By Heather Purucker Bretzlaff/Florida Weekly

You never know what can come from one phone call. Especially one at 5 a.m.

Currently, I have an exclusive listing on Jupiter Island. It is the largest oceanfront parcel available for sale with more than four acres directly on the ocean. It is a fantastic opportunity priced at $10,995,000.

Recently, I received a call at 5:45 a.m. Usually I am awake at this time but I am typically not making or receiving calls from clients. I didn’t recognize the phone number, but hesitantly chose to answer the call. On the other end of the line was a potential buyer for my listing on Jupiter Island. He said he saw an ad in a publication while traveling on his plane. He had just landed in Palm Beach andhada7a.m.meetinginJupiter.He wanted me to meet him at the property at 6:15. It wasn’t even daylight, but I said yes and made the arrangements to be at the property in 30 minutes.

When I arrived, Robert was waiting outside the gates to the property. We walked up the paved pathway just as the sun was rising. It was perfect timing to view the property.

With its rare elevation at nearly 25 feet, you could see nothing but the Atlantic Ocean and one of the most spectacular beaches you could ever imagine, and hear nothing but the gentle ocean breezes. There is nothing to dislike about this property — it offers 875 feet of depth with mature trees and lush landscaping at the entry and a building site that is already cleared and filled where the buyer can build his custom dream estate with views of both the ocean and intracoastal — and have enough property for tennis, bocci or a practice area for golf.

Robert fell in love with it and said he and his wife had been looking for almost six months for the right home. They had not considered building and were looking at luxury golf course communities, as well. This would be a new direction for them, but he would talk it over with his wife, Julia, and bring her back to see the property.

About a week later, Robert called and said his wife wanted to keep looking in golf communities. When Robert is not working, he is playing golf and Julia liked the idea of being in a country club surrounding. Since Robert worked a minimum of 12 to 15 hours a day, he wanted to take a unique approach. He wanted to drive by potential homes between 5:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. He didn’t want to waste any time to see anything that potentially did not fit his criteria.

Our first day of viewing properties, I met him for coffee at 6 a.m. We drove by three homes. We were finished by 6:30 and he didn’t want to schedule any appointments. It wasn’t the community for him. The second time we met, it was again at 6 and he was in a hurry that morning to get to the airport by 6:45. I called the listing agent to let her know that we would be driving by early in the morning. The owners agreed and we were called into security.

This particular neighborhood he liked very much. We drove slowly up and down the street and he got out of the car and walked on the side of the property. As he was getting back in the car, I saw some flashing lights coming down the street and the neighborhood patrol pulled up behind me. The security officer got out of the car and said, “There were two reports that a strange man and woman in a blue vehicle were lurking outside the home of one of our residents.” This was not the security officer who met us at the gate, so he had no idea what we were doing. I explained who we were and why we were there, but he wanted to see our IDs to call back to security and verify. I went to get my license and looked up to see two other neighbors outside watching what was taking place. It was quite comical, but after the officer verified who we were, he moved on. Robert was very impressed with the level of security and ultimately wanted to view the home we drove by.

Robert and Julia came back the next day, this time at 8 p.m. The owners were very gracious, allowing us to see their home at night. The detail was magnificent and just as we viewed the oceanfront property at sunrise, we were able to see this home at twilight; the landscape, outdoor lighting and the fountains by the pool lit up at night were gorgeous.

Since then, we have visited the home two more times within a week and I at this writing, I have a 5:30 a.m. meeting with Robert, to write an offer.

He laughs when I call him my 5 a.m. client, but there are not any others I can say that about. Five a.m. is very early to show property and 8 p.m. is rather late, but they are two of the best times to see a home or property with sunrise and sunset. I may try this more often. ¦

— Heather Purucker Bretzlaff is a broker and Realtor Associate at Fite Shavell & Associates. She can be reached at 722- 6136, or at hbretzlaff@fiteshavell.com.