WHY IS MICHIGAN OUTDOOR PROPERTIES DIFFERENT FROM OTHER REALTORS?

Michigan Outdoor Properties specializes in selling acreage for hunting, recreation, farming, lakefront, cabins, cottages, and homes on acreage. This is typically referred to as “Outdoor Recreational”.

I belong to the SE Michigan Board of Realtors but believe selling Outdoor Recreational properties is a specialized market and requires more than just adding a listing to a Real Estate Board and sticking a sign by the road. It is more than a picture from the road and measurements. Acreage, water, and location are an important part of the total package. I walk and take pictures of every piece of property I list from corner to corner. When someone calls I can tell them if it has hardwoods, swamps, mast crops, soil types, topography, signs of wildlife, food plots, trails… every detail.

I feel certain that we can offer several options that will enhance the marketability of your property should you choose Michigan Outdoor Properties.

WHY LIST WITH A REAL ESTATE AGENT?

People who try to sell their property themselves intend to cut out the middleman, the agent, and avoid paying the associated fees. I understand. I’ve been there myself. The plan is, “Eliminate the agent and I make more profit from the sale.” This isn’t necessarily how things turn out.

Many people find that buyers are unqualified, bargain hunters looking for a good deal, because somewhere along the way they associated “For Sale by Owner” with “Bargain”.

A Real Estate Agent should be doing most of the legwork for you. Finding a buyer is the end goal, properly promoting and advertising your property as well as providing advice, qualifying prospects, and getting your home listed on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) can result in finding that buyer quicker.

A seller can seek to learn the ins and outs of the real estate business, but it takes time. When property comes on the market, the most crucial time is during the first few weeks. Make sure it is priced right to start. If the property has been listed for a while, buyer interest begins to wane, especially if the market favors the buyer. Sellers who represent themselves are likely to misjudge the value of their property. Value is not just a matter of a county assessors figure on a paper. Market trends, location, condition, and attributes all factor into the final sale price. Improperly marketing your property can result in increased time on the market, and potentially selling for less than expected.

When the buyer is represented by an agent, you - the seller - will be forced to negotiate with the agent instead of the buyer. An agent can have an advantage in both knowledge and experience and the seller may find themselves handing over more than planned.

The job of getting a property from listing to closing is not accomplished by one person. There are attorneys, inspectors, appraisers, surveyors, lenders, title companies among others. The seller will spend a significant amount of time working with these people and it can be tedious. A misstep with any of these folks could mean that the deal will end before making it to closing.

Real Estate Laws are constantly changing. Failing to abide by a regulation can have you in a court of law. No one wants that when all you wanted was a fair price for your property.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

I do my best to offer exceptional Customer Service.

In 2008 I was 1 of only 2 agents nationwide at Cabela’s National Conference awarded special recognition for Customer Satisfaction.

In 2010 I received the “The Pinnacle Club” award from United Country for sales associates who achieved over 1M in closed sales volume in one year. Total for 2010 was almost 2M.

Every other week all my clients receive an update detailing calls, emails, web hits and showings on their property.

Monthly I send out E-Newsletters to all past and present clients.

My goal is to sell your property and earn your confidence enough to be recommended to friends and family.

PRICE

Don’t let a Realtor try to “buy” your listing by telling you your property is worth more than it actually is. Base your price on RESENT SOLD com parables not un-sold listed properties. Ask for a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) from any Realtor.

Many people think a Realtor tries to get owners to “give away” a property. Honestly, that doesn’t make sense since the more money you make the more money I make.

It’s a Buyer’s Market—good news for buyers and not so good for sellers. Make sure your property is priced right the first time. If your starting price is high you will lose buyers in the early market advantage of a new listing. Once you miss those buyers and drop your price you are then “Chasing the Market”. After a property has had multiple price reductions buyers may view your property as stale or think there is something wrong.

Keep in mind that a bank will only finance 80% of the appraised price. Appraisers can use Short Sales and Foreclosed Sales as comparables when determining fair market value.

The market has changed. If you ask me what your property is worth I will give you an honest answer based on data and experience.

ADVERTISING

Most people looking for real estate shop “on-line” before contacting a Realtor. With millions of web sites it’s impossible to make sure every piece of property is seen on every web site BUT we try! How? We pay for a few different services that disseminate our listings to hundreds of web sites.

One of the services we use is called Lands of America. When we send them a listing it goes back out to over 350 other web sites. Isn’t technology amazing? Instead of listing all the Lands of America web sites you can go to www.landsofamerica.com. Click on the advertising tab. In the first box click again and it will display all the places listings are seen on the worldwide web.

Another service we use is IRA2000.com. When we checked into IRA2000 we learned about web sites we never knew existed like www.TuscolaRealEstate.com and WestBranchRealEstate.com. We learned that most cities and/or counties have sites like these. Some other web sites IRA2000 uses are: Michigan-Properties.com, Michigan-MLS.com, MI-RealEstate.com, IRAMichigan.com, RealEstateMichigan.net, Michigan-RealEstate.net, MichiganAcreage.com, Michigan-FarmLand.com, Michigan-HuntingLand.com, Michigan-Vacation.com, Michigan-Waterfront.com and Golf-HomesMichigan.com.

We also use LandWatch.com, LandAndFarm.com and UnitedCountry.com to disseminate listings to other web sites.

At times new listings and price changes are posted to forums like michigan-sportsman.com and moabhunting.com. We use Craig’s List and even after sorting through all the spam… we get a fair response.

MichiganOutdoorProperties.com is the company web site and the site you are on, Hunting4Land, is my personal site. Hunting4Land has been with me since I first started selling real estate and is now an LLC with Michigan Outdoor Properties.

Print advertising is a hard media to cover. By far, Woods-N-Water Magazine has given us the biggest return of any print media. We’ve been in Woods-N-Water magazine nearly every month for a few years. That consistency has paid off.

We love going to outdoor shows! Every September we will be found at Outdoor Weekend in Imlay City. It has been Number 1 for us in making contacts with new buyers. We’ve also taken part in shows in Midland, Novi, Birch Run, and Lansing to name a few.

Outdoor Recreational is a specialized market and requires a specialized approach to marketing.

HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO SIGN A LISTING AGREEMENT?

I like to list properties for a minimum of 3 months but prefer 6 months because… it takes time to get a listing up and running on all the web sites. Because I get such a good response from Woods-N-Water Magazine I like to get new listings in print as soon as possible. It is a monthly magazine and I have to have the ad done 3 weeks before it hits the stands. Depending on when a new, 3 month listing is signed it may only appear in the magazine 2 times before the listing expires. Exposure is important in finding buyers.