Boyd Realty (Sarasota Business Magazine
February 2005)
The Boyd family legacy of real estate excellence began in
Manatee County in 1952, and continues today due to the drive
and devotion of Brenda Boyd May.
Visionary developer Wilbur Boyd Sr. set his sights on buying
and selling land throughout the county over 50 years ago.
His real estate success parlayed him into a 20 year political
career as a state legislator. Today the widely familiar Boyd
name still stands for integrity and professionalism, as his
daughter carries on the tradition of growth and expansion
in the family-owned Boyd Realty firm. Her pride and dedication
to her roots, as well as her career, places May at the forefront
of the real estate market in Manatee County.
Boyd Realty offers "niche properties", as May refers
to her business. "Our focus is on 'agrichic' properties
as well as coastal living properties with charm and character"
on Anna Maria Island, the River District (an established neighborhood
near downtown Bradenton), and Ocala, rather than mass marketing.
"I take my business from the beach to the barnyard,"
says May. She points out that her family also owns Catcher's
Marina on Holmes Beach and the Anna Maria Island Beach Resort.
Furthermore, they have begun purchasing farms and vacant land
in the center of the state, opening the Double M Land office
in Marion County this past January.
May is assisted on the home front and in business by husband
Milt May, a former major league baseball player and coach,
and son Scott May. Wilbur "Weston" Boyd III has
just joined the company. The Boyd Realty family is highly
qualified to compete with the best, says May. "We're
not the biggest fish in town, but we swim with the sharks
everyday!"
Mingling Business and Whimsy (Bradenton
Herald Oct 2004)
When she was a little girl Brenda Boyd used to ride with
her dad, Wilbur, all over Manatee Country as he looked at
real estate he was buying or selling.
Today, the daughter of the developer and 20-year state legislator
is adding her whimsical touches to the business he established
in 1952.
First there were the black and white checks bordering her
signs, repeated on antique painted furniture in her office
and reinvented as bright-colored checks on her fish logo.
Then there was the new vocabulary she invented to describe
neighborhoods in Manatee County - "agrichic" for
the decidedly un-barn like new construction on large rural
lots, "River District" for an established neighborhood
near downtown Bradenton bordered on the north by the Manatee
River, and "Coastal Living" referring to waterfront
homes that are one of the firm's specialties ('Think local,
buy coastal," is her motto).
Boyd Realty is a boutique firm that focuses on the character
and charm of niche markets, in keeping with the personality
of the broker/owner, a vivacious mother of two and grandmother
of five. The company sells properties currently on the market,
some before they got to the market, and some that never get
on the market, she says, adding, "We are not the biggest
fish in town, but we swim with the sharks every day!"
May employs 11 associates, including her daughter and daughter-in-law,
and is proud that the firm is a third-generation, family business.
The Boyd family created and built more than 25 projects in
Manatee and Sarasota counties, including the Bradenton Financial
Center downtown and Pinnacle Plaza in Bradenton. Boyd realty
has handled more than 25 developments for other developers.
With an impressive list of developments and exclusive agency
agreements, the private client broker says the more personal
her sales, the better; her favorites include first-time home
buyers who are friends of her children.
May's newest project is transforming the former Bud Jones
nursery in Northwest Bradenton into a new development with
13 single-family homes in partnership with two other longtime
Manatee families, the Jones' and the Zollers.
She and her husband, Milt May, a former major league baseball
catcher and coach, split their time between their Riverview
Boulevard home and one on Anna Maria Island, where the company
has two offices, Catchers Marina, 5505 Marina Drive in Holmes
Beach and renovated cottage at 309 Pine Ave. Anna Maria. A
third renovated cottage office is at 410 22nd St. W. in Bradenton. |
