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marketing: Marketing Outside the BAG - 05/08/09 03:38 PM
Thanks to a great idea from Kristin Moran, I'm doing some marketing outside the box BAG!
Take a look at my new marketing pieces.
I started walking the neighborhood this afternoon. Boy is it HOT and it's only early May. I need to finish walking the streets before it gets too hot to keep going.
What I found was in my neighborhood there are LOTS of people home during the day. I'm not sure if it was just because it was Friday, or if that many people really work from home, but tons of people home.
As I … (20 comments)
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marketing: Two Different Brokerage Signs, One Agent? - 09/15/08 04:44 PM
There's a new listing in my neighborhood. I noticed it a couple of weeks ago when I walked by as the sign was not a familiar sign in the yard, and I had never heard of the Broker before. I won't say the whole Broker's name, but within the title is the phrase "New Home". I assumed they were buying a new home, and doing one of those programs that some builders offer where they'll buy your house at a discount to guarantee the sale if your efforts of selling it with their preferred Realtor doesn't work out in time to … (68 comments)
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marketing: Patriotism Year after Year - 07/01/08 10:51 AM
Thank you Leonard Thomas! Every year around this time, without skipping a beat, I'll wake up one morning and there's a flag in my yard. Attached to the flag is a blurb that says something like "Compliments of Leonard Thomas".
The first year I lived here, I'll be honest, I was very annoyed. He knew it was my house, and how could he have the audacity to put his advertising in my yard? I immediately removed it from the yard.
Last year, the flag returned... I thought about it and was like, "The street looks nice having all these flags lined … (15 comments)
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marketing: Don't Take Stats at Face Value - 07/01/08 09:49 AM
Every so often, I receive a postcard in the mail from a local Realtor with the neighborhood activity, mainly her listings. I look at it just to see what numbers she's reporting. Yesterday's mail received such a postcard, and it made me laugh so hard. Why do Realtors think they can skew their stats to look good when they know they're sending their information to other Realtors as well who know it's a bunch of hooey? I guess it's because the general public doesn't know better and she's trying to take advantage?
Here's the situation: The postcard says "Average time … (3 comments)
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marketing: 1429 Coffeyville Trl, Plano, TX 75023 - 04/22/08 01:22 PM
Great house in great condition. This interior corner has a lot of space for family, pets, & entertaining.
There are 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths with a 2 car garage in the Fabulous Plano school district. All this for ONLY $125,000!!
Vaulted Ceilings in the Family Room show off the Brick, Wood Burning FirePlace. The Bedrooms are split for privacy & all have generous closet space. Sprinklers, gutters, tile, fresh paint, and newer roof & water heater.
The Foundation was repaired and has a warranty. Priced for the buyer to make further cosmetic updates, unless you would love a vintage Kitchen of Mustard Yellow!
Ask … (8 comments)
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marketing: Real Estate Activity is Regional, not National - 04/01/08 08:39 PM
WOW! Can you say B-U-S-Y?? I feel so sorry for other parts of the country right now, but in the past 4 weeks, I have contracted 9 properties!! Yes, 9!! Seven of them were in March, and I contracted two today. It's only April 1, and I already have 2 contracts. Granted, I don't count my chickens before they hatch, especially since one buyers' financing already fell through on one of the properties (going through Banco Popular in case anyone is familiar with them), but their agent is going to get one of her investors to buy the house and seller finance … (20 comments)
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marketing: Why are you Still Over Pricing Your House? - 02/27/08 10:37 AM
Why are you still over pricing your house even after all the education I try to give and explain? Over pricing will get you no where. It might get people in the door since people are looking in all types of price ranges, but as soon as they walk in, they'll say, "This house is not anywhere near a $350k house in this neighborhood, how could they price it at $369,900?"
The answer, the owners are investors and they're in the RED. Do I care they're in the red? Does a prospective buyer care they're in the red? Isn't the best way … (57 comments)
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marketing: Interview Didn't Make the Article - 02/19/08 12:18 PM
At the end of December, I was interviewed for an article in Texas REALTOR® for the January/February issue. I was excited for the opportunity as I've been contacted more and more about interviews for this and that. It makes me feel like all my hard work over the years is finally paying off.
What urks me is I did not end up in the article. I read it, and the main person interviewed was one of my friends and coleagues, and she's also a strong member of Active Rain. I chose not to mention who she is. I'm reading this article and … (5 comments)
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marketing: Mr and Mrs Seller, Open Houses do NOT Sell Houses!! - 09/18/07 08:00 PM
I will state right up front that I understand that this is different in the different markets across the Country and Canada. I'm writing this blog focusing mainly on my market, here in the Dallas area.
