Throughout the past year, Rita Danielle Steele has led the Greater Providence Board of Realtors as its 116th president. Steele’s time as board president is ending on Sept. 20 at the Squantum Association in East Providence, where the organization plans to hold its annual meeting and install new leadership.
Steele is principal broker at the Providence-based Steele Realty Consultants International, which she established in 2015 after previously co-founding Geo Properties Inc. in 2008. Her firm offers an array of business and investment consulting services, including short-term rental property investment consulting and management.
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PBN: Can you tell us about what you learned during this past year as the 116th president of the Greater Providence Board of Realtors?
STEELE: Having served as president, I’ve learned many things, but these three lessons stuck out the most. I’ve sharpened my leadership skills, built relationships with other leaders that will be long-lasting and have gained a more profound knowledge of industry best practices.
PBN: What are some of the needs or concerns that are most pressing for Realtors?
STEELE: Active inventory in Rhode Island is down to a 1.7-month supply. With a healthy market carrying a 6-month supply of inventory, transactions are few and far between for most Realtors and their clients this year.
With nationwide home sales numbers expected to stay generally unchanged next year and sales of existing homes projected to rise by less than 1%, Realtors are, of course, concerned for their abilities to maintain success in this market. However, they are equally concerned for their clients’ access to housing and investment opportunities.
PBN: How strong is the demand for homes in Rhode Island that are used as rental properties? Are partial-year or summer rentals part of this equation?
STEELE: The Rhode Island market has a strong demand for these forms of investments, but our local municipalities tend to be short-sighted when it comes to their regulation. A lot of unsupported assumptions are made about what services they provide and how they actually affect our inventory and housing affordability.
Over the years, I’ve noticed that most short-term hosts are passionate locals using rental income to cover mortgages and taxes, maintaining their homes and supporting the community. These homeowners value aesthetics and neighborhood character, acting as community advocates. Their properties attract visitors who choose our state over other destinations.
Hotels cannot match the homey, local and neighborhood qualities of short-term rentals. Many leisure travelers are now traveling specifically for these experiences. … This type of housing is attractive for new residents to the state who cannot find homes to purchase due to the lack of inventory in the current market and need temporary housing just until they can buy a home.
PBN: Sometimes lease or purchase contracts are very complex, and often real estate agencies must refer their clients to third-party servicers to provide expertise on these transactions, but your firm has this done in-house. Can you tell me about the importance of that and how it’s an asset to your firm?
STEELE: We are primarily a consulting firm on the brokerage side, and as an attorney, contract drafting and review is always something that I enjoy. But as conflicts can present themselves, these are not typically services we offer traditional transactional clients but those seeking specifically tailored services.
With quick electronic signings being the norm now, clients are more likely to miss important contract terms, so the need for professional review is more critical than ever.
PBN: Sometimes, people are thinking about selling their homes but don’t know if it’s the right time, in terms of the market conditions. Your company offers broker price opinion services. How does that work, and does this ever lead to people delaying their home sale, or speed it up?
STEELE: We provide an expert analysis of a property’s potential value and asking price so that our clients can make an informed decision before going to market. One of our most vital skills is helping our clients decide whether to improve their property to make it more compatible with their needs or to determine what improvements to make to maximize their profit should selling be the more practical option. So, we analyze the costs and benefits and help them develop a plan to live better and get maximum value out of their investment.
Marc Larocque is a PBN contributing writer. Contact him at Larocque@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter @LaRockObama.
