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About 10% of all listings have a Featured Tour on Realtor.com - and realtors still spend money advertising in the newspaper?

By Fred Light

Services for Real Estate Pros with | Nashua Video Tours

October 25, 2007 12:29 PM

Maybe it's because I'm more of a marketer/ business person and not a Realtor, but this just doesn't compute in my mind...

Realtor.com is the #1 website in the United States for real estate.
Realtor.com is the most recognized and well known and publicized real estate website in the United States. I would venture to say that every buyer even remotely thinking about real estate has heard of or used Realtor.com
The current market is the slowest in recent memory.
The current market is saturated with a record number of properties for sale.
The current method of shopping for real estate for over 80% of buyers is the internet.
The first impressions of over 80% of buyers are based on the presentation they see online, whether it be photos, video tours, slideshow presentation or virtual tours.
The way most buyers are eliminating properties (to determine which will go on their short list) is by the marketing presentation that they view online. By the photos. The videos. The virtual tours. They are not willing to drive all over town sucking up $3/gallon+ gasoline to see properties that are not EXACTLY what they are interested in. They are not going to open houses.

Given that, why do only about 10% of properties in my market (Southern New Hampshire/ Boston metro) have a featured tour on Realtor.com?

Nashua NH - 873 properties on the market - 110 have Featured Tours (12%)
Boston MA - 4,029 properties on the market - 310 have Featured Tours (7.5%)
Manchester NH - 1,144 properties on the market - 150 have Featured Tours (13%)

I don't get it. Isn't a major job of a realtor to market properties for their sellers? Yet, I constantly see substantial sized display ads in newspapers and real estate magazines that the vast majority of buyers DO NOT USE?

Think about it - even if you HAVE a newspaper in your hands, would you actually use that newspaper to search for real estate???? It doesn't make any sense! Even elderly people without computers have children who research real estate online FOR THEM, and bring them printouts of houses they see online.

And yes, I realize that Realtor.com charges additional for 'enhanced listings'. However, it IS a cost of doing business, whether you personally like Realtor.com or not. You have to spend money to make money. Anyone in business, whether retail or service industry, has to spend money and invest in their business and marketing, and not being a part of such a well known advertising venue just doesn't seem like smart marketing to me.

Even if you look at the locql MLS, which charges NOTHING for a virtual tour, the number of listings with tours is minimal. And it's FREE. Many listings have only a few photographs - also which are FREE. How can you list a half million dollar property with 5 pictures???

Marketing these homes is your job. That's why people are paying your [high] commission.

I just don't get it....

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Don Stern

Realty Executives South Louisiana - Baton Rouge, LA

Greater Baton Rouge Real Estate

I do a virtual tour and link it on realtor.com for virutally all of my listings... That's for the buyers.

Seller's on the other hand, want to see print advertising despite the statistics. If only everyone behaved logically. :)

Oct 25, 2007 12:38 PM

Melissa Davis

CENTURY 21 Hawkins & Kolb - Sumter, SC

Broker/GRI. Sumter SC

I totally agree. You have to spend money to make money!!!!

Oct 25, 2007 12:40 PM

Gary Woltal

Keller Williams Realty - Flower Mound, TX

Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth

Fred, great points. I think some REALTORS are not technologically savvy enough to do featured tours OR I think as you are suggesting too, don't want to pay the additional marketing dollars in that area. They either have tried it and it didn't work or they have alternate methods that they think bring a higher ROI, a buyer, and a sale. Maybe the technology impediment can be overcome with more education or younger more computer, Internet, and software exposed REALTORs.

Oct 25, 2007 12:41 PM

Linda M. Cataldo

Dock Street Realty - Myrtle Beach, SC

Beach Destinations Realty Myrtle Beach

I had been a subscriber to realtor.com for two years and paid several hundreds of dollars for the service. I never got one lead from the site - even though I always had 25+ listings at any given time - even though each one had a virtual tour from Real Estate Shows.

When making a decision on ROI, I decided to drop realtor.com. Our local MLS posts each listing on it anyway. I am no worse off for the change - still no leads.

Oct 25, 2007 12:50 PM

Andrew Mooers | 207.532.6573

MOOERS REALTY - Houlton, ME

Northern Maine Real Estate-Aroostook County Broker

Fred..some brokers/companies still do things the old way...black and white newspaper ads. I agree with you man and enjoyed your post. You are so right.

Oct 25, 2007 12:52 PM

Armando Rodriguez

QUEST REALTY SERVICES - Orlando, FL

Orlando Homes 4 Sale, Real Estate Broker-GRI

I concur...many home buyers have told me that they narrow their search on Realtor.com by selecting multiple photo and Featured tour homes..

god point!

Oct 25, 2007 12:52 PM

Leigh Brown

Leigh Brown & Associates, RE/MAX Executive - Charlotte, NC

CEO, Dream Maker - Charlotte, NC

Consider the particular website you're defending. r.com has an antiquated site with a rate sheet that is absolutely ridiculous. The ROI? Nonexistent. I do a ton of online marketing, have a fabulous virtual tour provider, and the leads come from everywhere EXCEPT r.com. I'll not spend money there. And my sellers appreciate very much that I can show them where the leads are coming from. They know that I'm worth every penny.

