Using RPR® to search areas in three different states, Raphael Barta was able to help his clients successfully relocate West.

Raphael Barta is a REALTOR® in Sandpoint, Idaho. Although he's been a REALTOR® for thirteen years, he has been a real estate developer for about 30 years. His real estate development background focused on resort communities, which lead Raphael to Sandpoint, Idaho. It lies along the shore of Idaho's largest lake, Lake Pend Oreille, and is home to large ski resorts. Many of the clients Raphael works with are looking to drastically change their lifestyle by moving out of a city and relocate to a resort community

The Challenge

Raphael recently had a young family from Wisconsin that wanted to relocate to the West. They were considering Colorado, Montana and Idaho. Sandpoint is not as well known an area as Aspen or Vail, or other famous resort destinations, so Raphael had to give the family information to be able to compare Sandpoint to those more recognizable places. They were looking for information on schools, recreational activities, job prospects, demographics, etc. Raphael needed a source he could go to, not only to get all this information, but a way to easily put it together for his clients.

The Result

Using RPR to search each of the three areas the family was interested in, Raphael created reports and spreadsheets to show his clients how far their dollar would stretch in each area. He was then able to help the family narrow their search down to Idaho and helped them close on a new home. "It's like I belong to 25 MLSs for resort communities," Raphael says when talking about the value of RPR. He can use RPR to tell clients how much a 4-bedroom, 2-bath resort home in Utah, Colorado, Montana or other resorts areas cost. But beyond that, Raphael can also educate clients on the schools, and other nearby points of interest by using RPR. "I'm able to access housing market details, in real time, for active listings in a wide range in other states. Previously, this was not possible in our business without RPR."

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