I hear you Peter.  Maybe a condo with a distant view of the beach; or some remote house on a small lake... that's all the "waterfront" you will find in Florida for less than $500K.

But just for fun, watch this short cell phone video that I took today of our waterfall at our new place in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  The creek was roaring after the remants of Tropical Storm "Fred" passed over.

  We also have a second smaller creek on our land, and a large fresh-water pond.   Two creeks, one pond, backs up to 10,000 acres of State Forest.  And we got it for under $350K...  because we spent a year looking, before we found this too-good-to-be-true deal.

Here's another short video clip of our waterfall. 

Maybe tell them a water view instead of waterfront would fit their price range in your market place?

The days of the waterfront steal in Florida has been slowly disappearing since the mid 90's. So that ship has sailed. Ante up or be shutout!

I work 100% by referral,

so I'd say it creates a great business and a good life.

Mostly positive.  All the referrals I received went well - referring agents and clients are happy.  

I have only had one outbound referral not go well. I could not find anyone here in the Rain so I researched online for several hours and interviewed several agents. The agent I believed would be a great fit was not ... in my clients' words "you spoiled us" she did not do all that you did for us ... the agent was fired by my clients.

This had nothing to do with price - it was a lack of service. 

If it is from another buyer broker in a different city, I close them.

If it is from a traditional agent, they are usually unqualified or unrealistic...

What I don't get is this:  How can an agent pass along a referral that is a not a viable referral??

and then there are those agents who take a referral, close it and don't pay the referring agent...like the one who attempted to cheat me out of $20K referral fee...and she is still on AR.

Eve

Absolutely. IF the referred buyer/seller's expectations are not realistic, either we don't take them or (if we find out later) we throw them back.

Business is business and we can't waste time on someone who's not gonna close!

If the referred client expresses the desire for 'a deal' we just flat out tell them there ARE NO DEALS right now. We can keep them on file for the future but right now, nope, can't help you.

Rather be at casino. Drinks are free and might win! LOL

Although scarce, in my waterfront community, you can still find a home in that price range... it all depends on expectations and how they align with what is available. 

Peter,

We have been fortunate with solid referrals.  

The steal and the deal Real Estate keeps dinosaurs company now a days. Prime property is no longer undiscovered either. Pay to play in Real Estate for waterfront is literally that. Buyers who enlist agents to find them RE risk nothing while the agents are at work. Referrals must perform realistically

I send out and recieve a lot of referrals, both AR and from other places.

Some work out, some do not, and a few never respond to us.

I'm sure they want a mansion, too, at that price. I have had good experiences with referrals, but they need to make sense.

I love to work with personal referrals.  The new client already believes in me due to being referred by a trusted person.  I really like all referrals as it gives me another at bat.

There will never be a shortage of unrealistic expectations. These prospects need good advice.

I spend the time to research the same database they use.
"Do you see any WF for 500K that you would like to see today?"
"Well, no. That is why we contacted you."
"That was a excellant decision. SO, lets take a look at some available waterfronts and make adjustments as needed."
"I won't spend a dime over 500K!!"
"OK I can show you those properties listed at less than 485K and lets see what you think."
"Don't want to see anything that is not waterfront!"
As I pull out The List the conversation turns, "I know an agent who may be able to find you what you want.  What do you think about Union New Jersey?"

What's a referral?  🤣

Maybe they can find an upper-level condo with water views