Miami Condo Developers Need to Embrace Technology to Survive

 
Developers in the South Florida real estate market need outside brokers, meaning brokers that do not work for the developer and have no association with a specific project, to sell their pre-construction condo projects, especially brokers that utilize technology marketing. Think about it…the more people marketing a specific project means the more buyers for that project.

Developers Should Take Notice

So many developers in South Florida think they will just hire an in-house sales team, and the sales team will sell all of their inventory. OK, sounds easy enough…but, it is not that simple. In my experience, less than 5% of a project’s sales are done with a buyer who just “walks in off the street” with no outside broker representation (which is a big mistake for a buyer because in-house agents do not have the buyers’ interests in mind, but instead the developers) and the rest are represented by outside brokers. Developers need outside brokers to sell their projects, especially brokers who utilize technology marketing, like myself.

A Big Mistake…Missoni Baia

I was one of the very first outside brokers introduced to the newest luxury condo project in Edgewater dubbed Missoni Baia, a collaboration by the OKO Group and Italian fashion house Missoni. I was shown renderings of the project and was quite impressed with its overall design and quality, so I wrote a detailed article about it which displayed a few of the renderings in an effort to present the project to my clients and readers.

Strike One

I published the article on a Saturday afternoon, and the following Monday morning at 7:30 a.m. I started receiving phone calls from my brokerage’s CEO about the article. Why? Because the in-house sales team hired by OKO Group, Cervera, was up-in-arms that I had written about the project, and instead of calling me directly to discuss it, Cervera’s managing partner called my CEO. After a bit of back-and-forth, I decided to take the article down if only to keep the peace.

What Cervera, OKO Group or Missoni (whichever was upset about my article) doesn’t understand is that they will not sell their project without outside brokers. How am I supposed to share the project with my clients and readers if I am restricted in marketing? Missoni Baia is absolutely an incredible project, but compared with the average pricing in Edgewater, it is the most expensive project ever to launch in Edgewater. Do they somehow think that buyers will hear about the project, call them directly and pay whatever price they are asking…without any guidance on the overall market? And trust an agent that works directly for the developer…as if that person has the buyer’s best interests in mind? Hardly.

Strike Two

The same day I published the article I mentioned above, I purchased the URL www.MissoniBaiaCondos.com with the intention of creating a website to market Missoni Baia (as some of you know, I currently operate 6 different real estate websites with 6 more currently in development). However, before I got the chance to even launch the website, I got a letter from Missoni’s trademark attorney demanding that I transfer the domain immediately to Missoni because I was in violation of their trademark. Now, I’m not going to get into the legal analysis of the trademark laws because I am not an attorney, but my point is that I am trying to help Missoni sell their product at no cost to them. Now, I was not the only broker that was forced by Missoni to transfer my domain, other agents were included in their demand including an in-house agent who works for the developer—yes, an in-house agent working for the developer was also given a demand letter!

Strike Three…I’m Done

After I purchased the URL, but before I received the demand letter, I was personally invited by the sales team to take a tour of the sales gallery. While taking pictures of the sales gallery, I was told by the sales manager that I could not post these pictures on my website or social media. Again, do they not understand they need outside brokers? How am I supposed to share the project with my clients, readers or followers? Maybe the in-house sales team wants to control publicity and not cooperate with outside brokers? Maybe they have discovered some super-secret marketing strategy that gets as FEW eyes on their project as possible and somehow results in success?

Most Developers Get It…Paramount Miami Worldcenter & Park Grove

One of the many websites that I own and operate is www.ParamountMiamiCondos.com. This is a building-specific site dedicated to marketing Paramount Miami in Downtown Miami. Now, when I first launched this website, the developer, Dan Kodsi, was not particularly happy that I was “competing” with his own website. However, when I quickly became one of the top brokers at the project for many reasons including my website, not to mention the more than 25 articles I have written about the project because I do truly believe in it and the impact it will have on the City of Miami, the developer soon realized that my website actually only helped his project and its sales. And, thereafter, began giving me inside scoops and stories before anyone else, which then I was able to share this exclusive info with my clients. It was a so-called team effort between me, an outside broker, and the developer.

There are many other developers in Miami who have embraced outside brokers and understand what I am trying to say. David Martin, President of Terra Group, understands and embraces relationships with the broker community. His most recent project, Park Grove – the most prestigious condo development ever constructed in Coconut Grove, is currently approaching the 90% sold threshold which is due in large part to his cooperation with outside brokers and utilization of technology marketing.

Conclusion

Developers, please understand….you need outside brokers to market your pre-construction condo developments. Let us use our own resources and utilize technology marketing to sell your inventory. Here are a few key points from a recent Inman News article that I found interesting:

• You need to implement the latest technological trends to succeed in real estate.
• Advancements in technology will aid real estate agents’ efforts to sell homes more than they know.
• There’s no way faster to cripple a healthy real estate business than by ignoring tech.
• Technology is meant to make our lives easier; anyone not taking advantage of it is essentially doing the opposite. Those who refuse to adopt advancements in technology will be rendered moot by the competition in no time flat.

Basically, the days of pouring money into a fancy sales office with brochures, floor plans and a scale model, and taking out ad space in magazines to drive traffic to said sales office is long over.

Developers need brokers just as much as brokers need developers.