What more to look for in selecting an agent to exclusively list and market your property?  A seller is also going to be signing up with a specific brokerage firm.  So another thing that I recommend Miami Beach sellers look for – the overall strength and international marketing reach of the brokerage firm that the individual real estate agent is affiliated with.

One of the reasons that my team and I work with Fortune International Realty is that this is a financially strong company that has represented well over 50 large-scale national and international developers, with over 1,000 individual agents, with international marketing resources in Europe and most especially in South America.  Fortune International Realty is also a locally based company (with Argentine family origins), that has the resources and management expertise that understands unique local market needs and challenges.  So in interviewing prospective listing agents, my recommendation is to also inquire about the Brokerage firm- ask your agent why they work with their specific brokerage firm.  Keep in mind that you will be hiring the company that he is affiliated with, along with the agent.

This is my first blog post of the year, so I would like to wish everyone reading this a healthy and prosperous 2008! During my first full week back to work, I’d like to take a few moments to reflect on some of the different seller scenarios that I have most recently encountered:

Scenario #1: SHOULD HAVE SOLD LAST YEAR (Late on mortgage/tax payments, cannot continue with the fixed expenses, probably purchased property after 2003). Often characterized as a short sale with sale terms controlled by the lender. However, often times, the owner still gets to pick the Realtor/brokerage firm.

It is critical to be priced correctly from the start, and that the marketing be handled by an experienced, knowledgeable, detail-oriented, and top producing real estate salesperson/team. This should be someone that will be aggressive AND creative in the marketing of the property (be it a home, condo, or land). It is crucial to be working with a company/agent at the top of their field, and who will be a straight talker, positive but realistic, and gives the seller a good feeling that they will follow up with any and all potential buyers. I have recently seen several of these properties in Miami Beach, that are being poorly marketed. The owners (and banks) do not realize what this is potentially costing them.

Scenario #2: NEED TO SELL (Possible health reasons, relocating, retiring, some financial pressure, misc. life circumstances).

It is critical to price the property correctly from the start. I am writing this on January 10, 2008, and have personally spoken to over twenty potential buyers over the past week (and made two offers thus far within 10% of the asking price). Looking at recently closed sales (within three months), properties that are priced to sell usually receive lots of activity and sometimes multiple offers. These also are properties that are on the market for no more than 45 days. Obviously, the marketing needs to be handled by an experienced, knowledgeable, detail-oriented, and top producing real estate salesperson/team. Shockingly, I’ve seen several properties in South Beach that fall under this category, that are being poorly represented (no return phone calls/emails, disconnected phone numbers, agents that seem to have other jobs and don’t really care anymore, as well as poor pictures and text descriptions).

Scenario #3: CASHING OUT (Opportunity for greater returns from owning something else, owner of many years, general desire to move on).

We are certainly not at the top of the market, however, certain properties still receive strong buyer interest. Examples are certain PH-type units with unique locations/views/floorplans, and waterfront turnkey showcase homes in unique locations with strong curb appeal). Yesterday, I had the opportunity to see a comparison of SE Florida property prices versus major European/Caribbean and South American markets. Property in the greater Miami area is still relatively inexpensive, and the weak dollar is attracting a large percentage of European (especially Russian), Canadian, and some South American buyers. I am finding particularly strong buyer interest in Miami Beach and especially South Beach. Island waterfront homes, and South of Fifth Street (South Beach) premium location condo buildings are especially sought after by European buyers.

This past week, I had the privilege of working with one of the most skilled and capable real estate attorneys in the business. She delivered one of the smoothest closings that I have ever had, and all parties involved in the transaction were thrilled! To celebrate, we went out to lunch and my team and I were very honored and proud that she also told us that we were the best real estate brokers/salespeople she had ever worked with in her many years of practice.

I’m communicating this here not to stroke my ego, but to inform anyone reading this the importance of working with experienced, detail-oriented, flexible, informed, and skillful Realtors in this challenging real estate environment. In a seller’s market with many buyers and limited inventory, I believe that the Realtors handling of the negotiation and transaction process (from contract execution to closing) is not quite as critical. However, in this market, where we have a growing inventory of unsold property and a scarcity of buyers it is CRUCIAL to work with a real estate salesperson that will use all of their skills, knowledge, relationships, intelligence, professional contacts, and most importantly *experience* to guide a transaction to a successful closing.

In the case of the this week’s sale, I represented the buyer, and it should be noted that the sellers were representing the estate of a deceased (very wealthy) property owner and were very eager to stop the financial losses associated with owning an empty property for over two years. The sellers had to bring almost $250,000 to the closing table, which I am finding the scenario increasingly common among sellers who purchased after 2003.

My team and I are finding our time VERY limited these days, and our commitment is to providing the strongest and most innovative marketing resources and services for our sellers (and finding best deal for buyers). Therefore, we are increasingly having to choose what type of clients and who we work with (especially sellers). I urge anyone looking to buy or sell today, to carefully consider the overall strength, market knowledge, personality, experience, and marketing resources of the Realtor that they choose to work with. Additionally, also consider that in today’s market a top producing Realtor (at the top of his/her game) will also be evaluating a potential client’s ability to work with them.

One of the questions my team and I continually ask ourselves is:

“If I were a buyer/seller today, would I work with me?”