The Neighborhood Experts at Platinum Real Estate have just launched a buying tool designed to find your dream home

By Mimi Vanderhaven

It’s economics 101: When demand is greater than supply, the market is off kilter.

Here in Lake County, where a historic shortage of houses for sale (supply) is currently outnumbered by buyers (demand), the situation has triggered multiple offers on homes, and even sight-unseen pre-offers coming in before a home is officially open for walk-throughs.

What’s a local Realtor to do? Sit back and wait for the offers to come in on homes for sale and tell their buyers tough luck?

That’s not how The Neighborhood Experts at Platinum Real Estate roll.

Owners Denise and Mark Zervos have been in real estate since 1991 and have weathered their share of rollercoaster market fluctuations.

This month they are unveiling a proactive program called Dream Home Finder to connect the pool of potential buyers with unlisted homes that might come on the market. It’s a slam-dunk for buyers who are tired of searching through the online leftovers in this hot market.

Here’s how it works: A buyer signs up online, filling out a brief list of things they are looking for in a home. Within minutes, the folks at Platinum reach out to them. They set up a meeting (either over the phone, via Zoom or in person) to discuss the ideal neighborhoods for the price and style of home the buyer is interested in. Then they enable their systematic approach to alert the homeowners in that neighborhood that they have interested buyers.

Dream Home Finder is a proprietary system that’s free of charge. It’s the brainchild of Platinum’s Director of New Business Development Andrew Niebuhr.

“I was part of an industry-specific conference and someone mentioned doing something like this,” he says. “We decided the conditions were perfect for us to do it here, and honed it for our neighborhoods. It gives our buyers the edge over other buyers out there.”

And the timing is perfect, with a busy summer forecast of sales. Surprisingly, according to Denise, although Covid-19 may have slowed or closed many businesses, it hasn’t had a negative impact on the local housing market. She reports sales haven’t slowed down a bit, and homes are holding their value.

Platinum Real Estate has 16 offices in Northeast Ohio and Columbus and nine in Florida. For a confidential appointment or to get more information, call 216-990-2100 or 440-974-SALE and visit YourNeighborhoodExpert.com. To sign up for the Dream Home Finder program, visit PlatinumMovesYou.com/dreamhome.