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Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandon Hoffman
I disagree on a few points. Most buyers do a lot of shopping online these days. I think we can all agree to that. Often a buyer will see a property they are interested that wasn't introduced by their buyer agent but request to see it. Good marketing creates more exposure but not always showing directly through the list agent. More exposure can lead to a faster sale and a higher sales price. I believe the list agent in some ways is more important than a buyer agent but both have very important roles in a transaction.
Oh heck yeah about internet marketing. Some of my past clients have sent me MLS numbers with a comment "what about this one?" Almost every time I tell them about the property and they say "Oh, I guess that's really not what we were looking for."
We use the enhanced version of Realtor.com and also buy a spot for the featured home in our primary zip code. We use doorway forms on our website to generate leads. We do a monthly slick that also puts my listings online at the same time. We do craigslist, we do some pretty extensive SEO too, but how hard is that really once you've accomplished the basic concept? I try to tweak stuff all the time from the listing side of things internet wise. We double end 50% of our listings too. I think we do a decent enough job as listing agents with the probable exception of not communicating with our clients often enough, but we get the exposure we need.
I guess the question in my mind becomes, if we're so good, how come someone else sells one of our listings from time to time? That's why the MLS was invented I guess
I agree to some extent that a decent listing agent does influence whether the sale is made or not, but more times than most of us will admit, we happened to have the listing that someone else sold for us, our marketing efforts notwithstanding.
Uh, maybe it's a matter of semantics, or local culture, but I take all the credit for "selling" a home we list, and we send out a "Just Sold" card to let the neighbors know "Another one sold by {our company name}". We do more than "influence" the sale. We absolutely make it happen.
If your buyer is excited by the good staging, correct pricing, well groomed yard, freshly painted front door, lack of pet odor, sqeaky clean bathrooms and kitchen, excellent virtual tour, professional photographs, full and complete documentation, seller's disclosure, etc.... it's because we coached and guided the seller into creating the right conditions for attracting your buyer, and we invested our own money into the marketing and staging of the listing.
In case you call it something else where you're from, we call that selling a house in Texas. It's our sign in front, with our pictures underneath the "Sold" sign, not the buyer's agent.
When we bring the Buyer, we call it "bringing the Buyer". We also send out "Just Closed" postcards for those transactions, but the postcard clearly states "we brought the buyer who purchased this home"...
Finally, if you want to get technical, you have to own something to sell it. Only the seller can sell a house. The buyer doesn't tell friends "I just sold a house". As the seller's exclusive agent, we list and sell the house for the seller. Buyer's buy houses. Buyers agents therefore help buyers purchase homes, not sell them. Saying you "sold" a home you didn't list is essentially saying that you worked for the seller. That ain't accurate.
In the agent's presentation to you he should VOLUNTEER the info and tell you which recently sold properties he was involved in the sale of (either as a listing agent or the buyer's agent). If you get the addresses, just go knock on the door and ask the buyer if he remembers he agent. Do this if he doesn't offer referrals with phone numbers for the same properties.
In the MLS of the Dallas/Fort Worth area NTREIS we can look up all real estate transactions any agent was involved in. We can look up if they have listings or not etc...
I think there should be some kind of database... may be a link to TREC. It would eliminate confusion and certainly make an honest person of those that exaggerate their numbers.
In the agent's presentation to you he should VOLUNTEER the info and tell you which recently sold properties he was involved in the sale of (either as a listing agent or the buyer's agent). If you get the addresses, just go knock on the door and ask the buyer if he remembers he agent. Do this if he doesn't offer referrals with phone numbers for the same properties.
Legitimate privacy concerns whether based in law or courtesy arise immediately, I think, with this approach. That referral would be only at the agreement of the client who bought or sold the home.
Some, even many, folks would not appreciate a cold-calling stranger knocking at the door, but may well be quite satisfied with the transaction.
And, if the agent represented the Seller, the Buyer may or may not have had any material contact with that agent who listed the home, and may or may not have valid input.
And if it was my listing that sold, I certainly would NOT be giving out phone numbers for the other agents' clients without their tacit approval.
In the agent's presentation to you he should VOLUNTEER the info and tell you which recently sold properties he was involved in the sale of
We handle this with a Custom Google Map on our web site. Prospective clients can click and see an interactive map of the recent homes we've sold. This is done by:
1) Exporting the data from MLS
2) Converting the data through a Geolocating service, to create the mapping codes.
3) Importing the map data into "My Maps" at Google.
4) Pasting the map display code on your website in the About Us section.
I can't post the example link directly of course, but you can see it if you'd like.
We handle this with a Custom Google Map on our web site. Prospective clients can click and see an interactive map of the recent homes we've sold. This is done by:
1) Exporting the data from MLS
2) Converting the data through a Geolocating service, to create the mapping codes.
3) Importing the map data into "My Maps" at Google.
4) Pasting the map display code on your website in the About Us section.
I can't post the example link directly of course, but you can see it if you'd like.
Steve
Steve,
That is very nicely done.
Do you consider privacy or decide not to post a home or address if the client is reluctant?
Mike I don't understand the privacy concerns. Recorded property transfers are public. In our area the information is available online from the county.
Bob,
I'm not trying to seize a pulpit here. I'm just a little curious and a little cautious. I liked Steve's map, with some concomitant concern.
I think a public record is different from proactively directing prospects to the property for commercial reasons without permission of the owner or resident.
And greatly different from casually offering contact information like a phone number.
One should be clear if the resident is an Owner-Occupant, a family member of the Owner, a tenant, etc.
Discretion is reasonable, IMO.
Permission is permission, and we are moving from old school hard sales to permission marketing as a society.
Steve,
That is very nicely done.
Do you consider privacy or decide not to post a home or address if the client is reluctant?
It's not a privacy issue. The addresses of sold properties, when it sold, and sometimes the price (if buyer or seller returned questionnaire to appraisal district), and loan amount is all public information that anyone can find online at the tax record website. Of course we don't include sold price, names, loan amount, etc., just the address and the "public comments" that were displayed through IDX on public websites such as Realtor.com, to give visitors a sense of the type of properties we sell.
It provides a great visual to prospective sellers and buyers and shows where our activities are most concentrated. We've actually had sellers call and say "I see you sell a lot of homes in South Austin", and want us to list theirs just because of the map and the fact that we have a different sort of website than most Realtors.
In marketing lingo, it's what I call an "evidence of success" piece. It demonstrates to prospective buyers and sellers, at a glance, what we do and where we do it, and that we actually sell a lot of homes. Every busy agent should make sure to include this type of marketing, as it separates you from most other agents who, for lack of productivity, can't produce the same type of marketing piece.
Most important, it helps establish trust, confidence and credibility better than any talking script or written promo can.
Steve
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