Excerpt from Steve Harney’s, paper on Broker Agents News
The challenge for realtors is the homeowner's perception of what their home should sell for. As recent as June 2007, a survey by the Boston Consulting Group found that fifty-five percent of American homeowners believe their home is worth more today than it was one year ago. In reality, in virtually all locations, home values have gone down.
Unfortunately, some real estate agents, who see their income decline as the number of home sales go down, are now operating in a state of fear. As a result, when they meet with prospective clients, they may be concerned they won't get the listing (and thus not get a commission), so they tell clients what they want to hear - namely that their home will sell for top dollar in record time. Then when the house doesn't sell and the client agrees to lower the price, the client/professional relationship becomes strained. Clients can't help but feel their agent gave them inaccurate information. 2
To truly shine as a real estate agent today, you simply need to educate yourself on the realities of the market and then tell each client the truth. Help clients understand where the pricing used to be, where it is today, where it will likely be three months from now, and most importantly, why it is that way. Only then will clients be able to make a realistic pricing decision that will enable you to help get their home sold.
1. Increased inventory
As owners se the market declining they started placing their properties to sell. This allows buyers to have a better negotiating opportunity, and tends to lower prices.
2. Increased mortgage rates
In the last months mortgage rates has increased and this disqualifies customers. Also some mortgage companies have closed their doors.
3. Increased mortgage restrictions
Now buyers need not only a down-payment but a very good credit to qualify. This again reduces the number of possible customers that can buy your house.
4 Increased vacancy rates
A lot of people bought homes in the supposition that the increased value of the home will allow them to make an easy profit in very little time with the turn around of the market a lot of this house are being sold at a loss affecting the other properties in the neighborhood.
5 Increased foreclosures
If one house forecloses in a neighborhood process go down 5% if 8 houses foreclose prices go down 20%. We are expecting a big number of houses foreclosing in the following years. If you have any doubts go to Broker Agent Foreclosures and check foreclosures in your area.
The New Era of Real Estate Sales
If someone wants to sell their home for a decent price, they have to list now - not three months from now and certainly not a year from now.
So when you conduct your next listing presentation, be sure to educate yourself on these five factors, and then explain how these factors impact your clients' selling decision. Let clients know the realities of the market and what their home will likely sell for given these five considerations.
1. Harney, Steve, Managing Homeowner's Expectations Broker Agent News E-Letter - Updated for Sept. 30, 2007
Showing posts with label "real estate marketing". Show all posts
Showing posts with label "real estate marketing". Show all posts
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Your cheapest and more effective marketing tool
The importance of becoming a good listener
1. Good listeners use their thought speed to advantage. They constantly apply their spare thinking to what is being said:
a. Are the speaker’s facts accurate?
b. Do they come from an unprejudiced source?
c. What are the speaker’s motives?
d. What has the speaker left out?
e. Is the speaker dealing in facts or inferences?
f. Am I getting the full picture or only what will prove the speaker’s point?
2. Good listeners try to find something interesting in what is being said, something that can be used to help create a new idea or solution or be used in some other way.
a. What is the speaker saying that I need to know?
b. Is that really a practical idea?
c. Is the speaker reporting anything I don’t know?
3. Good listeners avoid getting too excited about a speaker’s point until they are certain they have heard it through and understand it.
4. Good listeners concentrate and instinctively fight distraction. They close a door, turn off the radio and interrupt only when it is necessary to clear up one point before proceeding to another.
5. Good listeners focus their attention on a central idea or theme. This helps them to remember the facts cited.
6. Good listeners restate and summarize the speaker’s point of view. They also look into the speaker’s face and maintain eye contact.
7. Good listeners enable the speaker to express what the speaker has in mind and thus make the speaker more able to give listeners the information they need.
1. Good listeners use their thought speed to advantage. They constantly apply their spare thinking to what is being said:
a. Are the speaker’s facts accurate?
b. Do they come from an unprejudiced source?
c. What are the speaker’s motives?
d. What has the speaker left out?
e. Is the speaker dealing in facts or inferences?
f. Am I getting the full picture or only what will prove the speaker’s point?
2. Good listeners try to find something interesting in what is being said, something that can be used to help create a new idea or solution or be used in some other way.
a. What is the speaker saying that I need to know?
b. Is that really a practical idea?
c. Is the speaker reporting anything I don’t know?
3. Good listeners avoid getting too excited about a speaker’s point until they are certain they have heard it through and understand it.
4. Good listeners concentrate and instinctively fight distraction. They close a door, turn off the radio and interrupt only when it is necessary to clear up one point before proceeding to another.
5. Good listeners focus their attention on a central idea or theme. This helps them to remember the facts cited.
6. Good listeners restate and summarize the speaker’s point of view. They also look into the speaker’s face and maintain eye contact.
