Special offer

How about some fish, a show and some land?

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC BK607690

Land SharksOK, you'll like this one. I've recently been communicating with a Seller that wants to list and sell a couple of vacant building lots in Poinciana. The lot market in Poinciana has pretty much dried up since most of the builders moved out of the area last year.

During the peak of the market, 2005, a building lot in Poinciana would fetch about $60,000 to $70,000. These were incredible prices since as recently as 2002 you could find lots in the $5,000 to $7,000 range. Sure wish I would have bought about 50 of those...but nooooooooo.......I'm an idiot!!!!

This guy's lots are now worth about $30,000 each, assuming we could even find a Buyer. Anyway, he sent me an email asking if I heard of a company.....let's call them....Surf and Turf, Inc.

I picked this name because one of their marketing techniques is bringing Buyers and Sellers together through promotional Dinner Shows. Have a piece of fish, watch a show and buy a lot. Does this work? I don't know.

What I do know is that they are NOT licensed agents. They are in fact, a Nationwide Advertising and Marketing company that specializes in vacant land.

And.....Why spend thousands on realtors with rock solid contracts that don't allow you to sell? Especially when....The real estate market across the country is better than it's ever been. Anytime is a good time to sell!

Those are their words....not mine.

Now folks, I'm a firm believer in free enterprise. If it works.....go for it. BUT....here's my problem with these types of "Marketing Companies". Actually let me just tell you what they told my lot guy.

"We will sell your lot's in 90 days for $120,000 each. All you need to do is cut us a check for $1,897.00!!!"

Where did they get that $120,000 figure from? My guess is they pulled it out of their arse!! But hey, what do they care? It's all about the upfront fee. IF....this Seller were not already well informed, by me, he could have very easily wasted $1,897.00. AND.....may have believed his $60,000 worth of Real Estate was actually worth $240,000!!! Incredible.

So folks, be careful out there. Do your research before hiring a "Marketing Company" instead of a REALTOR®. If not, you may very well be buying dinner and a show for a lot of "Buyers". I do hear the fish is excellent though? What say you?

****Image courtesy of TLW and ROAR! Productions.

Sell Poinciana Real Estate Poinciana Real Estate Poinciana Real Estate Poinciana Real Estate Agent

Copyright © 2008 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

Bryant Tutas
Broker/Owner
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker
http://www.brokerbryant.com/
***The content of this blog is solely my opinion*** 

Posted by

 

Join Our Facebook Fan Page Check Us Out On Google+ Follow Us On Twitter

 

***I am NOT an Attorney nor do I play one on TV. Click the button below for my Bio.

The BIO for Bryant Tutas

 

 Tutas Towne Realty, Inc handles Florida real estate sales, Florida short sales, Florida strategic short sales, Florida pre-foreclosure sales, Florida foreclosures in Kissimmee Florida Short Sales, Davenport Florida Short Sales, Haines City Florida Short Sales, Poinciana Florida Short Sales, Solivita Florida Short Sales,  Orlando Florida Short Sales, Celebration Florida Short Sales, Windermere Florida Short Sales. Serving all of Polk, Osceola and Orange Counties Florida. Florida Short Sale Broker. Short Sale Florida.

 Copyright © 2017 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

Comments(38)

Lisa Hill
Florida Property Experts - Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona Beach Real Estate
Well there's an interesting way to get around the real estate licensing laws. And now that we know where they're getting their ideas, I can understand the stench ;)
Apr 23, 2008 01:19 PM
Karen Luke
South Metro Property Management, LLC - McDonough, GA
Henry County Real Estate
Good grief. There seems to be no rules if you don't have a license to sell real estate and a ton of rules if you do have a license to sell real estate. Sooner or later some poor chap will be telling his story on Dateline how he got scammed by these people.
Apr 23, 2008 01:32 PM
Katerina Gasset
The Gasset Group & Get It Done For Me Virtual Services - Provo, UT
Amplify Your Real Estate & Life Dreams!

Bryant- I thought that this sounds like practicing real estate without a license is a felony in Florida. I am wondering how do they get away with this?
Byowner does have a broker. Even though they say on their billboards, NO BROKERS! What a joke! 

The one is WE buy ugly houses. They flip the properties in escrow without the knowledge of the homeowners.  

Apr 23, 2008 02:25 PM
Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman
Liberty Homes - Mililani, HI
(RA) AHWD CRS ePRO OAHU HAWAII REAL ESTATE

You mean it's not a good time to buy? How come they can advertise and everyone runs to believe their crap and on the other hand...we licensed agents try to be up front and honest about our local markets....and they have a hard time believing we are thinking in their best interests?

Even people who relocate here from say...there. They believe it's the same all over.

Apr 23, 2008 06:24 PM
Neal Bloom
Brokered by eXp Realty LLC - Weston, FL
Realtor CRS-Weston FL Real Estate

BB,

Thats pretty cheap...when the market was strong my area was fetching about 500K per acre. Back in 2001...demucked was doe about 185K...I'm not sure what it is now but about 6 months ago it still was expensive...there isn't much land left here to build on and many look for horse acreage so it's a luxury to get it here so they charge a higher price.

