Niel Thomas

About Us:

As a real estate buyer or seller you know your transaction needs to be taken seriously. When you have Niel Thomas as your real estate representative, you get:

• a steadfast commitment to your welfare

• an in-depth knowledge of the market

• a sense of fair play

• a conscientious work ethic, and

• community involvement that enables him to add value to your relationship

You benefit from Niel's extensive community and market knowledge, from over 30 years in Alaska:

Niel is Executive Vice President and one of the founding members of Fortune Properties, Inc., now Coldwell Banker Fortune. A Realtor® since 1983, Niel's clients are mid- to upper-end residential and commercial-investment real estate buyers and sellers.

You benefit from Niel's leadership in professional groups which enables him to make the most of the new technologies for marketing and identifying property:

Niel is one of only three Alaska licensees holding both "Ph.D's in real estate," designations of the National Association of Realtors® that signify the highest levels of knowledge and achievement in residential and commercial real estate.

• CCIM: Certified Commercial-Investment Member

• CRS: Certified Residential Specialist.

Alaska MLS, Inc., publishes the listings of brokers across Alaska. Niel is Past President.

You benefit from Niel's record of even-handed dealing, fair play and justice:

Niel is a past member of the Anchorage Board of Equalization. This board of real estate experts was appointed by the Anchorage Assembly to hear cases where a taxpayer questions assessed value.

Niel is also an Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR), certified by the National Association of Realtors.

Involved in numerous community activities, Niel is a member of the Anchorage Downtown Rotary Club, Commonwealth North, and the Chugach State Park Citizens Advisory Board.

You benefit from Niel’s sense of balance in life, which keeps him fresh for client service:

An athlete for "fun and fitness," you can find Niel at local swim meets, Nordic ski events and an occasional running race or triathlon.

Niel lives with his wife of 18 years, Judith, a Master Gardener, on the Anchorage Hillside with two terriers (who have earned "Canine Good Citizen" awards). For other entertainment "we go to a lot of movies together, and the opera," he says.

You benefit from Niel’s technical skills:

He’s known as "Your Internet Realtor®". Buyers flock to his listings and community information on many web sites, most especially RealS8.com.

With modern technology, Niel’s clients have been known to complete an entire purchase and sale on-line in less time and with less inconvenience than with traditional paper methods.

A member of a highly-selective national cadre of tech-oriented real estate licensees, the Allen Hainge Cyberstars®, Niel is at the cutting edge of new technologies that benefit his clients.

Areas of Expertise:

A full-time real estate agent since 1983, Niel is an associate broker with Coldwell Banker Fortune, one of Anchorage's leading firms. He always ranks among the top five agents, doing 50-75 transactions per year, with annual sales volume up to $11 million.

From 1992-98 he wrote the column on real estate for the statewide business newspaper, the Journal of Alaska Commerce and Industry. The column covered a variety of commercial and residential real estate subjects of interest to Alaskan business and professional readers. The National Association of Realtors published an article he wrote for its national magazine on proper procedures for handling multiple offers on real estate. He frequently serve as a trainer of new associates and lecturer on real estate to community and professional groups.

More recently we have offered a free e-mail real estate newsletter for my clients. It goes out whenever something in the market comes up that I believe to be of general interest. This link takes you to the subscription form.

Niel is the real estate liaison to the Anchorage Population Committee, a group of demographers and economists who monitor and predict the course of the Alaskan economy. He is an Anchorage Assembly appointee and former Vice Chairman of the Anchorage Board of Equalization, the group that hears appeals of commercial and residential property tax assessments. He is also President of Alaska Multiple Listing Service, Inc.

An Alaskan resident since 1974, Niel is a graduate of Cornell University and past president of the Cornell Club of Alaska. He served under Governor Jay Hammond from 1975-82 as director of the Human Rights Commission. For a time in the early 1980's he was the only Alaskan labor arbitrator certified by both the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and the American Arbitration Association. He is an active participant in the Alaska Sports Academy, a professionally-coached group of Nordic skiers and triathletes. A tournament bridge player, he holds the rank of Life Master. He lives on 2.5 acres on Anchorage's Hillside area with his wife, Judie, a psychotherapist. Wildlife abounds, as they abut about 50 undeveloped acres.

Commercial Services

• Commercial Real Estate Brokerage
  Small income properties, apartment buildings, commercial/retail buildings and office-warehouse facilities. Extensive experience in tax-deferred Section 1031 exchanges. See Asset Preservation, Inc., http://www.apiexchange.com.

• Residential Real Estate Brokerage
  Mid- to upper-end homes and new construction. Average residential asking price in Anchorage in early 1998 was $190,000 and increasing slowly. I have marketed the products of most of Anchorage's luxury home builders.

• Corporate Relocation
  I am the Anchorage broker for Relocation Resources International., a relocation firm with several Alaskan corporate accounts. Oil companies, government agencies and other major employers often use third party relocation services to assist with movement of corporate personnel in and out of Alaska. I often serve as the broker of record in representing the incoming transferee's home search. (That family occasionally becomes a commercial-investment client in Anchorage real estate also.) When the employee departs, I am often the marketing broker representing either the transferee, or the relocation service, if the third party has already acquired the property.

• Undeveloped Land
  Anchorage's land market has been stagnant since an economic decline beginning in 1986. Although the economy rebounded starting in 1989, commercially developed property meets current demand. On the residential side, however, some development is occurring as home building at a rate of about 1200 permits per year is absorbing the inventory that was sold off by FDIC from the assets of failed banks at the bottom of the market.

• Investment Analysis, Consulting
  Development of Annual Property Operating Data on an historic and broker reconstructed basis. Analysis of cash flows on before- and after-tax basis. Projections of internal rates of return and future wealth positions based on a variety of operating and disposition scenarios. Have served as expert witness concerning property valuation. My corporate clients retain me to perform needs analysis regarding their local real estate requirements.

• REO
  During the market decline and subsequent recovery an active REO market developed. I wrote our firm's successful bid to become the principal broker for the REO inventory of Alaska Housing Financing Corp. AHFC was at the time Alaska's largest residential mortgage investor.

• Commercial Leasing
  I have represented landlords and tenants in their lease negotiations for commercial space in offices, warehouses, and office-warehouse facilities. I am one of the few commercial agents who regularly practices tenant representation while not at the same time representing the landlord.