7. Good listeners enable the speaker to express what the speaker has in mind and thus make the speaker more able to give listeners the information they need.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Importance of Search Engine Optimization
Post quest technologies recently published this article that I am just making available to you.
So, would you like to know more about search engine optimization (SEO)?
Not sure? Not sure you should even care?
Well, let me ask you this: when someone searches for homes in your area on the Internet, would you like your website to be the first result to show up? In a nutshell, would you like to drive more traffic to your website?
If so, then this post is for you. Furthermore…
In a recent post I wrote an extensive article about creating a real estate marketing plan and…just recently realized that I failed to mention SEO in the web marketing portion.
Here’s why SEO is important to you and your website and SHOULD NOT be a strategy left out of your marketing plan:
In 2005 the NAR reports that nearly eight out of ten home buyers start their home search online. More importantly, as noted in an earlier study, 76% percent of people used the first agent they contacted.
That means if you can be the top agent on Google for home searches in your area, then you’ll hog all the business. Which means a lot in our 2007 belt tightening market.
Before you get started, however, the first thing you need to decide is whether you or somebody else is going to optimize your site.
You might be the type who likes to tinker with your website or you might be someone who doesn’t. If you don’t, then choose a seo company or consultant. (I don’t have any recommendations at the moment, so you’re on your own.)
After that, get to work…and keep some of these the following ideas in mind as you pursue your seo marketing strategy.
Eye tracking studies have shown that searchers scan a search results page from top to bottom and left to right, looking for a relevant result. Placement at or near the top of the rankings therefore increases the number of searchers who will visit a site. Cool, not-to-be-missed heat map stuff.
However, more search engine referrals does not guarantee more sales. SEO is not necessarily an appropriate strategy for every website, and other Internet marketing strategies can be much more effective, depending on the site operator’s goals. You make the decision, but my feeling is that every agent website should be optimized. This article is just to make you aware of those OTHER things, like viral marketing, out there to drive traffic to your site.
A successful Internet marketing campaign may drive organic search results to pages, but it also may involve the use of paid advertising on search engines and other pages, building high quality web pages to engage and persuade, addressing technical issues that may keep search engines from crawling and indexing those sites, setting up analytics programs to enable site owners to measure their successes, and, most importantly, improving a site’s conversion rate.
SEO also should, obviously, generate a return on investment. However, search engines are not paid for organic search traffic, their algorithms change, and there are no guarantees of continued referrals. Due to this lack of guarantees and certainty, a business that relies heavily on search engine traffic can suffer major losses if the search engines stop sending visitors. That’s why SEO should be one strategy among many that drives traffic to your site.
In addition to paid search listings, websites also often receive search traffic from free, so-called organic listings. These visitors are obviously no problem, except that you can’t count on them as a sustainable strategy, since organic listings can change without notice.
According to notable technologist Jakob Nielsen, website operators should liberate themselves from dependence on search engine traffic because of this fact. That is, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
And remember this: three or four months down the road, when you’ve got some mileage on your seo strategy, let me know how you are doing. Okay?
Here’s to your SEO success!
ref: Postquest technologies
So, would you like to know more about search engine optimization (SEO)?
Not sure? Not sure you should even care?
Well, let me ask you this: when someone searches for homes in your area on the Internet, would you like your website to be the first result to show up? In a nutshell, would you like to drive more traffic to your website?
If so, then this post is for you. Furthermore…
In a recent post I wrote an extensive article about creating a real estate marketing plan and…just recently realized that I failed to mention SEO in the web marketing portion.
Here’s why SEO is important to you and your website and SHOULD NOT be a strategy left out of your marketing plan:
In 2005 the NAR reports that nearly eight out of ten home buyers start their home search online. More importantly, as noted in an earlier study, 76% percent of people used the first agent they contacted.
That means if you can be the top agent on Google for home searches in your area, then you’ll hog all the business. Which means a lot in our 2007 belt tightening market.
Before you get started, however, the first thing you need to decide is whether you or somebody else is going to optimize your site.
You might be the type who likes to tinker with your website or you might be someone who doesn’t. If you don’t, then choose a seo company or consultant. (I don’t have any recommendations at the moment, so you’re on your own.)
After that, get to work…and keep some of these the following ideas in mind as you pursue your seo marketing strategy.
Eye tracking studies have shown that searchers scan a search results page from top to bottom and left to right, looking for a relevant result. Placement at or near the top of the rankings therefore increases the number of searchers who will visit a site. Cool, not-to-be-missed heat map stuff.
However, more search engine referrals does not guarantee more sales. SEO is not necessarily an appropriate strategy for every website, and other Internet marketing strategies can be much more effective, depending on the site operator’s goals. You make the decision, but my feeling is that every agent website should be optimized. This article is just to make you aware of those OTHER things, like viral marketing, out there to drive traffic to your site.
