Bath Club unit rides rising sales market with savvy marketing
Friday, November 11, 2011
Jeff Zbar - South Florida Business Journal
The owner of unit 906 at the Bath Club in Miami Beach was frustrated. His property had spent a year listed with two successive brokers, and still had not sold.
This, while other luxury beachfront properties were moving across the South Florida marketplace. From Bal Harbour to South Beach, properties were selling. Why not his?
Bragi Sigurdsson and
Linda Schechter of Sigurdsson Schechter Luxury Real Estate had a simple solution: Give us your listing no contracts, just a handshake and raise your price. Well spend five figures marketing it, and we will move your property.
That was in May. The owners, Peter and
Donna Izaak, raised their price and sold the property in four months.
Sigurdsson and Schechter don't always have owners raise their prices. In fact, many sellers overprice. But they had a hunch about unit 906. The $2.85 million price for the unit at 5959 Collins Ave., which boasted such residents as the
Miami Heats Dwyane Wade and local developer
Tom Ireland was too low for the market, especially being sold unfurnished. No serious offers were coming because the paltry price had prospects suspecting problems with the property, Schechter said.
No problems here. The unit features desirable lines and a flow-through floor plan, two terraces and direct ocean views. It has a private elevator and foyer, 10-foot ceilings, custom white glass floors, Lutron lighting, a Crestron surround sound system and a media room with 110-inch projection screen. The open kitchen has two custom marble islands. The unit has four bedrooms, including separate maids quarters with private entrance.
So, the Izaaks included the furniture and raised their price to $3.9 million. Sigurdsson and Schechter then began a marketing and advertising campaign focused exclusively on the property. Instead of ads with pictures of a half-dozen homes, they featured only the Bath Club property, and the ads ran in local newspapers, as well as the Robb Report and Ocean Drive. They mailed brochures to luxury brokers serving the domestic and international markets.
A few months and some $25,000 in ads and brochure mailings later, a South American buyer swooped in and picked up the 4,135-square-foot property for $3.1 million cash.
The Izaaks originally bought the unit for $2.2 million in 2005, Schechter said.
We must admit that we were skeptical when you advised us that our unit was undervalued by two previous listing brokers and that we should RAISE THE PRICE!! the Izaaks wrote in a letter that Sigurdsson and Schechter later published. You were absolutely correct and brought us a buyer within four months at a fantastic price.
The buyer, the son of a Latin American CEO and himself a Boston restaurateur, appreciated the amenities include tennis, clubhouse, pool, gym, spa, beachfront services, 24-hour concierge and valet. The location also helped the family split the difference when traveling north or south to meet up, Schechter said.
This wasnt Sigurdsson and Schechters first time raising the price to lure a buyer. A unit at Icon South Beach closed in May for $3.4 million up from its $1.8 million purchase price. This, again, after spending $200,000 in furnishings and $10,000 in advertisements.
It was the highest sale in the building since 2007, Sigurdsson said.
This raise the price strategy doesnt always work, Schechter said. But after analyzing the market, they surmised that could be the prime reason it remained on the market. They also suggested the Izaaks stage, or furnish, the property for sale. They buyer may not want the furniture, but homes look better furnished.
A lot of Realtors would have been afraid to [raise the price], she said. The handshake listing agreement again almost unheard of in the industry also puts sellers at ease, she said. If someones not happy with our performance, goodbye. We move on. They dont reimburse us for advertising. Our goal is to get the highest price for our sellers in the shortest possible time.
