When home listings were scarce in the fast-paced Central Florida sales
market of 2003-05, real estate agents and agencies competed fiercely to
nab exclusive listings. Competition is still a factor in the resale
market’s current slowdown, but now it’s on the sales side, with record or
near-record numbers of listings but fewer total sales being made. In
either type of market, Realtors and agents who ’specialize’ in geographic
areas use every asset and scrap of local knowledge they can draw upon
to outdo the competition.
It’s far easier these days to keep abreast of properties for sale and
to show listings because of computer technology, as the Realtors’
Multiple Listing Service is now available through the Internet rather than in
book form and encompasses a wider territory. The Mid-Florida Regional
MLS, for example, which includes listings from various local Realtor
boards, now includes properties all the way from Tampa to Orlando and
Daytona Beach. That makes it easier for all agencies to work deals farther
afield.

But some agents still think it’s more effective to stick close to home.
Knowing your territory, they say, is the key to success, and time in
the local trenches pays off.

KEITH BERGSTRASSER AND DOWNTOWN ORLANDO Coldwell Banker agent Keith
Bergstrasser got to know the downtown Orlando market very well in the
early 1980s by living there — at first in Eola Heights, before the market
really began to hum and prices began to soar. He had a strong run of
sales as the market took off, partly because of a lack of competition.

‘There was no one down there at the time,’ Bergstrasser said. ‘So I
became known as the downtown specialist’ before he branched out to list
and sell properties throughout Central Florida.

‘Now I’m starting to hit heavy again downtown.’

Bergstrasser lived in the nearby Thornton Park neighborhood from 1993
to 2004, and since then has lived in the Colonialtown area near Bumby
Avenue. He said his long history of working and living downtown gives him
an edge in calculating the best asking price for local properties –
high enough to satisfy a seller but low enough to pretty much guarantee a
sale within a reasonable time frame.

‘The market is such that pricing is the key right now,’ he said, noting
that the volume of homes for sale within a few downtown Orlando ZIP
codes is unusually high — more than 400 — and fewer than 10 percent have
pending sales contracts.

‘That’s a concern,’ because of the meager sales pace. But he said he
also sees it as an opportunity to snag listings and prove that he can
close a sale faster than the competition.

SUZI KARR AND THE BUTLER CHAIN OF LAKES When it comes to selling
Windermere real estate, Suzi Karr knows a thing or two.

The Windermere-based Realtor has been selling homes in west Orange
County since the 1970s. One of her longtime strategies: Make sure her
11-passenger MasterCraft pleasure boat is ready to go — for business, not
necessarily pleasure.

‘I do show [properties] by water,’ said Karr, who has a home on Lake
Down in Windermere and keeps her boat there. ‘Most people want to get out
on the chain of lakes, and the houses do look different from the
water.’

In addition to cruising the Butler Chain of Lakes to display the best
lakeside views of million-dollar homes to potential buyers, Karr and her
staff at Suzi Karr Realty also encourage buyers to visit downtown
Windermere and downtown Winter Garden.

Both small towns are ‘beautiful, especially at night,’ Karr said.

Karr is also active with local business groups and keeps abreast of
local issues — from where sewer lines are planned to the status of the
latest subdivision or mall.

SCOTT HILLMAN AND SIX ZIPS, THREE PARKS Scott Hillman, president of
Fannie Hillman & Associates, said the real estate agency founded by his
mother 26 years ago got its start by narrowly focusing on Winter Park,
where the company is still based.

‘That was her bread and butter,’ Hillman said, selling typically
high-end homes and local chain-of-lake properties.

Although the company has grown to include 50 agents and expanded its
geographic scope, the primary focus still remains on six ZIP codes that
encompass Winter Park and a handful of nearby areas, such as College
Park and Baldwin Park.

‘If you’re focused on an area and have knowledge of what’s going on, it
makes a big difference,’ Hillman said, noting that his agents are
encouraged to ‘become a local expert’ by joining local clubs, churches,
business groups and attending chamber of commerce and city council
meetings.

‘It’s getting connected, building relationships with people in an area
and getting to the basics. If you enjoy where you live and work, it
makes a difference.’

ROSEANN LUTZ AND FOUR CORNERS Roseann Lutz is broker-owner of Citrus
Ridge Realty in Davenport, which concentrates on the Four Corners area
where Polk, Osceola, Lake and Orange counties intersect. She says the
contacts she made as a local elementary school volunteer paid dividends in
the early 1990s when she started her business.

‘I was always a volunteer when my [two] children were in school. My
kids are no longer in school, but I have agents who have younger ones. We
do keep on top of what’s going on locally, and that’s part of it.’

As a result of strong local contacts, she said, the five-person agency
does 85 percent of its business from referrals, or repeat business.

So while Lutz’s agency and others in the area have access to tens of
thousands of listings, the vast majority of sales closed by Citrus Ridge
continue to range only from Kissimmee to Davenport — a stretch of
about 18 miles.

‘Focusing on that has helped keep us in business,’ she said.

Jerry W. Jackson can be reached at jwjackson@orlandosentinel.com or
407-420-5721.

Source:
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