Oct 25, 2007 12:53 PM

Konnie Mac McCarthy

MacNificent Properties, LLC - Cobb Island, MD

Broker/Owner - VA & MD "Time To Get A Move On!"

Hi Fred...becoming a showcase agent for realtor.com was expensive...but well worth it..it allows me to upload my vitural tours for free, so it pays for itself..but you are right...I stopped advertising in the paper a long time ago.....but there are some clients who don't understand the paper is not as effective (not nearly)..

Oct 25, 2007 12:59 PM

Kim Peasley-Parker

AgentOwned Realty, Heritage Group, Inc. - Sumter, SC

r.com has paid for itself several times for me in the first year. I live in a market with a lot of people relocation from out of town. Tons of pictures and virtual tours helps tremendously. Newspapers on the other hand seem to be looked at with no action.

Oct 25, 2007 02:20 PM

M A

Boston, MA

Amazing that some people don't understand that the real estate business has changed. Potential buyers no longer sit down with just the newspaper, circling the ones they like. The internet has changed that. I think that video tours are part of the changing landscape. Besides realtor.com, you can also upload your videos for free at Zipvo.com

Oct 25, 2007 11:36 PM

Fred Light

| Nashua Video Tours - Nashua, NH

Real Estate Video Tours for MA and NH

Leigh: Hey, I'm not defending Realtor.com. Personally, I don't realy care for the site, nor would I probably use it if I were a buyer. However, I am not everybody. I'm also far more web savvy than a typical buyer, so I would be able to find better venues for me than Realtor.com

However, as a business person, being smart, and dealing with the general public, I would advertise there for one reason: It IS the #1 real estate site in the country, it DOES get traffic, and it DOES have the highest visibility and name recognition of any real estate site on the internet. Grandma with her first AOL account knows of Realtor.com!

Ask most buyers if they've heard of Trulia, Zillow, Craig's List...... yes some, of course, but not like Realtor.com Ask most buyers if they've heard of your personal website - probably nobody! i would venture to guess 90%++ of personal websites of realtors get virtually NO traffic from search engines - only the existing customers you personally send to your site. However, if you have enhanced listings on realtor.com, you are at least giving viewers the opportunity to have people click through to your personal site as well as view thorough information, photos, virtual tours and videos of your listings.

It would be shortsighted of me to ignore it even if I personally don't like it or personally don't 'like' their rate sheet. You have to advertise where buyers are, whether you personally like it or not - that's your responsibility to your clients. I realize that some MLS systems do not reciprocate with Realtor.com, and obviously in those (few) markets it would probably make no sense.

My main point is not Realtor.com per se, it's the lack of many photos, virtual tours, videos on the vast majority of listings. Even the MLS has a paltry percentage of listings with tours of any kind, or more than 3-4 photographs. There is no cost (in this area anyway) to upload many photos and virtual tours and videos to the MLS. You just have to do it.

By withholding photographs to entice buyers to CALL YOU is a mistake - it doesn't work. Buyers are eliminating properties based on the presentation they see online. It won't entice them to CALL YOU. It only makes them assume the worst, and CLICK to the next listing. It's no different than the gimmick of printing flyers for an info box to put on your sign... and leaving off the price. Those games become ineffective many years ago.

Oct 26, 2007 01:16 AM

Missy Caulk

Missy Caulk TEAM - Ann Arbor, MI

Savvy Realtor - Ann Arbor Real Estate

I used enhanced listings for 7 years, one or two leads, no sales. It is about being smart. I do upload a virtual tour but the rest is a waste of money. I evaluate and put money in what works, r dot c doesn't work. I also don't do print advertising and I sell 50 plus homes a year.

Oct 26, 2007 08:13 AM

Billnulls Blog Florida Realty Professional

Charles Rutenberg Realty - Clearwater, FL

AHWD

We never spend money on the newspaper - it never brings results -

Oct 26, 2007 09:54 AM

Iran Watson

Georgia Elite Realty - Marietta, GA

Marietta Real Estate Agent - Photographer

I think the moral of Fred's story is not that more agents should use Realtor.com, but rather more agents should find a way to make a better presentation of their listings, regardless of where its posted. Personally I have closed several deals that came directly from the 'contact me' link on the actual listing on Realtor.com. It has more than paid for itself and Realtor.com is just one of the sites available. But its not about the sites. It's about posting more, better quality photos, video, slideshow, maps, all that stuff. Fred was exactly right when he says Buyers are eliminating properties by the glance. Not only that, but I'm finding a lot of them prefer to 'visit' homes online before wasting their time with a trip to a home that isn't going to work for them. As agents we should be grateful that Buyer's are not wasting our time (not that they ever would, but...) and accomodate them providing as much information as we can. Don't forget there are people who have and will buy homes without first stepping inside them. Granted that's like hitting the lottery, but you know what they say, "You can't win if you don't play."

Oct 26, 2007 05:28 PM

Susan Peters

Dove Realty Inc. - Seattle, WA

The Better it Looks the Better it Sells

Our MLS does not allow our virtual tours to be swept, therefore the only people who get to see them are other Realtors.

Oct 26, 2007 07:20 PM