown=20 for KP properties - to indicate their availability in the = gated=20 condominium community.
KINGS = POINT=20 =E2=80=93 When illness = or death or a=20 simple change of plans dictates it, unit owners in this gated,=20 age-restricted condominium community cannot plant a =E2=80=9CFor = Sale=E2=80=9D sign in the=20 front yard.
Unlike other=20 communities, including Sun City Center immediately north and east = of Kings=20 Point, such signage on the lawn, in a window or anywhere else = around the=20 unit currently is prohibited, ruled out by as many as three layers = of=20 governance. It has been thus since the community was = initiated more=20 than 30 years ago.

Both residents and Realtors, however, = now are=20 taking issue with the long-standing rule, citing several reasons = and=20 suggesting use of a discreet, uniformly understood symbol in place = of=20 signage.
The=20 community=E2=80=99s manager, on the other hand, holds out little = hope for=20 change
The matter is slated for discussion = during the=20 next KP Federation meeting on Friday, Jan. 18.
Beverly Wilson, a former Kings = Pointer who left=20 the community to move across Sun City Center Boulevard but still = owns a=20 condo unit for which there is no buyer in sight, plans to be=20 there.   She wants to underscore the seriousness of the=20 situation.

And, Al Taglang, another = resident, contends=20 that the ban on signaling that a KP home is for sale infringes on = his=20 right to free speech as guaranteed under the First Amendment to = the U.S.=20 Constitution.
   When the need=20 arises to sell a condominium unit in Kings Point, owners=E2=80=99 = options are=20 limited, pointed out Judie McFarland, also a KP resident as well = as a=20 Realtor. Whether an owner wishes to move to an assisted living = facility,=20 or to return to family in another state, or relocate to another = community,=20 or, in the case of a death, if the property reverts to heirs, that = owner=20 only can list the property with a Realtor, place a notice on an = internal=20 bulletin board or advertise in a local newspaper, she noted. =
In any of=20 those instances, though, there is a handicapping factor, McFarland = said.=20 Anyone answering an ad must be instructed in entry procedures = through the=20 gates, no one from outside the community is likely to see the = bulletin=20 board, and the Realtor cannot show the property except to a=20 specifically-interested prospective buyer. Under no = circumstances=20 can an =E2=80=9Copen house=E2=80=9D to show the home off to as = many potential buyers as=20 possible be conducted, McFarland asserted. Moreover, the = people most=20 likely to make a KP purchase =E2=80=93 owners=E2=80=99 visitors = =E2=80=93 cannot be made aware of=20 availability.
The situation,=20 especially in a depressed sales market, can work a hardship on = owners who=20 need to liquidate their holdings, she added.   Glancing = through=20 listings at hand, she ticked off several KP homes which have been = on the=20 market literally a year or more, one listed for 510 days, another = for 655=20 days, another for 786 days. None are close to sold. =
Kings Point properties, in fact, are = on the=20 market considerably longer than those outside the community, = McFarland=20 said. =E2=80=9CIn 2007, the average DOM (Days on Market) in = Kings Point was=20 196 days and in Sun City Center 112 days.=E2=80=9D   =
The situation also impacts prices = paid by=20 buyers, McFarland continued. Comparing 2005 to 2007, home = prices=20 outside the KP gate increased by 2 percent; inside KP prices = decreased by=20 12 percent, she calculated.
Another=20 Realtor and KP resident, Pam Reno, pointed to several = =E2=80=9Cmyths=E2=80=9D bearing on=20 the subject. Residents sometimes think that making a = property=20 available for showing =E2=80=9Cwill allow unauthorized people to = come into our=20 community.=E2=80=9D However, she added, the fact is = the developer,=20 WCI, long has and continues to give three and four-day passes to=20 prospective buyers who =E2=80=9Ccan go and come freely in = our community and=20 use our facilities.=E2=80=9D
Another=20 misperception, Reno said, is that the Realtors =E2=80=9Cjust want = to make=20 money.=E2=80=9D While the professional sales agents want to = make sales, this=20 also is what residents want, she said. Sellers now =E2=80=9Care at = a huge=20 disadvantage,=E2=80=9D she added.
Yet another=20 misunderstanding centers on signage itself. People wonder about = the=20 usefulness of signs if no one outside the community sees them, = Reno=20 noted.   But the fact is that =E2=80=9Cmany people who = buy here are=20 guests of residents first. They come for a visit. Then they = rent.=20 Then,=E2=80=A6they buy.=E2=80=9D
Those in favor=20 of a change, though, are not campaigning for a forest of red and = black=20 placards on poles in yards or for proliferation of the sturdy,=20 six-foot-high Realtor signs set in the ground.
They are calling, instead, for = adoption of a=20 discreet symbol less than three feet in height and seen as = more of=20 an enhancement than a detraction from the neat yards common = across=20 the community. It is a concept which has been used = successfully in=20 other gated communities, McFarland said.
In the waterfront Symphony Isles = section of=20 Apollo Beach, for instance, the community chose a play on their = name that=20 conjures up symphonic music. They opted for a simple treble clef = in black=20 attached to a short wood stake and placed outside an available = home,=20 McFarland explained.
Taking the=20 same approach, Reno added, the suggestion for signifying available = Kings=20 Point properties is a tasteful crown on a three-foot stake placed = in=20 shrubbery within five feet of the KP unit. Such a symbol = does not=20 violate any of the governing documents which forbid signs of a=20 =E2=80=9Ccommercial=E2=80=9D nature, Reno added.
However, Brian May, the = community=E2=80=99s onsite=20 manager with Sterling Management, said this week he did not think = the=20 subject would be discussed at any length during the upcoming = federation=20 meeting.   Commercial signage is prohibited not only in = the=20 formal condominium documents each condo owner receives and in the=20 documents detailing controls by the developer=E2=80=99s master = association, May=20 pointed out, but also by many of the 109 condo associations which=20 represent the 9000 residents.
What=E2=80=99s more, May added, if a = uniform symbol=20 were adopted, =E2=80=9Cpolicing would be a nightmare=E2=80=9D to = ensure that the symbol=20 rather than a standard =E2=80=9C for sale=E2=80=9D sign were = used.
The matter may be on the federation = meeting=20 agenda, the manager concluded, =E2=80=9Cbut I suspect it=E2=80=99s = not going to go=20 anywhere.=E2=80=9D
Nonetheless,=20 both residents and Realtors plan to attend the session, they=20 indicated. McFarland noted that employing all appropriate = means of=20 moving KP properties is in the best interests of the entire=20 community. When a condo is vacated without a sale, for = whatever=20 reason, the monthly fees may go unpaid and sometimes a = =E2=80=9Cshort sale=E2=80=9D=20 transpires in which the lender takes back the mortgaged unit, = writing off=20 a difference between the owed amount and the market value. = Neither=20 circumstance is desirable for the community, she indicated. =20

Reno also pointed out that the only = real=20 benefit of the prohibition on sales signage was reaped by the = developers=20 whose controls of sales were protected. But =E2=80=9Cspec = homes=E2=80=9D no longer=20 are being built in KP, the Realtors noted, and the end of = developer=20 control is being anticipated. Protecting the benefit for the = developer no longer may be pertinent, Reno said.
Wilson said she plans to voice her = enthusiastic=20 support for the emblem concept. And, for his part, Taglang = asserts=20 =E2=80=9CLet=E2=80=99s stop the madness and make the HOA = guidelines of today business=20 savvy and reasonable. Is that too much to = ask?=E2=80=9D

=C2=A9 Copyright=20 2008 by The Observer News Publications and M&M=20 Printing