Fishing Where the Fish Are

You can own the best boat, buy the best equipment and attach the best bait to your hook; but if you don’t fish where the fish are, it all adds up to a colossal waste of time and money. Your prospects of netting the big one are slim.

The same logic applies to selling a luxury home in Southwest Florida. You can own the best home in the best neighborhood and offer it at the best possible price; but if these features go largely unnoticed within the worldwide pool of qualified buyers you’re not likely to net the big one in any kind of reasonable timeframe.

It’s a proven fact: Michael Saunders & Company knows where to “fish” for the most capable buyers of important residential properties. After all, we’ve spent more than three decades fine tuning our skills in order to cast the widest possible net. In fact, our luxury division is dedicated solely to the nuances of selling significant high-end properties. Indeed, statistics show the more valuable the home, the more likely we are to sell it. This according to the unbiased monthly market reports issued by California-based Trendgraphix, which employs actual Sarasota MLS sales data to interpret market trends and track competitive sales activity. Among other things, Trendgraphix measures local market share based on actual units and dollar volume sold. It clearly shows— month after month, year after year—that Michael Saunders & Company is by far Southwest Florida’s leader in luxury sales. Year-to-date, in the $1 million and up price range, Michael Saunders & Company commands the Sarasota market with a 32.4 percent share of homes sold—more than doubling the share of the second leading competitor; and greater than that of its next four competitors combined.

In the $2 million and up price range, the gap widens. Michael Saunders & Company commands a 36 percent share of homes sold— more than three times its second leading competitor and one-and a- half times higher than the next four competitors combined. In the $3 million and up price range, the difference becomes even more pronounced. Michael Saunders & Company holds a 36.5 percent share—an amount equal to three times the combined share of its next three competitors. The pattern remains consistent into the $5 million and up price range, where Michael Saunders & Company leads with a 33.3 percent share of homes sold—more than twice the next three competitors combined.

That we hold such a commanding lead in luxury sales is no accident. From the moment you list your luxury home with Michael Saunders & Company you instantly tap into several exclusive networks—and cross-networks—of the world’s finest luxury brokerages. These represent the combined result of more than 32 years of seeking-out and cementing such important and trusted cross-border relationships.

Chief among these worldwide networks are our exclusive affiliations with Christie’s Great Estates, Luxury Portfolio, EREN (The European Real Estate Network) and Mayfair International Realty. Christie’s Great Estates is an international network of high-end independent real estate brokers, linked with the historic Christie’s Auction House—itself a powerful magnet for discriminating high net-worth individuals. The Christie’s name has long been synonymous with quality and integrity and membership is by invitation only to companies with proven records of success in high-volume luxury home sales. Properties listed are at least $2 million; and combined sales throughout the Christie’s global network for 2007 were an astonishing $ 125 billion.

Luxury Portfolio—the luxury arm of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World—is comprised of 200 high-end brokerages that dominate the luxury market and include the most respected names in marketing properties to the affluent customer. Luxury Portfolio boasts more $1 million-plus listings than any other luxury network. It’s Web site, LuxuryPortfolio.com, provides the showcase for more than 15,000 property listings, totaling $35 billion in inventory; and with an average property price of $2.25 million. Average monthly visits to the site total 100,000 from 200 different countries.

EREN—The European Real Estate Network—is a pan-European organization representing 20 of the leading property firms across the continent. Recently it invited Michael Saunders & Company and Halstead Properties of New York City—to be the only U.S. brokerages firms to join its exclusive ranks.

Mayfair International Realty was founded in 1995 as a real estate service for London clients seeking luxury country homes; and for real estate brokerages seeking representation in London. Its name has since become synonymous with quality, integrity, and customer satisfaction. Over the past 10 years, the company has developed into a United Kingdom-wide organization representing 125 real estate brokerages with 350 offices.—an important concern considering the U.K. represents one of the two top countries of origin for international buyers who purchase properties in Southwest Florida.

Each of these powerful affiliations is exclusive only to Michael Saunders & Company and joins other noteworthy affiliations— including LuxuryRealEstate.com and Luxury Board of Regents—in empowering our sellers to truly fish where the fish are. Come to think of it, locating qualified luxury buyers through Michael Saunders & Company is more akin to shooting fish in a barrel.