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After careers in wildlife biology working to save endangered birds like the California Condor and Puerto Rican Parrot, Helen Snyder and her husband, Noel, retired to Portal, Arizona in 1986 after having first birded here on their honeymoon in 1967. For 23 years, they wrote books as a steady stream of birding friends and visiting colleagues asked her to help them find land for themselves. She obliged and handed over 25 sales to the other REALTORS® in town. In December 2008, she decided it was time to get licensed herself and joined Everett J. Jones Real Estate, Inc. in Douglas as its Portal specialist. In 2009, her first year, she closed nine cash sales. Most of her clients were birders or retired biologists—or both. |
Here Helen shares tips on making your real estate business birder friendly:
Birdwatchers present a growing market for retirement properties in southern Arizona. Birders (as they call themselves) have a special affinity for the state, and they want to retire to southern Arizona for reasons other than sunshine and golf. Birders travel here repeatedly for one reason: they can see Mexican birds that they can’t find anywhere else north of the border.
Major birding destinations in Pima and Cochise County like Madera and Ramsey Canyons, Portal and Mt. Lemmon make for instant name recognition with birders. After vacationing here throughout a lifetime, they dream of retiring nearby.
As an economic group, birders are often “under the radar,” but they have above-average incomes and education with an average age of 50—and they’re thinking about where they want to be living next. In 2006, birders in the United States spent over $82 billion in trip- and equipment-related purchases, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Birding in the US: A Demographic and Economic Analysis. The weakened dollar increasingly brings in birders from Canada and Europe.
Arizona REALTORS® can add appeal to listings for vacant land or rural residential property by including a few names of special Arizona birds—but be sure that they’re found in the area and get the names right. Birders are used to seeing bird names capitalized; a yellow warbler isn’t the same thing as a Yellow Warbler. Our everyday birds like Roadrunners, Elf Owls, and Cactus Wrens are a big draw for out-of-state folks.
PHOTO: In addition to hummingbirds, the Elegant Trogon is one of the most sought-after birds that brings birders to the mountains and canyons of southern Arizona. |
Use your seller’s pictures of birds taken on the property if they have them, or bring your seller a hummingbird feeder with instructions on how to use it and explain the need for pictures. Find out if a nearby neighbor has a so-called “yard list” for the total numbers of birds seen on the property, and reference it or attach it to the listing.
Add meaningful habitat descriptions. A variety of native plants means more biodiversity, and “riparian vegetation” (trees along washes and streams) trumps everything else. Next best is anything with mature native trees, so mention cottonwoods, mesquites and, of course, large saguaros.
Take close-up photos of some native vegetation, especially on vacant land listings. The tiny flowers on palo verde and creosote bush look great in close-ups, and cactus and ocotillo flowers make stunning frame-fillers. This year’s wildflower crop should be excellent, so get snapping. (My Tucson MLS listing #20919688 shows what I add to listings to catch the eye of birders).
To learn more about the birds in your area, ask at the bookstore or visit websites of local Audubon groups for checklists. Subscribe to southern Arizona birding newsgroups like birdwg05. Stop in at businesses like museums, restaurants and B&Bs that cater to birders; they often have bird lists at the counter. Maricopa Audubon, Tucson Audubon, the Ramsey Canyon Preserve’s bookstore, San Pedro National Conservation Area’s San Pedro House and the Southwestern Research Station in Portal have collections of regional checklists and bird books.
Not a birder yourself? Think about your own interests and consider what niche you might fill in the market. Your passion for a subject can create strong bonds with potential buyers and sellers.
Do you have an interesting story about how you got into the business? Have you found an unusual niche? Share your story with editor@aaronline.com and you might be featured in an upcoming issue of Arizona REALTOR® Magazine!
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