Lessons from A Dinosaur Egg

Lessons from a Dinosaur Egg

Lessons come from many places and at any time. I would like to share with a few that I relearned yesterday. Yesterday the weather was fit for a post card. I left the office at lunch time to go to The Bell Tower to pick up some tailoring I was having done on a new suit I recently purchased as Jos. Banks. First I walked through Saks Fifth Avenue to see if I could bump into my daughter Nicole and invite her to lunch. She runs the visual department there. We had a tardily served but delicious lunch at what used to be called Dragonfly (Maybe the new owners need to work on their branding. I have no idea what the new name is, or even if there is one). I asked Nicole if it was OK to pick up her son Adi from preschool and take him home for the evening so he could spend the night with Gail and I and his cousin Jacob.
After parting with her I ran into John and Joe Armenia and sat down with them for about a half hour at Bistro 41. The amenity center John built at Riva Del Lago, by the way, was the inspiration for the amenities center I am installing on the penthouse level at Cyperlin Center; total class and no short cuts, just like all that John does.
I told John that Cyperlin Center, being built on the corner of Cypress Lake Drive and Summerlin Drive will be unlike anything here in town. My feeling is that if you live in luxury, you should work in it too. This office building is designed for the business that not only has substance, but knows who they are and is not afraid to show it. John loved the concept and shared with me his dream for a Fort Myers restaurant that will cater to the same clientele. We had talked about his before; with all the restaurants we have in Fort Myers, there are no truly full service top level restaurants that cater to the business and Beemer crowd, full service banquet facilities, top notch kitchen and bar, meeting rooms, A restaurant that will not allow shorts and baseball caps. John and Joe want to build one for Fort Myers. My bet is that they will.
I finally got home with Adi about an hour later. (Now we get back to the dinosaur eggs). When we were last in Chicago, Gail purchased two gifts for Adi and Jacob at the Field Museum; essentially an egg the size of a large mango. If you know anything about preschool boys, you know that they know more about dinosaurs than Fred Flintstone ever did. They are absolutely fascinated by them. When Gail came home after picking up Jacob at his preschool she presented both boys with these eggs. These are cleverly designed. They come in a box with two very simple tools; a digging stick about three inches long and a similarly sized brush. The idea is the child becomes a Paleontologist. He must excavate a dinosaur from this brown Plaster of Paris egg. They do this with this large toothpick and brush.
Our two budding paleontologists spent one and one half hour excavating while I watched and listened. The only other thing I have EVER seen them do for that long a period of time is sleep. They picked, they brushed. They compared progress. They very slowly saw a small dinosaur emerge. The suspense and the promise of success kept them glued to their tasks.
Once they finally got them out and washed them in the pool water, you would think they found the Hope Diamond. This is lesson number ONE. When you have to work very hard to achieve something, it is worth more. If Gail had simply handed the boys two baby plastic dinosaurs, there would be no other value associated with the toys; no interest, no personal investment, no long term bond and no memories.
This leads us to lesson TWO. People pay for added value and are happy to do it. I know Gail paid almost ten dollars a piece for these dinosaur eggs. This was essentially a two cent plastic dinosaur, wrapped in five cents of plaster in a ten cent box.
THREE. The marketers of this wonderful toy knew that it isn't about the dinosaur. It is about the whole experience. In fact, I know that as anxious as the boys were to finish the task and see the results, they were disappointed when the experience came to an end.
FOUR. This is one you know that I live by and is how I opened this column: Lessons come from many places and at any time.


I didn't write my column last week. (Thanks for noticing). This doesn’t mean I have not been busy, quite the contrary, my head was exploding with so much I couldn't seem to get it on paper.
This past week I made the deal with Endeavor on Windsor Lake Estates on Burnt Store Road and we are about ready to start taking reservations. Cape Coral is in need of a gated community with deed restrictions and with large lots and preferred builders. Windsor Lake is just that; large one half acre lots with new homes from $800,000.
I met with Bob Knight earlier this week, President of Paul Homes. I believe Paul Homes may be one of the preferred builders at Windsor. Bob had great insight into who his customer is and what is happening in this market.
Bob’s customer is a successful employee that has saved well, perhaps just inherited money from his parents, comes from the Midwest, doesn't want to pay to be on the water, but wants to be near it and he wants to live in Lee County weather not Cook County. He wants granite counter tops but not an extravagant overly expensive kitchen. He knows who he is and wants to show it with his house. He is not super rich, but comfortable.
Bob believes, and I agree with him, that the price range of Windsor Lake Estates is in the "sweet spot" of the market. With builders like Paul homes, developers like Endeavor, and marketers like us, this project will set a new standard for the North Cape. Bob also understand that he is not selling just houses. He is selling the whole experience.

We are in a cycle. Unless you have been in a coma the last six months you know that the media has been hyping the slow down in the real estate market. Indeed we are in a flat period and this is good. Every once in a while the overgrown forest needs a little forest fire to weed out the weak and undernourished. We will now get back to our normal 15 to 20 percent growth rate. We will get rid of inexperienced and overzealous investors, developers, builders, and sellers. This is a great time to buy. Remember those boys and those eggs. It was too easy a year ago. No matter what you bought went up. Now you have to work at buying the right thing in the right location.


Condos are more over heated than single family homes. The inventory of single family home will sell out quicker than the condo market. If you are going to buy condos, buy existing or buy way down the pike. For existing try www.citadel-bonita.com or The Paramount For down the pike try Palmetto Cove. My best bet for waterfront is still Grand Isle or Paramount. Grande Isle because of price point and Real Mark’s involvement. Paramount because of luxury and location.
Commercial opportunities are scarce but we have them. For office condos try Brantley Commons. We sold two preconstruction buildings there this past week. I expect to sell at least two more on Monday. They will not last long. Cyperlin Center is an excellent long term play. Until the fourth floor sells out the developer is making some excellent deals. (Remember, buy location, buy unique)
I am pleased to welcome Ron Campbell to our commercial team headed by Cliff Wiersma. Ron and I have been friends for years. Ron’s wife Nancy ran our research department years ago. Ron has an appraisal back ground and lots of experience in office and retail space. Kathy Brewer joined us from Keller Williams and is handling resales in Gulf Harbour and South Fort Myers along with Tom Leach (also a former Keller Williams agent and an superb buyers rep) Holly Sugrue is now working as my assistant with Tatiana Cuevas.
Holly works on projects like The Citadel and our residential projects, while Tatiana handles our development marketing and commercial support. These two woman make thing happen in our office amd we would be lost with out them. My cousin Deb Krikorian is our shining preconstruction star. There is not an agent in town that knows the condo market here better than Deb. Maggie Morrisse lives and works in Bonita. She is a gated community specialist in Bonita and Estero and has the knowledge that Deb has, but further south.

Hey folks, it's confusing out there. There are many properties to choose from and for a buyer it can be impossible to pick the right property to buy in the right location. Choose your professional carefully. Let us help you. Remember, we are in the real estate customer business, not the real estate agent business