Despite Covid, Berkshire Hathaway Flourishes In Hot Market

As market president and managing Broker for the New Tampa/Wesley Chapel and Zephyrhills offices of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Properties Group on S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel, Veronica Davidson leads 115 agents to serve all of your real estate needs.

While 2020 was a difficult year for many industries, real estate in the New Tampa and Wesley Chapel areas experienced an unexpected boom that is continuing to flourish.

Nearly a year ago, as Florida shut down non-essential businesses, the then-80 agents of the New Tampa/Wesley Chapel and Zephyrhills offices of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Properties Group, located east of I-75 on S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel, left work and headed for their own homes.

“We were bracing for a downturn,” says Veronica Davidson, market president and managing Broker, explaining that the company acted quickly to set up video conferences and provide resources to its agents, such as prospecting tools. “But the opposite happened. Who would have thought it?”

In fact, the company has since grown to 115 agents.

While some of the new agents have come from other professions, Veronica says most are from other brokerages. “They are looking for more support,” she says, “and we provide that.”

The local Berkshire Hathaway office’s success can be measured in dollars, too. Veronica says that last year was record-breaking, with $23 million in sales closed in December 2020 alone — an increase of about $10 million over 2019.

“It’s wild,” Veronica says. “Most people’s homes are selling for at least 100% of the list price — or higher —within hours.”

She says local inventory is incredibly low, with less than one month of supply available.

With 16 years of selling real estate under her belt before she took on her current role in 2019, Veronica remembers the last time real estate was this hot. However, she says she does not expect this bubble to burst.

“It’s different because it’s people coming from out of state or wanting more space because they’re spending so much time in their homes,” she explains. “These are real people looking to move into the homes, not investors (like when the last bubble burst in 2008).”

She says the mortgage side is different, too, with more regulations than in 2008. With interest rates low, it’s a great time to buy, and there are a lot of buyers out there.

“Some of our agents are getting really creative to get an offer accepted,” says Veronica, noting that she’s been impressed with her agents’ tactics and the way they are working for their clients. “Buyers want the homes so bad and competition is so crazy.”

Veronica hopes to see the market balance out, which she expects will happen if more inventory were to become available. “More people selling will level out the demand,” she explains.

In fact, this is a crucial opportunity for people who may have experienced a job loss because of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Most people have equity in their homes right now,” she explains. “Don’t let your home go into foreclosure if you’ve lost your job.”

Anyone with questions about the amount of equity they have in their home can call the agents at her office, who can help you understand your options for selling your home, and what it might be worth.

“Our agents have the experience in this incredibly competitive market to help market your home and get the highest price,” she explains. “And, for buyers, we can help you get your offers accepted.”

Alison Ward now lives in Country Walk in Wesley Chapel. When she previously lived in Meadow Pointe, she wanted to downsize, so she reached out to a friend of a friend to help her sell her current home and buy a new one.

That acquaintance was Kendra Wilson, an agent with Berkshire Hathaway, and Alison says working with her was an incredible experience.

“She came in and told me everything I needed to do to pretty my house up to sell it,” Alison explains. “When we went live, I had three or four offers within a day or two, then closed just a few weeks later.”

Alison appreciated how prepared Kendra was, understanding the market, and backed with research.

“She was knowledgeable,” says Alison. “She was also easy to contact, always available, and made me feel like no question was dumb.”

Alison says a house in her former neighborhood had the same layout as hers and had been on the market a few months when she listed her home.

“I was in and out in a week and they were still on the market,” Alison says. “It could have been any number of reasons why that home didn’t sell, but I think mine did because I listened to Kendra’s advice, even about things like if there are too many pictures on the wall sand how the home smells.”

She adds that Kendra made the process incredibly easy. “I was super stressed, and she helped with every facet, from financing to finding people to do work around the house, such as flooring,” said Alison. “She was able to provide resources to get done what we needed to get done.”

Name Recognition

If the name Berkshire Hathaway seems familiar beyond the real estate business, it’s because it is derived from the holding company Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., which is chaired by billionaire financier and company CEO Warren Buffett.

The local Berkshire Hathaway office is part of HomeServices of America, Inc., which is owned by Berkshire Hathaway Energy, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.

The Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Properties Group makes it a priority to serve the community. At this year’s “Be The Sunshine” event, agents supported The Thomas Promise Foundation, creating and stuffing backpacks with nonperishable food and school supplies for Pasco County children.

