CPW outlines options for Grace St. land after rezoning bid fails

What now?

It’s a question being bandied about by many following Greenwood City Council’s decision last Monday not to rezone 13.5 acres at 1217 Grace St., the would-be location of the Grace Street Park.

Greenwood CPW, which owns 54 acres at the site, was seeking to have the 13.5-acre plot rezoned to general commercial, with plans to sell it. CPW board members and manager Steve Reeves even came to Monday’s well-attended public hearing with a new proposal.

CPW said that, if council voted to rezone the 13.5-acre tract, it would deed the other 40.5 acres to the City of Greenwood to be designated for greenspace in perpetuity.

By doing this, CPW board members Henry Watts and Gene Hancock contended it would allow the utility provider to net some money on the land and overcome legal opinions it has received regarding the legality of giving away such a large portion of land without fair compensation.

However, the large crowd in attendance Monday would have none of it, as more than a dozen residents and an entire Girl Scout troop spoke out in opposition of the rezoning and dismissed CPW’s proposed compromise.

In the end, city council voted 4-0 against rezoning, with councilmen Johnny Williams and Herbert Vaughn abstaining.

While nothing is set in stone, CPW laid out its options for the land late last week.

“Well, one option is to sell it as-is,” said Watts, the CPW board chairman. “Or, we could just do nothing with it. We’ll have an executive session at our next board meeting and discuss our options.”

The 54 acres, which was for years the home of a water plant, is zoned for medium-density residential. Hancock said selling it as such is now a very real option.

“It could be developed for residential,” Hancock said. “You could put 250 homes on it. We could just sell it outright as-is. We don’t need anyone’s permission to do that.”

Watts said he was disappointed CPW’s latest offer, which would have preserved 40.5 acres of greenspace, was tossed aside so feverishly at last Monday’s council meeting.

“I was very disappointed,” Watts said. “That was not in the spirit of compromise. That’s what this is going to take, is compromise. We’ve said it before: We can’t give the land away. Our (2008 budget) is $1.7 million in the red, and we could be facing rate increases. How can I justify giving away that much real estate with our rate-payers when we are facing (a budget crunch)?

“People have been calling me and threatening to not re-elect me if we don’t reconsider. Look, my life will go on, re-elected or not. I have to do what I know is right.”

Reeves wondered aloud whether compromise is even an option any longer.

“I keep hearing the term 'compromise,’” Reeves said. “I guess I’m not even sure if that word means anything anymore. Our board has approached this from several different angles, none of which have been accepted. Is that compromise?”

Reeves said he entered Monday’s meeting under the impression that park supporters would be at least moderately receptive in terms of receiving information about CPW’s new proposal. He also said any commercial development that would have entered the 13.5 acres -- had it been rezoned -- would have been contractually bound to be “park friendly.”

“That could have been accomplished through restrictions in the deed,” Reeves said. “It could have included guidelines on construction methodology, and it would have included landscaping that would be complementary to any potential park.”

Another possible compromise is CPW’s still-standing offer of deeding the entire 54 acres to Greenwood County for use as a park in return for the county funding the construction of $4 million in water lines to rural areas -- lines that would be operated by CPW.

However, county council has never taken up that issue in a public meeting.

“That would be the cleanest way to get this done,” Hancock said. “We have to get something for that property, legally. It’s a high-value property, and we’ve been offered $4.4 million for it.

“But I want to see a park there. There just has to be some kind of compromise.”

About the issue

The Grace Street land in question was acquired from resident Belle Yoe in the early 20th century through eminent domain by the City of Greenwood, which deeded it to CPW years later.

Known for her eccentricity, Yoe reportedly refused to accept payment for the land as protest. The money was placed in a fund for her.

Some, including resident Roger Stevenson at last Monday’s meeting, have questioned the legality of selling for profit a piece of land that was acquired through eminent domain for public use.

Through the years, the land served a number of purposes, most prominently for its use as a water plant site. It also housed a municipal golf course some years ago.

The issue of the land becoming a park has actually been ongoing for nearly eight years, with CPW for many years offering the land to the city as a donation.

However, with issues of liability hanging over it, the deal laid dormant.

In 2007, a new idea arose, one in which CPW would deed the land to the city, which would then deed it to Greenwood County. However, the issues of liability and upkeep again arose.

It was also last summer that the issue of legality came into the forefront, with CPW saying it could not legally give away the land.