Apr 24, 2008 12:01 AM
Rob Arnold
Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. - Altamonte Springs, FL
Metro Orlando Full Service - Investor Friendly & F
I say they need a real estate license.  They can call themselves whatever trade they want.  That doesn't mean they can avoid the license.  I assume they can show results of similar 120K sales in the area that they have obtained??? If not, I will be happy to list it for only $1797 upfront :-)
Apr 24, 2008 01:26 AM
Tom Plant
WINEormous.com - Murrieta, CA
Bryant - There are a lot of sleazeballs running around. If we keep shining a light on them hopefully they'll scurry off.
Apr 24, 2008 08:10 AM
Bryant Tutas
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC - Winter Garden, FL
Selling Florida one home at a time

Carol, You are right that the potential to make big bucks is certainly there. The Internet is a HUGE place. You only need $$$ from a very minute percentage to make a great profit. In fact I'm still trying to figure out to get 10,000 people to give me $100 :)

I guess the moral of this post is that the consumer has to be very very careful out there!!!! It is very easy to be separated from your money.

Now this is what I need all you folks to do: Make out a check for $100 to:

Broker Bryant's Marlin Fishin' Fund
1234 Sun Ray Marina
Costa Rica 45678

THANKS FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION!!!! ONLY 9,974 MORE TO GO!!!! 

 

Apr 24, 2008 09:28 AM
"The Lovely Wife" The One And Only TLW.
President-Tutas Towne Realty, Inc. - Kissimmee, FL

Blog Boy...

Why don't we do what we saw another Blogger do?

Remember? We can ask every member to send us a dollar.

That's a total of $80,000. That will almost cover my allowance :)

TLW...ROAR!

Apr 24, 2008 09:50 AM
Kelly Sibilsky
Licensed Through Referral Connection, LTD. - Lake Zurich, IL
Do you get fries with that???
Apr 24, 2008 09:59 AM
Kathy McGraw
CELLing Realty - White Water, CA
Riverside County CA Real Estate
BB-funny but I had a gentleman contact me from AR and want to list his property; vacant land.  Land in my area is about the same as you mentioned.  So we did some comps, I know this area very well, and know that there are some high priced listings, but they don't sell.....they are just high priced listings.  So, I write the guy, give him my opinion, etc.  All good....then today he sends me links to 2 of the high priced listings....and wanted to know if I knew of these.  Yes, I did. they are part of the CMA, and close to his property......ones that aren't selling.  The strange part of this is the Agent is excellent, but their expertise isn't this area....it's a Mountain and lifestyle away :)  I hope I end up with the same result as you....an informed, realistic seller :)
Apr 24, 2008 01:08 PM
Terry & Bonnie Westbrook
Westbrook Realty Broker-Owner - Grand Rapids, MI
Westbrook Realty - Grand Rapids Forest Hills MI Re
I am afraid we have a few of These in our market and the sellers are so unhappy after the experience they try to avoid all Realtors since we are all alike.
Apr 24, 2008 02:15 PM
Barbara-Jo Roberts Berberi, MA, PSA, TRC - Greater Clearwater Florida Residential Real Estate Professional
Charles Rutenberg Realty - Clearwater, FL
Palm Harbor, Dunedin, Clearwater, Safety Harbor
Bryant - Here is the sad part: many people will STILL think that these people are somehow working with realtors and when the story is retold about how they got shafted, it will have realtors involved! These guys should be taken to court!
Apr 24, 2008 11:34 PM
Utah Dave
UtahDave.com Neighborhood Experts - South Jordan, UT
Homes for Sale - Utah
Very interesting.  Ive been seeing people get busted for not having a license doing stuff like that lately.   So Broker B.....thanks for the comments the other day. I enjoyed learning your insight.
Apr 25, 2008 04:27 AM
Lisa Hill
Florida Property Experts - Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona Beach Real Estate
I think I sent you an e-mail a while back, about a question on Trulia, about real estate in Poinciana. Answers are still being posted. In case you wanted to contact the seller, here's the link: http://www.trulia.com/voices/Market_Conditions/What_is_the_expected_recovery_time_for_investors_w-21536--
Apr 25, 2008 04:54 PM
Sarah Nopp
South Sound, WA

whoooaaaaa.....

really?

Guarantee????

Can I get a piece of that action???

Apr 25, 2008 06:12 PM
Jeremy Blanton
Myrtle Beach Homes Blog - Myrtle Beach, SC
Myrtle Beach REALTOR®- myrtlebeachhomesblog.com
So, Katerina said I need to kiss up to you to get more featured posts...I dunno though...the picture on the bed was kinda scary...I am not sure if I could deal with that much closeness!
Apr 26, 2008 02:07 AM
Bryant Tutas
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC - Winter Garden, FL
Selling Florida one home at a time

Jeremy, I think this may work for you. Now send me a check and I'll see what I can do :)

Sarah, I always give a guarantee. "List with me and I guarantee to shave before I meet with you.....maybe"

Lisa, Thanks!!! I went over there and set up my alerts so I should be good to go now.

"Utah Dave", Always good to see you.

Barbara -Jo, You are correct. No matter who it is the consumer thinks they are REALTORS(R)

Terry, Guilty by association even though we are not associated. It sucks!

Kathy, One of the biggest problems is when folks take listings out of their area and don't have a clue about value. I see it everyday.

Kelly, Yes you do!!!! And a piece of pie.

Hey Hun:)

Apr 26, 2008 05:16 AM
Patricia Beck
RE/MAX Properties, Inc., ABR, GRI, SRES - Colorado Springs, CO
Colorado Springs Realty
I don't know of any of those companies here in Colorado Springs, how scary!  Sounds like they really scam people and it almost seems illegal because they are not licensed real estate agents.
Apr 27, 2008 01:56 PM
Scott Daniels Florida Real Estate 2.0. Agents Earn 100% Commission.
Florida List For Less Realty, Inc. Broker/Owner. - Cooper City, FL

BB,

This is exactly why I have such disdain for people like Erik Estrada.

He showed have faded into the sunset after CHIPS! "0 

Apr 29, 2008 10:52 PM