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Sellers...do you know where buyers come from?

Where do Buyers come from?

Are you a home seller wondering where all the New Hampshire buyers are and how in the world do they find your home?

That National Association of REALTORS® publishes a yearly report on Home Buyers and Sellers, they also break this report down to reflect the individual states.

This typically revels some very interesting facts about today's New Hampshire home buyers, and since Jay and I sell real estate right here in Hampstead NH this type of information is fascinating to us.

For example did you know that the average buyer purchases a home 15 miles for their previous residence... I didn't know that! That means that people really don't move very far and that the potential new owner of your house could be living in the same town as you do. All the more important is that yard sign of yours. Make sure especially as snow approaches that your sign is clearly visible from all angles. Please...please keep shrubbery trimmed around the sign...nothing is as frustrating for the REALTOR® professionals and potential home buyers as a hidden for sale sign! You want your house to Pop...don't hide the sign! While I'm on my rant about signs make sure yours is in good condition and clean...nothing irks me more than a dirty faded yard sign or one that is falling down. If your home is on the market currently take a good look at your yard sign...does it need some sprucing up? Call your REALTOR® Professional and have them come take care of it.

Did you know that 89% of New Hampshire's home buyers purchased their home through a REALTOR® Professional? 89% now that's a huge percentage if you ask me...of course I'm probably a little prejudiced since I am a REALTOR® Professional..but I still think that's a huge percentage! Hey don't get me wrong, I'm not saying don't try to sell on your own if that's what you want to do but consider the facts...89% that means that 11% came from some other source...maybe from your For Sale By Owner sign or maybe not?? Oh by the way out of that 11% something like 4% are people you already know.

So now think about this...28% of the home buyers learned about the home they purchased through a REALTOR® Professional and 47% learned about it through the Internet...that means that you need to be sure your REALTOR® Professional has a strong company website...47% of your buyers found their home on the net and then contacted an agent! Wow!

Folks you need to check out your real estate companies website...don't let anyone fool you about this one. Yes the personal touch is still needed..Thank goodness for us...remember 89% bought their home through a REALTOR® Professional BUT 47% found their home on the Net! You betcha...a solid web presence is crucial to your success!!!

Lets look at the rest of the story.
We know that:
28% of the buyers found the home they bought from a REALTOR® Professional.
47% found the home they bought from the Internet.
12% found the home they bought from a yard sign.
AND get this 2% from print newspaper advertisement.
6% from a friend, relative or neighbor.
3% directly from the sellers.
1% from the home builder or their agent.
1% from a home book or magazine.

So where do you think your buyers are? I bet their surfing the web, watching and waiting but I do think that while this market has been very slow here in New Hampshire...2007 will be a good year in real estate.

Prices will be much more affordable and that means that maybe your children will be able to afford to buy a home in the town/area they grew up in and that I think is a very good thing!

Need more information about New Hampshire's real estate market e-mail me or search homes available.

Monika and Jay McGillicuddy

Nation wide results found here

We know that you don't care what we know ....until you know that we care!

Jay and Monika McGillicuddy

Prudential Verani Realty

Hampstead NH

603-548-7728

Posted by Monika McGillicuddy~NH Real Estate Broker on 12/29/2006 03:49 PM

Comments (49)

new hampshire, realtors, monika mcgillicuddy, jay mcgillicuddy, prudential verani realtyhampstead nh, home buyers, home sellers

This post has been included in New Hampshire Information

49 Comments on Sellers...do you know where buyers come from?

DEC

2006

Great post, Monika. Sure says a mouthful. Now how can anyone argue with that? The data are pretty consistent with what I have seen for California.

Great post Monika,

Some very interesting numbers. especially about distance people move and numbers of potential buyers who found homes from the newspapers.. if anything points out how important a web presence is it's these figures... Thanks for sharing.

Monika, I would have expected the newspaper % to be higher than that, that is a real eye opener. The internet is where people spend their time these days, so we need to keep up or left behind. Thank you for the great information.

Wow, looks like the days of print ads might be numbered. Makes you think twice before placing and ad in either newspaper or those real estate books.

