Palm Point: The Lone Sale

Palm Point is an intriguing neighborhood that exemplifies the rich rewards of Florida living. Sixty four of the 70 properties enjoy bridgeless, deep water access to the Gulf of Mexico (Click here for photo gallery).

I purchased a 2nd home as an investment here in October 2004, and sold it for a modest profit in June 2006.

According to the local MLS system, this is the only home that has sold in Palm Point during all of 2005, 2006, and 2007. Why is that? The answer is pricing and marketing.

Pricing

If a home is priced correctly, it will sell in any market.

During the post2k real estate boom, pricing was not critical because if the price was too high, the appreciating market caught up to the inflated price and the property eventually sold.

However, in a market that is stagnant or even declining, pricing is critical.

If the price is not on the mark in a down market, the seller ends up "chasing the market down". This rarely works because the market decline typically exceeds the price reductions.

If the market is stagnant, time also works against the seller because inflation continues to erode the compensation you receive when the home is does sell.

In short, pricing is critical in a stagnant or declining market, and in any market where the seller desires a quick sale.

The outstanding characteristics of this home were it's location in Palm Point, and the deep water canal with boating facilities in the backyard. I priced the home so that it offered more value per dollar than any other home in the area. I refer to this as "jumping ahead of the market".

The home sold in just 72 days and produced a list of 5 buyers eager to present an offer in the event the first buyer was unable to secure financing. As of 10/04/07, it remains the only Palm Point home successfully marketed and sold since late 2004. That's the benefit of relying on a pricing specialist to list your home.

Marketing

The marketing campaign I designed to complete the quick sale of the Palm Point home employed the same techniques I use to market most of my listings. I place heavy emphasis on creativity and out of the box thinking so that your home stands out among the crowd.

Listed below are some of the creative marketing strategies I created to sell this home quickly.

Virtual Tour

Complete with Wildlife Videos

I created a web site (virtual tour) that is unlike any you've seen before. It includes aerial photos taken from a plane. It includes additional photos from a tower truck to demonstrate the potential view from a 2nd or 3rd floor. It also included videos of bald eagles soaring overhead, a dolphin swimming in the canal, manatees in the area, and a virtual drive through the neighborhood.

Click here to see the virtual tour.

On the Fly, Targeted Signs

Realizing that this home had great appeal to boaters, I created custom signs promoting the home. I placed them at various boat shows and water related events from Grove City to Boca Grande (see sign at right).

Because I have my own sign-making equipment, I was able to able to create the signs on the fly as events were announced, insuring the home had maximum exposure.

Every marketing effort, big or small, increases the probability of a quick sale. In fact, this sign is what brought the home to the buyer's attention.

Using Planes To Market Palm Point

Palm Point is just one Cape Haze neighborhood that requires an aerial view to fully appreciate the beauty and proximity to the surrounding waterways and neighborhoods.

To accomplish this, I took photos of the home from a plane. I then imprinted into the "for sale" sign, and used others for flyers and the virtual tour.

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Aerial Photos of Palm Point

Thousands of Dollars in Free Publicity

Suncoast Media Editor Kim Cool writes a "featured home" story that showcases a single home each week. It is printed in color on the front page of the real estate section, and is published 6 major newspapers.

The odds of having Kim showcase your home is less than 1 in 10,000, depending on how many homes are on the market. I used tower shots, aerial photos, and a walking tour of the neighborhood to demonstrate that this was truly a remarkable home in a remarkable location.

The home sold the same week the story ran, and produced a list of backup offers.

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