European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 20, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Is the Price really right service members who buy Home Sltes i Florida May be confusing the land s value with the Price they pay officials  a lot of people Don t realize is that nearly 50 percent goes for marketing said Lynn Herbert a consumer Protection specialist with the . Department of housing and Urban development. If they re buying land As an investment they la have to hold it for a Long  salesmen in Europe offer serve remembers Quarter acre Home Sltes in Lehigh acres on Florida s West coast for $11,000. The lots usually Are bought sight unseen. The buyers later learn their $11,000 Home Sltes Are appraised for $400 and similar lots sell on the open Market Lor $999. John Reynaert. Deputy property appraiser for Lee county and the appraiser assigned to Lehigh acres said people who buy lots for $11,000 overpay. A lot of buyers Are out of town out of state out of country he said. I Don t Ilka to Tell them they be been ripped Oil. They can surmise that on their own. It s a sad  John Rush the sales agent for Lehigh in Europe disagrees and says the lot Are priced equitably. The Prospect of owning properly in a Young vibrant growing Community determines the fair Market value of our completed  Rush said. You will find our Home site costs Are parallel to communities across the United states that in most cases cannot come close to offering the amenities available in Lehigh acres. It s not just the land. You re buying the whole Community. We give our clients very Good  Uhlah official mid their marketing Cost is 50 percent of the sales Price of a lot or $5,500 of an $11,000 Home site. Prices on the resale Market and appraisals from the tax office Are lower because they do not include marketing costs and commissions. Our marketing costs Are High said James hacked Lehigh senior vice president of marketing and sales. When i look at the Cost of the Sale i look at advertising brochures and Legal costs. That s Why you can t Market land at $1,000 a lot  Hackett said Lehigh pays commissions from the first six monthly payments and has Little Chance to recover them if a customer stops paying. Cancellations run about 25 percent he said. If a customer cancels that Money is gone Hackett sold. That s Why the marketing Cost a so  officials of general development corp. Said 30 percent of their sales Price goes for marketing. Therefore almost $5,000 of the $16,000 Cost for a Quarter acre Home site in Silver Springs shores outside Ocala has nothing to do with Lair Market or resale value. Our marketing approach is a Broad based approach said Tore Debella gds senior vice president for marketing. It is designed to make a real estate Purchase available economically to a Broad base Public that might have an interest. It is not restricted to the More sophisticated or financially solvent  gds s marketing costs include advertising pull cations and commissions. Gds s general agent in Europe gets a 16 percent commission which to taken out of the Down payment and initial monthly payments. M customer can cols the contract or stops making payments gds often cannot recover the commission it s already paid to a Salesman. Debella said cancellations run about 19 percent. Deltona. The third major firm Selling to serve remembers in Europe has a marketing Cost Between 25 percent and 30 percent said president Frank Mackle Iii. He said commissions Are paid out of the customer s initial payments but the firm tries to recover some of the Money if the customer stops payment in the first year or Page in the stars and stripes two. Much depends he said on whether the Salesman is still with Deltona. Mackle said cancellations run about 7 percent or 8 percent. But despite the marketing Cost he believes his Home Sltes Are under priced. I think our prices Are Low As hell Mackle said of Home Sltes priced about $6,000. The resale Price of our property is within $1,000 of our Price. We should be Selling those lots Lor $10,000 to $12,000." Wug Ittah lottfor$1 1,000. Iakon off from pc Rycki Estin ves Mefi l Frank Wall and John Althen Are Good advertisements for Florida land  own Home Sltes and love  plans to begin construction on his retirement Home next year. Althen has retired to Florida and lives in a big House with a Pool. Now in retrospect it turned out to be the Oest investment i Ever made in my life a then said. Althen bought his Home site in the Early 1960s when a door to door Salesman appeared in Lincoln Village in Darmstadt Germany. He was a fast talker and i was a Little sceptical at first he recalled. Althen a former copy editor with the stars and stripes initially bought a Quarter acre lot for $300, paying $10 Down and $10 a month. He did t have a lawyer review his contract thinking the Cost was Only Loose change that i might be otherwise tossing into the Slot machines in the press  his colleagues scoffed including one who asked Are you sure there s land on your property Althen later paid $300 each for another lot in general development corp s port Charlotte on Florida s West coast and two in port St. Lucle on the East coast. It s make a Deal High pressure sales tactics Are As old Ashe  Stem from a sales philosophy of creating a sense of urgency and completing the Sale on the spot. Delay leads to thinking questioning research and lost sales. It s Little wonder a few land salesmen in Europe pressure customers from the outset. But not All do As indicated by satisfied buyers who said their Salesman were Cool Calm almost indifferent. But sooner or later a High pressure artist appears. It seemed that Way when Frank a Salesman for general development corp. Gave his sales talk to a husband wife and daughter Hying near Frankfurt. The Man was a stars and stripes reporter who had mailed in a card requesting information. Frank called for an appointment. Frank s sales presentation was taped with his consent. Frank s last name is not used in this article because he did not know he was talking to a reporter. But his approach offers prospective buyers insight on what to look Tor when buying land he would t take no or an answer. Frank said he had worked for gds for 11 months. Before that he worked for a competing land firm and before that he was a product manager for an Auto note distributor. He said he had t seen most of the properties he was Selling although he did own a piece of property in one development. Frank gave out erroneous information did not Issue property reports As required by Federal Law did not Tel of a required Cooling Oil period. Frnk nude reference to soaring properly vah. I violation of Florida regulations. He tried to get the buyer to sign on the dotted line that night. I m going to Florida next month to look at the property the buyer said if i m still interested i la cat when i get  Frank was ready for that argument. Buy the land tonight he said. Lock in a Price and High id do would refund the a Wolf buyer Len t like the land after seeing it. Ii you go Back to the United states within the nod six months you come Down to Florida we will put you up As our guest for three Days and two nights a expenses paid he said. We give you a tour of the Community a tour of the property if you Don t be wednesday