In fact, what is now called Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Properties Group was originally founded in 1959 as Tropical Realty. Dewey Mitchell and Allen Crumbley acquired the business in 1984, then aligned with the Prudential Real Estate Network in 1988. In 2012, Berkshire Hathaway purchased that group, including the local Prudential Tropical Realty office on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) at S.R. 56.

The current Berkshire Hathaway office opened in March of 2018. 

The New Tampa/Wesley Chapel office is one of 20 offices under the Florida Properties Group umbrella. Veronica says the agents are committed to an exceptional culture, where they practice the company’s mission statement of teamwork, integrity, passion and excellence.

They know the area and the market, and Veronica says all of her agents share sincerity and a true desire to help people. They do so using all of the resources of their global company.

“We are solution providers for all of people’s real estate needs,” Veronica explains, “including every aspect of property management, commercial real estate, insurance and title.”

Serving The Community

The agents of the New Tampa/Wesley Chapel Berkshire Hathaway office also are committed to serving the community around them. They hold a food and toy drive for Metropolitan Ministries during the holiday season, which collected more than 7,000 pounds of food last year, and they also support the Berkshire Hathaway Florida Property Group charity, called Sunshine Kids, which gives children who have terminal diseases a week in Orlando to go to Walt Disney World and Universal Studios.

At the office’s annual “Be The Sunshine” event, agents take the day off to serve a charitable organization. This year, the New Tampa/Wesley Chapel agents chose to support the Thomas Promise Foundation in Zephyrhills, creating and stuffing bags with nonperishable food and school supplies for Pasco County children in late February. 

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Properties Group is located at 26771 S.R. 56, in the same shopping plaza as Buffalo Wild Wings. For more info, visit BHHSFloridaProperties.com or call (813) 907-8200. To browse properties available for rent or learn about property management services, visit the Berkshire Hathaway online portal at RentAHomeWithUs.com.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Offers Global Service With A Local Touch

When they aren’t solving their clients real estate questions, the folks at Berkshire Hathaway are active in the community, like when they delivered food and toys to Metropolitan Ministries on Dec. 15.

A drive through New Tampa and Wesley Chapel pretty much tells the story about how popular our communities are as places to live and raise a family.

A crowded commute is one clue, but a look around reveals a lot of new housing construction adding to the existing high-quality home inventory and brand new shopping centers on prime commercial properties.

There’s a lot going on real estate-wise and at the center of much it are the professionals at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Properties Group’s New Tampa Market office, located In the Publix-anchored The Shoppes at New Tampa in Wesley Chapel, on the southeast corner of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. and S.R. 56.

Berkshire Hathaway’s New Tampa office is run by president and managing Broker Otis Bass, Jr., who joined the company in 2014 after a stint at Charles Rutenberg Realty. Bass says his team is ready to handle just about any kind of transaction that serves a client’s real estate needs.

“We are full service,” Bass says. “So we’re doing residential, luxury, commercial, and we even do property management.”

Bass also includes helping landlords find tenants as a service the firm’s property management team provides. Berkshire Hathaway’s online portal for rental properties is RentAHomeWithUs.com, which is the site to browse for rental properties and for tenants and owners to conduct business for everything from making payments to reporting maintenance needs.

“We help our clients get what they need in real estate, be it insurance, or a mortgage, or anything along those lines,” Bass says. “We have so many people within our circle we can give to them, so they can shop those services and decide which one is the best fit for them.”

He adds that the vendors Berkshire Hathaway works with share his firm’s commitment to providing high-quality service.

“We want to make sure they are client-centric; they put the customer first,” he says.

Although located in Wesley Chapel, Bass says that his office has a wide footprint that extends through eastern Pasco County and northern Hillsborough County.

The Berkshire Hathaway New Tampa Market office has a staff of more than 80 sales professionals, including sales associate Kathy Britton.

When it came time to buy a new home, and in short order turn around and sell her old one, Charla Harper-Hagen turned to Berkshire Hathaway. She is one client who is happy to attest to the high level of customer service provided by Britton and Berkshire Hathaway.

Otis Bass Jr. is the president and managing broker of Berkshire Hathaway’s New Tampa Market office in Wesley Chapel.

“I honestly can’t say enough good things about Kathy,” says Harper-Hagen. “We had two transactions, inside of a 45-day period, (and both) went smoothly.”

Harper-Hagen says a big reason her real estate deals went well is that Britton kept her informed throughout the process of buying, and selling, her homes. She said the level of personal service she received was excellent.

