Real Estate Blog - "Call for price" Leaves agents paying the price

"Call for price" Leaves agents paying the price

How often have you been shopping for something and at first glance thought to yourself "Wow that looks perfect!" only to look for the price and discover that it's nowhere to be found? Now imagine that this item could quite possibly amount to the single largest purchase you will make in your lifetime...

This scenario takes place time and again to home buyers picking up real estate print ads. When no price is given, generally the first thought that runs through a buyer's mind is "it must be expensive" and they move on. Unless you are exclusively dealing in very high end real estate listings, excluding the price in your ad will rarely work to your advantage. More often than not, a home buyer won't bother to pick up the phone and call you seeking the home's price, rather they will turn the page and find one that does. Home shoppers just curious enough to call you for the price will most times find it apparent that it's not what they want to hear and before you have the chance to say "But, I have many other..." you are saluted with the unfriendly hum of a dial-tone. The price paid by Real Estate agents in this scenario is in the form of a very expensive commodity: Time.

Home shoppers are becoming more educated by the minute. Before picking up a print ad, they are more likely to be armed with information on how much they are qualified to finance as well as knowing what price range they are looking for. A large percentage of home buyers skim ads looking at photos first and what might you guess they look for second? You guessed it; Price. Top notch real estate websites can't do without it and your print ad shouldn't be any different. In print advertising you are selling someone visually and emotionally before they even think to contact you. Getting a buyer to call you, means that you must quickly provide some key details before they lose interest and move on to the next ad.

Providing the listing price in your ad will allow buyers to cross off a key item on their mental checklist before they call you; allowing you to spend less time with unqualified leads and more time doing what you do best!

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog; I hope you found it useful and I wish you the best in your marketing efforts!

If you are in the Tulare County California area and would like a free marketing consultation please contact us!
If you are anywhere else in the over 500 territories in North America that The Real Estate Book covers; you can find your local Market Representative here.
Visalia California Real Estate Book (Includes surrounding areas of Tulare County)

Posted by Samara Hart : Pixsym | Marketing | Design | SEO on 07/31/2007 03:25 PM

Comments (39)

marketing, print, advertising, pricing, the real estate book, visalia, tulare, hanford, exeter, porterville, three rivers, springville

39 Comments on "Call for price" Leaves agents paying the price

JUL

2007

Age old tactics that make the buyer feel like they have to go to you. Not a good starting point, in my mind.

Samara

Unfortunately I will have to disagree with you on this point. I have found it a huge advantage not to include the price, especially when coupled with a call capture system. Call capture will grant you the callers information, and allow you to follow up with them. If they know the price of the home and they choose not to call they were a client for a particular home or particular price. If they call for information on the house and they learn the price is out of their price range, I now have the ability to suggest other homes that are more affordable to them. I would rather have the option to try and qualify the buyer rather than have the buyer opt out initially in calling me. It is the same principle as an open house sign. People that stop by an open house do not always know the price before hand, sometimes they are just curious about the home.

Hi Samara....I have had a hotline for years that gives price and other information in English and Spanish. I don't print the price for two reasons. Number one I don't want to reprint 50+ color fliers when there is a price change, and we are seeing a lot of price changes right now. Second reason is I can monitor where the calls are coming from to evaluate my advertising dollars. Callers simply call a toll free number and receive the information in English or Spanish. This seeems to have worked out well and it is a phenomenal listing tool as well. Thanks for the post.

I print the price because I got sick and tired of angry buyers who call wanting to know price...the best part about the calls that come in is that they've somewhat pre-qualified themselves for that house since they already know the price point. Buyers have access to so much information now-the agents who think they're gatekeepers of information will be left behind since that's not our primary function anymore.

Samara,

I've always been turned off by advertising with no prices. I really don't think it works very well simply because buyers are so savvy and intelligent about shopping.

Greetings Samara - This tactic is still taught by those who teach and do not practice real estate. The idea is that they will call for a price and then you take that opportunity to convert the caller into a Buyer client. There is entire classes built on this model.

Then we have technology that will (800 responder systems) take the calls, give the information you wish to share, (price too depending on your marketing tactics) and then the system will report on the caller. You then can determine where the call came from, i.e., a sign call, media, etc. and choose to follow up or not. In some cases you can harvest their email (permissible) and then you have an address for continued follow-up such as your newsletter etc.

To summarize, it can be a marketing tool or tactic.

Jeff and Jane Daley
Keller Williams Realty - Scottsdale 480-595-6412
http://www.luxuryvalleyhomes.com/
Jeff@LuxuryValleyHomes.com
Scottsdale Luxury Real Estate

Samara, part of my time in sales was spent in a retail jewelery store. The place was a small family owned and operated establishment. We displayed much of our merchandise without pricing so that we would have the opportunity to interact with the customer. This method never seemed the best way to go... but as a small operation contrasted to the big box stores it was a method to help us offer the individual service that set us apart from the Goliaths.

