Tag: real estate news

Lakes Homes Realty Ranks on Inc. 5000 4th Consecutive Year

Posted on Mark Griggs

What makes the accomplishment of being named to the Inc. 5000  for four consecutive years noteworthy? Some companies have been named to the list more often, but few of those companies who have been in business only seven years can tout that more than half their years in operation put them in league with the nation’s most elite private firms.

We’re not boasting, but instead, we’re excited! We’re thrilled that our model has been proven. We are providing people seeking to buy or sell lake real estate, a tool that markets properties nationally while completing the transactions locally with Lake Homes Realty’s brokerage agents. It works so well that over 5 million people will use LakeHomes.com this year to shop, market, or buy a lake-based property.

We are a niche company in a hyper-competitive national real estate market. With new players pushing the “iBuyer” model, a completely virtual home buying transaction, and nationally franchised traditional players often creating “pocket listings” that are not marketed beyond their own agency, Lake Homes Realty deploys a hybrid sales model that markets homes nationally while using experienced professionals to sell them locally.

Few brokerages employ national marketing at the scale of Lake Homes Realty. We’re the only company doing so in specialty real estate. The company’s search advertising alone is the envy of the industry. Add to that an innovative social media program and a nationally pervasive public relations program, which provides valuable lake real estate data to news outlets nationwide at no charge.  With those programs, the company has created an unrivaled foundation of support for our clients.

Other brokerages offer the opportunity to “market” your property on a local MLS platform. Lake Homes Realty coordinates data from over 130 MLS platforms and markets it to the entire World Wide Web audience. We know that most buyers are shopping from markets outside of local lake areas. We meet the buyers where they are and sell to them where the listings are located.

The Inc. 5000 list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economy’s most dynamic segment of independent small businesses. Not only have the companies on the 2020 Inc. 5000 been very competitive within their markets, but the list as a whole shows staggering growth compared with prior years.

That staggering growth certainly applies to Lake Homes’ business. Sales in 2020 have been prolific as we assist buyers in finding homes and properties that give them distance from crowded metropolitan areas. Sellers who seek their next chapter find that employing our hybrid sales model gets homes sold quickly, meeting the price targets that owners are confident in after working with our professional agents to price their homes accurately. 

Glenn Phillips, CEO Lake Homes Realty

Lake Homes Realty CEO, Glenn Phillips said, “It’s satisfying to find that our business model has been validated once again by the recognition that comes from being named to the Inc. 5000. We work hard for our customers every day, and it’s gratifying to know we are again in such elite company.”

The company just opened its thirtieth state with the addition of Washington. That makes Lake Homes Realty “coast to coast” with a presence in multiple states bordering the Atlantic Ocean and throughout states contiguous to the country’s interior to the Pacific Ocean. Phillips says of the expansion, “We have a few more states as targets and many more lakes in our sights. We seek only the most professional agents to complement our growth and join our existing award-winning team.”

Lake Homes Realty looks forward to continued growth and even more valuable services for our buyers and sellers. If you are searching for lake real estate or you would like to sell an existing property, Lake Homes Realty and LakeHomes.com are an unbeatable combination that has been once again recognized as one of the best in the nation.

Whiteboard Topics: Can You Find a Good Deal on a Lake Home?

Posted on Camille Smith

During the pandemic, many buyers are anticipating finding a “good deal” on a lake house. However, Glenn Phillips, Lake Homes CEO, gives us three reasons why this is not likely. Foreclosures are rare due to majority cash transactions, and the new stimulus laws protect against foreclosures. Further, lake homes are currently in high demand as popular social distancing destinations. Besides the rare possibility of AirBnb and VRBO owners selling their properties due to less travel, you’re unlikely to find a good deal right now. That said, if you’re ready to buy, contact one of our lake agents with local expertise at to help you out. 

