Working with a Buyer ... The 1st Visit to Ocean City, New Jersey
You spend your life looking for Buyers and Sellers ... they are everywhere and anywhere, but sometimes (for each of us) nowhere. Alas, but now you have one ... a first time "resort buyer," certainly wise to the ways of the world, an owner of real estate ... but knowing ever so little about this new world of the second home, the investment property ... the fact that the land value of everything makes it all so very different.
As a former teacher and school administrator, it is quite easy for me to pull out "my old educator's hat," a bit worn around the edges, but functional. Actually I often wear my pink "French Real Estate" baseball cap, or my blue "Beach Notes" baseball cap - not quite as daring. It's all about getting the Buyer up to speed regarding how things work here in Ocean City.
Often I meeting Buyers dropping in the office and just asking questions. The critical point here is to listen closely, answer questions, appear knowledgeable, and accomplish one, or both, of two important tasks before they leave. The first one is fairly easy ... make sure they know who you are, how you can be reached (give them your business card). I have all of this information on every handout I give to Buyers. The second one depends on how well your conversation has gone. You make a friendly effort to obtain the same type of information from them. Since I do a weekly online newsletter, Beach Notes, for Buyers & Owners, I also suggest that they consider sending me an email to get on my "distribution system."
The initial meeting, often a phone conversation or a walk-in short conference, tends to be an initial planning session ... looking for a price range, a property category, a time line, and a mortgage vendor. Generally, I recommend several mortgage vendors and request that they make an initial contact. I talk about timeline to determine how motivated they are so that I can adjust my direction to meet that. Often the property contact is dictated by the price range ... but I also talk about adjusting (if possible) to get them what they might want.
If they are ready, I suggest (and this could happen a month, 3 months, or longer depending on their sense of how quickly they might want to move) that I mail them a packet of sale properties asking them to narrow it down to about ten properties. When they are ready, they give me their selections (some might have sold ... I might add a couple more), and we set up a 3-hour showing time in the future to make the rounds and see about 6-8 sale listings.
I call the last paragraph efforts "an exploratory operation," but sometimes it is a final decision one as well. But after the showings, I always ask for a half hour "debriefing session" ... a time when I listen, respond to questions or comments, and try to steer them forward in the buying process. I try to arrange another time to have a second effort ... maybe just a bit more detailed and tighter than the first one.
Buying a resort property can be a one-to-five year process. Many people take their time; others move right away. The second home and investment property buyer looking in a location like Ocean City, New Jersey ... a small barrier island along the Atlantic Ocean ... often has a history of coming to this location. The move from a visitor or rental tenant to a buyer can be a long step for many people. The realtor has to play many roles in order to take the buyer from the first visit to the final closing. Best of luck! Dap
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