Lana Mcdonald-Beach & Luxury Realty

Lana is a very professional, knowledgable real estate agent that handled three recent real estate transactions for us in the Clearwater area. She made sure all the details were covered, and communicated with us every step of the way. Lana answered all of our questions quickly, and was very responsive when we needed her expert assistance. She was extremely thorough and easy to work with from a distance. We highly recommend Lana McDonald for buying and selling property in the Tampa area.

The process of finding a home in the Tampa Bay area began in March of 2009. My husband and I decided to buy a home in Florida to use as a vacation home now, and a place to retire in a few years. I began looking online at houses in the area, but didn't have a realtor to work with...just trying to get a feel for what was available and what the prices were like in the area. Eventually we decided we wanted to look at houses for sale during our usual Florida vacation that year, so I contacted a few realtors in the area via email. Not one of the first three even responded to my emails!!! Given the slow sales in the area at the time, I would have thought they would jump at the chance to help people who were ready to buy... but not so. The fourth agency I contacted did respond, only to say they would "try" to have someone available during our visit to show us properties...huh??? No thanks. Finally, I saw Lana McDonald's picture and contact info and she just looked like someone that would be helpful, if that makes any sense. So I sent her an email and had HELP in the subject line. I told her we would be in the Clearwater area (in just a few days) and needed someone to show us houses. She wrote back that she would be happy to help. At the time it was frustrating to have to go through so many realtors before finding one that would help us, but now, looking back we are sooooo glad that those other agents never responded, or we wouldn't have met Lana! I'm sure there are many really good realtors and agents out there, but I seriously doubt there are many who would go the extra "mile and a half" for us like Lana has. Below are just a few of the high points of our relationship with Lana McDonald. (I could literally write all day and not run out of good things to say about her) 1. She always responded to emails or phone calls promptly (this is a really important thing to me) 2. We always felt like we were being treated as her #1 priority, although we know Lana often deals with very uspcale properties and clients, both buyers and sellers, and we were just looking for moderately priced houses. We always felt that we were just as important to her as if we had been looking to buy a million dollar + house. 3. Once she found out what our criteria were, she found countless suitable homes for us, then quickly changed gears without a hitch every time we changed our "criteria" We did this to her more than once :o) 4. When we gave her lists of houses we had found online that we wanted to look at, she checked them out, either in person or using the resources available to her. More than once there was a house we were sure would be perfect, but after she researched, she told us things we wouldn't have been aware of otherwise that would make either the home or the area unsuitable for us. In other words she really "had our back" This happened so many times, in so many ways that it became clear that while yes, the ultimate goal was to sell a house, it was important to her that she find us the most "perfect" house for us, and that she wasn't going to let us settle for something that she knew we would not ultimately be happy with just so she could make a sale. Now THAT's integrity!!! 5. My husband and I, but especially me myself, learned so much from Lana about every aspect of real estate. We got a real education from her and she let us know what was going on during every step, what the laws were, and how they affected us. When things "didn't add up" to her when she saw our preliminary settlement sheet, she asked a colleague who is an expert in such things to look at it for us. He determined there were charges on there that had never been disclosed by our lender, and so should not be part of our settlement fees. Lana then notified the closing agent of this, who then went back and forth with our lender to remove those charges, which saved us a ton of money! Lana didn't have to do ANY of that,her job was basically already done, but again, she "had our backs" all the way to the end of the transaction. We couldn't be more pleased with our experience with Lana McDonald from Bay Area Properties Solutions Inc. If you're interested in buying or selling a home in the Tampa Bay area, give them a call and ask for Lana McDonald. She'll treat you like you're the only customer in the world and you'll get a hard working realtor who looks after your interests and doesn't give up until you get the best result possible.