A successful Internet marketing campaign may drive organic search results to pages, but it also may involve the use of paid advertising on search engines and other pages, building high quality web pages to engage and persuade, addressing technical issues that may keep search engines from crawling and indexing those sites, setting up analytics programs to enable site owners to measure their successes, and, most importantly, improving a site’s conversion rate.
SEO also should, obviously, generate a return on investment. However, search engines are not paid for organic search traffic, their algorithms change, and there are no guarantees of continued referrals. Due to this lack of guarantees and certainty, a business that relies heavily on search engine traffic can suffer major losses if the search engines stop sending visitors. That’s why SEO should be one strategy among many that drives traffic to your site.
In addition to paid search listings, websites also often receive search traffic from free, so-called organic listings. These visitors are obviously no problem, except that you can’t count on them as a sustainable strategy, since organic listings can change without notice.
According to notable technologist Jakob Nielsen, website operators should liberate themselves from dependence on search engine traffic because of this fact. That is, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
And remember this: three or four months down the road, when you’ve got some mileage on your seo strategy, let me know how you are doing. Okay?
Here’s to your SEO success!
ref: Postquest technologies
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
How to make your online presence more effective?
Due to the trend of consumers starting all their research for houses on the Internet it is a must to have an effective Internet presence.
You should make emphasis on the specific information of your neighborhood, the real state trends, developments and HOA. Include any information that makes your neighborhood unique. DO NOT try to match regional or national websites this is tempting but it is a bad idea. Focus on being local that is your advantage.
Focus in no more that three key areas and do them well. If you do sellers your webpage should include information on recent sales, remodeling tips and home valuation services. Make your site the best place for consumers in you target area. Make emphasis on these three areas in the front page of your website and how exceptional quality of information they will find there.
DO NOT hide information remember consumers are in oyur site seeking for information they are not there to know you. Share the data and you will give them a sense of reciprocity this will make the consumer more willing to engage you and trust your motives, therefore they will be more willingly to share their information when asked.
In order to keep them coming you have to offer newsletters, saved MLS searches, and quarterly home valuations or they will not come back. Remember to build trust. Don’t overwhelm visitors with your personal information or sales statistics. ALWAYS explain why you are requesting personal information and state upfront you will respect their privacy.
Periodically remove your real estate hat and think like a consumer. Go to your website and experience it as a consumer will do. What will a seller be looking for? What about a buyer or someone looking to relocate? Since your site can not be everything for everyone. Be sure that it appeals your market area.
Consumers use the internet because it is more privet, efficient, eliminates unwanted marketing, and provides the needed local information. If you want to attract consumers to your website or email newsletter, you must match their needs.
Points to remember: The site must be kept simple, the key data should be emphasized, you should specifically explain your privacy protections and local information should be easily accessible to your audience. Try this and you will have online success.
You should make emphasis on the specific information of your neighborhood, the real state trends, developments and HOA. Include any information that makes your neighborhood unique. DO NOT try to match regional or national websites this is tempting but it is a bad idea. Focus on being local that is your advantage.
Focus in no more that three key areas and do them well. If you do sellers your webpage should include information on recent sales, remodeling tips and home valuation services. Make your site the best place for consumers in you target area. Make emphasis on these three areas in the front page of your website and how exceptional quality of information they will find there.
DO NOT hide information remember consumers are in oyur site seeking for information they are not there to know you. Share the data and you will give them a sense of reciprocity this will make the consumer more willing to engage you and trust your motives, therefore they will be more willingly to share their information when asked.
In order to keep them coming you have to offer newsletters, saved MLS searches, and quarterly home valuations or they will not come back. Remember to build trust. Don’t overwhelm visitors with your personal information or sales statistics. ALWAYS explain why you are requesting personal information and state upfront you will respect their privacy.
Periodically remove your real estate hat and think like a consumer. Go to your website and experience it as a consumer will do. What will a seller be looking for? What about a buyer or someone looking to relocate? Since your site can not be everything for everyone. Be sure that it appeals your market area.
Consumers use the internet because it is more privet, efficient, eliminates unwanted marketing, and provides the needed local information. If you want to attract consumers to your website or email newsletter, you must match their needs.
Points to remember: The site must be kept simple, the key data should be emphasized, you should specifically explain your privacy protections and local information should be easily accessible to your audience. Try this and you will have online success.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
How Virtual Tours Can Save You Money?
How much money they are you investing on different forms of advertisement.
