Web 2.0 Marketing of New Construction, Second & Vacation Homes

Social Media for Real Estate Sales? WHY?!?

Lu Doan (AgentShield.com) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:25:08 -0500

Everywhere we turn, everyone is saying that we need to start using social media tools. We are being told that we need to start Tweeting and getting Linked In and share bookmarks ... etc. I understand that social media is all the rage (for goodness sakes, I was watching the UFC fights and Joe Rogan was preaching to Mike Goldberg on why he should start Tweeting).

I'm more of a "WHY" guy. When I was little I must have drove everyone around my crazy with all of my "WHY" questions. I would like to pose a few questions in the hopes to have them answered backed up by some empirical data (stats would be nice).

What are the best social media tools for selling real estate and why?
What measurable results should I expect to get from the time/effort invested? Having 1000 fans on Facebook and 5000 followers on Twitter ... besides being popular ... how does that translate to my business?

Create diverse resort section on your website easily & free

Lu Doan (AgentShield.com) — Thu, 21 May 2009 09:29:05 -0500

While you may be in D.C. or Los Angeles, South Florida, etc, your prospects may be interested in a second home in Costa Rica or Dominican Republic, Florida, the mountians, etc. The idea is by having a diverse resort section on your webpage, you not only position yourself as an international agent, you can capture prospects and earn referral fees for sales in other areas -- and provide information to consumers. Everyone wins!

Adding a resort section is very easy to do. Go to www.AgentShield.com and sign up for a free account. The site will walk you through the 3 steps simple steps. If you don't edit your own website, the last step gives you the option to send the instructions to your webmaster to complete. It's that EASY!

Note: The information above includes an excerpt from a comment found on the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing's blog.

2009 NAR Resort Symposium

Lu Doan (AgentShield.com) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:29:21 -0500

Held once every 18 months, the NAR Resort Symposium is a networking and educational event for Realtors specializing in selling resort and second homes. Realtors in attendance either already have their Resort and Second-Home Property Specialist (RSPS) certification or are attending to earn their RSPS certification. The symposium will consist of educational events, seminars, tours and social events.

When & Where: March 29-31 in Naples, FL
Hosted By: NAR and NABOR (Naples Association Board of Realtors).
Attendance: 200 – 400 Realtors with RSPS certification or in the process of acquiring

Agent Shield will be exibiting this year at the 2009 NAR Resort Symposium. If you are attending the event, please visit us at Booth #6.

How to turn a development's website into a lead generation tool for you

Lu Doan (AgentShield.com) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:50:00 -0500

Here's a quick blog post on Luxury Insights (by The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing) titled "How to turn a development's website into a lead generation tool for you".

Excerpt: Here's a cool tool! We all know that the affluent are citizens of the world and are increasingly purchasing multiple residences, often in market areas distant from their primary residence ...

To read the rest of the blog Click Here.

Costa Rica! Jade in Manuel Antonio pays Realtors 5% upfront

Lu Doan (AgentShield.com) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 12:19:16 -0600

Jade Condo Hotel Residences & Beach Club is located on the water in Manuel Antonio with luxury residences ranging from $235,000 - $1.35 million.

There are a lot of incentives for buyers including fam trips and developer financing. This development is hot (just sold 32 units in the past week).

Jade is offering a referral fee of 5% of the total sales price to Realtors. Jade has upgraded the way they work with brokers/Realtors by employing Agent Shield.

AgentShield.com provides free web 2.0 tools to help Realtors promote and sell new construction, second/vacation properties around the world. Differentiate and brand yourself as an international luxury agent by adding luxury international properties to your real estate offering. Sign up for a FREE account at: www.AgentShield.com

Attending 2009 NAR RSPS Symposium in Naples?

Lu Doan (AgentShield.com) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 17:23:35 -0600

I was wondering if anyone is planning on attending the 2009 NAR RSPS Symposium in Naples, FL fom March 29 -31st? We are throwing around the idea of putting on an event in conjunction with the Symposium that revolved around leveraging emerging technologies. Would you be interested in attending such an event?

More info about the symposium can be found here: http://www.realtor.org/resorts

Hope to see you in Naples in March!

Pacifico - An amazing new development in Costa Rica paying 3% referral fees

Lu Doan (AgentShield.com) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 10:12:54 -0600

I would like to introduce everyone to Pacifico. Located in Playas Del Coco, Costa Rica is an amazing community that pays a 3% referral fee. Their website is Agent Shield Certified which means that Realtors can safely use Pacifico's website as an easy and safe sales tool.

Agent Shield provides FREE webtools & widgets to Realtors to help them sell new construction, second and vacation homes. To see how AS works, click on the "view more details" link below the the Pacifico image. You'll be taken to the actual Pacifico website. Notice on the contact us page that it says "your name here" & "your brokerage name here". The email form goes back to you as well. To use Agent Shield to market this Pacifico and other developments to your prospects, go to www.AgentShield.com to sign up for a FREE account.

