What is the first thing you should do when showing a buyer a property?

Stop at the gas station and fill up. This will communicate to your client that showing properties cost real money. Another great idea from bloodhoundblog.

We just re-launched the LakePlace.com For Sale By Owner section! Some people may ask why we would do such a thing - after all, we are a full-service real estate brokerage. The answer is simple. Our goal has always been to create the BEST resource for lake property buyers - we feel we cannot truly accomplish this goal if we do not make FSBO advertisements available on LakePlace.com.

We get 5-10 emails every day from people who are going to give it a shot on their own - while we have tried to explain that selling a property, especially a non-primary property, is a difficult endeveour, it is obvious that many, many people would still like to give it a shot…and now they can.

All FSBO ads include up to 12 pictures and an unlimited description. The ad runs for 6 months for $250 (about the cost of running 2 tiny Sunday ads in a metro newspaper). If the property does not sell after 6 months, the seller will have a few of options available. First, they can just cancel their ad and that’s it. Second, they can renew their ad for an additional 6 months. Third, they can list with our full-service brokerage. Once a seller decides to list with us, we will put our full 25 point marketing plan (which includes several MLS boards) to work on their behalf. Once we sell their property, we will refund the original $250 FSBO advertisement cost.

We think it is a pretty good deal for those that would like to take a shot at selling their property on their own.

LakePlace.com just got a little mention in Kiplinger’s. They called us a couple of months ago because they were doing a story on the vacation home market - and they wanted to include the Midwest. Their senior editor flew in to Minneapolis and we set him up to tour some available properties in the $250k-$300k price range with some of our star agents (in the areas he was interested in). The article just hit Kiplinger.com if you are interested in reading it.

If you are a buyer - now is a terrific time to be shopping for lake properties in the Midwest. The NAR reports that vacation home sales were down 30% in 2007, and while LakePlace.com is having a record year, we are getting reports from the field that 2008 is not looking pretty - which means you will be running into some very motivated sellers.

If you are a seller - you may want to do some deep research on the companies you are thinking about listing with. The vast majority of lake property buyers come out of the major metro areas - and with 80%+ starting their search online - it is very important to see what type of internet presence each brokerage has. If you would like to find out why LakePlace.com has listed more than 100 properties in a few short months - feel free to ask us about our 25 point marketing plan -=)

Happy lake home and land hunting!