The number one objection I hear when I ask people to advertise with me is that it's "too expensive" and so I challenge you It's-Too-Expensive Realtors to think about this:
A full page is $695 in my Riverside County edition, and $745 in my North Orange County edition so lets just say $725 for an example. Therefore, if you bought a full page for a year (13-issues a year) that equals = $9,425
If you have 1 listing priced at the median Orange County price of $460,000 your commission at 2.5% is $11,500.
You can advertise up to 12 homes an issue making your cost $60 per listing you advertise each month. But lets assume you like a cleaner easy to read layout and choose to only feature 6 listings per issue. That would make your cost $120.80 per listing per issue ($120.80 x 6 listings = $725).
Even though the average days on the market in Orange County is 90 days, Lets assume that your listing is over priced and ugly and you anticipate it taking 9 months to sell. If you budgeted $120.80 per month X 9 months, that equals = $1,087. Again, your commission would be $11,500. So even on an ugly over priced listing you'd only have to budget 9% of your commission. Business experts will tell you to spend 10 - 15 % on marketing.
That's just with low end listings. For the "Luxury home" listing agent we have a package where you don't even have to buy the full page, you can simply buy a featured listing for $195. Oh and by the way all of oour print ads include online listing syndication to 35 websites, some of the best in the industry.
Also, this doesn't even take into consideration the value of having 25,000 people each month seeing your face. That totals 325,000 people a year. Imagine this, you walk up to your listing appointment and say, "Hi, my name is XXX" and your potential listing says, "I know. We see you everywhere" Do you think it would be easier to get a listing? Of course! NAR says the #1 reason an agent is picked is because of their reputation.
Homes & Land now offers international listings, the latest addition to the growing list of features available on HomesAndLand.com. With this new feature HomesAndLand.com supports listing addresses in the Bahamas, Costa Rica and Mexico in addition to the US and Canada.
What are the benefits of including international listings on HomesAndLand.com? With the new international listings feature, advertisers have the ability to showcase their listings located in the Bahamas, Costa Rica, and Mexico and increase opportunities for leads, at no extra charge.
Does Homes & Land export international listings to partner sites? We currently export international listings to New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Google Base, Vast.com, Oodle.com, Condo.com, and UniqueGlobalEstates.com.
How do consumers find international listings? To view international listings, consumers simply click the International Real Estate link on national home page, HomesAndLand.com. Next, select a state, province or region for a specific country, and then finally, select a listing.
Questions or Comments? If you have any questions or comments regarding this product, please feel free to contact me!
This was sent to me by Brian Walker of Farmers Insurance. I thought it was good stuff so I'm passing along:
Protect you clients. Warn your clients that not all agents, buyers and sellers are who they say they are. Strangers who stop by unannounced should be asked to make an appointment with the listing agent. Stress that your clients should never to show a home without the presence of an agent.
Secure your garage. Help keep your home safe by covering garage windows. There is a lot about your garage you don't want potential criminals to know about---such as whether someone is home, or if there are tools or ladders available to help break in to your home.
Keep your cell phone handy. Always carry a charged mobile phone. Clip your phone on and make it part of your everyday apparel for immediate accessibility.
My advice: #1. Watch out for the warnings. Some may be easily seen and others may be hidden but look for them. #2. If it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. Stay away.
I wanted to offer some suggestions on how you can mazimize your ROI when you advertise with Homes & Land Magazine and HomesAndLand.com. Many of our advertisers apply some of these money saving strategies without sacrificing the comprehensive services we offer:
1 - If your office already advertises with us, you do not have to advertise every issue and we will still honor the lowest annual rates. We will also keep your website active for up to 3 months without an ad.
2 - You can "share an ad" with a mortgage broker or someone else you do business with. Usually their ad goes in the footer. You can still fit 12 listings on a full page with this layout.
3 - You can "share a page" with another agent and split the costs in half. This way a half page ad would be $347.50/issue (half of full page annual rate of $695) vs the $395 regular rate. We would design both half page ads separately so it will clearly look like each ad is separate and no one need know you are "sharing the page". This offer would only apply when both of you advertise in the same issue and agree to be on the same page.
4 - We have 1/6 page ads for just $125 / issue. All our services described below apply.
5 - We have quarter page ads for $275 / issue. All our services desribed below apply.
6 - You can "share a half-page" with another agent and split the costs in half. This way a quarter page ad would be $197.50 / issue (half of half-page annual rate of $395) vs the $275. We would design both quarter page ads separately so it will clearly look like each ad is separate and no one need know you are "sharing the half-page". This offer would only apply when both of you advertise in the same issue and agree to be on the same half-page.
7 - Receive 5% discount for a 6-issue bulk buy pre-payment that is received via check, at least two weeks before the ad copy due date. In this instance, a full page would be $660. A half page would be $375. This discount would apply to any "shared pages" also. For example, a "shared-page" where you and another agent each have your own half-page ad on the same page, the pre-paid discount would still be $375 for the half page. Even if your "ad partner" does not pre-pay, the discount will apply if you do.
