Home : Blogs : Patrick Harfst, CRS : Patrick's Blog

Top 10 Worst Things Realtors Spend Money On

10. Shopping cart advertising. Who ever renews these contracts?

9. Muerta del toro lead generators. Again, who continues with these guys?

8. Glamour shot photography. The word is out on this... Time to stop!

7. SEO "guaranteed placement" claims. We can't ALL be in the first position!

6. Image advertising that is "all about the agent"... Consumers could care less.

5. e-mailing flier services - poor use of advertising dollars - looks like spam

4. High pressure sales seminars - where you can learn to Always Be Closing.

3. Meals with other Realtors - why not take a client out?

2. Newspaper advertising - worked in the 70's & 80's... past tense.

And the #1 Thing that Realtors Waste Money On is:

1. Over-priced listings. Nothing bleeds money faster. Career killers.

Posted by Patrick Harfst, CRS on 10/13/2007 12:56 AM

Comments (40)

seo, advertising

40 Comments on Top 10 Worst Things Realtors Spend Money On

OCT

2007

#2....may all homeowners have that same understanding! There is nothing worse that a seller who wants to advertise in the paper.....way past tense! I can find better ways to market their home! Great post!

That's good. I've spent money on some of these (oh . . . three or four). I totally agree about the over-priced listings. Never again!

Debbie - thanks for the kind words. I only hope that more agents will talk to their sellers & buyers the way we talk to each other in these forums... Wouldn't that be a hoot?! Things would change quickly...

Sharon - Yeah, I too have an advanced degree form the School of Hard Knocks... sure is a great motivator NOW to help other agents.

I had to laugh when I read GLAMOUR SHOTS. I used to work at a large agency and some of the female associates had pictures on their cards that made my jaw drop; I was like, who's this babe? Our local MLS is cracking down on these glamour queens, insisting that they update their photos. They remind them of the laws regarding "truth in advertsing".... lol. I think some of them are using their original photos from when they started in the industry 5, 10, 15 or whatever years ago.

I was at a family reunion a few years back and went into one of the local real estate agencies and this gal that was in there was missing teeth, uppers and lowers. just before I left she gave me one of her cards and I swear I didnt even recognize her. It was a Sunday morning, maybe she forgot to put in her bridges.

Lazarus

OK I been there to, good post and thanks for the info!

Great post, but it seems you only know this stuff in retrospect. Thanks for the great post, hopefully it will save some new agent some $$$$.

Great list! Wasting time, money or both! I especially dislike advertising in the newspaper!

Great list...wish I'd had that last year when I started out! Most of them I didn't do and still spent a ton of money! This list needs to go into every new agent orientation packet!

Super list, except I think it's important to network w/ other Realtors to share ideas and support each other's listings. Great post.

This is a terrific post. I don't spend money on this stuff, and every once in a while, I wonder if maybe I should. Nah!

Patrick - I agree with all your list but I am in a smaller market where newspaper advertising still works fairly well. I think it depends on your market and the demographics of your market.

Patrick,

I love your 'top ten' format. Makes the posts very alluring but not boring! Thanks, Fran

Great post. What about a post for the "top ten ways to spend your money". I'll be waiting for that one if you decide to share you secrets.

There must be at least 100 more things that simply waste money in our field. When the market is down, there is a rush to try something, ANYTHING.

Luckily, I have no money, so I don't worry about how to spend it!

I occasionally use our Sunday Paper to advertise listings, mostly to appease my Sellers. As mentioned above. I just started Blogging and my site presence has moved up immensely. This afternoon I was trying to explain to my parents my marketing strategy, they looked at me like an Aborigine looking at a ferris wheel.

NoShotScott

Patrick, fully agree with number 1. I still have a fair amount of ads running in the Sunday paper. I receive a few calls a week off of them. Does that justify the cost No. I like the exposure. Great Post.

We still advertize in the Sunday paper. Not many calls off of it , but makes the seeler happy.

Don't get me started on #5. Those things drive me NUTS. I think I've finally been able to get my name removed from all of the various companies emailing lists. No one ever reads those things. You'd probably have been luck by renting a helicopter and throwing flyers out the window to rain down upon the city.

This thread has generated a number of responses from agents who admit to running ads, even when doing so does not pay off. It is just so easy to run the ad, and tell the sellers that you are "doing something" to get their home sold? Seems to me that continuing to run ads, especially when it does not work, is crazy. Sam Miller, and a few others, correctly pointed out that in smaller markets, newspaper ads DO get read. Even here in PHX, with 4 million people, some smaller niche papers run ads that will work. My blanket condemnation of news ads could be asterisked, to indicate that fact - smaller is better.

If I were the broker paying for these ads, I'd want to know that they worked. If not, stop 'em! Spend those precious advertising dollars in some other way.

Rob - I will do as you asked... Top 10 Ways for Smart Realtors To Spend Money... coming soon

OCT

2007

Patrick,

Nice concise post. I think we have all done some of these. At my local supermarket, it is easy to pick up a shopping cart with ads for three different Realtors. I actually find seminars to be pretty painful, typically sounding like a revival session. I can be faulted, however, for taking an occassional overpriced listing. Especially in this market it is not good.

