FEATURE:Dream Jobs

The dream: selling to the stars
The dream: life in paradise
The dream: Rocky Mountain high
Success Secrets

BY ROBERT SHAROFF

Selling real estate in paradise doesn’t have to be a fantasy: Meet three people who’ve made it a reality.

Watching a fiery sunset on a white sandy beach. Rewarding a job well done with a schuss down a black diamond run. Listing an exclusive 90210 address.

Dreams come in all shapes and sizes—but a common theme is the idea of living and working in some otherworldly paradise. And whether your paradise involves palm trees, snow-covered peaks, or celebrity spottings, you’ll enjoy, and perhaps take inspiration from, the stories of three people who successfully reinvented themselves. Their real estate success in some of the country’s most awe-inspiring settings demonstrates what can happen when dreams are backed up by determination and hard work.

The dream: selling to the stars
Speaking about prices and market conditions, Joyce Rey seems like any other busy real estate broker. Then she drops a phrase like, “As Tom Hanks said to me last night . . .” and you realize she functions on a different level entirely.

Rey is an executive director of Coldwell Banker Previews division in Los Angeles
(www.rodeorealty.com), which sells estates of $1 million and up in such pricey enclaves as Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, and Santa Monica.

Consequently, she often deals with some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry. Among the clients Rey has driven around in her Mercedes are Sandra Bullock, Goldie Hawn, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“You have a chance to see celebrities socially and in business situations, and it’s exciting,” she says. “I love the movies. I always have.”

What’s different about selling to celebrities? Not much, Rey insists. However, gaining access can be a challenge. “The average businessperson client has a lawyer. A celebrity, however, has a lawyer, an agent, a personal manager, and a personal assistant, all of whom get involved.”

And although celebrities cultivate a very public persona, they crave privacy and security. “You always have to be aware of things like setbacks and landscaping. When the tour buses come around, stars don’t want to be too exposed.”

Rey’s entrée into the world of high-priced real estate was aided by her former marriage to the late Alejandro Rey, an actor best known for his role as Sally Fields’ costar on “The Flying Nun” television series.

“The Flying Nun” was cancelled in 1970, and the Reys’ income dropped. “I had a friend at the time who kept saying, ‘You’d be great in real estate.’ I always loved looking at houses,” she says, “so I decided to get my license.”

Initially, Rey relied on her husband’s movie and television connections for sales. Gradually, however, she became a power in her own right. In 1978, she made history by selling a house for more than double the highest price ever paid for a residence in Los Angeles. The house had an impressive pedigree: It had been owned at different times by Sonny and Cher.

Rey’s deal was for $4.2 million. “It revolutionized my business,” she says. And everyone else’s as well, as prices across the city jumped in the ensuing months.

In 1979, Rey jumped to Harleigh Sandler, a leading Los Angeles company at the time, to start Rodeo Realty, one of the first estates divisions in the country. Over the years, Rodeo was acquired by or merged with a number of different companies. Coldwell’s Previews division purchased the company in 1997.

Her one regret? When she started Rodeo, the owner of Harleigh Sandler convinced her to take a percentage of the gross rather than an equity stake. “He retired at an early age. I’m still working,” she says. “It’s my single largest mistake.”

Overall, though, Rey lives the Beverly Hills dream. She dresses in tailored suits by designers such as Giorgio Armani and Calvin Klein and lives in an award-winning modern house near her office.

Last year she did about a dozen transactions for a volume of $60 million. “I still love showing houses,” she says, “especially when you can tell people are interested. Your heart soars.”

The dream: life in paradise
Robert Cartwright, CRB, believes in karma, the Hindu concept that people reap what they sow.

Good karma gets you to the island of Maui, where the sun shines 300-plus days of the year. Bad karma leaves you stranded in places where there’s no surfing, and where tire chains and snow boots are an annual reality.

“I tell my salespeople that if they don’t do their calls or follow up on their leads, they’re creating bad karma, because they’re denying somebody the opportunity to live here,” he says.

Cartwright is the broker-owner of Whalers Realty Inc. (www.whalersrealty.com), a 38-salesperson company in Kaanapali, a resort town on Maui’s western coast. “We live and work in a very affluent bubble,” he says.

To put it mildly. Maui is the second largest Hawaiian island, with a total land mass of about 730 square miles and a year-round population of about 110,000 people. In recent years, it has taken off as a resort and retirement community for the world’s movers and shakers. Oprah Winfrey recently purchased a major spread. And it’s not unusual to encounter aging rock stars like Alice Cooper or Carlos Santana in boutiques and grocery stores.

Whalers specializes in second—or even third or fourth—homes and condominiums that range in price from about $300,000 for a basic one-bedroom condo to $3 million or more for an oceanfront estate. The company sold $161 million in real estate last year at an average price of $570,000.

Most of Cartwright’s clients and customers are business executives in their 50s and 60s. “They’re sophisticated people who’ve bought and sold many properties during their lifetime,” he says. “We’re not dealing with kids buying their first house.”

