SECTION D » SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014 *

ALSO INSIDE: CLASSIFIEDS » D10

Financial class set for Bonita

The first Financial Classof Bonita Springs of theseason meets Friday, Dec, 12from 10 a.m. to noon. Theclass is held at CommunityCongregationalChurch,15300 Tamiami TrailNorth, Naples. The classmeets once a month throughApril.

Scheduled topics include:The state of the economy,analysis of the financialmarkets, and portfolio man-agement with asset alloca-tion using stocks, ETFs andmutual funds. The course ispresented in an educational-style format and is open tothe public — geared to alllevels of investors.

Class instructor is KeithMoored, a local independentstock market analyst, eco-nomic forecaster, and in-vestment manager. Jim Kerris guest speaker Dec. 12. Heis a local estate attorney whowill talk about current estatelaw and tax planning issuesand what's new for 2015.

Cost is $10 per person orcouple. No reservation isrequired.

Tech company hostscloud seminar

Entech, a Southwest Flor-ida based Managed Service& IT consulting firm, will behosting a cloud solutionsseminar at Lexington Coun-try Club on Wednesday atnoon. The lunch and learn isdesigned for business own-ers and executives and willprovide an overview of whatthe cloud is and how it canbenefit businesses from aworkflow and efficiencyperspective. To register goto eventbrite.com/e/what-the-heck-is-the-cloud-any-way-tickets-14477216745

Cape chamber offers trip to Italy

The Chamber of Com-merce of Cape Coral is of-fering a trip to Italy’s winecountry, Tuscany, Florence,and Pisa. The trip from Oct.20-29. The cost is $2,799 perperson, including airfare,four-star hotels, daily break-fast, and four dinners.

Space is limited. Formore information about thistrip please contact Amandaat The Chamber of Com-merce of Cape Coral at 549-6900 ext 111 or Amanda@ca-pecoralchamber.com Formore information on thistrip, or to view the itinerary,please visit chamberdiscov-eries.com/ourjourneys-de-tusc.php

NEWSMAKERSSausage store namesgeneral manager

Lesley Robert has beennamed general manager ofthe newly opened Johnson-ville Sausage Marketplace inNaples. Robert has 14 yearsof experience in retail andsales management.

Robert relocated to Na-ples three years ago fromSeattle, where she was eventsales director for Bear

IN BRIEF

See BRIEFS » D2

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business@news-press.com

Missing your stock?If you don't see your

stock or mutual fund listed,send an email to busi-ness@news-press.com orcall 335-0352.

CONNECTIONSChambersSouthwest Floridabusiness groups meetfor various events »D5

INNOVATERoll-A-BucketFort Myers companydebuts rolling paintproducts » D3

CONTACT US » Business Editor » Steve McQuilkin » 239-335-0352 » smcquilkin@news-press.com » 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Monday - Friday

With new construction un-derway throughout LeeCounty, the apartment com-plex sector is back with abang.

Why the sudden interest inrental communities afternine years of inactivity? It’snot hard to see:

The average occupancyrate for large existing com-plexes in the Fort Myers-Na-ples area in October was 96.2percent, highest of any of the25 Sun Belt metro areastracked monthly by ALNApartment News.

The result has been asurge of construction plusnew projects in the pipeline.

“We just think the rentalmarket’s going to be good inthe future,” said WoodyHughes, acquisition and fi-nancial analyst of PinnacleDevelopment Group, whichhas two sites in Fort Myerszoned for apartments.

Closest to completion inthe Fort Myers area is the325-unit Channelside com-

LOCAL ECONOMY

SARAH COWARD/THE NEWS-PRESSMariano Us and Sebastain Perez lay concrete for a windowsill at the Channelside Apartments in south Fort Myers.

Sector’s new lease on lifeWith apartmentcomplexes inSouthwest Floridabursting at theseams, newprojects aboundBy Dick Hogandhogan@news-press.com

See RENTAL » D2

Now the real estate marketis heating up and it’s largely aseller’s market, real estateagents in Southwest Florida arebeing more proactive in offer-ing options other than the com-

mon 6 percent take-it-or-leave-it commission.

There’s more interest bybuyers in other business mod-els, and the industry is increas-ingly offering them, authoritiessay.

Long-time Fort Myers-basedreal estate broker DennyGrimes of Denny Grimes & Co.said today’s tight market forhomes has given some sellersthe opinion that “anybody can

sell a home in this market.”As a result, he said, “the dis-

count brokers are coming backin. They left the market before”when the recession created ableak residential market with aglut of homes for sale.

With the fast, easy access toreal estate data offered by theInternet, other business modelsare arriving to complicate theage-old rivalry between the tra-ditional brokers and the dis-

counters.Seattle-based Redfin, for ex-

ample, founded in 2004, pays itsagents salaries in lieu of shar-ing in their brokerage’s com-mission on each deal they bringto fruition working for a buyeror a seller.

Redfin spokeswoman KittyKlein said the agents get bonus-es based on how satisfied

REAL ESTATE

Choices abound for residential pay modelsTight market, discount brokers give SouthwestFlorida sellers other options

By Dick Hogandhogan@news-press.com

See PAY » D2

D2 » SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2014 » THE NEWS-PRESS *

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they’ve made customers.That creates an incen-

tive for them to providemore candid advice thancommission-basedagents, she said. “Ouragents have been knownto tell customers to walkaway from homes thataren’t right for them.”

Redfin continues to ex-pand but isn’t in South-west Florida at present:the closest markets areTampa and Miami.

Other brokers offersellers the option of a flatfee — payable when thesale goes through.

