Kate Elim, Lake Anna Real Estate Specialist

What Does a LOCAL SPECIALIST Provide the BUYER? Sometimes MORE than You Think.  When I was an agent in Northern Virginia I would have been at a loss to work with a buyer looking for property here at Lake Anna.  At the time I may not have known that but I sure do now.  Why now?  Because Lake Anna is where I happily hang my license.

This post was inspired by a featured one written by Laurie Mindnich concerning the value of an EXPERT. There are times I think it can make a very big difference.  Laurie provided a definition for expert.  She wrote:  An expert: "A person with a high degree of skill in, or knowledge of, a certain subject."

There are some areas that are different than others.  When I worked in Northern Virginia I covered a very large geographical area from inside the Beltway where my office was out to Burke, Centreville, Herndon, etc.  Why?  Often because buyers would prefer to live inside the Beltway and began their search there. 

Many realized that they would not find the size home they wanted for the price they were willing to pay and in order to get that home they had to look further out.  Sometimes we kept going further and further.  This is why I understand agents that believe they can do a great job for their client no matter how far away they search.  Believe me that is not always the case.

Helping buyers find the right property at Lake Anna involves more than I can find on the Internet.  MRIS gives me plenty of specific information about the properties.  I can look up tax records on county sites (also made available through MRIS), I can certainly Google Lake Anna and see what I can learn about it from blogs and recent newspaper stories, and I can go there and drive around.  What then is missing?

These are some of the things that an agent unfamiliar with Lake Anna and out of the area will not necessarily know and understand:

• That there are two parts of the lake and what are all the differences between the two.
  
  
  
• Of the more than 120 communities which ones are on which side of the lake.
  
  
  
• Which areas of the lake have deeper water?
  
  
  
• Which areas are known to be more shallow?
  
  
  
• Of those 120 communities which ones have stricter covenants and which ones have virtually no rules and regulations.
  
  
  
• Where are some of the favorite fishing spots?
  
  
  
• When are the fishing tournaments held and when?
  
  
  
• As Lake Anna is in a pretty rural area what kind of things are there to do around there.  (This question comes up with almost every purchaser I work with.  That and shopping.)
  
  
  
• What types of activities take place at Lake Anna?
  
  
  
• Are there many clubs and organizations that I can join?
  
  
  
• How far is the closest medical facility?

• Are there many other full-time residents living here?
  
  
  
• Are there many younger families with school age children?
  
  
  
• Lake Anna does not have public sewer and water.  What takes their place?
  
  
  
• Which builders have stellar reputations and deserve them.  Which ones to shy away from.  (We have a number of purchasers looking for land and plan to build.)
  
  
  
• Which communities have assigned boat slips?  None?  First come first served?  Covered?
  
  
  
• Which communities are gated?
  
  
  
• What are the amenities within each community?
  
  

There are many other things that I have learned through the years working and living at Lake Anna.

Hopefully these do not seem like small things to you.  They are important to buyers even if they don't know about them.  We, local agents, talk to them about these things and they are often items that make a difference to them.

Sure, if some agent wants to take a lot of time researching these things they'll have the answers sooner or later but it will take quite some time.  What is the purpose of doing that?  It took me quite awhile to learn all of these things and many more while working hand and hand with other Lake Anna agents in my office. 

I'm comfortable saying I have a "high degree of knowledge of a certain subject, namely Lake Anna real estate". Whether that makes me an expert or a specialist is almost irrelevant. What it does make me is a great asset to a buyer looking for property at Lake Anna. That was my goal and still is.

Sometimes we just don't know how much we don't know.  When that's the case we may be doing a disservice to our client.  That's the time to not only think about referring but to actual do a referral. 

When you don't, whose best interest are you protecting?  Could it be yours and not your clients?