Still, those worldly sophisticates often make spontaneous, emotional decisions, he says. “A lot of cruise ships dock during the day, and I’ve sold more than one property to people who were here for a few hours and saw something they liked.”

Cartwright says the main change in his business in recent years has been the Internet. “We get more than a million hits a month on our Web site,” he says. “I sell condos sight unseen off the site all the time.”

Another key to Cartwright’s success is working with developers. Because the state and federal governments own roughly 52 percent of land in Hawaii, growth is strictly controlled. “We represent developers to make sure what’s built is right for the market.”

Talking to Cartwright, one can’t help feel a big part of his success is due to his easy-going personality. Cartwright, who moved to Maui from southern California in 1974 and entered the real estate business in 1976, loves what he calls the “Polynesian paralysis” that accompanies life in a tropical paradise. Several mornings a week, he gets up at 5:30, grabs his surfboard and heads for the beach.

“What I love is to see how people change after they move here,” he says. “Over time, you watch their health and their relationships with their families improve. That gives me a lot of satisfaction.”

The dream: Rocky Mountain high
“I remember one Fourth of July my kids were skiing in knee-deep powder in the morning and swimming at Lake Dillon in the afternoon,” says Dennis Johnson, CRS®, GRI, a principal with Paffrath & Thomas in Breckenridge, Colo. “Our summer climate is ideal.”

The winter’s not bad either, especially if your idea of heaven includes near perfect skiing conditions from October through April. “The great thing about living and working here,” says Johnson, “is you can go up for a couple of hours either early in the morning or late in the day when there aren’t a lot of people out and get a few runs in.”

Breckenridge, which is located about an hour and a half west of Denver, is a family-oriented resort community that avoids the glamour and glitz of places such as Aspen and Vail in favor of a more laidback approach to life and leisure. “Celebrity isn’t a factor here,” says Johnson. “There are no jetsetters.”

Instead, there are people like Johnson, a former Denver police officer who moved here with his family in 1977 to be assistant police chief. In 1979, he got his real estate license.

His first revelation? “Selling real estate isn’t that different from being a cop,” he says. “Both are about public relations and handling people.”

Johnson sells everything from $100,000 condos to $3 million homes. His sellers and buyers come from every walk of life, every income bracket, every profession, he says. Last year, he closed 40 transactions for a total volume of about $12 million.

About half of Johnson’s buyers and sellers are people who live within two hours of Breckenridge. The rest are from places as varied as Florida, Kansas, and New York. About 80 percent are referrals and past clients.

The referrals are the result of two different efforts. One is Johnson’s longtime involvement in the REALTOR® organization. Currently, he’s a member of NAR’s Research and Resort Real Estate committees. The other is an extensive direct-mail program aimed at about 400 past clients and his sphere of influence. “I keep past customers on my mailing list for seven years. They get something from me once a month,” he says.

Surprisingly, summer is his busiest season. “About 65 percent of our sales happen from June 15 to September 15,” he says, because people mainly look during skiing season and then return to buy during the summer months.

No matter when they sign the deal, Johnson’s buyers are in for a treat. “With buyers,” he says, “I rent a limousine to take them to the closing. Afterwards, I drive them to the house, open a bottle of champagne, and snap pictures. You’re not just selling a property. You’re selling a dream. That’s what’s fun about it.”

Success Secrets

If you’re a pro, you’ll be as successful selling to the stars as you are in your own market, says Joyce Rey of Coldwell Banker Previews division in Los Angeles. The most important skills for real estate success, she says, are attention to detail, thoughtfulness, and great negotiation skills. However, you should also

• Understand the special demands of celebrities and other wealthy clientele. For example, be aware of privacy and other security considerations.
• Learn how to work through several layers of gofers and assistants. The deals often take a while, up to two years.
• Dress the part. If you can’t afford Armani, find the closest knockoff.
  
  Help developers understand what buyers want, says Robert Cartwright of Whalers Realty Inc. in Kaanapali, Maui. Other keys to selling Hawaiian real estate:
• Relax. Clients generally are on vacation when you meet them. House-hunting comes after snorkeling on their priority list.
• Let your business acumen show. Even when you’re not wearing a suit, you have to prove you can be all business.
• Put your Web site to work. Whalers’ Web address is featured in all of its identity advertising, and Cartwright employs a full-time Webmaster to maintain the site and keep it prominent in Internet search results.
  
  Involvement in the REALTOR® association is a sure-fire business generator, says Dennis Johnson of Paffrath & Thomas in Breckenridge, Colo. Other keys to mountain sales:
• Sell leisure. Put information on your town’s recreational facilities on your Web site and in your brochures.
• Know the investment angle. Many houses and condos in ski resorts are purchased as investments, so be ready with information on likely returns.
• Have patience. People need time to get the feel of a resort area. Stay in touch through mail and e-mail so yours is the first name that comes to mind.