Resorts & Lodges For Sale in the Ozark Mountains
Bull Shoals Lake ~ Norfork Lake ~ White River ~ Missouri Ozarks
Gary Cooley, Realtor Resort/Tourism Specialist

10 Reasons For Buyers To Work With Cooley

#1: I Have More Ozark Small Tourism Business Sales Experience
In the last 11 years I have been paid fees or commissions for bringing to market and/or selling over 50 area tourism businesses. That is nearly half of all of this area's total tourism businesses! To the best of my knowledge, no other person with a real estate license even comes close to this level of paid experience. Ozark Tourism and small resort promotion is all I have done since 1995, it is how I make 100 percent of my annual income. Every cent I make comes from Ozark tourism promotion and tourism real estate.

#2:  More Real-World Ozark Tourism Market Experience
Since 1995 my wife Mary and I have produced Web sites and other advertising services for 124 area resorts, marinas, and fishing guide services on Norfork Lake, Bull Shoals Lake, the White and North Fork rivers, the Mountain Home area, and in southern Missouri. Because I have long-term working relationships with many regional tourism operators, I have witnessed many successes and failures. While I will not discuss specific properties without prior permission from the owners, I can tell you what works and what does not in this area's tourism market. To the best of my knowledge, no other person in the area with a real estate license has this level of Twin Lakes area tourism marketing experience.

#3: Learn The Secrets of Super Web Promotion
Mary and I also produce the Ozark Mountains Website (OMW), an online tourism publication which enjoys an average of 50,000 readers per month with some 600,000 readers per year. No other area tourism Web site comes close to producing this level of exposure for area tourism business. Every year OMW produces millions of dollars in direct tourism sales for our 90-plus tourism business customers. OMW does not depend on just search engines for this readership generation. While OMW sites show up number one 95 percent of the time in all major search engines (and we don't pay a cent for these top ranks), and number two the other 5 percent, only 20 to 25 percent of our monthly readership comes from search engines. We use a much more powerful Web promotion method called a Metrics-Based Model, which is the real "secret" to tourism Web sales success. Understand what makes a Metrics-Based Model work, and you'll have a much easier time picking the right resort or tourism business for you. I know for a fact that no other person with a real estate license in this area can offer you this most powerful service!

#4: You'll Get A Better Understanding Of The Lifestyle
It is not enough for a resort or other tourism business to be profitable. It must also be enjoyable. If it is not, you'll be far more miserable than you would be in a normal job. In order to get a clear idea of what the resort owner lifestyle is like, it is important to know right off that no two resort owners are alike. Like the old saying goes, what is one's meat is another's poison. While it is helpful to talk with individual resort owners, and even former resort owners, it is important to keep in mind you are getting their view point as they lived it. Some operators will swear on a stack of bibles you can't be this, that, or the other thing. But the very next owner will disagree strongly with what the other just claimed. When you see that both of them have successful operations, it gets real confusing. Who, or what, do you believe? I have worked with over 185 different resort owners. Many of the resorts I have worked with have sold two or more times since 1995, and I have seen the differences various owners can have on the same property. And I have watched one owner hate the place and the next love it. Just about the time I think I have seen it all, here comes another bell ringer! While other people can give you the view point of a handful, I can give you the experiences of many.

#5: Learn How True Wealth Is Made With A Small Resorts
Over the years I have had the experience of watching some owners become millionaires while others go bankrupt. Above all else, it takes experience to explain to a buyer how a small resort can create true wealth. You don't buy a resort to go bankrupt, or to live a life of poverty. A resort creates personal wealth in three ways when properly managed. I have seen several people who badly wanted to buy a resort not buy one because the seller, or the person they were working with, could not properly explain whether or not the property in question could build wealth for them. The fact is the annual net profit before tax is just one of three ways your new resort will build wealth for you. I explain the other two as we tour various resort or tourism businesses together.

#6: Due Diligence - It Is Not So Simple!
Buying or selling a resort is far more complex than buying or selling a home. It requires more specialized paperwork, and extensive due diligence process. It requires a clear understanding of goodwill, real property, and personal property, and how to allocate the purchase price for all three. It requires specialized knowledge for writing the offer and acceptance contract because a resort sale transfers many items not found in residential sales. Swimming pools, boats, docks, store inventories, permits, leases, and a long list of other items used for commercial purposes are not something to take lightly in a resort sale. And how the purchase contract is written can affect your annual tax position for years. Work with someone who does not understand this, and you'll needlessly pay the price for years. I've seen it happen!

#7: Getting Your Loan
Hard to buy a resort if you can't get the loan. Hard to get the loan if you can't supply what your commercial loan officer wants. The trick is to know ahead of time what to expect from your loan officer and be prepared to answer questions accurately. You'll need to visit a few banks to see what loan amount, or what loan range, you'll qualify for. I'll give you a list of commercial loan officers to contact. Once you decide which one you will work with, I'll help you supply all your loan officer needs for your loan application.

#8: I'm Not The High Pressure Type
Ever work with a real estate agent who asks, "Are you ready to make an offer?" every 15 minutes? I have, and it was very irritating. That is not my style. When you buy a small tourism business, you are not buying just a place to live, you are buying a lifestyle, and making a huge commitment. Indeed one of the most valuable services I provide is I'll play devil's advocate for you. I'll do all I can to scare you out of buying a resort! And if you still want to buy after I do all I can to rattle your cage, we'll both know you are doing the right thing. Remember that I have your long-term interest in mind because I'm hoping that in addition to buying a resort through me, you'll want your Web and advertising services through me as well. I'm not planning on disappearing after closing!

#9: American Travel Industry Market Knowledge
I devote 12 hours a week just reading about the travel industry. I subscribe to six different monthly consumer travel magazines. I subscribe to several advertising industry publications and I stay in tune with which of the Fortune 500s are running successful consumer advertising campaigns and which ones have flopped, and why. I subscribe to three professional level photography magazines. I purchase travel industry surveys. I buy and read some very good but very expensive advertising books written by the best advertising minds in the world. One such book cost me $1,800, the other was $5,000. I do not hesitate to spend money for powerful advertising information. When I discuss tourism advertising with you, rest assured I am not just sharing my own ideas and theories. I subscribe to Forbes and INC magazines to see what is working and what is not in the business world. I have a collection of some 2,000 modern travel brochures. I do all I can to stay well ahead and well informed on the entire American Travel and Hospitality Industry, not just here in the Ozarks. To the best of my knowledge there is no other person holding a real estate license in my area who spends this much time and money staying in tune with the American Travel Industry!

#10: MLS and Realtor.com
As a Realtor and member of the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) I can show you any property listed with another agent. If you want to sell, I can put your property in the MLS, and I can put your property on Realtor.com. I also have advanced advertising programs to help sellers get their gross annual sales up. The higher your gross annual sales, the better your odds of getting top dollar when you sell. These proven programs are included at no cost to you when you list your resort with me. No other agent has these programs!

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