So, in July 2007, the CPW board voted, 2-1, to sell the land. Mike Monaghan cast the dissenting vote.

After considerable public outcry, a three-party public meeting was called including the CPW board, Greenwood City Council and Greenwood County Council.

At that meeting, county council voted to accept the land and all the responsibility, liability and upkeep that went with it if CPW would deed it to the county, through the city, as a donation.

However, it was a proposal that was not acted upon, as the commissioners again said they could not give away the land for free.

NO BETTER TIME THAN PRESENT FOR REFINANCING

COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – For those considering refinancing their homes, Real Estate Center Chief Economist Dr. Mark Dotzour says there may not be a better time than the present for many years to come.

“Inflation is clearly rampant all over the world, including in the United States,” he said. “When inflation is a problem, mortgage rates go up. Rates probably should be much higher right now, but they aren't.”

Why are rates so low when inflation is not a fear but a fact? Dotzour says the fear of a global collapse of the banking system is greater than the fear of inflation for the world's bond investors.

“Wall Street has a name for the phenomenon, and it's called the ‘flight to quality.’ When investors get concerned about global conditions, the United States is the haven of safety,” Dotzour said. “As investors moved money into U.S. Treasury bonds, the ten-year treasury rate dropped from 5.3 percent in August to 3.7 percent today.”

Dotzour said investors who are using U.S. treasuries as a safe haven are willing to accept a 3.7 percent interest rate even though the U.S. inflation rate is at 4.1 percent.

Once the banking system is repaired and the fear of global collapse of the banks is over, Dotzour predicts treasury rates and mortgage rates will move up, maybe substantially.

“If you believe that we are in for a global financial collapse, then don't refinance yet because interest rates will continue to fall,” he said. “If you think the U.S. government and the central banks around the world won't let this happen, then now is the time to get a fixed-rate mortgage at rates we haven't seen in the past 40 years.”

The Meaning of Location, Location, Location

I've seen buyers get so excited over the updates in a home that they forget about the first rule of real estate: location, location, location.

Generally, buyers will get the best return for their money if they buy the worst house in the best neighborhood. If a cosmetic fixer needs carpeting or the floors refinished, buyers might receive a discount on price. Plus, then buyers can choose carpeting or floor finishes that match their own tastes and not that of the seller. On the other hand, buyers will most certainly face a harder time selling down the road if they buy the best house in the worst neighborhood.

Yet, many buyers gravitate toward the right homes in the wrong locations. After looking at a few dozen homes, it's easy to get swept up in the excitement of finding that perfect home. That perfect home might have the right configuration and plenty of amenities but if it's in a bad location, you might want to consider passing it by. Regardless of its price . . . read more about Location, Location, Location.

My Real Estate Website Doesn't Produce Leads

This seems to be the number-one concern among real estate agents these days ... a website that doesn't produce any viable real estate leads. Or one that doesn't produce any leads at all.

Sometimes the answer is obvious. Other times, it calls for some speculation. For example, some websites have such obvious problems that you can spot them at a glance. Maybe there are no lead generation systems in place at all, or perhaps the website doesn't function properly.

In other cases, however, the website may appear to be well-designed from a lead generation standpoint, but it still does not produce any real estate leads. This is a tougher scenario to evaluate.

In the latter case, the lack of real estate leads could just be because of the market. After all, if there's not a lot of real estate activity in your area, you can't expect a steady stream of leads to pour through your real estate website. In many cities -- from Nashville to Tucson and elsewhere -- this is what we are seeing right now. And in this case, you simply have to look at your traffic stats. Are you even getting any traffic on a daily basis? If not, you have no hope of producing real estate leads from the website.

If your stats reveal a steady stream of website traffic day in and day out, but you are not getting any leads from the website, then there is something lacking from a lead generation standpoint. In such cases, these are the things I usually troubleshoot first:

Does the website offer any reason why people should contact the agent, or fill out the form, or whatever the conversion goal is? If not, this needs to be addressed first and foremost.

Are the conversion points easy to find, or is the real estate website in such a messy state that visitors can't find their way around? This is a usability issue, and one of the ways you can spot it is through high percentages of people who hit the home page only to leave right away (without clicking further into the website).

These are the things I would start with when troubleshooting a real estate website with good traffic levels but poor lead generation. Often, it's just a matter of cleaning things up and presenting something of value that people would want.

