October 17, 2011

Dear Linda and Bragi:

We would like to thank you for assisting us in the sale of our apartment at The Bath Club.  It was really a pleasure working with you both.
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!! You were absolutely correct and brought us a buyer within 4 months at a fantastic price.

The period between signing the contract and closing went smoothly.  All the “i’s” dotted and “t’s” crossed. Your assistant Chevonne White was always available and answered questions immediately.
We wish that all of your coming sales produce happy buyers and sellers as this sale did.
And all of this on just a hand shake!

All the best,

Peter and Donna Izaak

5959 Collins Avenue, Unit 906

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Anita Grossman

Sale of 4500 Prairie Ave, Miami Beach, FL 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Article in the South Florida Business Journal

November 11, 2011

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 hadn’t 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. We’ll 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 Heat Miami Heat Latest from The Business Journals Arison responds to Tea Party Miami critique on gamblingNBA, union fail to score in effort to end strikeLeBron James talks about Steve Nash coming to Heat Follow this company ’s 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 maid’s 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 wasn’t Sigurdsson and Schechter’s 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 doesn’t 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 someone’s not happy with our performance, goodbye. We move on. They don’t reimburse us for advertising. Our goal is to get the highest price for our sellers in the shortest possible time.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________