Kristen Lenzner-Holloway, a real estate professional for the past decade, has been named manager of the South Kingstown office for Randall, Realtors. An associate with the company for the past six years, she received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Rhode Island in psychology and early childhood development. A resident of South County since childhood, her office specializes in the beach towns and surrounding communities of Rhode Island.
PBN: How many agents do you oversee in South Kingstown and what are your primary responsibilities?
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LENZNER-HOLLOWAY: I have approximately 30 agents, new and seasoned. Some have been with us for 17 years. My daily responsibilities include helping everyone with [questions] they have about [technology.] Randall, Realtors offers us so many platforms and tools. I am constantly helping people learn how to use them. We have real estate advice. I sell, myself. I’m running my own business. And keeping up with the demands from the in-house marketing department. Helping people with contracts.
PBN: One of your areas of knowledge is leased land communities. How common are they in Rhode Island?
LENZNER-HOLLOWAY: They’re common on the coast. It’s communities such as Roy Carpenter’s Beach, in Matunuck. They’re cottage communities, small cottages. We have them in Narragansett [as well]. They’re great communities for families that want a second home, near the beach, near the shore without paying tons of money. But they’re considered chattel property, which is personal property. It is real estate, but it’s sold as a bill of sale. We used to get mortgages on them. But since we’ve had major flood insurance issues at the coast, they’re considered cash products. There are lots of [leased land communities] in southern Rhode Island.
PBN: What attracted you to the real estate profession?
LENZNER-HOLLOWAY: My husband is a builder. He builds beach waterfront properties, and honestly, I fell in love with it. I love the design of houses. I love going into houses. We’ve built a few spec houses, and flipped [houses] ourselves. And then I got my license.
PBN: What regional area does the South Kingstown office cover and what are some of the characteristics of those communities?
LENZNER-HOLLOWAY: I would say all of South County. I am confident everyone in my office is well-versed in South County, in general. It’s a different kind of [market]. We have well water in a lot of our communities. We don’t have town water or town sewers. We have septic systems. There are a lot of laws that go along with that. Because we are oceanfront, we have to be well-versed in the R.I. Department of Environmental Management [requirements]. All of our septic systems have to be approved. We have to be well-versed in wetlands and coastal issues, including flood insurance.
PBN: What are the trends you are seeing in 2017?
LENZNER-HOLLOWAY: I’m seeing really low inventory. There is about a third of the inventory we had last spring. It could be … [economic] uncertainty. When we start to see any economic changes, where people are unsure, that’s what happened. People stop. They don’t spend. It’s across all the different price points. It’s not just the average homeowner, it’s luxury homes. The other thing that’s happening is there is a huge influx of buyers. People are trying to buy because the interest rates are so low, and they’re coming to that point where they’re ready to purchase. So people are selling properties for more than they’re worth, because people are getting desperate.
Mary MacDonald is a PBN staff writer.