I also see a lot of those "Free Reports" offered on real estate websites, presumably for lead generation purposes. Many of the so-called reports I encounter are poorly positioned in several ways. First of all, they will consist of information the web visitor can easily find elsewhere online. For example, "Top 10 Tips for Buying a Home" is so worn out and overused that it's sad really. Without much effort, I could probably Google that phrase and find it plastered all across the Web.

So who is going to offer their email address in exchange for a generic article they can find on thousands of other websites? Consumers are web-savvy these days, and they know how to ignore useless info and find the good stuff.

So let's say you took the "free report" concept and injected it with steroids and other performance-enhancing substances ... metaphorically speaking of course. Let's say you created an actual e-booklet, in PDF format. And let's say that it was all about the local real estate scene in your area. Suddenly, the booklet becomes something that people cannot find anywhere else, thus the perceived value of the item increases.

Now let's take this further and hire a graphic designer to create a "virtual cover" for the booklet -- one that you can use to promote it on your website. People believe in what they see, so sometimes a little visual entice is all it takes to get people to starting filling out those web forms.

But we're not done yet. Let's create a press release and distribute it online to announce this insightful new guide to the real estate scene in [your town] ... jam-packed with recent sales statistics, development news, residential reports and more. A must-read for anyone planning to buy a home in [your town].

I've shared enough. You get the idea. But suffice to say these are only steps 1 through 7 of about 15 steps I would take ... if I were serious about generating leads through my real estate website. I offer these kinds of ideas and strategies all the time, but very few people implement them. And do you want to know why?

Because nobody ever said lead generation was easy!

Those who put in the extra effort will reap the extra rewards. And those who keep peddling their "Top Ten Tips for Buying a Home" will probably find another line of work at some point.

Finding Your Dream Home

Many people believe that it is impossible to find the home of their dreams unless they have very large amounts of money available to buy the home that they want. This common belief is not necessarily true, if you know the right places to look, you will be able to find your dream home and not spend a fortune on it.

If you want to invest in real estate and stop wasting your money paying rent, it is possible and you can even find a home that will cost about the same as your monthly rent payment. All you have to do is find the right resources and know how they will work together. One place that you can look is at home auctions or in areas where there have been bank foreclosures. Many of these homes will be ones that the previous owners could not pay for and the bank was forced to foreclose on them. Because there is no one paying for the house, the bank is having to pay for it and often times the bank will lower the price of the home so that they will not have to keep paying for it.

If you do not know where to look for bargain homes, you can just browse through locations and do some investigating on your own. Many times, the Internet and local real estate magazines are designed to show you the market and they will also include the lowest priced homes in their listings. If you search local resources, you will be able to compare the homes that are available and you will also be able to see the homes that are lower priced because of things such as foreclosures.

When it is time to look for the home of your dreams, you do not even have to set a foot outside. You can instead search what is available using the Internet and real estate magazines and find a home that will fit both your individual style and your budget.

The Price of Admission

Many salespeople complain that they have trouble getting basic contact information from their customers. Knowing who you talked to has always been important, but in a time when traffic is down and people often are taking longer to make a decision, it is vital that you have a record of who you visited with and a way to back keep in touch with them if you ever want to make a future sale.

In new home sales, I’ve found that people want 2 things when they visit your model or sales center: they want to look at the model, and they want a brochure.

That’s fine. That’s why you’re open. You’re happy to accommodate them. However, there is one condition.

If it was just a matter of letting people look at your model and pick up a brochure, you wouldn’t even need to be there. You could leave the door unlocked and provide a stack of brochures for people to take. There’s a little more to it than just letting the customers get what they want.

After all, you’re in business to sell homes and make money. Therefore, you have to get what you want as well.

In order to have any chance of making a sale with someone, you first need to have a conversation with them. Learn about their needs and what they want.

If they don’t buy and close on the first visit, you need to have a record of who they are so you can contact them again and pursue the sale. You need their name and at least a good telephone number.

An email address will suffice in the early going, but it doesn’t substitute for a phone number. At some point, you must be able to have an actual conversation with your customers – unless they didn’t like what you offer well enough to want to talk with you again.

So here it is. You have a model that customers want to see, and you have a brochure. They have their contact information. You simply make an equitable exchange. They get what they want, and you get what you need.

Look at it this way: act as if the price of admission to your model is the customer’s telephone number (and other contact information).