By far the sales leader in the Southern Arizona luxury-home market, Long Realty Co. once again demonstrates the power of its collaborative culture as three of its affiliated sales professionals—from the same office—come together to represent both sides of the biggest transaction in more than a decade in the exclusive Stone Canyon community.
The listing agents were Brenda O’Brien and her son Michael Lynch, of the Brenda O’Brien Team, with Barbara Bardach representing the buyer. All three agents are with Long Realty’s Oro Valley office, where both O’Brien and Lynch serve as associate brokers. A Stone Canyon resident, Bardach had a buyer (who had been referred by a mutual friend) and contacted Brenda even before the listing went public on MLS.
Located at 1130 W. Tortolita Mountain Circle, in the guard-gated golf community within Oro Valley’s Rancho Vistoso development, the property sold for $3.2 million, with a closing date of Feb. 19. The transaction is the biggest in Stone Canyon since 2008, when another home—on the same street—sold for $3.8 million.
Featured on the cover of a recent issue of the Luxury Living section of Homes & Land Magazine, the four-bedroom, six-bath home overlooks the 15th fairway of Stone Canyon’s championship course near the southern edge of the Tortolita Mountains. The 7,312-square-foot main house offers a host of amenities—a 17-foot-high entry hall, dedicated theater room, four-car garage, fully equipped outdoor-living area and a family room overlooking the 15th fairway of the Jay Morrish-designed Stone Canyon golf course, to name a few. There’s a 564-square foot guest house, too.
None of the agents are strangers to the luxury market: All three have listings—and closings—north of the $3 million mark. Bardach currently represents the Seller of a $3.25 million property also in Stone Canyon; in 2005, Brenda O’Brien sold an estate for $3.7 million, then the highest-price property in Tucson. All are members of Long Realty’s 1926 Circle of Excellence for 2021, Platinum level—the highest rung on the company’s ladder of honors for sales production.
Mother and Son team, O’Brien and Lynch, began their real estate careers in Alaska in the early 1990s before relocating to a warmer climate. Bardach built a career as a top hi-tech sales executive in Silicon Valley and as a labor-relations negotiator before moving to Tucson in 2000, “flunking retirement” in 2004 and becoming a REALTOR® in 2005.
What’s it like to negotiate with another agent from the same office? “We’re not on opposing sides,” Brenda O’Brien said. “We’re working together for a common goal. There’s a willing seller and a willing buyer. We’re the instruments that help them get through the process.”
Bardach seconded the idea. “Our work together was professional, cordial and collaborative,” she said. “This sale illustrates one reason Long Realty leads the market,” said Kevin Kaplan, the company’s vice president of marketing and technology. “Our agents are the utmost professionals and know the path to success is to work together to facilitate transactions that are fair for buyers and sellers alike. This collaborative culture, along with our leading international marketing exposure and knowledge of the market have led us to consistently be the number one luxury real estate company in Tucson, selling almost fifty percent of the luxury homes.”
