La Pointe, WI

An Overseas Buyer Finds one of our Listings on Zillow and Makes the Phone Ring

I haven't had a lot of nice things to say about Zillow in the past, but I have to give them credit for what looks like a promising buyer inquiry. Today, I received an email from an American citizen living in the Malay Archipelago region. He has been browsing Lake Superior homes on Zillow and came across one of our Madeline Island waterfront listings that he found intriguing.

Apparently, this buyer prospect first found us on Zillow, but he has also been watching our virtual tours on YouTube and elsewhere. The virtual tours seem to have gotten his attention. I can tell when a buyer prospect has looked at a property tour many, many times..they always seem to be very familiar with the home's interior, in great detail.

A presence on Zillow could be considered just another tool in an agent's marketing toolkit, but it's not one I'd overlook. Whether you love Zillow or not, whether you agree with the "zestimates" or regardless of what you think about site aggregators selling territories to whatever agent has the cash to buy them, you'd have to agree that a lead is a lead. And some leads are better than others.

While Your Recreational Property is Off the Market this Winter, Buyers are Purchasing Someone Else's Home or Cottage

Quite a few Madeline Island vacation homeowners decide to take their home, condo unit, cabin or cottage off the market during winter months. Many owners of second homes (as well as some real estate agents) believe the idea that you can sell a vacation home during winter is pure fiction, something like believing in the tooth fairy or using your Ouija board to predict the future. As a result, these folks tend to pull their property off the market sometime around Halloween or Thanksgiving and then they wait for the flowers to bloom in springtime before they even think about relisting that property for sale.

The problem is, when you pull your property off the market, it gradually becomes invisible to prospective buyers. And in order to get your place sold, it has to be seen and it must be available for showings.

For example, this winter has turned out to be an outstanding year for winter sales on Madeline Island. In the last two weeks, we've made two pending sales on Madeline Island, one of a fine interior home on over an acre and the other a waterfront estate. Those sellers made a smart move by staying on the market during winter.

[Click on the photo above to view our TourFactory virtual tours of these properties listed by Madeline Island Realty.]

Some agents worry about long market times, thinking that their client's property will benefit from a winter break from exposure to the market. But most MLS systems allow a viewer of an MLS data sheet to view a listing "history" which will show a curious agent how long the property has actually been on the market, regardless of breaks in listing activity.

There's something to be said for continuity. By staying on the market, you avoid seeing your listing disappear from the Web and from an agent's IDX portal. When you take a hiatus from being on the market, you're starting all over again in spring.

Furthermore, many would-be sellers stay on the sidelines too long. They wait until late May or June, sometimes later, to relist their property. And it takes time for your listing to build a presence on search engines. You don't just snap your fingers and expect to find your property on page one for a Google search of your town or county.

Before you let a friend, family member, neighbor or even a real estate agent tell you that winter sales are impossible, ask an agent who sells homes and properties twelve months a year for advice. You might be surprised to learn that others are accomplishing the impossible and they're reaping the rewards in the process.

Yes, Madeline Island Homes DO Sell in Winter

It doesn't happen all that often, but properly priced (and well-marketed) listings on Madeline Island do sell during the winter months. When an offer comes in on one of our home listings, it's cause for celebration. And while any time of year is a great time to make a sale, a serious offer is even more welcome in the month of January.

The prospective buyer tells us she found this listing on our Madeline Island Realty website. She and her husband also viewed this home quite a few times on our YouTube channel and they tell me they scouted the home's exterior using Street View in Google Maps.

I was at the WRA Winter Convention when this offer came in. Wisconsin Realtors Association conventions have always been pretty lucky for me. I received an offer on a Minneapolis home last autumn while I was at the Kalahari Resort for WRA Convention and the year before, I negotiated an offer for a $450,000 waterfront home on Madeline Island while I was attending the WRA Annual Convention.

I frequently tell sellers that it may be a mistake to pull their Madeline Island property off the market during winter months. Even though winter sales are infrequent, there's no reason why a correctly priced home can't be sold during winter.

Buyers Are Using Google Street Views to Preview Madeline Island Homes

Many prospective buyers may not realize that they can get a street view of Madeline Island homes for sale (or many property listings across the United States) simply by using Google Maps with Street View.

You'll need to create a Gmail account, of course. And you can set up Google Maps once you've done that. Not all properties will have street views available. But it makes sense to search Google Street View before you drive three or four hours to look at properties in a vacation destination area like ours.

Here's what I found when I did a Street View search for one of our listings at 2865 North Shore Road, LaPointe WI:

The street view photo wasn't taken in HD and it certainly isn't all that sharp or detailed, but it gives the viewer a very good idea of the street view of this home. And it gave prospective buyers (who had already viewed a virtual tour of the home's interior) enough information to satisfy their curiosity about what the lot and yard looked like, which led to their submitting an offer.

Google Maps and Google Earth also offer satellite and aerial views of some properties. From a consumer standpoint, I find these street views more valuable as a marketing tool.

A street view of your home for sale probably won't sell the property on its own, but it's another piece of the puzzle that may lead to finding your buyer.

The Real Estate Buyer's Bill of Rights

The four important items listed below constitute what I call a "Buyer's Bill of Rights"

• You have a right to choose your own buyer’s agent and to be represented in a transaction by your own agent.

• You have the right to know about all the Madeline Island homes and properties that are currently available for sale, not just the listings that a listing agent wants to tell you about.

• You have the right to request a home inspection before you commit 100% to buying a home.

• You have the right to work with a full-time real estate professional, not a part-timer or a hobbyist or a seasonal agent who works four or five months per year.

I recall speaking with an area agent last autumn who boasted to me that he was able to keep both sides of the commission in a recent transaction because he managed to talk the buyer out of working with a buyer's agent. That’s sad, because using a buyer’s agent wouldn’t have cost that buyer a single cent in this situation. A good agent, an ethical agent wouldn’t pull the wool over your eyes in order to make a few extra bucks.

When you visit our Island and find yourself dazzled by all the scenic beauty and you begin to consider the idea of owning a home or cottage here, stop for a moment and consider the value of working with your own agent. It might not be the best idea to just walk into a real estate office and begin looking at homes with the listing agent. Remember that a buyer's agent looks after your interests, not those of the seller. It's your right to be represented in a real estate transaction.