The house, which sits on nearly 30 acres, boasts a backyard swimming pool with a waterfall and pool house. PETER CIHELKA/THE FREE LANCE-STAR View More Images from this story Visit the Photo Place

Big homes require big sales effort

Real estate agents face an even bigger challenge trying to sell higher-priced homes

Date published: 9/20/2009

BY MARCIA A. CHIDESTER

FOR THE FREE LANCE-STAR

Fredericksburg Realtor Janice Pearson was delighted when she received a listing for a $4.3 million house a few weeks ago. The brick home on Chewning Lane in Spotsylvania County was a great property--six bedrooms, 4 baths, a pool and 28.5 acres.

The problem was, Pearson wasn't quite sure how she was going to sell it.

With the housing market in a slump and loan money tight, the market for high-priced homes has shrunk smaller than credit availability.

Gone are the days of instant contracts as soon as a property goes up for sale. Nowadays, high-end properties take more time, effort and creativity to sell, said Pearson, an agent for Realty World Select.

To find that elusive buyer, Pearson, who has been marketing residential and commercial real estate for seven years, has taken out ads in local real-estate publications. She's called prior clients to let them know about the gated, 6,585-square-foot home that has garage space for eight cars.

"You can't just list the property," Pearson said. "You have to make contacts."

The Internet is an invaluable marketing tool, she said. Because of its listing price, the house is one of the first listed in fredericksburg.com's real estate listings.

And Pearson's Facebook account has generated a lot of leads. Her Web site is linked to 16 real-estate domains, including Postlets, Realestateshows .com and Homes Data Base. She also posted a virtual tour of the property on You Tube.

Holding an open house to generate traffic for an upscale home takes far more planning than it used to, Pearson said.

"It has to be an event rather than a typical open house," she said.

Pearson stocked an open house she held on Chewning Lane yesterday with state Sen. Edd Houck D-Spotsylvania; Spotsylvania Supervisor T.C. Waddy and Fredericksburg Mayor Tom Tomzak.

The affair was invitation-only, with potential buyers welcome only if accompanied by broker-agents.

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Date published: 9/20/2009