Whiteboard Topics: Lake Home Selling Myths

Posted on Camille Smith

Lake Homes Realty CEO, Glenn Phillips, discusses five myths about selling a lake home. While there are many similarities between selling a lake home and a primary residential home, there are key differences. For lake homes, these include the higher percentage of out of town buyers, the impracticality of open houses, unusual aspects that break automated valuation systems, and buyers’ value shifts from opulence to practicality. If you’re considering selling a lake home, find a lake agent who understands these unique traits of the market.

Whiteboard Topics: Is It a Good Time to Sell a Lake Home?

Posted on Linda Thach

With COVID-19 on lake homeowner’s minds, many are wondering if now is a good time to sell their property. Lake Homes CEO Glenn Phillips outlines five reasons why now is a good time to do so.

During these times, sellable and appropriately priced homes are selling fast, and prices are stable. For buyers looking to mortgage their home, they are attracted to the historically low interest rates.

Finally, there’s a high demand for lakefront property, and the market peak has continued to rise. If you’re exploring the idea of selling your lake real estate, keep in mind that the process is often slow and hiring a lake expert agent will facilitate the process with their expert knowledge.

Would you like to learn more about selling your lake property? Here is a FREE downloadable guide:

Home Not Selling? The Two REAL Reasons WhyDOWNLOAD NOW 

Top Qualities of a Solid Listing Agent

Posted on Staff

A 2017 article by Money.com reported only 10 percent of homeowners successfully sold their homes without the help of an agent. The other 90 percent chose to work closely with real estate professionals who were familiar with their local markets.

In lake real estate, working with agents who live, work and play in their local markets is key to successful real estate ventures.

These veteran experts are intimately familiar with the many nuances of their lakes — such as which parts are most active or best for fishing, and what the off season looks like — but more important, how to best gauge current market conditions.

So, what should you look for when it’s time to hire a listing agent for your lake home? We can help with that.

Listing Agent vs. Selling Agent

It’s important to learn the distinction between the roles of listing agents and selling agents, because though they sound like the same thing, they are quite different.

A listing agent works on the homeowners’ side of the real estate transaction and in the best interest of the seller.

These agents list properties on their MLSs (multiple listing services), which make them visible to other real estate agents who have clients looking for similar homes. Additionally, these MLSs feed a host of real estate websites, like LakeHomes.com, Realtor.com and Zillow, providing national exposure to their listings.

Listing agents also help the sellers price the home, assist in contract negotiations and serve as trusted advisers on various other real estate-related minutiae.

A selling agent works with prospective home buyers. Most often referred to as buyer’s agents, selling agents are responsible for representing the buyer in the transaction.

In-Depth Market Knowledge

Perhaps one of the most important things to take into consideration when hiring a listing agent is how familiar he or she is with your market. In fact, in 2017, 80 percent of sellers named local market knowledge as one of the top deciding factors when choosing an agent to work with. In specialized markets, like lake real estate, local market knowledge can be invaluable.

For example, how to price your lake home is typically one of the biggest questions you and your listing agent will face because traditional estimated value programs often incorrectly evaluate these properties.

Tools like the Zillow Zestimate use public records such as property tax records, and user-submitted data to approximate the value of a home.

Public records don’t always properly reflect the actual size and configuration of certain homes, and because much of a lake home’s value is determined by factors like proximity to the shoreline, lake views and nearest access points, public and user information can only give homeowners a rough estimate.

At Lake Homes Realty, lake home listing agents utilize resources like our Lake Real Estate Market Report — which features real estate data from more than 100 MLSs across 23 states — to analyze market trends, compare prices, and determine how local markets fit into the state market as a whole.

Armed with this wealth of information, lake-focused agents are best equipped to price your home objectively and appropriately for your market’s climate.

Strategic Marketing Plan

You can’t sell a secret, and if your listing agent hasn’t laid out a strategic marketing plan for your property, you might consider finding someone else to work with.

Many lake home buyers come from out of state, which means your listing agent must go beyond putting your home on the local MLS in order to reach these prospects.

One of these best ways to do this is to target marketing efforts via search engines and social media campaigns.

Lake Homes Realty agents tailor listing promotional efforts using Google Analytics web-traffic data to determine which areas are most frequently shopping their sellers’ markets.