“Kathy answered all of my questions,” Harper-Hagen says. “She anticipated all of my needs and made sure that, as a buyer, I was comfortable with what I was signing up for and that I understood all the ins and outs of the offers that were presented.”

Bass says he honed many of his own current skills working in the mortgage industry for more than a decade. That experience, he says, has provided him additional perspective when it comes to his real estate management job.

“Getting into real estate was second nature for me,” he says. “I already understood contracts, titles, appraisals, surveys, and I pretty much knew what I was getting myself into. Once I got into real estate, I was having more fun than I was with mortgages.”

While the Berkshire Hathaway team has the industry expertise to conduct business, Bass says the ultimate decisions are made by their customers.

“What sets us apart is our approach, which is more of a consultative approach,” he says. “We want to help our clients make good decisions for themselves.”

Berkshire Hathaway’s role in those good decisions involve, among many things, interpreting market data or deciphering the terms of a contract for clients.

“We’re going to help them understand what they are doing,” he says.

New Tampa and Wesley Chapel families are probably used to their year-round home in paradise becoming a vacation destination for extended family members living outside of the Sunshine State, so an extra bedroom or other living space is part of a lot of transactions. Bass, who lives in New Tampa, says there’s also a growing popularity in properties that can accommodate more kin than just parents and kids.

“It’s quite a good area for multi-generational families, and that’s a lot of what I’m seeing,” he says. “We’re seeing grandparents living with nuclear families, and some of the builders are building multigenerational houses.”

CalAtlantic of Estancia, Bass says, is one example of builders specializing in extended-family housing.

A Name You Can Trust Globally

A review of the listings carried by Berkshire Hathaway’s New Tampa Market office shows homes from Odessa to Eustis in Lake County, but by virtue of Berkshire Hathaway’s corporate relationships, suitable dwellings can be found for moves to anywhere on the globe. Through the company’s international listings, Berkshire Hathaway also can help Floridians market their properties worldwide.

In fact, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Property Group’s online presence is a huge resource for information about home listings, as well as tips for buyers and sellers. There are links to Berkshire Hathaway’s YouTube channel, Twitter feed and Facebook page on the company website at BHHSFloridaProperties.com.

If the name Berkshire Hathaway seems familiar beyond the real estate business, it’s because it is derived from the holding company Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., which is chaired by billionaire financier Warren Buffett, who also is the company’s CEO. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Properties Group is one of the companies that make up HomeServices of America, Inc., which is owned by Berkshire Hathaway Energy, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.

The HomeServices group of companies, of which Florida Properties Group is one, provides all the resources involved in supporting real estate transactions and investments under one roof, such as mortgage originations, title and closing services, insurance, home warranties and even relocation services that span the globe.

But, the company remains just as strong locally, as well.

The Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Properties Group name went up on The Shoppes of New Tampa signage in early 2014. The company was founded in 1959 as Tropical Realty and Dewey Mitchell and Allen Crumbley acquired the business in 1984.

In 1988, they aligned with the Prudential Real Estate Network, which Berkshire Hathaway bought in 2012. There was a two-year transition period between 2012 and 2014 for the change to become complete for the Florida Properties Group.

That nearly 60-year period has coincided with the New Tampa and Wesley Chapel areas evolving from scrub land and cow pastures into vibrant active communities to live and conduct commerce.

Bass, a Florida native, is quite familiar with the market and its transformation.

“I grew up in Wesley Chapel before it was Wesley Chapel,” he says. “I’m one of the very few people you will meet who is from the area.”

Many, including Bass, feel that growth will continue unabated because of the quality of the area’s schools, access to healthcare and the promised addition of jobs.

“The population of Wesley Chapel is really going to grow in the next few years,” he says.

As members of the community they are helping to grow through their business, Bass says his Berkshire Hathaway team is committed to taking action to improve the lives of all residents.

This past Christmas season, for example, the company’s annual Cabernet Sleigh drive collected money, non-perishable food and gifts at its offices and delivered them to Metropolitan Ministries in Tampa on Dec. 15. Crumbley and Mitchell headed up the Cabernet Sleigh drive, which gets its names from the cabernet and cream colors the company uses.

You can meet the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Properties Group New Tampa Market team at their office, located at 1830 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. (between Bealls & Publix), visit online to browse listings at BHHSFloridaProperties.com or call (813) 907-8200.