Pacifico :: Playas del Coco, Guanacaste,Costa Rica

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Pacifico. A reflection of all the good life has to offer. A place for the adventurer and the romantic. Well-planned for practical living with an exotic flair. A new place but not unfamiliar. Fresh ideas and possibilities surrounded comfort and quality. Careful consideration of the environment, the natural surroundings, the village neighbors and the sea ensure a harmonious existence will all that makes this place such a special place to live. Pacifico is a place to be discovered. Its amenities to be experienced. Its essence unable to be captured in words or in art. It's not natural. It's supernatural.

When your market is not hot; sell internationally … the easy way!

Lu Doan (AgentShield.com) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 11:42:22 -0500

The US RE market may be soft but there's always a hot market somewhere. The Caribbean is a hot international market. If you have a website and/or use email, selling an international property is pretty easy ... all you need is add the right tool!

Have you heard of AgentShield.com? It's a FREE tool that lets Realtors send their clients/prospects to a development's website but changes all of the contact information to the referring Realtor.

Click on the link to Roco Ki below.
Navigate to the "Contact" page and you'll see that it's my information (Luan Doan) ... not the in house sales.

That email form goes to me as well. The developer does not get my lead's contact info until I personally give it to them. Pretty slick!

After the lead comes in, making sure that you get paid is pretty easy. Register your client with the development and periodically check with your client to see if they purchased. The developer's in house sales team does all the work ... no more chauffeuring prospects around. Let your technology do the work!

Did I mention that international properties pay a high referral fees? Roco Ki pays 3% for a referral. Cristal Beach Resort (another property in Agent Shield) pays 6% for a referral.

Take advantage of the traffic that your site and the database of buyers that you market to by expanding your offering to include international properties. Internet marketing is like fishing, the more rods you have in the water increases our chances of reeling in a sale.

It's a FREE tool! You can easily plug this same widget on your own website, blog or email. Check it out and get a FREE account at www.AgentShield.com

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Roco Ki :: Punta Cana, Dominican Republic,Dominican Republic

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Set along the dramatic headlands and pearl white beaches of the Dominican Republic's fabled eastern shore is a world that offers rich culture, awe-inspiring scenery and a wealth of adventure. This is the place that will redefine luxury living for a new generation. Here is a world where the past is honored; the present is celebrated; the future is boldly envisioned. Welcome to Roco Ki.

Developer offering $34,200 paid upfront for a referral!

Lu Doan (AgentShield.com) — Mon, 12 May 2008 11:16:41 -0500

That is not a typo! $34,200 paid upfront for a referral! To get homes sold, developers these days are offering some amazing incentives! Cristal Beach Resort (CBR) in the Dominican Republic is offering 6% of the sales price upfront for referrals. You register your lead with the developer and they do the rest. Easy as that. When the buyer signs the contract and places the deposit, you get paid your referral fee.

Cristal Beach Resort's website is part of the Agent Shield Network, which makes it a lot easier for Realtors to sell and promote the development. Realtors can use the CBR website as a marketing and sales tool while retaining control of their prospects.

To illustrate, click on the link below to go to CBR's website. When you get there, click on the "contact us" button. You'll notice that the contact information is mine (Lu Doan) and not the in house sales team's. When a prospect is interested in CBR, because my contact information appears, they contact me ... not the in house sales team. That's how Realtors are able to retain control of their leads and prospects.

Here's my specialized link to CBR's website. You'll see my contact information and if you fill out that email form on the CBR website, that email will go to me (not the developer): Cristal Beach Resort Link

To get your specialized link (like the one that I have below that will place your contact information into the CBR website) go to www.AgentShield.com (BTW. It's 100% free for Realtors, the developer pays for the Agent Shield technology/service).

If you have a database of buyers and/or investors, it will be worth your while to spend 15 minutes to send out an email blast with your specialized link that has your contact information. You never know if someone in your database is in a position to purchase a beachfront home in the Dominican.

Send me an email or comment below if you have any questions about CBR or how you can use Agent Shield's specialize links to promote and earn a referral fee.

Sincerely,

BTW. Here's a little bit of information about CBR:

Cristal Beach Resort is a Condo Hotel. This is a revenue generating property. When the unit is not being occupied by the owner, the unit can be placed in the rental pool. Prices range from High $200'k - Mid $500k.

Cristal Beach Resort, located on the North Coast of the Dominican Republic is an exclusive luxury residential resort. Offering 5 star service, sweeping ocean views, a secluded powder beach and endless amenities, Cristal Beach is truly where luxury meets tranquility.

