With matching team t-shirts, wide grins, muscles flexed, gear at the ready, Team ERA Dupuch Real Estate was hyped to take to the beach at Palm Cay, a 1,500-foot strip of powdery white sand along New Providence's southeastern shore, the gem in the active residential community's crown.
The stakes were high - bragging rights, an iPad mini and most importantly, international exposure that could translate into sales.
The competition - to create a video to enter into Palm Cay's real estate video contest and to do it so well they'd come away the winner.
"What prompted the idea of a video contest," said Palm Cay Sales & Marketing Director Zachary 'Zack' Bonczek, "was that a very savvy social media firm, Mario Carey Realty (MCR), took it upon themselves to introduce Palm Cay online through posting a Youtube video on their website. It really brought what we are offering to life and we thought, 'Let's see if other firms want to do the same.' Since we always try to make everything fun at Palm Cay, we launched a contest."
That was earlier this summer. Contest rules gave real estate firms up to 30 days to produce a video of up to three minutes. The winner would walk away with an iPad mini, bragging rights and the additional international exposure Palm Cay's extensive marketing provides. Entries were posted online and viewed by independent judges.
"Several firms entered, but ERA came through with honors" said Bonczek. "It was so much fun to watch." According to ERA Dupuch Real Estate Founder Peter Dupuch, it wasn't just fun to watch.
"It was fun to make," he said. "I sold this land to the developer, and it's wonderful to see how it's thriving." The winning video did not just describe Palm Cay, a nearly 70-acre gated beachfront community with pools, tennis courts and amenities, including a 194-slip marina.
ERA team members demonstrated life at Palm Cay. Two agents, Donna Davis and Christine Wallace-Whitfield, faced off on the tennis courts; another two, Carla Sweeting and Chris Kelly, kayaked; Dave McCorquodale ran the beach, and Founder Peter Dupuch pulled a boat into the dock at the marina, waving.
Broker Ken Chaplin cycled; estate agent Stephen Sweeting fished, and firm co-founder Helen Dupuch, who plotted and planned the entire video episode, paddle-boarded. "I decided to do a group video because we really do work as a team here at Team ERA," Helen Dupuch said.
"We had a great, fun day, and I think the video showcases perfectly the lifestyle that Palm Cay offers." Peter Dupuch echoed those thoughts. "We are all excited about Palm Cay - a gated community on New Providence's eastern district, with many options - attractively priced properties, choices of townhomes, condo, single family lots, inland, beachfront, all the amenities and luxury," he said.
"The video just shows what Palm Cay has to offer as a lifestyle." Palm Cay will present ERA with its prize during a presentation later this month. More than half the single family home sites in the community have been sold and pre-construction reservations for phase one of Palm Cay's first condominium offering is oversubscribed, prompting developers to consider accelerating the announcement of the second phase of the 50-unit complex called The Anchorage.
"We always stress that we are not building a development; we are creating a community," said Bonczek, and the ERA Dupuch Real Estate video captured it with just the right touch of light-heartedness, outright fun and beautiful images. But we want to thank all the firms who participated and reiterate our commitment to the many real estate professionals who have been so gung-ho about Palm Cay. We couldn't be where we are today without the real estate industry believing in what we stand for."
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
