Shopping and finding the right new home in Central Florida just got easier and more manageable according to Kevin Ulgenalp, founder of Trusted New Home Advisors, a new-home shopping service and a Florida licensed real estate agent.
Ulgenalp, his wife, and two sons know something about virtual home shopping.
As a global consultant and manager of attractions in Denmark, U.A.E., China, Japan, and the United States, he knows how frustrating and confusing virtual home shopping can be.
They shopped homes using Skype and FaceTime for years. Both to shop rentals in foreign countries and purchase homes in Orlando.
“Virtual tours are going to be a part of the ‘new normal’ for new home shopping. But let’s be real about virtual home shopping. It can be frustrating. Registering and coordinating tours with multiple builders is hard and finding the right Realtor can be even more difficult,” says Ulgenalp.
Our services address both the home finding issue and the important need to work with qualified Realtors. How it works:
- We select and refer and set appointments as needed for three Central Florida new home communities for the home shopper to shop online on his own with or without a builder representative, or in person by appointment with an onsite consultant at the model.
Referred communities are selected based on a thorough questionnaire filled out online by the shopper. Shoppers may then visit the builder online at their convenience, request a guided online tour by appointment, or visit in person with or without a Realtor.
- Shoppers can choose to shop on their own or request the services of a Realtor to guide them through their new home buying experience. If they choose the latter, we refer them to a Realtor in our Trusted New Home Advisor network.
Realtor network members are vetted, and must have five years proven new home experience, both with move-in ready homes and pre-construction, and have earned their Certified New Home Co-Broker designation.
“We know this approach is unusual, but these are unusual times,” says Ulgenalp “We’re truly only interested in making new home shopping easier than what it has become.
“Given social distancing is with us for who knows how long, we’re ok giving up some control if the shopper prefers to work alone. In a sense we are placing trust over control, but we think that by building trust, our many of our customers will choose to use a Realtor as the move through the new home purchasing process.
“We are targeting shoppers who plan to make a new home purchase within the next 90 to 180 days. And, yes, the Realtors we refer are also experienced in the resale market and can help with the sale of the shopper’s own home, if needed,” Ulgenalp said.
Ulgenalp said surveys by the National Association of Realtors and BDX, a national home builder marketing and digital products company, helped support his decision to offer ‘trusted new home advisor’ services to new home shoppers.
- National Association of Realtors studies show that 90 percent of all home buyers use a Realtor be it a resale or a new home to assist with their purchase.
- A Builder Digital Experience (BDX) market study published in May 2019 showes that only forty-nine percent of new home shoppers involve a Realtor at the beginning of their search; twenty-three percent after they do some initial research online, thirteen percent after they found a home of interest, and six percent after a model visit, according to Ulgenalp.
“The big plus, of course, is that Central Florida attracts all types of new home and new condominium buyers from all over the world,” Ulgenalp said, “we have every reason to believe the new home market will continue stronger than most in the days ahead.”
