On Jupiter Island, Alan Jackson built an oceanfront mansion. Olivia Newton-John bought in a small community with views of the Jupiter lighthouse. Tico Torres and Mike Schmidt prefer the seclusion of Admirals Cove. And thousands of snowbirds have modest condos where they can escape the harshness of winter.
And sprinkled among all these Jupiter homes for sale are several thousand real estate agents. Each agent hopes to uncover a few buyer/seller leads that might turn into some business. Sellers know one thing for sure, they want to move. Or say they do.
Buyers on the other hand may think they want to buy in a certain area then decide on something completely different. This is where the phrase, "buyers are liars" comes from. They aren't liars, rather their needs, wants and desires (and financial situations) change as they move through the buying process. So while they may arrive on the scene thinking they want a certain type of house in a certain location by the time they get to the closing table they may have purchased something different.
Which leads me to this question? Do you want to find an agent who is a specialist? And further, when is a specialist a specialist?
Pick up the paper or look on the Internet. Every agent says they specialize in a certain type of property which typically is: country clubs, waterfront condos or estates. Well, that covers about 80% of the properties around here. So is this "specialist" really a specialist at all?
We have two other types of specialists. One is the resident real estate agent who, so the theory goes, would know the Club better than anyone. I would dare say the Membership Office knows the ins-and-outs of the Club better than anyone although the resident agent may know that a certain hole on the golf course always plays 20 years longer than the card says. The resident agent is a myth.
The other specialist is the "geographic specialist". These agents mark their territories by certain boundaries like only on Singer Island or only on the River or a certain city. So if you choose a geographic specialist you should be prepared for them to hand you over to another "specialist" if you change your mind about what you are looking for. This reminds me of the Andy Griffith Show where Barney would escort a wayward hobo to the town limits where they would be dropped off and told to move along.
What happens after you get passed off, see some new properties, then decide to come back to specialist agent #1? Now, that's an interesting thought. So conceivably you could work with several specialists until you finally decide to buy. In fact, working with the geographic specialist might mean you would change cars several times in the same day and need a playbook to keep the agents straight. Some companies have both geographic specialists and buyers agents who can move from location to location, so how can this work? Either one model works or the other one works, not both.
So what should you look for in an agent? How about a specialist/generalist? What's that? Well, someone who works across a broad spectrum of properties in a general location, like the North end of the County. You are looking for the right agent, not the right business model. When choosing a doctor do you inquire about their business relationship with the hospital? I think not. You are trying to find the right doctor not the right business model.
So choose your agent the same way you choose a doctor.
You can see all Jupiter homes for sale at Coastal Florida Real Estate. No other site has any more or more current data since we are all feeding our sites from the same MLS data. And this site is designed to load as fast as possible. You won't find any slide shows or links to the Chamber of Commerce, just every home and every picture. Need some guidance? Email me at: coastalflrealestate@gmail.com.