Hi Samara,

You made a great point. As a consumer, nothing is more frustrating than hunting around trying to find the price of something. Some of the replies say that it gives them the opportunity to sell the peson another house... that would be fine, but more often than not, when I call for a price and I tell the agent that is too much for me, many of them hang up on me!! They are not going the extra step and trying to sell me anything else. I have bothered them enough by asking the price!!

Hello and thanks for your comments!

I am well aware of the call capture system :) This is a little bit different and I didn't mention it in my blog because I felt it would end up being very long. I do know that call capture is a different beast all together and it has become more popular in recent years.

With that said, I recently was able to view the results of an independent marketing focus group that conducted a study in 4 separate regions in the US. Consumers were asked to browse through real estate ads and comment on them based upon their likeliness to contact the agent. One of the things mentioned over and over was the fact that they didn't want to waste their time calling for prices and that it "irritated" many of them that the information was "hidden". There is this unsaid level of deceptiveness that the consumer seems to feel when information is left out or fluffed up. Recently on ABC's 20/20 there was a report about deceptiveness in real estate advertising: These reports are becoming commonplace these days and consumers are feeling empowered because of it.

My point in writing this is that times change and things that worked in the past may see less and less success in the future as real estate marketing evolves. I am very happy to hear you are having success in the current market.

Best wishes to you!

It ticks ME off when a price is not listed or a salesperson wants to BLAH BLAH BLAH to me me about their product BEFORE they will give me a price, I can only imagine how frustrated a home buyer would feel!

I also agree with the person who brought up the freuent price reductions occuring in the market now.

Samara,

I'm with you on this one. I think it is better to include the price in the ad. I want every opportunity to sell my listing that I can, and I don't like being passed by because I was the "gate keeper."

Samara, This is so old school and I really think it is a disservice and just plain dumb!

Welcome to AR!! Nice to meet you!

Ginger

Hi Samara: I could not agree with you more. I would definately be the person who simply would not call. The reason lurking in my mind is the agent does not want to divulge how expensive this house is....because this seems to happen at the top end of the market. "Call for price" turns me off. Like the agent is trying to screen buyers? Like the price will be set once you call? Like the price is changing so often you can't print it? Like you want to use this listing to snag buyers who are only dreaming?

The public already doesn't trust the industry. Why should we get down and dirty with the car dealers who always say "what would you be willing to pay for this TODAY?"

I Agree with you. As a buyer, I am so annoyed with the fact that they wont print the price that I move on to the next listing. I think it is terrible way to start a business relationship.

There is an old saying that goes if you have to ask you cant afford it,we see find this kind of advertising in the used car sales market,todays buyers just dont respond well to this

Nice post Samara, most realtors have heard that leaving the price out will force the prospect to call them, which creates a lead. The other side is they may never call as you mentioned.

This is a great post. Personally, I can see both sides of the argument and am undecided. I don't do much print advertising at this point, so it doesn't make much difference to me. Most all of my advertising is personal and online, which has gained me great results so far, with no need for expensive print ads. Thanks for a thought-provoking post that may come in handy when our market slows again.

Good Post. I, like Edmond see both sides of the argument. However, in today's market and with so many frequent price changes - chances are that the consumer may pick up a flyer reflecting a stale price. That price can be the deciding factor on their qualification. eg. if a price drops $20, 30, 40 thousand as we are seeing very frequently and they are holding an outdated flyer then you have just disqualified that buyer. Perhaps, a disclosure saying something like (off the top of my head) "Due to the changing market, we ask that you call for price." I think this may take away the stereo type of "it's too expensive" and "may even be eager to call" thinking that the price may have dropped a few times.

On the other, if the property is priced right from the start - then it won't be long before it sells and that is one price you would want to post in every marketing material you have available.

Just my humble opinion.

Except for my fliers in yard boxes, I would never advertise a listing with no price in the ad. The yard box fliers, I sometimes print with no price, just to get the calls, to separate the serious buyers from the nosy neighbors.

Samara - I would agree with you. I hate it when I see adds with no price. In the not to distant future, print real estate adds will become more obsolete than they already are.

Samara,

I disagree completely. Try this yourself, Run to identical ads 1 month apart in the same print medium. Use your standard "price in ad" and in the second month use an 800# (call capturing) with this text "for pricing call 800-111-1111" Truth is those buyers do not want to speak to an agent at all but will call an 800 hotline just to get the price. I get over 1200 calls a year to my call capture (where I tell them price and direct them to my website) with just one print ad monthly (The Real Estate Book) 800# numbers work!

