I went on an appointment a couple of days ago and met some sellers who have had their home on the market for six months and are looking for a new Realtor.
These days sellers like to change Realtors and as I drive down the street I see new signs in front of old listings.
I ask questions before I take such a listing to make sure that the sellers are people that I can work with, and who want to work with me. Some people have expectations that no agent can meet.
In general I am not critical of how others do their jobs. Selling homes is not as easy as it used to be. I ask what the other agent did and try to determine what the sellers liked and what they did not like.
In this case the sellers and I decided that we want to work together and I will take the listing. When we got down to talking about commissions they were somewhat relieved when the rate I quoted them was lower than that of their previous agent who was charging the absolute maximum. I told them that I would be happy to charge more but they did not take me up on it.
What I found interesting about the listing is that the home had several brochure display stands in it filled with glossy brochures, three ring binders packed with information and CD’s with a copy of the virtaul tour. I have never seen so many marketing materials in one home and understand why the agent had to charge top dollar. That stuff can get expensive.
In the six months that the home was on the market there were only two showings. Neither of the parties who saw the home took any of the marketing materials.
Providing information to buyers and having it in the home is important, but not as important as marketing the home so that buyers find it in the first place. Since most buyers use the internet to search for homes the best place to spend the marketing dollars and showcase the home is online.
Are people more likely to buy a home because of the brochures they find inside of it? Probably not but they might be more likely to see a home if they know about it and can find information on it that answers their questions and addresses their needs, wants and concerns.
The marketing materials impress sellers more than they impress buyers which is why real estate agents use them. In the end there is no evidence that a home will sell faster or command a higher price because it has high priced marketing materials inside. Marketing materials strategically placed on the internet and emailed to the right people are less expensive and viewed by a much larger audience.
Twitter
Flickr
LinkedIn
Facebook
RSS
Posterous
Email
FourSquare
Yelp
SlideShare
One of the many ways Real Estate is funny is that the sellers really don’t pay the bills at the end of it all. There are a few businesses like that, and one is media – where the viewer/reader doesn’t pay, but the advertisers do.
At least in Real Estate you can keep your eyes on the prize and focus on what really counts – the sale – since it’s in everyone’s best interest in the end. But there are those who don’t seem to understand who the client really is in the $$$ sense of it.
(Media companies rarely make that mistake from what I can tell)
Teresa, right on!! This article hits home because we are going through this on a daily basis. Defining expectations is key for a good working relationship and the whole marketing package is useless if you don’t get people in the house.
We have totally changed the way we market our listings, it’s only right with all the changes we have seen in the last year alone.
I’m always so relieved when I see successful agents in other parts of the country have the same approach to the business as we do.
Amen! The glossy brochures are pretty, but useless if no one comes inside to pick them up. A brochure never sells a home, never.
The important part is what got them inside and then what the inside really looks like. After that, it’s the cost/value proposition that will make them write an offer.
Too funny … I’d touched on the same thing last night. We’ve trained sellers to believe all of these ancillary things matter when the only thing that matters is getting bodies in the front door.
Lots of gold nuggets in your post. As the market continues to change, the marketing will as well.
We as agents do a terrible job much of the time explaining to the seller where the buyer for their home will come from, either because we are so “set in our ways” that we aren’t adapting to the market, or because we are lazy and want the listing so bad we just go along with whatever the seller wants.
In either case, we are doing a disservice to our clients and our profession.
This was an interesting post to me…I am not a Realtor, I actually just bought my first home, but what you said made sense! I have always been impressed by the glossy brochures I’ve found at homes…what you just helped me realize is that those brochures weren’t what sold me a house…it was the fact that I was actually able to find the house in the first place! (And I will admit that the home I did end up buying had exactly 0 brochures outside.) But what it did have was a listing online, and that is how I found, and eventually bought, the home! It just proved your point to me: most buyers use the internet to search for homes. I’m looking into real estate investing, so I’ve obviously been using the internet quite a bit lately. In one of my most recent searches, I came across something that I’m very excited about! It’s a facebook type site just for real estate. I’m excited to use it to build my network and find more places to invest in and more people to work with. Check it out, I’m interested to know if you think it’s a worthwhile online resource for me to use:
http://realedin.com/
Jasmine – it looks pretty new, i will have to keep an eye on it.