Cranbrook, British Columbia - Canada

Mr. & Mrs. Hans Plechinger have distinguished interests and style. They lived in many parts of the world with worthy investments and professional pursuits, which cultivated a rich and full life. As a next move they decided to live their dream in British Columbia, more than two hours north of Whitefish, MT. There in rural Cranbrook, BC they built their perfect home, a traditional style Georgian pointing to the time they spent in the old south of the United States and created an interior with the style and flair of a modern German property with granite floors throughout, sleek Poggenpohl cabinetry and modern fixtures.

fter enjoying the home and land for many years, it was time to make a move again. The Plechinger’s called upon the region’s very best real estate agents. They pulled Matt Cameron from LandVest and the team of Irv Ridd & Beverley Kniffen of Cascadia Pacific Realty in Vancouver who have owned many top brand real estate offices and represent multi-million dollar properties throughout BC. To everyone’s dismay, after a campaign of national and international promotion, the property was receiving very little interest. Excuses from the buyers were rampant and the seller was growing weary of the listing process and multiple price reductions. Despite being on the market for 5 years, less than a handful of prospects ever made the journey to see the property.

The Seller’s were motivated, but were at a loss of what to do, until listing agent Irv Ridd recommended the consideration of an auction. Ridd interviewed various other agents that had used auctions, and overwhelmingly the response was to consider Interluxe. The more Mr. Plechinger learned of Interluxe, the model and the process, the more he understood that like the science of his professional life, this could be applied to the sale of his home too. Interluxe’s proven process could work for him if he provided the appropriate resources.
 

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We knew to successfully attract a buyer we would need to reach a global audience with a call to action and urgency. The land, the views, the indoor pool, the horse barn, the henhouse, the carriage house/guest house were all wonderful life style features that we knew were highly marketable features to an already impressive estate. The marketing campaign for this property placed heavy emphasis on international marketing to the western US and Canada. Based on the unique aspects of the property there were several different verticals of buyer segments we could promote to.
 

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The marketing campaign was highly successful. We were able to obtain over 13,400 unique visitors to the Cranbrook auction page from over 35 countries on the Interluxe website in the 30 day period of marketing that preceded the online auction. During the 3- day preview/open house period, 15 groups of people toured the property. This was quintuple times the number of previews of the property in 3 days than had taken place in the previous 5 years! The focus on the property resulted in 4 bidders participating in the online auction. The auction itself produced a record-breaking price. The property sold for $4,572,764; the highest sale price for a residential property in a multi-district area.