Kepecz-Hays takes No. 1 slot in 2011

Some highlights of 2011 for Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate’s Judy Kepecz-Hays:
In June, she sold a home on Bird Key for $4.95 million — the highest amount paid for a home on the island since January 2008.

In September, she sold two properties totaling $5.7 million in two days.

In October, she reached for the sixth time the Legends Society, Coldwell’s highest level of recognition, with two months still remaining in the year.

And when the year came to an end, Kepecz-Hays’ volume totaled nearly $45 million, making her the No. 1 Sarasota-Manatee agent in 2011.

Kepecz-Hays got her start in the real-estate business in 1975, after purchasing her first home in Marina Del Ray, Calif. She found that she enjoyed every aspect of “the hunt”: looking, evaluating, appraising and negotiating. She began selling Longboat Key and Sarasota area real estate more than 33 years ago for Arvida, which was acquired by Coldwell 14 years ago.

Kepecz-Hays insists that there are no secrets to her success.

“There are no secrets in this business,” she said. “Those of us who are successful in real estate do the same thing that makes people successful in other fields. I treat it as a career that requires 100% commitment. I work seven days a week and as many hours a day as are necessary. My motto is, ‘There is no tomorrow.’ Everything that should be done today will be done today. My clients know how I work and trust me to do whatever is necessary to make the sale or purchase happen.”

Kepecz-Hays says that she has never allowed herself to get caught up in the “downturn mentality” that caused many people to wait for the economy to get better.

“My position is that we live in the most desirable area in the world,” she said. “The economy may not be as good as it was several years ago, but people would still rather live here than anywhere else, in good times or bad.”

Kepecz-Hays said that many homeowners were at first reluctant to accept the value that their properties lost as the result of the economic downturn, however, in 2011 she saw owners and buyers accepting a more realistic view of values. She believes that although inventory on the keys and waterfront mainland is low, it is priced well. She noticed in the latter part of 2011 that buyers tended to feel that values were unlikely to go lower and were increasingly eager to buy.

For Kepecz-Hays, a busy schedule comes with success. She typically rises early each morning and goes straight to her computer to respond to emails from foreign clients who live in time zones and then checks the Multiple Listing Service for activity, including new listings and price changes. She plans her day after consulting with her two assistants and marketing company. A typical workday for Kepecz-Hays doesn’t end until 6 p.m., when she eats dinner — and, after that, it’s usually back to the computer.

On a rare day off, you can find her reading a book on her balcony, boating or spending time with friends and family, including her grandchildren, Sophia and Sebastian. And every chance she gets, she and her husband, Dr. John Hays, head to their home in the Swiss Alps — where she has met several friends who live in or have lived in the Sarasota area.

But Kepecz-Hays is as much of a force on the ski slopes as she is at the negotiating table.

“I love to ski down the mountain slopes as fast as every teenager out there and look at their faces when they see how old I am,” she said.

Sales stats
Judy Kepecz-Hays in 2011
Total volume: $44,987,500
Total list-side volume: $29,308,500
Total sell-side volume: $15,679,00O
Average sale price: $1,730,288