Mmmm. Interesting. I suspect that that 28% from their agent and that 47% from the Internet should probably be merged since most of the web sites showing homes for sale are agent maintained.

It's still the REALTOR.

Hey Monika, Interest statistics on buyers buying home from the internet. 47% is pretty high, think about how many pass by houses because they don't look good on the internet. Staging is sooo important

Phyllis Pafumi

Great stats! Would love to see national and/or state by state #'s!

Jeff...Thanks so much for the comments and reading my post!

Kaye...I agree a great tool to use when explaining to your sellers where your marketing money will be pent.

George...I was surprised at the newspaper as well. We track our up calls and get very few off newspaper ads..yet sellers still want to see that weekly ad.

Michael...I agree and now I'm thinking that those little local papers might be better than the glossy high end ones??? 15 miles from the previous residence... that really surprised me.

Good point Lenn!! I bet a lot of agents would agree with that!!

Phyllis...Yup...location...curb appeal is everything!!!

Kaushik...I'll dig them up for you.

Monika: Great post! Thanks for putting it together!

Thanks so much Renee!

So that's where all the buyers went to "New Hampshire" That really explains a lot. Hey Monika kick a few out west would ya ?

Monika,

Good post. Just a quick question about terminology. Is a REALTOR Professional different from just a REALTOR? I haven't been keeping up with the terms. I know we are supposed to use the R with a circle but I can never find it on my keyboard. Are we now supposed to use REALTOR Professional?

I've been needing to buy that report, thanks for the good information and the reminder to get it!

Thanks so much Doug...LOL I 'll kick a few out your way!

Tim...Nope I just like to stress Professional...but it is just my term..REALTOR® Profesional.

Thanks Leigh...I just put together the national average as a comparison. What a difference!

Tim, the REALTOR® is a symbol that I insert when I am in MSword or writely. If you use MSword all you need to do is go to insert then symbol and scroll to the ® and insert in the document. In writely go to insert then special character and insert the symbol ®. I hope this helps.

Thanks Jay

I juts posted the Nation Wide results here

Some very interesting differences!!! Wow!

Funny, I thought BUYERS were from SATURN and SELLERS were from PLUTO.

Just kidding, it relly was a great post. However, I for one have a problem with the study commissioned by the NAR. I don't get how they can take our membership dues and commission the study and then turn around and want tosell it to us.

Is it just me, or does anyone else get mad when you see the ad's coming through your email box to spend even more money with the NAR, to buy something you have already paid for. And you wonder why the NAR gets sued so much...

JOHN OCCHI, HEMET REALTOR
www.johnocchi.com

Monika, you sure laid this info out in a great way. Really easy to read and you also made stats interesting! Thank you!

Thanks for sharing Monika - this is all good needed info. Happy New Year to you and Husband too!

Hi John...50 bucks for book is hefty...but they do contract a firm to conduct the survey and I like the info I get from it. I usually share the info I get and use it in classes.

Mariana...Thanks for reading and commenting!

Diane...Thanks a bunch and Happy New Years to you as well!!!

Monika,
Great post and to answer your question, I am guessing they will soon all be at Localism.com:)

Monika:

Great post. For some reason the 47% for the web seems low. I think percentage must vary depending on the research firm because I've seen it vary considerably. It's certain, however, that the web is where a lot of people look for homes and it's increasing as the years go by.

Ken

By the way Monika, I got your point on the sign thing. Some of these signs look like they were intentionally placed behind a bush, on the side of a building where you can't see it or pointed in some direction other than where it should be pointed.

Ken

DEC

2006

Ken, the 47% relates specifically to the home they ended up buying, not the search or initiation behavior. They may have found another home on the Internet, called an agent and were then shown a different home by the agent.

great numbers to give a home seller. NAR is advertising that 85% of homebuyers start on the internet, but that has to be a National number, not your local New Hampshire market.

Ines and ken...my Stats are showing those that found the home they Bought on the Net and not those that started to search on the net. Jeff is right when he says this study relates specifically to the home they ended up buying.

This is very different than those that simply searched the internet..in NH that figure is 91% and nationally it is 81% per NAR.