I'll be looking forward to your post of the best places to spend money.

OCT

2007

#2 is definitely #1 for the average agent. HOWEVER...there are ways to place highly targeted stealth ads in targeted areas of the newspaper. But for the generic ads in the real estate section and open house section, definitely a waste.

Patrick - Good list. The only thing I would dispute is meals with other REALTORS. I think it's a good opportunity to share successes and failures. Thanks.

Very good Patrick! I would add #11, "Property" magazines.

Looking forward to the 10 best things to spend money on.

Good post, Patrick! I particularly enjoyed the glamour shots as well. When you are trying to "brand yourself" using a picture that looks nothing like you isn't going to get you recognized in public. I've gotten a few cards from Realtors where I have had to take a triple take and finally realized that they have used the same picture since they started their career in 1981 (it's the poofy bangs that gives it away!) Thanks for sharing!!

Boy are you ever right about over priced listings! How about #11: paper!!!

I agree with almost everything except #2, The older generation still reads the newspaper because they are afraid of the computer & the new technology.

Glamor shots is a joke! I get such a laugh from those, especially the pictures from high school & the agent has aged about 20 years or more since the actual glamor shot. Please people at least update your glamor shots if your going to use them.

Personally I have seen more agents lose tens of thousands of dollars on the Hobbs Herder program & think they are a waste of money also.

I agree wiht all of your choices! Great post!

Tom - My point about meals with other agents is that this becomes a social hour... 3 or 4 times per week. That is what should be reduced in favor of an occasional meal with a client - past / future does not matter.

Brenda - I tried to avoid naming names, per se, but you are right. HH feeds off of the ego that comes with the profession. I actually had a HH brochure back in about 1990, but I was only out $500 for the design, and another $500 for the printing, done locally. They charge a bit more than that now...

Jim - I am honored to have your blessing on all 10 of these... There were more, for sure, but I needed to avoid being too specific about money wasters... For example, think of electronic devices used in conjunction with listings, that are only for people in cars with radios... Anyone out walking the area is not going to get the full effect...

OCT

2007

As for #2, if you advertise in a major newspaper covering a metropolitan area, you will ikely spend a lot on your ads and not get much of a result, but many areas have neighborhood newspapers and free papers where the ads are extremely inexpensive and much more effective. Especially if the paper is one that is interesting enough about local issues that people do read it!

In all of the open houses I have held, I have had only a couple of people come in from an ad in our large daily newspaper, but I have had several who came after seeing an ad in the Sacramento Union, a smaller weekly paper that deals almost exclusively with local and neighborhood news.

Still, however, most people come from Craigs List, my hand-delivered, personally emailed or snail mailed flyers or just following the signs I put out. I've also worked out an arrangement with our weekly paper to get 100 copies which I then distribute with my listing and open house flyers inside. This is a reversion to old-fashioned farming, giving people value (the paper) while getting my name and properties seen. I am getting lots of positive feedback from that.

As for the glamour shots and antique photos, nothing brings more smirks and unkind remarks from other agents, unfortunately. They simply do not enhance the image like they are apparently intended to do. Another photo that bothers me (although it is popular) is the arms folded stare. Looks intimidating rather than friendly. Probably just my own issue, since most people don't seem to feel that way.

Great list, Patrick!

Susan - You are SO right about the arms folded stare/glare. Read any book on body language, and this shows up as a not-so-friendly pose. Just what enlightened Realtors need! An I-don't-trust-you pose...

And yes, the smaller the paper, the better response the ad will generate. Take that all the way down to a self-published paper or newsletter. Direct the content towards a target group, and watch the response rate go up, up, up! Quality or quantity - we each get to choose.

RIght on about the newsaper and the overpriced listings. There will always be someone out there who will take that listing, let them, just tell the sellers to call you back when that listing expires. That works for me--just did , again, this week.

OCT

2007

LOL Great post. And all true. Glamour shot photos are the worst. I am a pretty handsome guy, but customers don't want to see anyone dolled up with a hat on.

Patrick - you forgot about open houses which are a big waste of time and time is money :)

OCT

2007

Great post Patrick! I hope new agents see your post before they plunk down a chunk of change on some of this stuff. I've made my mistakes but if my experiences can help some else...all the better.

Now I've got to run and practice my poses for my new shot. Perhaps arms folded and chin resting on right hand or better yet my high school graduation pic with piano keyboard tie...! LOL

Patrick,

Your list is pretty good and to the point. Many of them are eye-openers for mortgage lenders, too. Newspaper advertising and lead generators get you nowhere today. How about all these sales seminars originators go year after year at a great expense.

OCT

2007

Very good points, and they are very true.

JUN

2008

So true! I wish I would have read this many many thousands of dollars wasted ago!

JUN

2008

I came across this list today at a managers meeting and i thought it was pretty interesting. I was going to write a post on it when it dawned on me that I probably couldn't do that. Nobody knew where it came from so I decided to search the AR blogs. It goes to show how sometimes things can take on a life of their own. I really enjoyed your post.

Leave a response…

Name:

Email:
(optional)

Comment:

What does the graphic say?