Women take over. Cash washes everywhere. New OKC retailers? Zillow scam. (2024)

Hey, y'all. OKC's two largest real estate trade groups have made women's history.

The Oklahoma Home Builders Association named a woman as president for the first time in its 76-year history, and the Oklahoma City Metro Association of Realtors named a Black woman as president for the first time in its 121 years.

Here's the scoop from the builders:

Last Friday the Oklahoma Home Builders Association installed its officers for 2024. For the first time in its 76-year history, a female builder became the new state president.

Denise Patterson, owner of Denise Patterson Custom Homes in the Oklahoma City metro area, was installed by NAHB 2nd Vice-Chairman Buddy Hughes to lead OkHBA for 2024. Also installed was Jeff Starkweather (Tulsa) as VP/Treasurer and Ty McCune (Stillwater) as VP/Secretary. Susan Bevard from Tulsa was installed as the Chair of the State Associates Council.

Three individuals were also inducted into the OK Housing Hall of Fame. (Here is a link to their videos: https://www.okhba.org/hall-of-fame). Robert Crout (posthumously) from Mustang, Lora Phillips from Tulsa, and Harland Wells from Perkins.

And here's the scoop from the Realtors:

The Oklahoma City Metro Association of Realtors (OKCMAR) recently honored top performers and inaugurated its 2024 volunteer leadership — including a historic first.

Emilykaye Mitchelson of Chinowth & Cohen was sworn in as the 2024 OKCMAR president, and Angelena Harris of Spearhead Realty Group returned as president of MLSOK Inc. Mitchelson is the first Black woman to hold the title.

“In 2024, I hope to inspire our members to serve our community in meaningful ways, such as teaching financial literacy classes and advocating for sustainable, affordable housing,” Mitchelson said.

OKCMAR also presented its annual awards:

• Jessica Thompson (Cityburb Homes) was named Realtor of the Year
• Briana Bratton (LIME Realty) was named Most Cooperative Realtor
• LaNell Long (Prosperity Bank) was named Affiliate of the Year
• Tara Porter (LIME Realty) was named the annual Rising Star
• Glen Cosper (Keller-Williams Green Meadow) received the President’s Award
• Monty Milburn (Chinowth & Cohen) received the Board of Directors Award

OKCMAR CEO Adam Majorie recognized the award winners and new leaders. “We are fortunate to have exceptional people give their time and talent to moving our organization forward,” he said. “Thanks to the dedication of our volunteer leadership and members, OKCMAR will continue to work to benefit all our neighbors in the Oklahoma City community.”

Congrats to both! Man alive, there was a bunch of interesting real estate news the past week! Let's get to it. Oh, if you don't subscribe to the digital Oklahoman, please consider one of these deals.

Car washes near me? Probably. Why investors are building them everywhere in OKC area

It's a wonder there are any dirty cars in Oklahoma City — or anywhere else in the country. OKC is crawling with car washes — or conveying with them, since the new ones are the automatic kind that use conveyors to move cars through a tunnel.

Car wash construction and investment are booming everywhere.A Google search shows about 150 car washes, old and new, of all kinds, in the metro area. Oklahoma City alone has added just more than 100 car washes since 2019, city records show. That's when construction took off. The city issued building permits for just four washes in 2018, then 21 in 2019, 11 in 2020, 28 in 2021, 23 in 2022, and 19 in 2023. But it's not necessarily all because of consumer demand.

"It's absolutely boomed. The real driver has been private equity funds, they're funding it," OKC retail property broker Mark Inman said, referring to pooled investments by companies and organizations that invest for others.

Read all about it.

Could Shake Shack, Peloton or Savage X Fenty come to OKC? These retailers likely for 2024

Price Edwards & Co. has done it now. The OKC commercial real estate firm is whetting our appetite − for food, drink, clothing, furniture, and experiences − with a list of the top 10 retailers likely to come to Oklahoma City this year, along with a wish list.

They're included in the firm's 2023 Retail Market Report.

Read all about it.

Zillow scammers try to steal thousands from Oklahoma homebuyers, state official stepping in

Wanted: a real estate scam victim willing to talk to the law. Oklahoma County Assessor Larry Stein is looking for someone who has been scammed online a certain way to come forward so law enforcement can pursue action against "Mandi," the perpetrator, and any of her partners in crime.

"It's a Zillow ad for a nearly $400,000 home being sold by a family because they want to reward someone with the blessing of being a FIRST-TIME-HOMEBUYER and the BARGAIN PRICE IS $8,800!!!!" Stein said in an email alert.

It's potentially devastatingly simple: Send money electronically and get a home dirt cheap. But the alleged seller, listed on the ad, doesn’t have the legal right to sell the house.

Read all about it.

Oklahoma City-area home sales were on the skids last year but still fetched $6,666,000,000

With so many home purchases on ice in 2023, long before this frigid weather, sales volume in central and western Oklahoma fell 14.4%, but still ended the year with a grade of B, for "billion," about $6,666,000,000 in total transactions, but the market, like the weather, is expected to warm by spring.

The total value of sales was down 14.4% from about $7,784,500 in 2022, according to the Oklahoma City Metro Association of Realtors' Multiple Listing Service, MLSOK.

Read all about it.

Can another use for Capitol Hill High School building be found before new school is built?

By The Oklahoman's Steve Lackmeyer and Murray Evans.

The Oklahoma City school district is locked into plans to build a new home for Capitol Hill High School, but the project does not, currently, include a plan or funding to destroy the school’s historic building on the same campus.

Among the projects listed on the $955 million bond issue, the Capitol Hill replacement, along with the planned destruction of the school’s unique fieldhouse, is the single most expensive and controversial.

Michael Smith, a 1960 alum and longtime preservationist, argues the existing school is a valuable historic landmark for the southside neighborhood that didn’t get serious consideration by Superintendent Sean McDaniel or the school board.

Read all about it.

OPINION: Own a small business in one of these three areas? Apply for help with building repairs

By Kenton Tsoodle, president of The Alliance for Economic Development of Oklahoma City.

I’m always proud of how our city continuously looks to partner and create synergy to help our businesses and residents. That kind of collaboration now has opened opportunities for small businesses in parts of the city to make exterior improvements to their buildings.

Three areas, Martin Luther King, Capitol Hill and Metro Park, were identified for support because they’re part of the city of Oklahoma City’s neighborhood revitalization program known as the Strong Neighborhoods Initiative. The initiative helps improve neighborhoods through physical, social and economic investments that tip neighborhoods toward self-sufficiency.

The new SNI Storefront Improvement Program, administered by The Alliance for Economic Development of Oklahoma City, will reimburse businesses up to $25,000 in expenses for outdoor building repairs such as windows, paint, signage or other improvements. Projects must be completed within six months of project approval. Businesses must have been established before March 3, 2021, and be located in the Martin Luther King, Capitol Hill and Metro Park neighborhoods. Business owners may apply now with The Alliance.

Outparcels, pad sites, remnants, and scrapwood

• From Connect CRE: 2023 CRE Deal Volume Down 51% from 2022
• From the National Association of Home Builders: Remodeling Market Sentiment Improves in Fourth Quarter
• From the National Association of Realtors: National Association of Realtors Announces Partnership With Chirpyest
• From the city of Oklahoma City: Do I live in OKC?

Finally ...

Here is all of my work for The Oklahoman/Oklahoman.com in one place.

Thanks for reading! What's coming up that I need to know about? What have I missed? Email me at rmize@oklahoman.com.

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Senior Business Writer Richard Mize has covered housing, construction, commercial real estate and related topics for the newspaper and Oklahoman.com since 1999.