Thnaks for reading and commenting.

Happy New Years

Ken...I've seen some pretty poor looking signs..all beat up and crappy...yuck!

Monika,

Thanks for the post. The data is great marketing fodder.

I am so glad you cleared that up Monika - it makes absolute sense and I did not have to go crazy looking where I grabbed that stat from.

Ines...I'm glad I saved your sanity! :)

William...Thanks for commenting. I think it's a great piece as well and will use it with all my sellers.

Monika - I guess I'm too new at all this - I thought the stork brought the buyers - or is that something else? :-)

Great post filled with information we need in this market!

Another informative post. This is data that will come in handy when doing a listing prewentation.

Monika- thank you for the informative post. And for including the national stats in the comments section.

Monika, Good post, I like statistics --- especially the ones that support what I've been touting.

Happy New Year!

Suzanne...Hmmm The stork does bring the buyers LOL..we just gotta wait for them to grow up and find us.

Teresa...Thanks for reading and commenting.

Thanks so much Jennifer for your comment.

Debi..Your very welcome. I did a separate blog on the national stats as well. Just in case someone missed them in the comments.

Joanne..Thanks so much and Happy New Years to you as well!

....If they are willing to buy, I'll take them no matter where they are coming from. The majority of my customers thus far are from referrals as well as repeats.

Jeff:

Thanks for the clarification on the 47%. Now that you explained it makes sense.

Ken

Monika:

Your recent comment on the signs " I've seen some pretty poor looking signs..all beat up and crappy...yuck! leads me to believe that it may be part of a strategy to ATTRACT buyers and not DISTRACT buyers. Maybe these people got something that we may be overlooking.

Ken

DEC

2006

You'd be amazed at how many Realtors don't take advantage of the great information available from our national association. These statistics are crucial. Times change, strategies need to change with them. Would you go to an oncologist who didn't keep up with current treatments? Never! Consumers should make sure their Realtor knows all the latest facts.

Monika,

I think that you really 'hit the nail on the head' with your data - most especially that in today's busy society, the internet plays such a huge role. I agree that a strong internet presence is mandatory for those of us in the industry. It is equally important, however, that your website be a true reflection of both you and your business...the site needs to 'speak' to the viewer and 'tell' them what you have to offer that sets you apart from the rest.

Have a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous 2007!

Netta...I take them anyway I can get them <gg> but just like you most of my business is referrals. That really means a lot to me...that people think enough of me and my service to refer someone to me.

Ken...Well now you have me wondering..LOL. Crappy signs ... says crappy attitude or lazy REALTOR to me anyway :)

Kathy... Great points...we do get some great information from NAR and I agree so many REALTORS don't take advantage of it.

Val...Jay and I have been working/playing around with different websites and consumer blogs...trying to do just that...we want to speak with the consumer. Great comment!

Thank so much guys and have a Happy New Year!!!

FEB

2007

I really enjoyed your post and I have been wondering intensely about our local market. I have taken the CRS, GRI and ABR classes that talk over and over again about the national statistics. I would love to get the local statistics. I read about the book being available for the different markets at a cost of $50, but I don't see the name of this book referenced any place. Am I blind? Please help. I'm so curious because in the past I have received over half of my clients from open houses, that were print advertised.

My husband has been helping me with my website design and content, but I think we need to work on how to capture and hang on to leads. Customers are logging in to my website, but the question is how do we get them to respond to us once we contact them? That's what I need a book on.

Tanya...The book your talking about is available from NAR and is called the Home buyers and Sellers survey...you can order it on line at REALTOR.org. I posted the nation wide stats here It might give some of what your looking for. I have the same issue...I just send out things like this blog post and other community stuff via e-mail to them on a regular basis and if they gave a phone number I call. Otherwise I just keep sending them stuff...eventually they'll respond if they find me of interest. Good luck and thanks for commenting.

Thank you so much. I am going to look for that book!!

Your welcome...I just sent this in an e-mail ...not as a link but actually copied into the e-mail to all my e-leads...will it help..who knows but if they see us enough it's possible.

Monika

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