Cristal Beach Resort is a 70 unit condotel featuring 2 & 3 bedroom units from 1671-2156 sf. Every Mediterranean style residence will be constructed with the finest specifications including gourmet kitchens with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, tile floors, 10ft ceilings, finely appointed custom made Caribbean style furnishings, oversized furnished lanais for enjoying the ocean views and much more... Every residence boasts a full ocean view and is just steps away from a secluded powdery beach, resort style pool with plunging waterfalls, a soothing spa and a five star service restaurant. Life at Cristal Beach also includes a fulltime concierge and daily maid service ensuring complete relaxation for all guests.

The unique floor plans at Cristal Beach Resort offer multiple rental options for the patrons of the resort. Visitors to Cristal Beach will have the option of renting a one room standard hotel room, a one bedroom suite, a 2 bedroom suite or a 3 bedroom penthouse. This wide array of rental options offers unit owners at Cristal Beach Resort investment return potential as well as an opportunity to own one of the finest pieces of real estate in the Caribbean.

Where should we spend our marketing dollars?

Lu Doan (AgentShield.com) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 09:14:10 -0500

In a soft market where the volume and velocity of sales have slowed down significantly, a lot of companies/people are cutting back on their marketing. Right now is the time to do more marketing! If we focus on marketing now, we can captures more market share because there's less competition. Although we have less dollars to spend on marketing, the key is to spend those dollars effectively and understanding (not guessing) how those dollars are producing (ROI).

In developing a marketing budget and strategy, there are a few things that we should do.

Try new marketing avenues
Focus on attracting internet buyers/online shoppers
Track and quantify every effort/dollar (ROI)

Try New Marketing Avenues: If sales are sluggish and we are not receiving results; try something new! Using the same marketing avenues and efforts will produce the same results! We all understand this but for some reason, maybe because it's comfortable, we continue the same marketing efforts but expect the results to be different. Get out of the usual routine.

Focus on attracting internet buyers/online shoppers: With 90% of real estate buyers already shop online for homes, we need to focus our marketing efforts to attract these online shoppers. We should allocate a larger percentage of our marketing efforts/budgets online.

In the real estate industry, online shoppers are our ideal clients/demographics (especially if we are looking to accelerate the velocity of our sales). Here are some interesting statistics (thanks to Dakno Marketing).

The average internet buyer spends an only 2.2 weeks working with the Realtor to find their home. The traditional buyer spends almost 6 weeks!

Internet Buyers only previewed an average of 6.65 homes while the Traditional Buyer previewed 21.7.

Buyers who use the web as an important part of their buying process are usually savvy and have already invested the time to educate themselves. We can spend less time educating and more time selling.

Track and quantify every effort/dollar (ROI): Unlike expensive traditional media (newspapers, magazines, billboards, painted busses, etc), online marketing is track able and quantitative. It's tracked automatically (avoid the human error associated with asking "how did you hear about us") so the data is accurate. Every online marketing effort (paid or free) is 100% track able. If set up correctly, we can use Google Analytics (which is a free service) to calculate our actual ROI. Understanding which marketing avenues and campaigns are effective is one of the most important factors of any marketing.

What online/marketing avenues have worked (or not worked) for you?

Wooing Realtors … Realtors wooed! … now what?

Lu Doan (AgentShield.com) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:35:55 -0500

In today's soft real estate market, developers are spending more time, money and resources to woo Realtors. And rightfully so. On a national average, according to NAR, Realtors account for 51% of new construction sales. In some areas like South West Florida, realtors account for over 80% of the sales of new construction properties. Developers want Realtors to expose their clientele to their new developments in search of a sale.

Developers go through great lengths to woo Realtors with lavish parties, gifts and incentives. I've seen multiple developers throwing excessive parties and events. Others have given out $150k+ private golf memberships. The Realtors are wooed ... now what? How do Realtors promote these developments to their clientele? Do they mail flyers about the developments to their prospects with their own contact information as the contact person? Probably not. Mailing are expensive and the Realtor may be cut out of the transaction. Do Realtors send out a mass email to their database promoting the development? Again, probably not because they can be cut out of the transaction.

Engaging the Realtor is the first step. Providing them with an action item; something that they can tangibly do to promote the development while ensuring that they will be compensated for their efforts is needed to achieve a successful level of Realtor participation. This action item needs to have two main components:

It has to be easy, requiring minimal time and effort.
It has to ensure (provide a level of protection) that the Realtor will be compensated for their efforts.

Without a tangible action item to help the Realtor promote and sell, the only thing that the developer is doing is throwing parties and giving away gifts.

A developer once shared with me "We just spent $40k on this wine and cheese party. At the end of the day, I don't know which Realtors are interested in selling my development and which ones are here for the wine and cheese."

A question for Realtors & developers. What action items, marketing tools and/or sales aids have developers provided to Realtors? Were they useful/successul?