Cece has been a top producing agent since 2007 and has sold over $450 Million in real estate sales. She was ranked by Wall Street Journal - Real Trends ranked as top 1.5% of Agents Nationwide in 2018-2021 and is a Luxury Property Specialist.

Cece, even before signing the exclusivity contract with the owner of 11 Nordhoff St., she saw the fantastic development opportunity for this property. She crafted a marketing strategy to cast a larger net and include both investors and non-investor buyers. This way she could get more offers and the best value for the seller. 

Property Data

The lot measures over 5,000sqft or approx. 38'x128'. It includes a remodeled house with 2bed/1.5 bath, 2-level SFH and it appears to be in a good structural shape. Compared with other lots in the area, this property has a very deep lot, located on a quiet tree-lined street in Glen Park.

Planning data

The lot is zoned RH-1 or a single-family home lot, and it may qualify for the new SB-9.

Marketing Strategy

Cece's goal was to attract non-investors to bid at a higher value and to place her listing on top of other competitive properties on the market. The only way to achieve her goal was to show them data and visuals with the development opportunities of this lot. Based on her experience, she knew that if you want to attract qualified investors, you'd have to make available to them the approximate size and cost of the new expansions so they could quickly calculate their ROI.

These were some of the reasons why she contacted the CityStructure team. She was referred to us by another awesome team and CityStructure clients, Alexander Mulder & Ron Abta from Polaris Real Estate, with Side Inc.

Marketing Development Opportunity 

Cece shared with us her intent and asked for advice on the type of Report she should order that would convey the development information in an attractive and easy-to-understand format for both seasoned and unseasoned investors or buyers. 

Typically, we advise agents to use InstaDev to check the development potential before ordering any of the CityStructure Reports. This is a free tool that calculates instantly the size of the potential development on a property. The algorithm looks at the difference between the existing attributes of the lot and the maximum size and units of a building per zoning regulations. The outcome is not a guarantee by any means but it gives anyone an idea if there might be any expansion potential before ordering any of the CityStructure Reports.

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The results from the InstaDev tool were really exciting for Cece, so she decided to proceed with ordering both Value Added report as well as New House report. There were a few reasons why she decided to order both reports:

1. Value Added report shows the expansion options of the existing house on the lot. The great thing about this analysis is that It shows incremental development options that accommodate different use cases and matches a wide range of budgets. This type of report is best for those interested to keep the existing structures which may not necessarily allow for the best use of the lot. 

• a property that has a solid house on the lot
• to capture low budget clients and not scare them away by showing a significant development ...yes, that might overwhelm them
• when there is an existing historical resource building. In this case, one might be more successful moving the existing house on a different site than demo

1. New House report looks at a complete demo of the existing structures on the lot. This report is great in a few cases:

• when the zoning regulations allow for a significantly larger structure on site. For instance, the zoning may allow +4 units/lot and the existing structure is a single-family house.
• the existing house has a large front setback
• the existing house is very old and the structure needs to be replaced
• or if the lot is empty which would be the case on lot splits under SB-9

Typically, the analysis from the New House report shows a significantly larger structure possible on the lot than the Value Added report, because it doesn't take into account the existing site limitations. Interestingly enough the property at 11 Nordhoff St., due to previous or grandfathered improvements on the lot, the New House report showed less possible building area than the Value Added report.

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Attracting more buyers

Cece received our reports along with the presentation boards in just a few days. The reports are a 40-page long document with a detailed zoning analysis. They are a great way to substantiate statements like "expansion potential" or "development opportunity". Typically, agents upload our reports at the Disclosures. Agents package all the documents about a property and send out a laundry list of documents to the interested parties.
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When it comes to attracting interest in your listing, our presentation boards, and the website widget yields you the best outcome. Cece uploaded the non-branded presentation boards on MLS; while the branded boards were posted on websites like Redfin and Zillow.
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Cece's message about the development opportunity of her listing was consistent throughout all media channels. The listing's website also led with a captivating caption "Incredible Development Opportunity".

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Cece presented on her listing's website a wealth of information about this property, along with CityStructure boards and ...disclaimer.

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Cece's open house was a great success, too!! Here is a 2min. video on how she presented the development opportunity to the prospective buyers and to the agents touring her listings...

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The results

Over $300,000 more for her client

She captured a larger network of investors and non-investors looking for similar properties that couldn't win the bidding contest for this property

...and well disserved higher value commission

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Do you want to be part of a successful story as this one? Add CityStructure package to your marketing toolbox to get your next listing.

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