In Sarasota, Florida, real estate agent Roger Pettingell is the leading specialist in luxury waterfront properties, coming in first place for the 11th year in a row in his locale for closed sales. For 2021, Pettingell beat his previous closed sales in 2020 by $25 million, totaling more than $200 million in transactions for 2021.
It’s a figure he can add to the $2 billion in sales he’s achieved over the period of his more than three decades in the industry. In this time, Pettingell says he’s learned countless lessons about selling luxury properties, some of which he’s able to impart to prospective sellers.
Pettingell claims that his recent success is at least partially due to his skill in generating interest in premium listings, a talent his career as a real estate agent has endowed him with to no small degree.
“One might suggest you need a real estate agent, less,” Roger Pettingell said, “but I would argue you need a better real estate agent more; what you really want in a market like this is an explosive introduction for each listing because you know people out there are already looking. You want to get it to the largest number of these buyers in order to get the best price and the best terms for the seller.”
With the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing, Pettingell says it’s crucial for sellers to utilize the services of a reputable brokerage group like Coldwell Banker Global Luxury, which is known for its overseas and domestic connections. Pettingell is a member of the company’s International Luxury Alliance Network, an association of luxury property listing agents located throughout the U.S. and Europe.
“I really do feel there’s a second wave of buyers coming from the international markets that we haven’t had access to in the last year because of [pandemic] travel restrictions,” Roger Pettingell notes. “The Sarasota market is a lifestyle choice. Most of the people I’m working with are not buying their homes as an investment to flip where they need to get in at the lowest price and sell at the highest. They’re making an investment in their life. They’re buying a second home or relocating their primary residence to Florida and setting up a place where their family can gather.”
While many real estate brokers make use of tried-and-true, old-school methods and tools to promote their listings, Pettingell is very adept at using the latest technology and processes to market to and communicate with his target audience groups. Even in his first years in real estate, Pettingell was determined to be the first agent in his local office to buy a computer.
Nowadays, Pettingell can be found attending real estate technology conferences, using social media to reach out to potential buyers, and advertising listings on a plethora of websites. He maintains a vlog — REALTALK™ — to catalog video listings of his properties.
“Anytime there’s an opportunity to be on the cutting edge, it’s where you want to be,” he assures both buyers and sellers.
