Oleta Falls
Hendersonville, North Carolina
Name of Project:
Oleta Falls
Community details:
Total acres: 485
Total units: 86
Homesites from: $80,000 – $375,000
Community highlights:
Heated swimming pool
Lodge for social gatherings
Dramatic 40-foot waterfall & bridge
Destination:
Hendersonville, North Carolina
Overview
Oleta Falls is a wooded, mountainous development located just outside Hendersonville, North Carolina. With nearly half of the community’s acreage set aside as a nature preserve, a dramatic waterfall, and a picturesque covered bridge, Oleta Falls redefines peaceful mountain living.
The Challenges
Despite spending more than $1 million in marketing attempts over two separate launches, Oleta Falls’ sales were not meeting expectations, and only 10 homesites had sold prior to retaining Catalyst’s services.
Enter Catalyst
Catalyst was retained in mid-2002, and immediately rebranded the development – restructuring asset pricing, implementing new sales strategies, and refocusing marketing efforts for the development in an effort to attract end users, rather than investors. The existing sales and marketing staff was retrained, and Catalyst worked with them extensively to prepare them to generate leads and close deals during sales opportunities.
Results
Catalyst’s marketing strategy connected the community to those who would appreciate it most – and catapulted both prices and demand – achieving an 18-month sellout for the remaining land assets by early 2004. Average lot values were increased 50% over prior year sales, and 80% of owners became full-time residents.
“Dennis Canupp was great at sales training and made a very real difference in redirecting our sales efforts. Catalyst found new salespeople, motivated them, and very directly were responsible for the sales turnaround at Oleta. We would not have accomplished it without their direction.”