Christine R. Sutherland, REALTOR® CIPS, TRC, e-Pro

About Myself

My real estate career began in the early 1990 in Connecticut, where I sold luxury homes in Greenwich, Darien, New Canaan, Norwalk and Westport. I have always been very fond of historic homes and was delighted when the United States National Trust devised a course for real estate agents to sell "antique" homes. After completing the course I specialized in the marketing of historic homes and issued a monthly newsletter (Why are Barns Red?) to owners of such homes in Fairfield County.

Regrettably there are not many antique homes in Southwest Florida but the experience has taught me about changing building techniques and finding the right "hook" (historic or otherwise) to market local Floridian homes.

I live on the beach and am obviously well versed in anything connected with the Gulf of Mexico. Remember that SW Florida is "The other West Coast of the USA" with nightly glorious sunsets into the balmy waters of the Gulf!

My customers tell me that I have great attention to details, tenacity and a flexible mind. Most of my sellers and buyers are referrals from people I helped to sell or purchase homes previously.

My "niche" is waterfront properties, on the Gulf, on the Bay, on a river or canal, on a lake, with or without boat docks. I serve on Collier County's FEMA Floodplain Management Advisory Committee to keep abreast of the latest FEMA developments.

Since I live in a condominium I am very interested in common interest community matters (= condominium and homeowners associations) and have been known to drive to our capital, Tallahassee, to speak with our state legislators.

I have gained the Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS) designation held by only just over 2,000 agents in the world which has helped me with marketing local property overseas and better assisting overseas buyers here in Southwest Florida.

Moving to Naples, Florida, was my husband's idea as he never wanted to experience snow again. He saw an newspaper article which stated that the area of Florida south of Lake Okeechobee was snow and frost proof. Having lived in various countries, I am happy that we chose the Naples area to move to. Many of our purchasers buy second homes to over winter ("snow birds"), or just to vacation in, and we have a good proportion of foreign buyers and sellers, too.

Naples is a very affluent area and dealing with many 2nd home buyers in my 10 years in real estate here I only twice had buyers who applied for a mortgage, all other transactions have been cash with the usual closing in four weeks. Aren't we lucky here in Naples?

For REALTORS®

MARKET2BUYERS - Lead Incubation

The KEY to converting Internet leads to customers is to engage in dialogue. You cannot just broadcast listing information and expect that broadcast to turn a click into a client. Most realtors are frustrated in dealing with Internet leads. The potential buyers are slow to respond and too early in the buying cycle.

I have invested in a software program called Market2Buyers. The biggest mistake that we see 99 out of 100 realtors make is treating buyer leads like dirt -- on the assumption that nobody from the Internet actually wants to buy a home in the next month or two. When I first started online, I was one of those agents. If this how you think, I don't blame you!
• It's HARD finding the patience to incubate leads into true prospects that you know will want what you're selling.
• It's HARD to create a relationship that compels your prospects to purchase from you, especially if you don't have
the systems in place to help you incubate that lead over a six to ten month time period.
• Everything that goes into creating and maintaining an effective relationship with Internet prospects is hard, very
hard work.

What if there was a simple way to leverage the time and effort of others to help manage your Internet relationships and all you had to do was input the name, email adress and phone number of your "lead"?
What if:
• the Marketing process was designed by seasoned Internet marketing veterans?
• the Incubation process was operated by a service which notified you when each prospect was ready for a call or a visit?
• the Feedback from each client was used to determine the next step of their individual incubation process?
• the System alerted you to take action when required, but otherwise ran itself?

Introducing Market2Buyers!
Market2Buyers users are maintaining relationships with literally thousands of Internet prospects. HomeGain announced Market2Buyers had produced a 2256% Return on Investment on the top agent's Internet advertising. It is working for him and soon it could be working for you.

The end result? You will have more time for yourself and for the clients visiting with you in person. You will obtain a higher conversion rate taking prospective Internet buyers from being a mere click to a lead to a prospect and ultimately a client. You will make more money because you will get to spend time on what you do best -- sell houses.

Your leads are sent daily updates of new or repriced listings which meet their specific criteria, they are given their own personal website to conduct searches and save properties, when they indicate interest in a property they receive a neighborhood map showing them relative pricing of other homes, and through all this they come to trust you.

Our existing agents clients report that having Market2Buyers incubate their Internet leads increases their conversion rate by more than 35-50%. Just one extra sale will pay for the system for a year or more.

If you want further information or wish to sign up, just email me and I'll send you:

• a sample agent web site
• a sample daily email
• a sample relative pricing map
• a sample relative pricing email
• a sample agent dashboard.
• the sign-up to sample the program as a prospect (lead).
• the report "Marketing to Internet Buyers" (PDF)
• the Market2Buyers result of a survey of thousands of Florida Agents

What customers say about Christine

Christine is awesome, she never gives up! She helped is during an extremely difficult and drawn-out deal with patience and tenacity.
Gene & Donna Gabriel, Boston

Christine is a gem, you are very lucky she has chosen to work for your company.
Hilary & Charles Edward Wilcoxen, St. Louis