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How We Target Remote Lake-Home Buyers in the Central Minnesota Area (And the Unique Systems We Use to Get Sellers the Highest Price)
By Mike Fish, Broker/Owner – Minnesota Real Estate & Management

If you’re thinking about selling a lake home in the Brainerd Lakes Area, one of the most important realities to understand is this: your buyer is almost never local. Over the last several years, roughly half—sometimes as many as 75%—of my buyers have been from outside Minnesota. Many come from the Twin Cities, and several recent buyers have flown in from places like California.

Because the Central MN lake-home market is driven heavily by out-of-state and remote buyers, the way we market and sell a property has to be completely different from what a typical brokerage does.

At Minnesota Real Estate & Management, we’ve built a proven system that not only reaches these buyers—but gives them the confidence, trust, and information needed to make fast, strong offers. Below are the key ways our approach stands out.

1. We Go Beyond Standard MLS Marketing – Way Beyond
Most brokerages rely on a basic set of tools:

Photos

Video tours

Drone footage

Listing on the MLS

While all of those are important (and we certainly do them at the highest quality), they are simply the starting point. Remote buyers need significantly more information than someone buying locally.

That’s where our unique strategies come in.

2. Guided Inside & Outside Walk-Through Videos (Where We Sell the Property)
This is one of the most powerful marketing tools we use—and something 99% of brokerages do not do.

In addition to the standard MLS video, I personally record a guided walk-through of the home—inside and out—where I speak directly to the camera and sell the property.

I highlight:

The story of the home

Key features buyers would miss in photos

Improvements, updates, and layout details

The lifestyle the home and lake offer

These videos are not placed on the MLS (rules don’t allow it), but they are sent immediately to every interested buyer and every buyer agent.

This allows a remote buyer—hundreds or thousands of miles away—to feel connected, informed, and confident. Many decide whether to schedule an in-person visit solely based on these guided walk-throughs. And in several recent cases, buyers have written offers sight unseen because of them.

These videos alone have helped me sell multiple lake homes—even in January—because buyers could “experience” the property in its full summer glory.

3. Detailed Lake Profiles: Buyers Are Buying the Lake, Not Just the Home
Remote buyers rarely understand the Brainerd Lakes Area the way locals do.

That’s why we create separate lake profile videos and written lake profiles for each listing. These include:

Lake size & depth

Water clarity

DNR data

Reputation and vibe

Activities and boating

Fishing quality

Nearby amenities

Historical property values

Comparisons to other local lakes

We attach the lake profile to the MLS as a supplement and send the video to every potential buyer. This gives remote buyers the context they need to trust their decision—because in lake real estate, the lake is just as important as the home.

4. We Move Lightning Fast for Remote Buyers
Out-of-state buyers often compete with locals who can walk into a property the same day. So we make sure our buyers never fall behind.

We offer:

Immediate virtual showings

Live FaceTime walk-throughs

Recorded follow-up tours

Measurement checks

On-site inspections and evaluations

Because we act quickly, we’ve written full-price (or higher) offers:

Sight unseen

Before a home hits the market (coming-soon status)

Same-day a home lists

On lake homes up to—and over—$2.7M

Remote buyers win because we’re set up to respond with speed and detail.

5. A Huge Advantage: STR Income Analysis for Buyers
Since we operate one of the most successful vacation rental management companies in Central Minnesota (60+ properties, 4,000+ bookings), we bring an additional layer of value:

Income projections

Occupancy strategies

Licensing guidance

Improvement recommendations

Seasonality expectations

VRBO/Airbnb income potential

For many buyers who want a lake home and income on the side, this is a big driver in their decision to buy—and a major selling point for our sellers.

https://mnreandm.com/how-we-target-re...