Friday Blog Scan: Things We Liked from the Week That Was
As local emissaries, real estate agents and brokers could be broadcasting valuable info about their market through their Twitter account instead of the typical stream
As local emissaries, real estate agents and brokers could be broadcasting valuable info about their market through their Twitter account instead of the typical stream
Marketing used to be simple. A flyer. A postcard distributed to your farm. A newspaper ad in what once was a robust real estate section filled with listings. Today, simplicity has not be replaced, just relocated to the Internet where social networking websites are providing small business great new opportunities to market their services and wares. Rhonda Abrams digs into the top 5 and how small business can make best use them in her post titled Strategies: Which social networking site is best for your small business?
In real estate we have already seen the value of newspapers virtually disappear in terms their power to attract buyers. The following chart is one that I recommend every agent have on hand during a listing appointment. It clearly shows where buyers are finding the homes they buy, and it’s not the newspaper.
I bought a home back on December 10th of 2008. That is almost exactly 5 months to the day and I am still receiving those automated MLS listing alerts from the first agent I ever spoke to about buying a new home. Being in real estate now for almost a year I find them sort of fascinating because I am curious if I actually bought at the bottom of the market in my town. Turns out I didn’t, but that isn’t the point. The information (listings) contained in these emails can be very powerful motivators to get an active buyer or someone on the fence to engage an agent. The most important reason is that the information contained within is the most accurate and trusted source for new listings and listing status changes (price drops and under contract). With such a powerful vehicle for information, I wonder why it misses the mark on so many levels for the average home buyer.
We know how well the big sites in real estate (Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia) rank in the search engines. And we are clear about the vast amount of traffic they receive. We also know that consumers are drawn to these sites first before drilling down to the local broker and agent sites. What we inside real estate know that most consumers may not is how many local listings are actually missing from these search sites. Jay Thompson digs a little deeper into this discussion in his post this week titled Where to search for homes online.
In this tough economy marketing dollars are tight. As a savvy marketer you know that right now is the perfect time for you to pick up market share as your competitors are tightening their belts. Let’s assume your emotional side has gotten the best of you and your rational side can’t pry another dollar from your marketing budget.
What do you do?
“I tell you what girls, there are three things you want to be in life… somebody’s first love, a second wife and a third listing
Over the past several years, real estate has been a business of high return and low days on market. Full price offers were written at
Posted by Wendy Forsythe I often talk to real estate agents who tell me they are not numbers people. I don’t accept that. We all retain
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