Relocating & need ideas on what to do with Current Area Websites/Business..

[Cleo]

I am planning on moving back to the U.S. and would like to hear some of the ideas anyone has about what to do with my real estate sites that are up and running in Cyprus for over a year and doing well in finding buyers and selling property. They both have page rank and and are pretty high on Google for key search terms

The choices I assume are:

1. Try and sell them which may be difficult considering everyone is in the property business here.
2. Find a partner to continue what I was doing here - getting listings and showing buyers around. Again it can be difficult to find someone you trust especially since the rules and laws are not so strong here.
3. Hire someone but again the trust issue with being a 12 hour flght away.
4. Turn them into FSBO sites which is a new idea that no one is doing here.

I value the opinions of this forum very much and look forward to some great ideas!

[jessiesc]

Looks to me like you have the common options covered.

Another thing perhaps is to keep the site live, and offer someone the leads on a referral basis?

You've said several times "laws are not so strong here" so I imagine whatever option you chose, there is no recourse?

[Cleo]

Thanks Jessie, I will add referral to my list of options.
Any ideas what kind of rates to charge on referrals?

Cyprus is a law abiding member of the European Union (E.U.)
Maybe I should explain my problem with the laws:

In Cyprus they will not give you a Real Estate license unless you work for a real estate company for 10 years! I discovered that after I was here and original business plans fell through.

Another one that did work in my favor is they let marketing companies perform the same work as a real estate company. The only difference is
there are more marketing companies than real estate companies and of course the real estate companies are trying to get rid of the marketing companies. A battle has been going back and forth since I have been here (since july 2006).

Imagine having 3 different for sale signs from 3 different companies on the same house!?

There is great potential in Cyprus, I have enjoyed and learned alot in this experience however, I just don't think I have the time or the patience to wait for the laws to be re-amended!

Plus most importantly, my wife and I miss the U.S. and think our two boys (3 and 1 year old) would be better off there. The good thing is we are in no rush, we are doing good business in a slow market and I have time to look into all my options.

[jessiesc]

Thanks Jessie, I will add referral to my list of options.
Any ideas what kind of rates to charge on referrals?

That would depend on several items, but I would say asking for 25% would not be out of the question.

In Cyprus they will not give you a Real Estate license unless you work for a real estate company for 10 years! I discovered that after I was here and original business plans fell through.

Ouch!!

Another one that did work in my favor is they let marketing companies perform the same work as a real estate company. The only difference is
there are more marketing companies than real estate companies and of course the real estate companies are trying to get rid of the marketing companies. A battle has been going back and forth since I have been here (since july 2006).

Imagine having 3 different for sale signs from 3 different companies on the same house!?

There is great potential in Cyprus, I have enjoyed and learned alot in this experience however, I just don't think I have the time or the patience to wait for the laws to be re-amended!

Plus most importantly, my wife and I miss the U.S. and think our two boys (3 and 1 year old) would be better off there. The good thing is we are in no rush, we are doing good business in a slow market and I have time to look into all my options.

Where are you relocating to and do you have a real estate license in the U.S.?

[Cleo]

I am about to start studying for the exam in Northern VA through Moseley. My brother-in-law works for Weichert there. I prefer a warmer climate year-round, but since we have family and friends in VA plus a good school system we figured we can't go wrong. The DC area is so transitional with tall the govt. jobs/diplomats etc. I think working there will be beneficial depsite the slightly high cost of living. If you have any thoughts on this, please feel free to tell me your opinions.

[AustinReilly]

I would market the sites to another Realtor and just be done with it.

[webmaster]

You could always "lease" the sites and offer to maintain them for x$ per month $500-$5000 whatever you think you can get - this way they are really just paying up front for the leads, much better than referral in your situation.

[jamesww]

I have worked in 3 states now and went the wrong route in the last two relocations. I agree with Morgan find some to rent the sites to. Makes sure you keep control of the server work and that you can change where the leads are routed at anytime.

The referal route stinks as most agents are poor with follow up and you will be to busy to incubate the leads before handing them over because of the time constraints on you as a new agent in a new market.

The only truely viable option is to sell links off the site to agents in Cypress.

I made the mistake of trashing my sites the first time and the second time I tried going the referal route and found out the agent surveys about poor follow up are so very true. Most likely worse than has been noted.

[Cleo]

It would be a lot nicer for me to market the sites to another realtor and get rid of them but I am not sure if I could get the right price or what that right price would be.

Leasing the sites out and maintaining them would be great as we would still get an income and my wife would have a job that way.

Buy maintaining them, do I do all the work or just give them like 20 hours a week for a certain price.

Thanks for shairng your experience too James.