Recently we received a research request from a REALTOR® on how to market waterfront properties. Read on below for our resources, tidbits, and data findings.
From REALTOR® Magazine:
Marketing top-line features for luxury buyers, (REALTOR Magazine, Jan. 2011): “For Vanderbilt Residences, a year-old residential waterfront development in Newport, R.I., figuring out the defining luxuries inside each of the 16 furnished units was an important first step. There are a lot of vacation homes in the area, and an equally high number of listings along the water.”
Own your niche, (REALTOR Magazine, Jul, 2009): “He built an intricate database of people who owned homes or vacant lots there and then categorized properties by waterfront, lake view, and golf course. He launched a postcard campaign that gave home owners an Apple Valley State of the Market Report, he advertised in the community’s monthly newspaper, and he snapped up a memorable URL, www.applevalleyohio.com. The year after developing his niche, his team’s sales total climbed to 322. The next year, it surpassed his sale-a-day goal, with 380 transactions.”
Get creative with our listing, (YPN Lounge Blog, Feb. 9, 2011). “We’ve been in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and on every online venue we should be. We’ve targeted the agents selling high-end waterfronts with glossy mailers and e-mails. We spent a lot of money having two video tours done – the client didn’t like how the first one came out, so we had to hire a second videographer from New York for a reshoot. The new video came out great and really captures the essence and value of the property being a waterfront. The next step was to make sure people actually see the video. My partner created a killer website for the property. Our listing has a Facebook fan page and Twitter account where I upload new photos and host online contests, etc.”
The prospect warm-up, (REALTOR Magazine, Mar. 2011): “DeBord does that through his Web site and blogs. “We publish as much relevant and useful data for our clients as possible, from market updates to neighborhood guides,” he says. DeBord also writes a monthly blog post for his local newspaper analyzing price trends and reporting significant waterfront home sales.”
Multifamily attracting foreign investors, (REALTOR Magazine, Jun. 14, 2012): “It’s going to be a hot market for the next 18 months to two years” Fisher says. “If you can secure a multifamily property, it will bring off-the-charts money because that’s what buyers want in today’s marketplace […] Waterfront properties are also in high demand right now — I literally receive one or two calls a day from investor pools looking for waterfront multifamily properties.”
Man tries to sell not just home but life on eBay, (REALTOR Magazine, Aug. 13, 2012): “A man is offering up not just his Florida waterfront home and rental condo, but also basically all of his possessions and investments together on eBay, with the asking price of $3.5 million. Shane Butcher decided that instead of dying owning a bunch of his investments, he wants to cash out now so he can reap the financial benefits earlier. He’s offering up a waterfront Tampa Bay home, a rental condo, three cars, kayaks, video games, his gaming business called “RU Game?” with three chains, Blu-Ray players, kitchen appliances, paintings, TVs, and more. Butcher says his homes, cars, business and everything else is all paid off in full. He says he’s looking for a fresh start.”
From Realtor.org:
Stebbins v. Wells: Serious Erosion Problem Could Require Disclosure, (2001)
Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dept. of Env’l Protection: No Taking Found in Florida Case, (2010): “Florida law provides that the state owns all submerged land under navigable waters and the land between the low tide line and the mean high-tide line. Waterfront property owners own the land up to the high-tide line. These property owners have the right to access the water, right to receive “accretions” from the water, and the right to an unobstructed view of the water. A property owner receives ownership of land gradually added to his/her land through accretion (i.e., land created by deposits naturally added from the water source); however, sudden changes causing additional dry land on a beach is an “avulsion” and the state retains the ownership of that property.”
Articles in the ProQuest database:
Heinrich, J. & Kashian, R. (2010). Pricing the homebuyer’s proximity to open land. The Journal of Applied Business and Economics, 11.1: 80-88.
Wyman, D. & Sperry, S. (2010). The million dollar view: A study of golf course, mountain, and lake lots. The Appraisal Journal, 78.2: 159-168.
Clark, C. S. (2012). Hard sell. Government Executive, 44.5: 29-33.
Hoen, B., Wiser, R., Cappers, P., Thayer, M. & Sethi, G. (2011). Wind energy facilities and residential properties: The effect of proximity and view on sales prices. The Journal of Real Estate Research, 33.3: 279-316.
Cazzin, J. & Chapin, A. (2011). Dream city deals. MoneySense, 13.3: 69-72.
eBooks* in the NAR Library for free 21-day checkout to NAR members:
We also have numerous eBooks on sales and marketing topics, including this book, Selling Luxury by Robin Lent (2009). If you’re interested in checking out eBooks, first download the free Adobe Digital Editions software required to view/read eBooks.
Inman also has a few articles related to waterfront properties.
Books in the NAR Library’s print collection (accessible to all REALTORS®; order up to 3 at a time for a shipping fee of $10):
Remaking the urban waterfront (2004)
Downpayment saving, new Kindle next week? and enormous new TVs
How long will it take to save for your home? The Atlantic analyzed data to calculate times for major metro areas. They based their numbers on saving a standard 20 percent down on an average home with a worker making an average wage putting aside 10 percent of earnings each month. Now they use pretty conservative estimates, but if you’re looking to buy in Honolulu it would take over 28 years to save that downpayment. San Francisco is another place where the kids will be in college when you finally buy, coming in at over 20 years.
To get the best prices, don’t buy gas right before a holiday or Wednesday mornings after 10am. Gas stations usually raise their prices before heavily traveled holidays, such as Labor Day and after gas station owners have checked out their competitors’ prices.
Will the Kindle be given away for free some time in the near future? Farhad Manjoo of Slate predicts that it will. Manjoo even thinks that one day signing up for Amazon’s Prime service – $79 a year for fast shipping, streaming content, etc – will net you a free Kindle at some point down the road. And watch out: Amazon shows that Kindle Fires are ‘sold out‘ currently, meaning an update is just days away.