Cheers,

David Swierczynski

I have the unique benefit of being a buyer right now and I have to say that I agree with you. David above is dead wrong. If I have to call a number to get a price, I move on. Buyers know you are just trying to "capture" them and find it annoying. Buyers dont' want to speak to an agent OR an automated line. I have been looking for a home a long time, since January. My time is too precious to waste time calling an agent on an ad to find out the home is out of my price range. Just give the damn information. If a buyer wants to know more they will call you!

My niche is luxury homes. I can't tell you how I hate to see agents list an expensive home price as "Upper Bracket". No s%$!. I can tell by the photo that it is a million dollar home so don't insult my intelligence by being greedy with the list price. Agents need to get over themselves. Sorry, just a little rant...can you tell this topic is a pet peeve?

I don't put the price on my flyers. But I do put the monthly payment for a couple different scenarios and people do call.

Hi again everyone! Thank you all for your comments and input!

Please know I wasn't saying that you won't get any calls and that I'm not saying call capture systems don't generate leads. I guess I should be more specific and say that I am specifically talking about best use of time spent with Qualified Leads. A buyer that has more disclosed up front will have semi-qualified themselves before contacting the listing agent. This is where prospect focused advertising comes into play (The Real Estate Book's department, if I may =).

Additionally research is proving more and more that the consumer is becoming more aware of these marketing tactics and may in fact consider it deceptive advertising - no matter the media used. In my own humble opinion - I believe being up front and honest in the beginning can show that you value the consumers time and that can go a long way without ever saying a spoken word.

Have seen this done both ways. Many would be buyers seem turned off by the "call for price".

AUG

2007

Wow this is very interesting. I am currently looking for a commercial space for my staging company and frankly most commercial properties that I drive by have no pricing on it. I feel that if your buyers are serious enough for the property, they would call, even though they know their info will be captured.

This got me thinking, most stagers don't list their pricing on their website. Does that bother realtors?

Cheers,

Cindy

David S, I'd like to know a little more. What 800 service do you subscribe to?

This true upset when I see that "Call for price" that I just dont even feel like wasting time calling the agent. As a realtor or client I just would see right thru this ploy

I agree. I think it is a waste of money advertising a house and not mentioning the price. There are some who advertise a listing without mentioning the town.

In Hawaii its mandatory and one of the key marketing points that need to be included.

I say Put it all out there. Give them as much information as possible in this market... Buyers are not stupid and they are going to uncover what ever it is to exclude the home if it is not the right home for them.

Obviously there are 2 schools of thought. Because I know the industry, I won't call to get a price. But, I'll have my REALTOR(R) get it for me.

Calling an 800# for price may be annoying, but it gets more leads and sales than just 'putting the price' out there. So what if a few qualified people 'pass' on the home. Triple that pass on the home when the price is listed.

In other words, when prospects call - all of them are potential prospects and are looking for any house, not just the house they are calling in.

The only way the 'homes' magazines are effective is to have a specific call to action in the ad, whether that be an 800# system with enticement to call or a push to go to a website, with an enticement to do so, etc. Otherwise, you are just throwing good money away all to appease the sellers.

As a consumer, I hate it. As a REALTOR(R) I won't advertise without it.

Christina,

You elaborated on my point quite succinctly. Who is really looking at those ads anyway? Not internet shoppers. Not people who are happy with or have an agent. Be the first to capture the lead. That's the name of the game. And as for the ads without an address, I don't do it but agents do...with success. Potential buyer (captured call lead) not in your area? Qualify and refer.

Cheers,

David Swierczynski

You can always implement a Text for Info system that is a happy medium. You deliver the vital information to your prospect but you're also able to capture contact info for follow up. Check out www.goomzee.com to see how this system is helping real estate professionals accomplish this goal.

I always give the price, n'hood, address, carpet color, and whatever other information about the house the caller wants to know! My first job is to SELL THE HOUSE since it is my listing after all and that's my responsibility to my seller. BTW, you can still capture the lead.

AUG

2007

Samara - I think modern shoppers can't be bothered to research prices etc. They want the information and they want it now. As Jennifer said it is a waste of time. It's not like your house is the only one on the market now, buyers have a huge choice!

AUG

2007

Samara

I agree with you, the price should always be in print advertising,Great post

I always put the price in the ad. I don't want to hear from people who can't afford it, I don't like being hung up on because they think the price of a lakefront home should be less than their city home. I also am not interested in tricking people into giving me their phone number. I know that if the price is not shown on a product I just move on.

Very good post...

Its good to see someone from Tulare County, I used to live there 15 years ago

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