Expert: Jessica Bryan - 7/20/2007

Question
QUESTION: Hello,
I have a trio of dear lifelong friends (brothers) who retired early and sought out to fulfill their dream of developing on the beaches of Dorado, Puerto Rico. The project took about two years to complete and now that it has they are having trouble attracting buyers and thus selling units. They've even lowered their initial asking price. Still no real progress. My personal opinion is that they lacked in marketing. I've tried to help them from my end (I'm in New York) by posting on different sites and local corporate offices. May I ask you to look at their website WWW.Trinquility.com and give us your opinion/insight? What approach should they take? In addition, what else can I do to help? They are a dear and hardworking family and I'd like to see them succeed as a lot of hard work and sweat not to mention funds went into this venture.
Thanks in advance.

ANSWER: Dear Nils;
Two things struck me as I looked at the website: the first thing was there was no price and the second thing was the photo gallery didn't create a very attractive look.  The building is shown with power lines which takes away from the overall look.  Had the photos been shot from another angle it would have looked much better. also, the photos were shot on a gray day.  If it is ocean front property one wants to see sun and blue sky.  The interior colors are not appealing to the average American buyer.  They seemed a bit too colorful!  I think that your friends should hire a good photographer with skills at getting the best photos of interiors and also consider painting and decorating the rooms in a more "seaside friendly" motif.  Fresh and crisp colors of aquas, yellows and white are much more desirable for vacation homes by the beach.

A website designer should have a look at the site too.  The rolling photo gallery made me rush through the pictures since I wanted to keep track of which photos I had already seen.  It would be better to do a slide show.

I wish them good luck.

~Jessica Bryan

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Excellent points! What can I do to help on my end from here in New York? They stand to lose their life savings and they are such a hard-working family.

Answer
Send them my comments and then offer to help them by looking at the new photos and giving your opinion.  You can also take fliers to real estate offices and post around trying to attract people from your area.  If you or any of your friends have businesses they can post the advertisement or flier ask for them to help too and make sure to get the  ad on as many websites as possible including Craig's List.

I wish your friends luck.

~Jessica Bryan