Golf Courses for Sale - National Golf Group White Hot Out of the Blocks

PR Log (Press Release) – Jun 20, 2009 – With the founding principals bringing 43 years of combined golf and commercial real estate experience to the table, Marcus and Millichap’s National Golf Group has hit the ground running in early 2009. The group reports seven exclusive listings of golf courses for sale, two of which are currently under contract.

From the beginning, Steven Ekovich, the group’s director, said that he “looked forward to bringing efficiencies to an inefficient market.” Armed with the industry’s only national platform, Ekovich and his partner seem to be doing exactly that. Drawing from the underwriting standards on which Marcus and Millichap prides itself; the National Golf Group is bringing a new underwriting standard to golf course brokerage and golf course valuation. Course owners and prospective owners alike are already finding tremendous value in the comprehensive marketing packages the group is publishing for their listings of golf courses for sale. Where traditional golf course marketing packages may only be comprised of 2-3 pages, the National Golf Group’s packages are often times in upwards of 40-50 pages. These packages include everything from the course’s current financials, a pro forma prediction for future financials, demographic information of the area, comparables of other golf courses for sale, a competitive course survey, property and area overviews and details on every departmental aspect of the subject course’s operation.

The group seems to have the perfect combination of skill sets for their endeavor. Steven Ekovich, the group’s director, has personally closed or overseen $3.5 billion in commercial real estate transactions in his 24 years in the business. Ekovich has been with Marcus and Millichap since 1988. During his tenure, he has opened three Florida offices, served as a regional manager and first vice president and was most recently the national director of the firm’s Self-Storage Group. Ekovich’s partner, Chris Karamitsos, has been active in the golf business since 1990 and in commercial real estate since 2005. Karamitsos, a PGA professional, has experience in every facet of the golf industry including management of golf properties and consulting for golf property developers. He has personally closed over $100 million in commercial real estate transactions in the last four years.

Ekovich is an industry leader when it comes to marketing properties, a skilled negotiator and, by all accounts, an expert at closing deals. Karamitsos knows the golf industry inside and out. He knows what it takes to run a successful golf club and is an expert at analyzing club financial statements. Combined, they hope to quickly position themselves as the industry leader in golf course brokerage.

The group recently launched a website that, among other things, has a current list of exclusively listed golf courses for sale. The group feels that this site along with a steady diet of cold calling and research will help them turn “Golf Courses for Sale” into “Golf Courses Sold.”

Ekovich says that “while owners and brokers alike decry the demise of the golf industry, [he is] more charged up about it than any other property type in [his] 24 years in the business.” If his enthusiasm alone is not enough to make the group successful, the group’s experience and know-how should more than cover the difference. Look for the National Golf Group to continue to quickly gain momentum throughout 2009 and into the future.

http://www.NationalGolfGroup.com