Five Questions With: John Krekorian

JOHN KREKORIAN is a Realtor with RE/MAX Flagship in Narragansett. / COURTESY RE/MAX FLAGSHIP
JOHN KREKORIAN is a Realtor with RE/MAX Flagship in Narragansett. / COURTESY RE/MAX FLAGSHIP

John Krekorian, a Realtor with RE/MAX Flagship in Narragansett, recently represented the buyers of a significant sale in the Anawan Cliffs neighborhood of the oceanfront community. The house and estate, at 145 Cliff Drive, sold for $2.75 million on Jan. 6, the highest-selling property in that neighborhood for three years. He responded to questions posed by the Providence Business News on the nature of sales in the town.

PBN: Anawan Cliffs doesn’t often make the real estate column. Tell me a little about the community.

KREKORIAN: Anawan Cliffs is a luxury, waterfront gated neighborhood off Boston Neck Road just a few miles north of the Narragansett Town Beach. High on a cliff, the views from Anawan are of the Jamestown and Newport bridges, the Dutch Island lighthouse to the north, and to the south Beavertail, the Beavertail Lighthouse and the Atlantic [Ocean] beyond. Anawan, which is an Indian name meaning blackbird, was once farmland. Anawan Farm was purchased in the 1940s by a group of families wanting to form a private waterfront neighborhood. There are just four streets in Anawan: Cliff Drive, North Cliff Drive, South Cliff Drive and Anawan Drive. There are two private sandy beaches as well as a boat ramp with access points in the neighborhood. It’s a quiet neighborhood. Many homes are passed on to family members. So, it’s not often that a waterfront property will come onto the market.

PBN: The buyers had very specific requirements, and had waited for 10 years for the right home in Narragansett. Is this typical? Do you have buyers who want a home in a particular community? If so, what do you do to try to facilitate a sale?

KREKORIAN: It’s not uncommon in the high-end and second-home market to have buyers looking for specific property features in a particular community. During the search for that perfect home for our buyer-client, we showed them many waterfront homes and land in southern Rhode Island: Atlantic oceanfront homes, private Jamestown properties, expansive homes with acreage, others on just a quarter-acre, some with private associations, beach rights and docks, some needing extensive renovations.

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In this case, in 2012 these buyers purchased a new beautiful home in Bonnet Shores, just a little north of Anawan Cliffs, as an interim summer home with similar views, a private beach and more. That home, located at 233 Bonnet Shores Road, is now for sale and listed at $1.6 million. When the right property came up in Anawan, they made the move which will ultimately be the final move for my clients in Rhode Island.

PBN: If buyers really have their hearts set on a particular town, with waterfront access, can Realtors approach property owners with unsolicited offers? Does this work?

KREKORIAN: Realtors can and have approached property owners, hoping they want to sell or know of a nearby property that will soon be for sale. I have done this when I have a buyer with a specific need and location. This can be successful if the seller knows we have a very qualified buyer with a specific property or area of interest rather than simply trying to get listings. We usually will get a one-time exclusive listing for that specific buyer. With 25 years of real estate experience in southern Rhode Island, we know just about every property and neighborhood. We have an extensive network and database of both buyers and sellers and can tap into this when looking for something particular.

PBN: Are you seeing more property owners listing this year, due to increased sales, or just the opposite? Is the availability tightening?

KREKORIAN: While Rhode Island’s market is healthy, fewer property owners are listing homes, therefore the housing inventory is low, a nationwide trend. It’s a seller’s market. But we do have buyers, some willing to spend a million dollars and more. We are just now seeing an increase in sellers interested in placing their properties on the market, typical of this time of year. Realtors are expecting a strong spring market in 2017.

PBN: What do you see ahead in 2017 for the luxury market?

KREKORIAN: With Rhode Island’s single-family housing market remaining strong, luxury, investment and vacation homes are also strong because of increased prices and the upturn in the economy. What’s unknown is the impact of rising interest rates and how legislative changes may impact the market. However, the luxury market is not as impacted by legislative changes or interest rates because many of the high-end purchases are not financed. They are cash sales. Flood insurance continues to be a point of concern for financed sales, as lenders require all properties in a flood zone to be insured. Although insurance is not required for cash sales, it can still affect a cash buyer when determining and insuring the risk.

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