Benjamin DeBell, Tulsa Realtor

Tulsa Lofts

ben — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:50:12 +0000

It seem the fad in Tulsa real estate these days is to revive downtown. I have heard a lot of commercial and downtown Realtors say that in order for businesses to move back into downtown, their first has to be a presence of residents. Currently everything downtown is 9-5, Monday-Friday, its pretty much dead and almost scary on the weekends. I can say this because I worked downtown for a couple of years and occasionally I had to work on the weekends and I found myself a lone a lot of the time. It’s really strange because even the restaurants are closed. The main reason their is no life in downtown Tulsa is because there are hardly any residents. I have written before that the new BOK Center and baseball field is a start, but how do they make it more attractive for people to live in a “scary place”.

The answer is lofts my friends, developers from all over Oklahoma and vast parts of the nation have bought up old downtown buildings and started restoring the upper levels to loft apartments. I believe that this is the best way for Tulsa to attract its residents back into downtown. These lofts are designed with the single, business class, or young couple in mind. These lofts have a very modern feel to them with exposed brick walls and modern appliances, these homes will surely bring residents, which in turn will bring more businesses.

One of the first downtown buildings to offer lofts was the Phil Tower. I officed out of this building for awhile and after talking to the manager, I was informed that there was a waiting list and a fairly popular 90’s band lived in the lofts (I won’t mention their name for safety sake, yeah their that big, lol I even saw them on the elevator now and then). If someone is looking to get into a loft and be a part of the downtown movement this is a good time because these lofts aren’t too bad in price. At the time the single loft apartment was starting around 1200 a month, but this includes all utilities, Internet, and parking. In the very near future there will be lofts available all over downtown and in every price range, typically they only go up to two bedroom. I have access to show the available lofts, so if you are interested in downtown living, feel free to contact me at 918.530.7740.

Tulsa Ranked High

ben — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 03:58:02 +0000

MSN published their “2008 MSN Real Estate Best Bargain” in June. In order for a city to make the list it had to meet certain criteria; low unemployment, short commute times, entertainment, and recreation. According to this study affordability is defined by ratio of median income to median house price. The cities chosen in this list have to have a population of at least 500,000, cities that made this list are everything from Dallas to Omaha. Tulsa was described as “a center for the energy industry”. Tulsa is also known for its banking and telecommunications employment as well.

Tulsa ranks 14 when it comes to “cities where buying makes sense”. Tulsa is a great place to raise a family because you get the “city feel” without having to live in the city, with all of the suburbs, Tulsa can meet any family’s needs.

Tulsa Real Estate Still Up

ben — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:22:26 +0000

I work for Chinowth and Cohen Realtors here in Tulsa and we had a sales meeting today and I wanted to share some stats with you. Despite all of the negative press the nations real estate market is getting, Tulsa is still doing strong and the company I work for has a huge role in that. It is only August and we are only 3% away from our year end goal, we are 23% ahead of last years production, the office as a whole has closed over 40 million, and our listings have an average 60 days on the market. These stats blow away what we should be doing. The media tells us that their are too many homes and not enough buyers, then where are these buyers in Tulsa coming from? Well that is actually an easy one, Tulsa hasn’t been effected like the rest of the nation, Tulsa home values continue to rise and homes are being sold.

2007 was a record year for Tulsa, and I honestly believe that we could be far above that this year if people weren’t frightened by what they saw on the news. People heard that there is a national crisis but didn’t back it up to anything. We forget that the media loves a tragedy, and when they get wind of one they will run with it for weeks until something bigger comes up, it just amazes me. It all comes down to the simple fact: don’t always believe what you hear on TV, we need to back it up with facts, call a real estate professional and get some local numbers. Numbers are what should scare people, not the six o clock news. As far as Tulsa Real Estate goes, we are good, shoot me an email and I will give you some numbers.

Can BOK Center Save Downtown?

admin — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:02:01 +0000

Downtown Tulsa’s New attraction is getting ready to launch soon and its existence is to be one of the elements that revives Downtown Tulsa, this and the decision to move the Tulsa Drillers, the Tulsa baseball team, downtown. The question is Can a event building and a baseball team spark an interest? I honestly believe it can. I have already seen multiple hotel chains looking at property and some even buying and beginning renovation. I believe hotels will play a key role because as of right now the Downtown Tulsa night life doesn’t exist. I mean its almost scary going downtown at night because its really a ghost down, if you were to get mugged, no one would find you until Monday morning. The BOK Center and its capacity will bring bigger events to Tulsa, which brings out of town guests. Now, if there is a good amount of quality hotels downtown, people will stay downtown. With all of these new people downtown, they will need something to do after the event. This openings the doors for more bars, clubs, and restaurants, creating that downtown nightlife once again.

Already a lot of the buildings are turning their upper levels into loft apartments. If Tulsa can get people to move back into downtown and this new event center brings enough big names on a regular basis then we might have something. Really believe it can work out and I really hope it does. Its something that won’t happen over night but in time we could see some big changes which can impact Tulsa as a whole.

I’m a Real Estate Investing Professor

admin — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:54:43 +0000

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