By Matt Wiley
Hunter’s Green is a tough community to drive into, especially from Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., with its new security gate. Luckily, Tom Bosso’s New Tampa Realty office is now located just outside that gate and is easily accessible to anyone looking to find their New Tampa dream home or sell their property.
For the past 17 years, Bosso’s New Tampa Realty has been selling single- and multi-family homes to prospective New Tampa buyers. In addition, for the past five years, Bosso’s office has been located just inside Hunter’s Green, where he also has lived since 1993.
“I cover just about all areas of real estate,” he explains. “I have properties ranging from $100,000 to $4 million. I’ve sold land in Lakewood Ranch and built custom homes in South Tampa. My services are pretty broad. I’ve even built commercial properties. I’m like a ‘boutique’ real estate company.”
What makes New Tampa Realty stand out is the customer service Bosso always offers.
“If the phone rings, I’m the one who answers it,” says Bosso. “Whether it’s another agent or a buyer, we don’t put you through to a ‘home-showing’ company. If there’s going to be a showing, we call our clients directly and fit it to their needs. We don’t just leave a message on their (answering) machine.”
Another service that separates New Tampa Realty from other real estate companies in the area is Bosso’s on-site contractor, Nick Meyer of 1st Choice Contracting.
Bosso says that a lot of homeowners are unsure whether they should renovate or sell their home and that, thanks to his affiliation with 1st Choice, he can get the client a quick quote and then let them decide what to do.
In addition, it comes in handy when clients want to make an offer on a home, he says, since many homes in the New Tampa area are now more than 20 years old.
“This way, they can get a quote on how much it would cost to renovate an older aspect of a home,” he explains. “Then, they can make an offer on a home they’re interested in that might be lower than the asking price, but now can actually say, ‘This is why,’ and show them the quote.”
Whether it’s the customer service or the in-house contracting, New Tampa Realty is doing something right, as evidenced by the enthusiasm of some of Bosso’s high-profile customers, such as Marty St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning, whose family also lives in New Tampa.
“Tom is a true professional and a great friend,” St. Louis says in his testimonial. “He knows the business inside and out. We couldn’t be happier with the jobs he has done for us.”
Former Lightning captain and long-time New Tampa resident Dave Andreychuk offers similar praise of Bosso in his own testimonial. “Since meeting Tom five years ago, he and his company have handled all of my real estate transactions with professionalism and knowledge,” Andreychuk says. “I wouldn’t use anyone else.”
Recalling When New Tampa Was Still New
Bosso says that he started out as an appraiser back in 1994, appraising more than 500 homes in two years.
“I figured, to be in real estate, you need to know value, so I became an appraiser,” he explains. “Then I became an agent, then a licensed real-estate Broker before I started New Tampa Realty.”
Bosso, who also is a licensed Community Association Manager, says that, during the early years, he partnered with Brant Construction, LLC, and built the Oakcrest neighborhood in Hunter’s Green, which consists of 77 townhomes. He then bought two sites in Pebble Creek — Clubview, which now consists of 50 villas, and Lakepoint, where he built 35 townhomes.
Bosso says he comes from a construction background. Before moving to New Tampa, he had his own electrical contracting company in Niagara Falls, NY. He says the background in construction helped him with developing communities.
“I was involved with purchasing the land, developing it with vertical construction, as well as selling it,” he says of the subdivisions he worked on in the area. “I’ve done some commercial, too. I did the Ortho Technology building across from Liberty Middle School and Freedom High, as well as the Tampa Palms Professional Center, in the same area. But, since then, I’ve just done general real estate.”
And what a transition he says he has seen since he first started selling homes in the area. “The transformation of New Tampa has been amazing,” he says. “I think once (the BBD widening) is finished, it will make a big impact on the New Tampa area, including the housing market.”
Speaking of the market, Bosso says that although the local market definitely took a tumble since 2007, he is confident that our area is over the hump. He says he believes New Tampa’s residential real estate bottomed out more than a year ago and has since stabilized, although he doesn’t expect any huge increases in the market until some of the current inventory (houses currently for sale) is gone.
For example, he explains that, at one point, the area had about 29 months worth of inventory, which is the estimated time it would take to sell all of the homes for sale.
Currently, the market only has about 4-5 months of inventory, he says, and that Hunter’s Green, specifically, has only about 25 homes on the market. In the 33647 area code, he says that the average New Tampa selling price is now back up to around $261,000. During the market boom, he says the average home in zip code 33647 sold for about $340,000.
Bosso says that he is trying to get some signage on BBD, since his office is an outparcel. But, he says his location is in an ideal place to show homes in Hunter’s Green. Until he gets that signage, however, Bosso is relying on his reputation to attract customers.
“That’s why it’s called ‘New Tampa Realty: Realty with a difference,’” he says. “That’s our difference. You don’t talk to my assistant, because I don’t have one. You talk to me. It’s not the easiest way to run a business, answering every call, but, to me, it’s worth it.”
Thinking of buying or selling a home in New Tampa? Give Tom Bosso a call at 334-0007, stop in and see him at his office (8709 Hunter’s Green Dr. Suite 300), or visit NewTampaRealty.net.
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