Platinum Real Estate the Luxury Home Experts has its fingers on the pulse of real estate grandeur in Lake County
By Patricia Nugent
In times of uncertainty, people follow what’s certain,” says Denise Zervos, who, along with her husband, Mark, leads the powerhouse selling team at Platinum Real Estate the Luxury Home Experts.
With rising inflation and uncertain times, she says they are seeing people seeking to diversify their portfolios to include a commodity they can always trust—real estate.
As local leaders in the high-end real estate market, the team is being called on often to strategize plans for buying second investment homes. Denise says they often work with financial planners who are trying to increase their clients’ portfolios with the smartest acquisitions and timing the transactions to avoid any tax ramifications.
“Selling in the luxury market is an acquired skill,” she observes. “There are fewer homes for sale, and they usually take longer to sell since there’s a smaller pool of buyers who can afford them.”
Just look at the illustration here, which covers activity in Lake Country over the past summer. Forty were sold, with an average time spent on the market of 41 days.
“With 22 luxury properties currently under contract, that leaves only 25 homes over $500,000 left on the market,” she says. “It’s certainly been an active summer.”
The Cleveland-Florida-South Carolina Connection
Working the luxury market in Ohio along with Mark and Denise, the luxury team includes industry veterans Erin Paglio and Lee Jarocki.
“We have teams in place in southern Florida, and most recently have expanded into the Charleston and Myrtle Beach areas of South Carolina,” says Denise. “Many of the clients we’ve worked with over the years have come to trust us when it comes time to buy a beach house for retirement, vacations or as an investment.”
Of course, in Lake County, lakefront properties account for a good-sized chunk of the highest-priced homes, and Denise points out that for the past two years, Platinum has dominated the lakefront homes market, outselling all the other companies.
The bustling downtown Cleveland market is also hopping. Denise reports they offer penthouse properties with exquisite panoramic views of the downtown skyline.
“With more and more historic buildings being rehabbed into condos, the opportunities for investing in downtown property are on the grow,” she says.
Telling a Home’s Unique Story
Denise says that they concentrate on a home before it’s even put on the market.
“Our tight-knit and talented team is highly collaborative when it comes to discovering all the things that make a particular home valuable,” she says. “Then we come up with a strategy that will attract top dollar in this competitive market.”
They delve into the unique story each home has to tell and market to the buyer most fitting what it has to offer. Romance is important and active in this specialized art. Familiarizing themselves with potential buyers is also a key component to the equation. For instance, since one-third of luxury home buyers are relocating from other national and international locations, the team advertises its properties globally and in their primary language for ease and attraction.
“It’s all about forging an emotional connection between home and buyer,” she adds. “And before it goes to market, we promote a home to our cultivated network of potential high-net-worth buyers. Additionally, we partner with more than 30 exclusive relocation firms so we can tap into those moving into our area.”
The system is working. Over the past 30-plus years they’ve been doing business, the Luxury Home Experts have sold more than $1billion in properties.
Headquartered within The Platinum Center, at 7200 Mentor Street in Mentor, Platinum Real Estate has offices in Ohio, Florida and South Carolina. To get more information, call 844-LUX-PROS or visit ClevelandLuxuryExperts.com.
Private Paradise in Madison
Denise Zervos explains that luxury properties are not just defined by price.
“There are several elements that come into play to label a home luxury,” she says.
“There’s location—for instance, our lakefront—the neighborhood and address, core elements in design often referred to as finishes, and a sense of privacy and seclusion.”
A property that’s an excellent example of having it all in a luxury home is one that’s available on Old Mill Road in Madison.
“Set on almost six wooded acres, overlooking a serene pond with an indoor pool/spa house connected to the main house for year-round recreation, this is like living in your own park,” says Denise. “It’s very peaceful. Only minutes away from the wineries and other parts of town, the secluded home isn’t even visible from the road most of the year. Plus, I know many car collectors who would appreciate the 10-car garage that’s heated and cooled and can fit a boat and an RV, too.”
The current owner completely renovated it, expanded within its environmental setting seamlessly, and utilized high-end materials that one would expect in doing so.
“I can disclose that the additions and renovations to this fairy tale home setting required an outlay of over $1.7 million, so it’s a tremendous value and opportunity priced at $850,000,” she adds.
If you’re looking for more information on this property, go to 2114OldMillRoad.com.