This powerful tool not only shows sellers how visible their listing will be on a national level, but also shows the age demographic most interested in homes on their lake, gender and how frequently users are shopping on LakeHomes.com.

From this information, listing agents can determine who sees their listing advertisements by specifying it only be shown to males, ages 54 to 65 within 25 miles of Nashville who are interested in fishing, boating and real estate.

Trust Level and Responsiveness

How trustworthy and responsive a listing agent is are the two most important qualities sellers look for when hiring. A strong sales history, positive online and peer reviews, certifications and performance awards are all key indicators of these.

Red flags that may signal a less-than-effective listing agent include the agent encouraging the highest possible initial listing price, an unusually low commission split and unfamiliarity with your specific type of property.

Also, the best listing agents are full-time real estate professionals. This enables them to be more easily accessible to answer any questions sellers may have, provide advice on offers and to provide peace of mind that sellers have made the right choice in choosing to work with them.

Additionally, a good listing agent will respond to every client, every time, to make sure his or her client’s transactions go as simply, effortlessly and conveniently as possible.

 

If you’re considering listing your lake home, check out LakeHomes.com’s additional resources “Solving the Unspoken Nightmare of Selling Lake Real Estate,” and “Why FSBO Isn’t Worth Your Time.“

Lake Homes Realty Moves to Larger Headquarters

Posted on Staff

Lake Homes Realty’s brokerage operations are rapidly expanding into new states across the U.S., but the company’s market footprint isn’t the only thing that has grown.

Not only did the company add brokerage operations in seven more states in 2017, they added more members to their corporate and operations teams.

All this growth prompted a move this month from their Pelham, Alabama office to a multi-tenant building in nearby Hoover.

beige, multi-tenant office complex

“Growth is never a problem, but there can be challenges along the way,” said Lake Homes Realty’s CEO, Glenn S. Phillips. “We built our Pelham office in 2008 for other business ventures. We really enjoyed the time we operated there but we were just flat out of room and out of parking. Lake Homes Realty is growing so fast, we really needed room immediately and to expand. We’ll add staff to all the different teams in this new headquarters.”

The corporate and central brokerage operations offices for Lake Homes Realty are now at Hoover’s South Lake Plaza, an appropriate location for the nation’s largest lake real estate company.

Currently the brokerage occupies space on two floors of the three-story office complex. The firm’s marketing and technology teams are located on the first floor of the building, and the brokerage operations team occupies much of the second floor.

Southlake Plaza is owned and managed by the Barber Companies, Inc. of Birmingham. Weyman Prater represented the Barber Companies in the lease negotiations, and Anita Turner of Colliers International provided tenant representation.

More Space, More Room to Grow

“Candidly, our goal each year will be to grow enough that we acquire more office space within the building. This will be needed as we enter more markets across the U.S. and grow our staff,” Phillips explained.

The Lake Homes Realty CEO added that availability of office space and increasing business demands also means new opportunities for employment within the operations, marketing and engineering departments are on the horizon.

“We are working on brokerage licensing in 10 more states for 2018, bringing us to operations in 27 states,” Phillips said. “There’s a lot of work to be done, and we will be looking to hire people who understand the power of our business model, and who are dedicated to providing exceptional service to our clients and agents alike.”

The company’s unique and highly virtual operations model starts with a focus on a one-stop website for lake homes and land, via the company website, LakeHomes.com.

The technology is paired with the brokerage’s own select group of top-producing expert lake market agents. The company has rejected a focus on traditional brick-and-mortar opting to focus more spending on marketing properties and bringing new convenience to buyers and sellers.

“Before us, there was no large multi-state real estate company focused on lake real estate,” Phillips explained. “Our success in the last five years goes to show that there is a need for the type of niche real estate service we are providing. We are excited to see where it takes us!”

Lake Homes Realty was named #927 on the 2017 Inc 5,000 and was recently featured by Realtor® Magazine.

The Birmingham Business Journal has also named Lake Homes Realty one of the 30 fastest growing businesses in Birmingham each of the past three years.