OUR SERVICES:
We've been working hard to improve our magazine and I'd love to meet with you and discuss all the services we offer with our Integrated Marketing System, but until then, here is a brief summary:
1 - Free Personal Website - Fully functional and no set up fee! All your listings can be uploaded via an MLS FEED and all can have an E-Z tour created; a free “virtual tour”. All you need to do is be sure you have six or more photos in the MLS and we do the rest!
2- A link to our website which generates over 40,000 monthly page views. Our local site is linked to our national site which according to Hitwise, a 3rd party objective research group, 67% of visitors earn more than $100,000 a year. This is a higher average than most other Real Estate websites.
3 - We export all your residential listings, free of charge, to more than 20 websites: All you have to do is take out a quarter page ad, or larger, and we do the rest!
4 - Free uploads of your listings to the DuPont Registry and The Wall Street Journal. Unlike the above sites, which have no restrictions, these sites have minimum list price requirements.
5 – Inclusion in our Online Digital magazine which gets emailed to thousands of professionals, and homebuyers and sellers, each issue. Check it out! http://www.inlandhomesnow.com/flippy
6 - Free Internet Leads - we've given out hundreds in the past 6 months to Realtors® and Brokers.
7 - We print over 25,000 copies of the magazine every month with a 2-4 month shelf life! It is a full-color, full-size, high-gloss magazine and our graphic artists will custom design your ad.
8 - Unmatched distribution throughout Riverside, Orange and San Bernardino Counties including the Galleria at Tyler Maill
9 - We don't date the magazine or throw any away. “Leftover" issues are distributed at outlying areas.
10 - We do extensive direct mailing each month to active home buyers and sellers.
11 – We mail a copy of the magazine to all your clients listed in the magazine with a letter from the President of H&L saying what a great job you are doing in marketing your client's home. A great third party endorsement!
We also have additional services such as; full service printing, internet banner ads and spotlight properties on the Wall Street Journal and Homes and Land’s website.
If you have any questions, or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me. In the meantime, be well and happy selling!
How are you all using Twitter in your businesses? My company, Homes & Land Magazine and HomesAndLand.com, just launched a new service that allows consumers to receive property information using Twitter.
Here are some examples of how we can use Twitter:
• Consumers viewing a Homes & Land magazine can text a listing’s MLS ID to Twitter and we will text them back with price, bedrooms/baths, agent’s name, a link to the agent’s phone, and a URL to the listing.
• Consumers driving by a property for sale can text the property address and city to Twitter and we will text them back with price, bedrooms/baths, agent’s name, a link to the agent’s phone, and a URL to the listing.
Instructions for using Twitter with HomesAndLand.com We have provided detailed instructions for consumers explaining how to use this service. To access these instructions, go to the new home page, www.HomesAndLand.com, and click on the Twitter logo. The resulting page provides detailed instructions about how to sign up with Twitter and how to use our service.
Oh yay! It's that time again for the Corona, CA Chili Cook-Off (put on by Corona Mortgage) for the real estate community. It's a fun event and great networking! Hope to see you all there. Be sure to stop by my Homes & Land Magazine booth to try some of my mom's famous white chili.
This law requires a real estate licensee to disclose his or her DRE license number on all “solicitation materials intended to be the first point of contact with consumers” and on real property purchase agreements when acting as an agent in those transactions.
It defines "solicitation materials intended to be the first point of contact with consumers" to include: . business cards, . stationery, . advertising fliers, and . other materials designed to solicit the creation of a professional relationship between the licensee and a consumer.
Excluded from the definition are the following: . an advertisement in print or electronic media, . "for sale" signs, and . specified classified rental advertisements. Amended Business and Professions Code Section 10140.6.
We are pleased to announce that my website, HomesAndLand.com, has entered into a partnership with Enormo, the world’s largest international real estate website. We are now exporting over 150,000 listings from across the United States and Canada. There is no minimum price requirement to be exported.
Homes & Land covers many vacation and resort communities that are popular with international investors. The partnership with Enormo gives added exposure to listings in those popular tourist areas.
Enormo currently has 8.7 million for-sale and rental properties in 80 countries worldwide. Enormo is ranked 9th most-visited real estate site in the world by comScore.
So if your interested in reaching the International market, advertise in Homes & Land Magazine and your listings will automatically be posted to Enormo.com (plus 27 other national websites!)
So-called "experts" lump all print into one category and then bluster that Print Is Dead. The facts tell a different story. It is true that newspaper readership has declined 18% since 1994*. However, the audience for magazines has increased, even during the period when the Internet became popular. From 1994 until 2008 the readership of magazines increased from 166 million to 188.9 million, a gain of 13%.**
That's because magazines deliver targeted content to a target audience. If you're interested in reaching active homebuyers and sellers, Homes & Land Magazine can help.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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