Sotheby’s sees future in North Idaho
The famous Sotheby’s name is coming to two North Idaho real estate offices, which will use the affiliation to help sell luxury properties.
On Monday, a receptionist at the former Tomlinson Black office in Sandpoint began answering the phone “Tomlinson Sandpoint Sotheby’s International Realty.” A similar rollout is planned today at Tomlinson Black North Idaho in Coeur d’Alene.
Sotheby’s, best known for its international auction house, also has a real estate franchise. Its niche is high-end properties in resort areas and big cities.
Local Realtors want to tap that expertise, as well as a Sotheby’s Web site that lists property by lifestyle preference, including golf, skiing, horse properties or waterfront.
“One of the things that spurred us on was the number of residential listings in our local area over $1 million,” said Jeff Bond, owner/broker of the Tomlinson-Sotheby’s Sandpoint office. “The Sotheby’s model is about as good as you could get in the luxury residential market.”
His office could have tapped that expertise several years ago, when it listed a $19 million Lake Pend Oreille estate on the Hope peninsula north of Sandpoint, Bond said.
About 55 properties for sale in Bonner and Boundary counties are currently advertised for $1 million or more. And that doesn’t count the number of vacant lots starting at $350,000, which are likely to become million-dollar estates, he said.
Sotheby’s also has a real estate franchise in Sun Valley, said Mike Good, president and CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates Inc. When clients search the Sotheby’s Web site by region, properties in Sandpoint, Sun Valley, McCall, Whitefish, Mont., and Bozeman will pop up.
“I love to compare us to those areas, because we’re so undervalued in relation to them,” Bond said.
In Bonner and Boundary counties, the median list price for residential real estate is $349,000.
Sotheby’s International Realty has nearly 400 offices worldwide. The company is owned by Realogy Corp. of Parsippany, N.J., which also owns other franchise brand names, including Century 21, ERA and Coldwell Banker.