Time reports that Icelanders are more than twice as happy as Americans in general. What can American business learn from our northern neighbors to better our workplaces? Create a community, have a hobby, put family first, and provide healthier food. Oh, and eat fermented shark occasionally…
Love your new flat screen TV? You didn’t think electronic makers were going to let you stop there, did you? Start saving your pennies cause a whole slough of companies announced so-called ’4K’ sets this week. Boasting a resolution of nearly 4000 pixels on the horizontal (vs today’s 1080 pixels on the vertical), most sets start at 84 inches wide. But why stop there? Panasonic recently demo’d an 8k set. Of course there’s no content yet and you’ll have to sit wwaaayyy back but hey, there you go….
Foods fit for a president, marketing musings, and more…
With the recent Supreme Court ruling on the health care law and the 2012 election campaigning running in full gear, there are a lot of rumors going around with regards to tax and real estate. Get the facts straight here and on our health insurance reform web page. The Washington Post also published a succinct and informative article on this topic today.
For a marketing class we read Kotler Marketing Group’s Q&A on marketing. “Satisfy the unment needs of target markets” made us wonder: what unfulfilled needs of your prospects can you satisfy? Perhaps connecting them with an energy efficient mortgage or energy efficient tax credits.
Colleagues in our marketing class have also discussed the pros and cons of holding open houses and using print publications. The concensus? It all depends on your location, the readership of print publications in your area, the generation of buyers and sellers in your area, and what is necessary to provide assurance to your clients that you are working hard for them, espeically when much of what you do is behind the scenes; maybe your clients need something tactile to feel at ease with the process? Our readings for this class include Sales and Marketing 101 for Real Estate Professionals and Marketing Real Estate Properties: The Science and the Magic.
Realtor.com helps homebuyers prepare for the zombie apocalypse with their list of stronghold estates.
And for fun, we give you: foods fit for a president (what the presidents ate when not at official functions). The one thing in common for all, regardless of political party? Indulgent and unhealthy!
Not haunted. Indoor plumbing. Love shack, baby. Phrases not normally seen on For Sale signs. An article in the Wall Street Journal Developments blog highlights the marketing idea of Jake Palmer, a Canadian real estate agent. He likes using the quirky phrases on his For Sale signs as listings go stale. For a house that had been on the market for a year, Palmer updates the phrases weekly to promote interest in the property. Also, the price has been lowered over time to keep the house at the top of the local listing queue. Palmer says “I’m changing that sign every week until the thing sells.”
Recently a member asked us for research on the value of For Sale yard signs. Looking back on our buyer seller surveys, the value of yard signs has only increased over the last 20 years. In 1995, only 37 percent of respondents used yard signs in their home search. That figure rose steadily in the first decade of the 21st century to over 63 percent by 2008. And according to the 2011 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, that value has continued to hold up, with yard signs still the third most commonly used information source in the home search process and 55% of buyers still relying on yard signs to help them find the house they ultimately purchase.
However, a yard sign does more than simply tell people a house is for sale. If you have multiple listings in a neighborhood it signals to residents that you are the local expert with the market knowledge to help when the time comes to sell their house. QR code? Custom website address? A well-maintained sign with a bit of customization signals that you are more than a simple cookie-cutter agent in a giant corporate firm. Someone who will actually care about the listing. A for sale sign should reflect your brand and your style. While not as critical as an internet listing or general REALTOR® market knowledge, for sale yard signs still are a key component of the marketing mix in the home sale process.
While still valuable, yard signs are being targeted by more and more by communities trying to restrict signs or put stronger conditions on their use. Communities fear a plethora of signs can signal a neighborhood in decline. Higher-end communities sometimes seek to limit the ‘visual clutter‘. Be sure you are up to speed on your communities signage regulations.
White House value, goodbye yard signs, and summer travel
A couple of firms have estimated the value of the White House as if it were for sale. A local DC firm has put the asking price of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave at $110 million, though it estimates it would probably close for around $80 million. That figure doesn’t take into account the historic one-of-a-kind nature of the deal. Zillow is more generous, estimating the value at over $220 million, though like much of the country the price has declined over the last year.
Inman’s recent review of The Seven Pearls of Financial Wisdom (on financial guidance for women), piqued our interest. We have a substantial personal finance collection of our own in our library—in both electronic and print.
Are yard signs going the way of the buggy whip in Aspen, Colorado? The Aspen Board of REALTORS® is seeking a voluntary ban on yard signs, in order to eliminate visual pollution. Some approve of the measure, others are in opposition. “The issue of real estate signs in Aspen is not a simple ‘for or against’ question. It’s multi-faceted,” said Will Herndon, President, Coldwell Banker Mason Morse. He defended a firm’s right “to serve our clients’ interests in marketing their properties to the best of our ability within governing codes and regulations of Aspen, Pitkin County and ABOR.”
Fannie Mae, the largest source of U.S. housing funds, said it would not need to request more taxpayer aid this quarter after posting a $2.7 billion profit in the first three months of the year.
Austria’s ‘upside down house’ becomes tourist attraction.
Summer travel season is just around the corner. If your holiday plans include overseas excursions, you might consider getting a credit card that doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee. These bank fees can add up quickly if you’re not careful. Luckily several companies offer cards without these pesky charges.
And credit cards are not the only ones with fees on the rise. Watch out for the airlines, as they nickel and dime their way back to profitability.
Peek behind the scenes at Paramount Pictures as the studio celebrates 100 years with a look at pictures from Life Magazine’s coverage of a massive ‘housecleaning’ that took place in 1970 at the iconic studio.
