Adriana Hernandez is the vice president of broker relations with Fortune International Realty working in Miami.
Every week, we ask a real estate professional for their Short List, a collection of tips and recommendations on an essential topic in real estate. This week, we talked with Adriana Vargas Hernandez, vice president of sales and marketing for Power Real Estate Group, who shared her strategies for working and succeeding with new construction clients.
5. Preconstruction is what we call a property that is not fully finished or is in the process of being built. Preconstruction is my passion, I have been doing preconstruction sales for 20 years. Vision is key when selling preconstruction as most of the time there are no pictures, renderings and the word “trust” becomes your best friend. That is why it’s so important to DO YOUR HOMEWORK before offering a specific project to your clients.
4. When you are in the process of selecting a project for a buyer there are some specific questions I would recommend to put on the priority list for consideration:
- Location
- Growth in the area (the right amount of units, or too many units being built at once, city infrastructure)
- Type of Development ( how many units, type of finishes, amenities, maintenance)
- Expected delivery date
- Permitting
- Developer, past experience and funding
- Price range
- Deposit structure
- Last, but not least; your CLIENTS NEEDS.
3. When the real estate crisis hit our city, it was very challenging to receive approval on a construction loan, or to finance a unit on a new development. Due to that fact, the deposit structure changed completely from a 5 percent, 10 and 20 percent, which used to be the standard, to now we see 50 percent to 70 percent required as deposits to be able to purchase at one of these new projects. I feel this is a great and positive change towards the stability and integrity of our local market. We are currently experiencing a have a huge demand for our new developments. Buyers come from all over the world and “cash” is the word of today.
Prepare yourself accordingly by going project to project. This will allow you to select the best alternatives for your buyer based on the key points mentioned above.
2. If there is one single piece of advice that will make your business more successful. it’s the following: Don’t focus on the juicy commissions developers pay to attract brokers, even when it is very tempting – normally between 5 and 8 percent. As real estate agents, we need to be committed to our clients. As real estate agents, our priority should be our buyers and not the commissions. When you lose the focus on your clients needs and commissions become the center of the game, that is when you begin to loose your business. Remember, people wont care how much you know, until they know how much you care. Once you care enough for your client to do all the work with patience, dedication and diligence, that’s when the money will come.
1. How do you distinguish yourself from the rest of the market? I can only say that I have been blessed to have worked with incredible people all my life. I have learned from very special human beings and tried to learn the best from each one. See the bright side on every challenge, give and service from the heart and the rest will follow.
Since the early 2000s, Adriana Vargas Hernandez has been working in real estate, helping to sell more than $1 billion in real estate. Hernandez was recently named the new vice president of broker relations for Fortune International Realty.