Mr. and Mrs. Seller, here is my marketing plan for your house. Will I do Open Houses? Did you see Open Houses as part of my marketing plan? Mr. and Mrs. Seller, I do NOT do Open Houses.
In today's market, qualified and approved buyers are not the ones walking into Open Houses. If a buyer is serious about buying a house, 94% of them start their … (10 comments)
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marketing: Mr and Mrs Seller, Newspaper Ads do NOT Sell Houses! - 09/18/07 06:46 AM
Will you post my house in the Dallas Morning News?
NO!
Mr. and Mrs. Seller, people don't read the newspaper like they used to. Many people have switched from the actual news paper to the online version of the paper. Yes, with the online version of the paper, your ad will appear in the online portion of the classifieds section, however, that's not where you want to be, as there is a new and separate online section for listings that are automatically fed from the MLS.
First, when an ad is placed in the paper, you're getting about 3-4 short lines to grab someone's … (130 comments)
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marketing: Does Your Marketing Work? Or is it for the Seller? - 09/17/07 09:14 AM
Do you create an actual marketing plan for your listings that works? Or do you do whatever it is that the sellers ask you to do even when you know it doesn't work?
The way you answer this question will show if you're in control of your own business or if you do and say things to and for the sellers just to win the listing.
When I go on a listing presentation, I lay out everything I do for their listing in front of them. This includes, Just Listed cards to the nearest 200 homes, Virtual Tours, Talking House, Property Water bottles, Property … (9 comments)
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marketing: Email or Phone? What do Internet Consumers Want? - 07/12/07 02:35 PM
I received an internet lead in October of 2005. It turned out that the owner had just bought the house a couple of months earlier, in August. I grunted a little, but sent him some information anyway because you just never know. I sent him listings on a monthly basis and also had him on an automatic drip campaign for once a month contact.
Some time in 2006, he emails me asking me to update his email address. Why not.... I guess that means he's looking at the emails and listings, so I updated his information.
In May, I received an email saying he … (24 comments)
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marketing: Plano TX Market Breakdown - 06/26/07 06:43 PM
I just posted the results of the Market Breakdown for Richardson, TX. I thought it would be interesting to compare Richardson to Plano, TX. Plano is the next city North, and many people compare the two cities all the time for school districts and neighborhoods. Growing up in Richardson, I'm a little biased to the comparison, however, I am currently in Collin County and not Dallas County which means BabyHarris will go to Plano Schools, so the comparison is very important.
If I use the same categories as I did on Richardson, here is the breakdown for Plano.
2006Original List Price: $270,812.97Reduced Price: … (0 comments)
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marketing: Richardson TX Market Breakdown - 06/26/07 06:31 PM
Richardson, TX is having a very interesting year thus far. I was comparing numbers year to date to 2006 year to date, and the numbers astonish me.
People keep trying to say that it's a buyers' market because houses are staying on the market for months and months, even years, and sellers will sell their homes for whatever you offer. Most of this comes from the National news, and some comes from those late-night infomercials. Many areas are in such a buyers' market that you can offer 20% of asking price and potentially meet in the middle or even more towards the buyers … (5 comments)
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marketing: Turning Down an Overpriced Listing - 06/06/07 09:10 AM
I read a blog by James Gordon this morning about when you should turn down an overpriced listing and it reminded me of something that happened to me last month.
I received a call from an out of state seller who had a rental property on the market for 191 days, yes, I said 191. During that time, the price was $104k. People in other markets might think anyone would jump on this house and they're crazy not to. However, I went and previewed the house, and ran comps, and the house comps out at about $92-95k.
At the time the sellers called me, … (22 comments)
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marketing: Pictures Can Cost Thousands of Dollars - 12/29/06 01:37 PM
I saw the post yesterday about making sure your lead picture is desirable. In the below example, the lead picture actually isn't that bad. What this picture says to me is that it is a quiet, mature house in an older area. Since the newer communities don't typically have trees for several years, this picture shows the unique size of the trees which many of our relo buyers like.
BUT, boy was I wrong!! Look at these pictures! Are they selling their house, or are they selling their "stuff"? Stuff is such a nice word. I can't tell what most of the rooms … (11 comments)
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Donna Harris, REALTOR®, CDPE & ASP - Hill Country Austin Lakeway Homes
Austin,
TX
More about me…
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
Address: 4611 Bee Caves Rd #200, Austin, TX, 78746
Office Phone: (512) 592-7127
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