Classified ads cost A LOT on a per-day breakdown (like usually $100 for 3 days of local advertising) or $200 for a weekend at the Herald, then break it down to cost per day vs.a virtual tour could cost a maximum of $120 and it will offer you 365 days of Internet exposure so your cost per day is only $0.32 and you addis being showed worldwide. Tours can also work as lead generators for people looking to sell a house.. ‘uh, hun look what this guy does for his seller.. maybe we should use that realtor…” a classified ad CANT do that. No one looks at a classified ad and says, WOW that’s awesome marketing… so make it their choice.. “for the cost of little more than one day classified ad I can market your property on multiple websites including your local MLS, www.realtor.com, www.move.com, www.homeadvisor.com, www.homestore.com, www.AOLanywhere.com, www.digitalcity.com, www.netscape.com, www.monstermoving.com, www.excite.com, www.thehawaiichannel.com, www.theindychannel.com, www.thejacksonchannel.com, www.news4jax.com, www.thekansascitychannel.com, www.nbc4.tv, www.thelouisvillechannel.com, www.themilwaukeechannel.com, www.theksbwchannel.com, www.theneworleanschannel.com, www.newsnet5.com, www.wnbc.com, www.channeloklahoma.com, www.theomahachannel.com, www.wesh.com, www.nbc10.com, www.thepittsburghchannel.com, www.thechamplainchannel.com, www.turnto10.com, www.thekcrachannel.com, www.10news.com, www.moretv32.com, www.wpbfnews.com, www.clickondetroit.com, www.local10.com, www.nbc6.net, www.wsbtv.com, www.wsbtv.com, www.wsoctv.com, www.whiotv.com, www.kfoxtv.com, www.ktvu.com, www.wjactv.com, www.wftv.com, www.foxreno.com, www.wtov9.com.
Think for a while. How much money are you wasting by using real estate books WITHOUT a virtual tour. The RE book can cost $200-$500 or more per page and only have a shelf-life of a month or so depending on publication and area. If they use these really expensive ads as lead generators for a VIRTUAL tour website, then they can keep interested actively shopping buyers involved on their VIRTUAL tour website. You know that the last NAR research showed that buyers shop from 8-12 weeks before they make the decision to buy.. Are you using your marketing dollars effectively?
Isn’t it MORE WISELY to appeal to buyers in all phases of the active ‘shopping process’?
If you want more information please do not hesitate to call us at (305) 331 8960 or visit our web page at http://virtualfloridaraltours.com
Classified ads cost A LOT on a per-day breakdown (like usually $100 for 3 days of local advertising) or $200 for a weekend at the Herald, then break it down to cost per day vs.a virtual tour could cost a maximum of $120 and it will offer you 365 days of Internet exposure so your cost per day is only $0.32 and you addis being showed worldwide. Tours can also work as lead generators for people looking to sell a house.. ‘uh, hun look what this guy does for his seller.. maybe we should use that realtor…” a classified ad CANT do that. No one looks at a classified ad and says, WOW that’s awesome marketing… so make it their choice.. “for the cost of little more than one day classified ad I can market your property on multiple websites including your local MLS, www.realtor.com, www.move.com, www.homeadvisor.com, www.homestore.com, www.AOLanywhere.com, www.digitalcity.com, www.netscape.com, www.monstermoving.com, www.excite.com, www.thehawaiichannel.com, www.theindychannel.com, www.thejacksonchannel.com, www.news4jax.com, www.thekansascitychannel.com, www.nbc4.tv, www.thelouisvillechannel.com, www.themilwaukeechannel.com, www.theksbwchannel.com, www.theneworleanschannel.com, www.newsnet5.com, www.wnbc.com, www.channeloklahoma.com, www.theomahachannel.com, www.wesh.com, www.nbc10.com, www.thepittsburghchannel.com, www.thechamplainchannel.com, www.turnto10.com, www.thekcrachannel.com, www.10news.com, www.moretv32.com, www.wpbfnews.com, www.clickondetroit.com, www.local10.com, www.nbc6.net, www.wsbtv.com, www.wsbtv.com, www.wsoctv.com, www.whiotv.com, www.kfoxtv.com, www.ktvu.com, www.wjactv.com, www.wftv.com, www.foxreno.com, www.wtov9.com.
Think for a while. How much money are you wasting by using real estate books WITHOUT a virtual tour. The RE book can cost $200-$500 or more per page and only have a shelf-life of a month or so depending on publication and area. If they use these really expensive ads as lead generators for a VIRTUAL tour website, then they can keep interested actively shopping buyers involved on their VIRTUAL tour website. You know that the last NAR research showed that buyers shop from 8-12 weeks before they make the decision to buy.. Are you using your marketing dollars effectively?
Isn’t it MORE WISELY to appeal to buyers in all phases of the active ‘shopping process’?
If you want more information please do not hesitate to call us at (305) 331 8960 or visit our web page at http://virtualfloridaraltours.com
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