01:17 PM EDT on Monday, August 7, 2006
EAST GREENWICH -- At 5:30 p.m., the elegant Victorian house at 136 Spring St. was clean and clutter-free. A scented candle was flickering, perfuming the humid July air. In the dining area, there were fresh flowers, cool drinks and an array of appetizers, including chocolate-covered strawberries.
These romantic touches were not prepared to soothe a tired spouse or impress a new date. They were aimed at what is, this summer, a most elusive creature: the home buyer.
On July 27, 56 houses for sale in East Greenwich were opened to the public for a 5-to-7:30 p.m. candlelight house tour. Most of the real estate agencies in town participated, according to Jeanne Smith of Re/Max Professionals.
Smith, who organized the effort, said she planned to continue the Thursday night tours until mid-September. The next one included North Kingstown and the Cowesett neighborhood in Warwick, in addition to East Greenwich.
The first night was "positive," Smith said, but she acknowledged, "we had a few houses that no one saw." Smith said she would stick with the plan and hope that business picks up in the coming weeks. Although some houses had no visitors, "some got two, some got five ... the highest got nine couples," Smith said.
Generally, those houses closest to the downtown area were the busiest, Smith said.
"We did this in 1985 and it worked very well," she said. "I sold a house from the tour in '85, so I know it works."
One of Smith's clients, Kathy Gazzola, lives at 520 Stoneridge Drive, a large, four-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath house at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac, in one of East Greenwich's leafy subdivisions. The 1.2-acre lawn is perfectly manicured, and the 1986 house is in good condition. The house is now listed at $609,900; when it first went on the market, in December, the price was $649,000.
Gazzola said she and her husband are motivated sellers; they want to move to a condominium they've purchased in Lincoln, closer to her job at the Community College of Rhode Island, where she is chairwoman of the dental health department and a professor of dental hygiene. Their two sons are grown.
The July 27 open house didn't bring any prospects, but Gazzola seemed determined to keep doing her best to sell the house. She's already painted the inside, powerwashed the exterior and installed new carpeting; now she's planning to replace the countertops in the kitchen with granite, almost considered the standard today for high-end properties.
"When you're going into it, you know you have to be patient, especially in this price range," Gazzola said. In addition, "you have to put your best foot forward."
Gazzola said she would advise other sellers to remember that "patience is a virtue" and that "you probably need to depersonalize your house so people can see themselves within your home."
Smith said she thought of weeknight house tours because weekend open houses have not been attracting buyers. "We've seen some very hot Sundays. We know they're not going to come."
"As a start, we're encouraged," said Ron Phipps, owner of Phipps Realty, which had four houses in the July 27 tour. "There are so many open houses on Saturday and Sunday." He said he liked the notion of showing houses on a summer weeknight, when it's cooler and stays light fairly late.
"We were pleased with the results," Phipps said. "It's a new concept, so it needs time to, frankly, become part of the consciousness of buyers and sellers."
Phipps added that the real estate market now is "very, very intriguing." Inventory is about double what it was a year ago, the time it takes to sell property is growing, and yet "seeing the prices hold . . . has been fascinating," he said. "It belies the fundamental principles of Keynesian economics."
For real estate agents and brokers, Phipps said, "the challenging thing about it is how you advise your buyers and sellers."
Gayle Flaherty, who works for Remax Heritage in Barrington but plans to join Coleman Realtors soon, says she thinks many potential buyers are "afraid of making an actual commitment to something because they're afraid prices will come down" after they buy. Sellers, on the other hand, are often reluctant to reduce their prices significantly unless they "are already committed to the next place they are going to."
Flaherty held two twilight open-house tours in the East Bay towns of Barrington, Bristol and Portsmouth in May and June. The first was held on a Thursday night; the second, on a Wednesday evening.
"I had a little bit of turnout," she said. "If it becomes a common event, I think it will go very well. I got the idea from one of my clients on the West Coast," she said, where weeknight open houses are more common.
In the West Bay, Smith plans to keep trying to reach buyers with the Thursday-night tours this summer.
"If even one house gets sold, it will be worth it," she said.
cdunn@projo.com / (401) 277-7913