“We don’t charge asmuch and that’s the dif-ference between us andthe other brokers,” saidEric Potts, broker of As-sist-2 -Sell Partners Real-ty in Fort Myers — cus-tomers pay a flat feestarting at $2,195 for ahome under $200,000 andgoing up for more expen-sive ones.

Customers right noware more likely to choosethe flat fee over the As-sist-2-Sell’s other choice:a 5 percent commissionon the sale price, Pottssaid.

The flat fee doesn’tprovide a presence on thelocal multiple listing ser-vice, which lets other bro-kers know a property isfor sale. Flat-fee custom-ers sell their homes tobuyers brought to the ta-ble by the Assist-2-Sellagent although they havethey have the option toswitch to the MLS modelif they want.

Grimes said his bro-kerage’s commission is“basically 6 percent” butthat a seller can do betterif he recruits a buyer onhis own.

Other models aren’t asreliable and time tested ashis, Grimes said. “Whensomebody in need of med-ical help has suffered atrauma, you’re not goingto Web M.D. — you’re go-ing to the emergencyroom. You’re not negotiat-ing with the doctor.”

Connect with this reporter: @Dick-Hogan (Twitter) or email dho-gan@news-press.com

Continued from D1

Pay

plex being built by Tam-pa-based Aileron CapitalManagement at McGre-gor Boulevard and PineRidge Road.

The Channelside leas-ing office is already openand by July all threebuildings will be open, Ai-leron managing directorJoe Bonora said.

Aileron recently did asurvey of the competitionand “We were probablyright in the middle of thehigh end, which I think isgood given we’re brand-new,” Bonora said.

Prices at Channelsidewill range from $950 forone bedroom to $1,450 forthree, he said, a goodprice range for the youngprofessionals he hopes toattract from Lee Memori-al’s Health Park and sur-rounding medical officesat Summerlin and Bassroads less then 10 minutesaway.

As the first majorhigh-end complex in LeeCounty to come on line inat least eight years, Bon-ora said he’s confidentChannelside will be ableto compete for tenants.

ALN’s breakdown ofSouthwest Florida by sub-market shows how strongthe high end can be: in theincreasingly high-pricedBonita Springs/Esteroarea, apartment complex-es actually had a 100 per-cent rental rate in Octo-ber.

Hughes said Pinnacle’sstrategy is different: thecompany intends to tar-get the moderate end ofthe market. “We feelthere are too many peoplein the high end,” Hughessaid.

Pinnacle recently ac-quired a 43-acre site onMetro Parkway near Co-lonial Boulevard in FortMyers for $2.2 million.

It’s zoned for 775apartment units, al-though “we could go down

to single family” with 200units, Hughes said.

Pinnacle also owns 19.5acres nearby at 3950 Ve-ronica Shoemaker Blvd.,with the zoning to build480 apartments.

Hughes said the twosites are in “the epicenterof Lee County,” close todowntown Fort Myersand also to Colonial, thecounty’s busiest non-in-terstate highway – run-ning from Lehigh Acresall the way to Cape Coral.

Pinnacle intends to dowhat it’s been doing formore than 30 years, hesaid: “We focus in on af-fordable, the 80 percentof the market. We don’t do

anything luxury. That’sbeen our mantra, ourbusiness plan, for 30years.”

Hughes thinks peoplein their 20s are goodprospects these days torent rather than buy be-cause they’re keenlyaware of profoundchanges in the U.S. econo-my.

“I think it’s because ofjob security,” he said –companies and employ-ees don’t have the mutualloyalty they once did.

Connect with this reporter: @Dick-Hogan (Twitter)

Continued from D1

Rental

SARAH COWARD/THE NEWS-PRESSAlex Macmenemy marks off the building layout for masons atChannelside Apartments.

As the first major high-end complexin Lee County to come on line in atleast eight years, Bonora said he’sconfident Channelside will be able tocompete for tenants.

Creek Country Cluband responsible forcatering and tourna-ment event sales. Mostrecently, she spentthree years as the

eventsalesdirectorat TheCountryClub ofNaples,ac-count-able forsales

and events. Beforethat, she was ownerand general managerat Brown Pelican Caféin Georgetown, S.C.

Robert is a gradu-ate of UCLA. She be-gan her professionalcareer in Hong Kongas a sales and market-ing director for Force8 Cellars.

Johnsonville Sau-sage Marketplace islocated at 6355 NaplesBlvd and opened Nov.16.

Continued from D1

Briefs

Robert

TUESDAY

» Preparing Your Estate PlanThis class will focus on devel-oping an estate plan and theimportance of working with anestate-planning attorney.Participants will learn thefunction of a will and its effecton the probate process; aboutdifferent kinds of trusts avail-able, and the benefits and risksthey offer. The class will alsofocus on strategies to decreaseestate taxes and pass assets toyour heirs. Members $20 /Non-members $25. 6:30-8 p.m.FGCU- Naples Center, 1010 FifthAve. S., Naples, 425-3272.fgcu.edu/racademy

WEDNESDAY

» 7-Eleven Free FranchiseSeminar We look forward todiscussing 7-Eleven's franchise

opportunities with you. FortMyers Zone Office, 9351 Cy-press Lake Drive, Fort Myers,691-1927. franchise.7-elev-en.com/franchise-events/1019

THURSDAY

» Preparing Your Estate PlanThis class will focus on devel-oping an estate plan and theimportance of working with anestate-planning attorney.Participants will learn thefunction of a will and its effecton the probate process; aboutdifferent kinds of trusts avail-able, and the benefits and risksthey offer. The class will alsofocus on strategies to decreaseestate taxes and pass assets toyour heirs. Members $20 /Non-members $25. 6:30-8 p.m.FGCU- Naples Center, 1010 FifthAve. S., Naples, 425-3272.fgcu.edu/racademy

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