The busy spring and summer home selling season is about to hit and buyers can’t wait. Right now we have a list of folks who are craving lakefront living and Lake Mendota is the one Madison lake that's most frequently mentioned. There’s a lot to consider when you decide to sell waterfront property so if you’ve decided that 2016 is the year you’ll sell your Lake Mendota home, read on.
Pricing your Lake Mendota home
The method real estate agents use to determine a property’s current market value won’t work with waterfront property. It can’t – it involves comparing one home to others that are similar in age, size, amenities and location, among other criteria. Waterfront properties aren’t tract homes, so how does one compare the incomparable? From the actual location on or near the lake to the home itself, it takes waterfront home listing experience and market knowledge to pin down the perfect listing price.
Marketing a lake home
This may seem like the understatement of the century, but not all homes are alike. Why then, do so many real estate agents use the same marketing plan whether the home they’ve listed is a condo, a tract home, luxury home or lakefront property? We call it the “list and pray” plan: They stick a lockbox on the door, enter the home’s information into the MLS database and then pray that another agent will bring in the buyer. I once heard a top agent in our MLS say it out loud at a holiday drinks party a few years back. "We just list 'em and wait for other agents to bring us a buyer," she exclaimed shamelessly. Wow.
The truth is, it takes money to properly market a home, especially one that appeals to a certain segment of the buyer pool. Marketing materials must be geared to that specific audience, selling the lifestyle that waterfront living provides as well as the home. This can get quite expensive and may be more costly than a newly-minted, part-time or less successful listing agent can swing. A robust marketing budget is something we here at Lake & City Homes pride ourselves on. We never cut corners and always include a multi-media approach to our marketing.
Have questions about how to get your Lake Mendota home ready for sale? From staging tips (specific to lakefront property) to market valuations, we’re happy to share our knowledge with you.
Posted by Jolenta Averill on