Hot Properties: Real estate at full speed

Speed dating and speed networking is so passe, so 2009.

The new speed trend? Super speedy real estate sales.

It's called Hot Properties — a monthly event that allows Realtors to pitch properties in a snappy quick setting. The concept places 50 Realtors in one room to discuss 50 homes for sale in 50 minutes.

The first Hot Properties event on the Gulf Coast was held in May in Manatee County, with another event scheduled there June 24. A Hot Properties event was also held June 3 in Oldsmar.

The idea stems from a Tennessee real estate entrepreneur, says Mary Howard, a founding partner with Lakewood Ranch-based CornerStone Title who helps organize the Hot Properties in Manatee County. Those sessions cover properties in Sarasota and Bradenton.

“The event is all business,” Howard tells Coffee Talk. “There are no pitches and no speeches.”

Howard says Hot Properties works just like speed dating. Realtors meet one-on-one and cross-pitch properties. There were 37 homes on the roster at the May event in Manatee County.

Realtors mostly skipped the superfluous parts of a property and focused on making deals. Other Realtors brought props and funky taglines to the first event to stand out, like the broker who sought a Romeo for what she called her Juliet of a house.

Says Howard: “It brings back an old-school way to sell properties.”