Selling a lake property isn’t as easy as it used to be. The downturn that began in 2006 has continued to keep real estate prices low and waterfront buyers scarce. On top of that, the increased numbers of lakeshore foreclosures and short sales has contributed to this difficult market, and those distressed properties have helped to drag down many others.
It has also forced many agents and brokers, such as myself, to obtain additional training in distressed properties and short sales, so that we can give better guidance to sellers in financial hardship or upside down on their mortgages. With the CDPE designation, it allows me and my agents to work with ALL sellers to create the best possible avenue for them to move on.
But although it is a difficult time to be a seller, it certainly isn’t impossible. Lake homes and cabins do still sell – though not at the same prices they did a few years ago. And if you are moving on to another property, you can generally make it up on the other end, since nearly all real estate prices have come down accordingly.
If you are on a premier lake with a level lot and good shoreline, there is still a lot of demand for properties like yours, so it is very important to make sure it is priced correctly in the beginning. If your lake and lot are more marginal, it will be harder to find the perfect buyer, since they have so many more choice properties to choose from these days. But like anything, it all comes down to supply and demand…and that ALWAYS equates to price!
As a waterfront specialist for more than two decades across Minnesota and Western Wisconsin, I’ve talked to thousands of lakefront buyers during my career. Because of that, I have a strong sense of what it takes to make a lake home or cabin attractive to the greatest number of lookers, and can help give guidance in creating the most appeal so that you don’t miss that one buyer who may come along.
As the broker of Lakehomes.com Realty, I do my best to make sure all my agents see things as I do. Sandy and I created our waterfront business many years ago, and we learned a lot of things by trial and error. Our goal is to continuously pass along that knowledge to each of our real estate professionals so that any one of them can be just as effective for their sellers as we could be. Based on the success rates of our agents, that philosophy seems to work pretty well.
With the Internet being the main focus of all real estate marketing in 2010, Lakehomes.com Realty Agents are fortunate that they don’t have to guess on what might work best to get a lake property sold. We just want them to be good, responsible agents to their clients. And by letting Lakehomes.com be the engine behind their marketing efforts on each listing, we believe that every seller at Lakehomes.com Realty is getting the best exposure they possibly can.
To find out more about how Lakehomes.com Realty can help you with the sale of your waterfront or recreational property, please contact Dan or any of our agents today.
