By Dennis McCloskey
“He that can have patience can have what he will.” – Benjamin Franklin
Michael Poczynek believes that patience is a virtue. When he secured the listing for one of the most expensive summer homes in Eastern Canada several years ago, he knew it would take extraordinary measures to sell this spectacular architectural gem in Canada’s smallest province.
Poczynek also believes in the proverb that “good things come to him who waits” but the sales rep with Century 21 Northumberland Realty in Summerside, P.E.I., has not been sitting around waiting for a buyer to magically appear.
Five years ago, a nationally renowned American architect built the $6.9 million, 13,360-sq.-ft. Cape Cod summer home on 11 acres of oceanfront property in Cable Head East near the eastern tip of the island. A few years later, when the owner put the home up for sale because of family health reasons, he contacted Sotheby’s International Realty. As the sole Sotheby’s representative in P.E.I. at the time, Poczynek was contacted by the firm and was given the listing in 2013. As of August 2014, the asking price had been reduced to $3.95 million.
You would think such a price drop would be seen as a steal by some international financial magnate looking for a recreational property, but Poczynek faces many challenges in attracting a buyer for this ultra-luxurious house.
“The biggest challenge has to do with the U.S. market crash and 99 per cent of potential buyers of a property such as this come from the U.S., mostly the New England states, New York and Florida,” he says. “We are seen as the Cape Cod or Long Island of the north. So, the saleability is dependent on those American buyers and the market is at the bottom right now.” Always the optimist, Poczynek adds that an American broker recently said that’s a good thing because the time to buy (a stock) is when prices are low.
Poczynek, who is a self-described “technology addict” and uses an airborne drone to videotape some of his properties to show prospective buyers, says another drawback he faces – besides a lack of consumer confidence – is the size of the province.
“A property like this in P.E.I. is seen as a hidden gem or diamond but the province is so small the government doesn’t have a big marketing budget, nationally or internationally.” He suggests that the larger province of next-door Nova Scotia has a big budget for advertising, so Americans who are looking for east coast Canadian property tend to buy there.
Geography, on a national and local scale, comes into play in a big way when offering a luxury product. “If this was in Malibu or Beverly Hills where every other home is worth a million dollars or more, the potential to sell is high,” says Poczynek, who moved to P.E.I. from Burlington, Ont. in 1997. “But in P.E.I. you might have a luxury home next to a $100,000 home.” And that, he says, is where the risk/reward factor comes into play.
Michael Poczynek
“If you’re selling a house in Cape Cod or Nantucket – or even Toronto or Oakville – you’re almost sure it’s going to sell so you have no problem spending a massive amount of money marketing that product. It’s not a big deal there; but here it is.”
Because the large and spectacular north shore summer home is such a difficult sell in such a small province, Poczynek has pulled out all the stops, including the creative suggestion that it could be turned into a luxury B&B or a corporate retreat for company executives or employees. He has a high-profile online presence with professionally taken creative photos and videos, including a video exclusively for the China market. “Two of our brokers were in China for a total of 90 days and the home was shown to clients who have purchased a hotel and other properties from us in P.E.I.,” he says.
He lists a plethora of other ways he is marketing the house, including advertising in the strong markets of Boston and Long Island; emails to his contact list of 22,000; using Century 21’s world property sites and other industry resources such as CREA’s Data Distribution Facility (DDF).
When asked about the massive amount of media coverage, both locally and nationally, that he has garnered in print, radio and TV, Poczynek laughs and says he is a “media whore.” He is proud of the self-described moniker “because I can’t buy the kind of coverage I’ve received on CBC, CTV, Charlottetown Guardian, YouTube and even a story in the Huffington Post.”
Poczynek, who also sells residential and commercial properties, got into the recreational and waterfront property listings when he sold a house (that another agent had given up on) through an ad in the New York Times. He denies that he gets discouraged by the seeming lack of serious buyers of this particular property, saying he enjoys the challenge.
“As a businessperson, I could look at the numbers and say it’s time to cut my losses, but as an eternal optimist, I am stupidly motivated to sell P.E.I.’s most phenomenal waterfront property. Also, I am a patient man.” He keeps the vendor apprised of his marketing efforts and he explains absorption rates to the client (how long it could take to sell such a property in that location) and supplies other forms of data as often as necessary or requested.
Asked if he has advice for other agents who are listing – or would like to list – luxury properties, Poczynek says with the right marketing mix and the use of creativity and technology, a good real estate agent can connect a luxury listing with qualified and interested buyers. He also recommends a book by Jack Cotton, titled Selling Luxury Homes. Poczynek says it is far and away the best book for selling all kinds of real estate, not just luxury properties.
