Case Study: 43 St. Lucia Lane, The Retreat | The Best Beach is Your Beach
When you imagine your dream home at the beach, you may be able to describe the kind of interior and exterior features you like — but can you see the beach itself? For instance, is your dream home located on or near a vibrant beach with energy and activity like Rosemary? Is it near a secluded or private beach like The Retreat? Or is your perfect piece of shoreline in a rental-restricted community where there are fewer new faces?
This is the question I posed to a lovely couple from Memphis last year. They contacted me through my RetreatFlordida.com website and were interested in learning more about this unique community on 30A. They’d explored real estate on 30A in the past with another agent but weren’t able to settle on a property.
My clients were both doctors and had little time in their busy schedules to walk homes. So it was imperative that I ask the correct questions right out of the gate and create a short list of the properties I thought would answer their needs and desires.
During their visit, we explored the entire 30A Scenic Beach corridor. They were looking for a gulf-front home or gulf-front lot on 30A and considered areas including The Retreat, Seacrest Beach, Blue Mountain Beach and Alys Beach, but we couldn’t seem to find the exact property they had in mind. In fact, we began our search looking at modern homes but eventually expanded it to all styles and even considered home sites.
That day at lunch I asked, “When you lay your head on your pillow in your dream home, what do you want to hear outside your window? Families laughing and enjoying the beach or just the peaceful sound of waves washing on the shore?”
In the end, my clients knew what they wanted all along: a home in the secluded development called The Retreat that they called me about in the first place. They’d needed to see what they didn’t want to be sure of what they did. They eventually chose a home I was preparing for market (I was able to show it to them before it was listed!). And it was located on an exclusive beach —their kind of beach.
Update: We closed on the home December 23rd, 2015 and my clients enjoyed Christmas week and New Years there. I met them at the home this past week and they let me know how happy they are with the choice they made. Their family loves the quiet beach setting. They’re currently considering investment options on the 30A Scenic Beach corridor that will allow them to enjoy other areas nearby, like Rosemary Beach, when the property isn’t rented.
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