On Saturday July 15, 2006 the Ellis Team at RE/MAX Realty Group hosted a Reflection Lakes open house tour with a limousine. The challenge in Reflection Lakes is that it is a gated community in SW Florida, and open house signs are not allowed. Directional signs are not allowed either, and Realtor’s and owners are not allowed to post phone numbers to call at the gates call box for customers wanting to get into Reflection Lakes to see the open house. Even if customers could getinto the gates, they wander aimlessly around the subdivision wondering where the open house actually is.
To combat this, The Ellis Team came up with a pro-active marketing idea. Our office at RE/MAX is located just outside of Reflection Lakes at 7910 Summerlin Lakes Dr. We thought we could hire a limo company to transport customers in and out of the gates and directly to the homes on open house tour. Customers could enjoy something fun and different, and wouldn’t have to worry about directions, or getting through the various gates. We would have cookies and treats at the office where customers would meet to view the homes.
To promote the event, we first turned to our radio show. The Ellis Team hosts a weekly real estate radio show on WINK AM 1240 Saturday’s at 11:00 AM. The Reflection Lakes Open House Tour would be Saturday from 1-4 pm. We introduced the event in each the beginning and at the end of the show. Listeners could even call our office for directions. We also advertised all week on WINK Radio announcing the event. Lastly, we devoted a large section of our weekly Saturday color newspaper ad to the event.
The event was a success. We had 5 happy families tour Reflection Lakes without hassle. They very much enjoyed the treats and limo ride as they toured in style. They also got to see four unique and diverse properties in Reflection Lakes. Prices ranged from $350,000 
to $760,000. Two had lake views and two had preserve/ Lakes Park views. The customers seemed sincerely interested, and one has even put their property on the market with The Ellis Team in hopes of selling it and buying one of the open house properties. 
We couldn’t be more pleased as to how it turned out. And the homeowner’s association has to be happy as well, because there were no open house signs, no directional signs, no messages at the gate for customers, and nothing to enforce. It gets quite tiring for Board members to police owners and agents hosting open houses. Board members spend countless hours removing signs, sending notices to offending owners, dealing with owners and agents seeking to pick-up their illegal signs, and hearing complaints from residents about the offenses. For once a Realtor complied with all the regulations and hosted an open house tour with a touch of class.
Most of all, it was fun, effective, and we look forward to doing it again soon. If you live in Reflection Lakes and are considering selling, call the Ellis Team today to get your home listed and on the next tour. 239-489-4042 SW Florida real estate is selling. It takes proper pricing and aggressive real estate marketing. The Ellis Team can assist with both.
In addition to showing the homes in Reflection Lakes, we also showed the community tennis courts, community pool, and the community clubhouse.