Greenbook: A Local Guide to Chesapeake Living - Issue 3 | Page 12

GREENBOOK | SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2014

the right questions, and designing
(finding) the right fit for the client.
In simpler terms, this is empathy –
the ability to put oneself in another’s
shoes. It’s difficult touring an area
that one is not familiar with to
begin with, but then factor in
the limited time and expense for
a client to visit the area for a day
or weekend specifically to find a
property, I would recommend
working with a REALTOR®
who not only knows the area and
inventory, but who has experienced
your circumstances, or at least can
seek to understand your specific
circumstances.

12

At the time of writing this, it’s
summer in a beach town. I’m sitting
at an outdoor beach café in drenching
humidity with the Crepe Myrtle
blossoms falling on my keyboard,
seagulls fussing around me for
crumbs of my pastry, the scent of
sunscreen and the ocean, and the
hustle and bustle sounds of
beachgoers. (Andy, stop, it’s fall
for us now!)

I buy and sell beach real estate.
That’s what I do for a living here
at the beach. During hot summer
months, the beach real estate market
slows from its peak times of fall
and spring. Property owners are
enjoying and benefiting from their
beach ownership. As you see this
column, it’s already fall. Summer
is now a memory of accumulated
moments. There are new photographs
in the frames on desks back at
the office and on the kitchen
refrigerator. Our clients are back at
their jobs and lives in the cities. And,
true to this modern, connected age,
some of our clients have returned
back to their lives in areas
continents away.
While my daily life currently is
consumed with summer heat,
humidity, beach traffic, and the rush
to get into air conditioning, my mind
is very much on the fall. Fail to plan,
plan to fail, right? Fall is a very
important time at the beach. It’s the
first of our two busier periods for real
estate. The state tourism officials
refer to (what us Realtors refer to

as our ‘busy periods’) as the,
“Shoulder Season.” This is the time
of year when the heavy summer
tourist traffic has waned, the fall
special events calendar is in full swing
with harvest festivals, locals crawl
back out of hiding from beach
traffic, the weather is still gorgeous,
the ocean is the warmest of the entire
year, and the humidity has packed up
and left town - or so I’m told; I’m busy
working, helping others see what I get
to see daily!
The second peak time is spring. Fall
and spring are the times in beach
real estate when most listings hit the
market and most transactions get
done. Conveniently for clients, they’re
also the times when great deals are
advertised in local hotels, restaurants,
and stores. Additionally, since weekly
tenants have left, it can be easier to
list and show beach properties.
That’s why when I was fortunate
enough to be asked to contribute my
perspective on beach real estate to
the Green Book, I was thrilled when I
realized it would be for the fall issue.