Solving Selling Problems -- James Crawford, HER Realtors

Solving selling problems can be simple or complicated – but in every case, creative approaches save the day.

That was the message Realtor and GDREIA Commercial Member James Crawford brought to GDREIA’s First Wednesday meeting in April.

In one case, Crawford said, the solution was simple -- but easy to overlook. It involved three buildings that held a total of eight apartments. The owner had been trying to sell the buildings for four years without success.

During that time, the owner of the buildings had not placed a “for sale” sign in front of the properties – to keep from raising questions among tenants.

The solution was simple: place the “for sale” sign. Soon, the sign attracted a phone call from a potential buyer, who decided to purchase the buildings.

Other times, it’s more complicated to sell slow-moving properties, Crawford said. Two houses that had been converted to clinics (one for a dentist and one next door for a chiropractor) stayed on the market for months after the city (Xenia) rezoned the properties to residential use only, he said.

The solution was to seek a zoning appeal to allow some commercial uses. Once the zoning appeal was successful, Crawford said, the properties soon found buyers.

In another case, a prominent commercial building in downtown Xenia was finally sold after seven long years on the market. Among the challenges: the top two floors of the building were vacant. 

The solution was a special historical property designation providing a tax subsidy for renovation. A savvy investor saw the potential of significant cash flow from a revitalized property in the center of town, and made the purchase.

In each case, Crawford said, the solution to a stubborn selling problem came from creative thinking -- about how to market a property, or what the best use of a property should be.