BUYERS AND SELLERS
HOW WE WORK WITH BUYERS
The Lake Team loves matching buyers with their dream lake home so that they can build precious memories with family and friends years beyond their purchase. Over the past 15 years, we have helped more than 128 Buyers successfully purchase their lake homes. Our goal is for every buyer to be both elated with their new home as well as in their experience working with The Lake Team. We have put together a ‘Buying Process Guide’ that helps explain our lake home buying process including detailed examples of Georgia Power leases.
We love the buying process and view it in these phases:
1). Getting to Know Each Other
Being a team of three with different personalities, we feel confident that we will be able to understand and meet your buying needs. Initially, we will probably exchange emails and phone calls about your desires and what properties might work for you. We will most likely follow those exchanges up with some detailed information on the properties that potentially could fit you. After culling through that information, we will then have a better idea of what we should actually show you. When we settle on your first visit, you will likely meet several of our team members so that you have the opportunity to connect with as many of us as possible. On subsequent visits, you will meet the remaining team members as we begin to form a relationship.
2). Educating Each Other
Through our dialogue with you, we will learn about your needs and desires in a lake home. You will learn from us about the differences between leased land and fee simple, the various “neighborhoods” of the lakes, and any back stories on possible homes. We will also talk about each lake in detail. We will bring up nuances that you might not have thought about, such as afternoon sun versus morning sun, views, and depth of water. We will also share detailed data accumulated and analyzed using a proprietary data base that we have created and maintained for the past 15 years. We will update you regularly on the market with notification of new listings and price changes to keep you well informed.
3). Narrowing the Field
After thoroughly understanding what you are looking for, we will begin offering suggestions of properties that we believe meet some of your criteria. This will be an interactive process as your reaction to the homes we present will help refine our understanding of the property that will work best for you.
4). Previewing Homes
When you are ready to get out on the lake, we will show you properties by both boat and car. Showing by boat will give you a sense of the lakes and of the setting for the homes. Travel by car will help you understand the approach to the home, the neighborhood and the length of time to reach the home from town as well as the quality of the roads. We will share our thoughts and knowledge on each of these properties to shed light on the positive and negative aspects that may not be apparent. Our intimate knowledge of the lake and available properties in addition to getting to know your wants and needs will help ensure that we show you relevant properties instead of irrelevant ones.
5). Negotiating Contracts
We work with both Buyers as Clients, who we legally represent through a written Buyer Brokerage Agreement, and Buyers as Customers, who we do not legally represent.This may be because we are selling one of our listings. For our Buyers as Clients, we will work with you to help negotiate the final price and terms of the transaction. We will spend as much time as you may need us to assist and guide you through the due-diligence and closing process. For our Buyers as Customers, we will perform ministerial tasks such as identifying properties for you, providing pre-printed real estate contract forms and completing them according to your instructions and identifying third-parties (inspectors, contractors, lenders, attorneys) for you to speak with and work with through the closing process. We will assist in all those inspections as your “boots on the ground”.
6). Closing & Post Closing
Upon securing a bound contract, we will use project management software to complete the sale by assisting with multiple inspections, meetings, and deadlines. Most of our buyers do not live in the area and rely heavily on us to handle scores of tasks to prepare for the closing and the move. After the transaction is complete and you are enjoying the lake, we hope to be among your new lake friends. We regularly interact with our past buyers and gladly offer assistance whenever they need it, whether it be a recommendation for a plumber or anything else.
HOW WE WORK WITH SELLERS
Over the past 15 years, we have helped 115 Sellers successfully sell their lake homes. If you choose to let The Lake Team market your home, we will rely on professional management tools, personal knowledge of the lake market, and information from our proprietary database to guide you.
We love the selling process and view it in these phases:
1). Market Analysis
Many factors go into determining the appropriate asking price for your property. By maintaining our own database of lake sales for the past 15 years, we are able to thoroughly understand patterns and predict trends based on both historical and current data. We will provide you with our view of the market value of your home as well as the scenarios for different price points to assist you in agreeing on an asking price.
2). Property Preparation
After agreement on the price, we will identify areas of improvement that may accelerate an offer. We also may suggest several preliminary inspections to determine if there are any issues that should be resolved up front.
3). Marketing
The Lake Team will market your home by developing a marketing plan that is unique to your home and that will utilize these tools and methods:
– Professional photography that will include still photos, virtual tours and drone shots where appropriate.
– A unique website that is built precisely for your property that will allow us to highlight the benefits of your home beyond the limits imposed by MLS.
– Exposure to our Facebook audience of close to 2000 followers connects to the lakes.
– Discussions with the top agents in the lake market about your home to generate interest.
– Print advertising that is appropriate for your property.
4). Communication
A primary and secondary agent will be assigned to you for communication, but everyone on our team will be available to you. You will, of course, be notified with feedback from any showings. We will keep you informed as new homes come on the market, become pended or reduce their prices so that we can determine together the effect on your home. We produce a monthly electronic lake update report that you will receive around the first of every month.
5). Offers and Acceptance
We will be instrumental in negotiating the terms of an offer to protect your interests. Having represented over 70 sellers of lake homes. we have gained invaluable experience that can only be gained by going through the process many times over.
6). Closing & Post Closing
After a firm contract is achieved, we will utilize project management software to track the many required tasks, inspections, financing, and other details to successfully close the sale. After the home has closed, we hope that we will have built not only a professional relationship but also a friendship!
WHY WORK WITH THE LAKE TEAM?
OUR SERVICE
Our team of four full-time Realtors provides the highest level of service for buyers and sellers in the area. We strive to go above and beyond the average to ensure our clients have what they need. We are there before, during, and after the sale.
OUR KNOWLEDGE
With a combined 48 years of real estate sales experience, we understand and share our vast knowledge of the lake market so you can make informed decisions when buying and selling
OUR TOOLS
Our proprietary database allows us to track current and historical trends such as values, marketing times, and inventory. Our customized website is continuously optimized for performance so that we rank at the top of internet searches We have a strong following on social media sites including Facebook and Google+.
OUR RESULTS
Over the last 14 years, The Lake Team has been involved in over $307,000,000 in sales on area lakes representing 107 sellers and 125 buyers of lake homes. This comes from a commitment to the highest level of quality service to our buyers and sellers. We are proud of our reputation with both sellers and buyers and would be happy to provide recent references
