History of a Social Media Listing. Can Social Media get you Business?

Can you REALLY get Real Estate business from Social Media?

Marie Episale, REALTOR, ePRO Century 21 Crest Real Estate, Pompton Plains, NJ

The beginning: I was just being "Real Life" social... I showed a rental listing in Ringwood to a friend.   I parked my car in the driveway and when getting out of my car, I saw the next door neighbor.  I smiled and said "Good morning  - How are you today?".  I introduced myself and told her I was showing the house.  That was it.  I showed the house and left.
The following week, I got a phone call from the "neighbor".  Turns out she and her husband owned the "rental house" also, and the listing was expiring and they wanted me to list the property.  They said they were impressed by my enthusiasm, friendliness and big smile when I showed the house the previous week.
So, I found myself the listing agent of a Ringwood, NJ Lakefront Rental property.
Here's where the Social Media comes in.   In the Real Estate Profession, I wear many hats.  I am Sales Manager, Trainer, Technology go-to person, and I actively List and Sell Real Estate.  I am a firm believer that I need to be " in the trenches" and "walk the same mile" that my agents walk, so I can be better prepared to guide them in this ever changing business.  Luckily, the management setup in our office provides both a Broker (Patricia Wojtyszyn) and a Sales Manager (myself) so there is always someone available for the "need help now" situations even if one of us is out in the field.
Back to the Social Media roots of Listing and Buyer clients.  I am constantly learning new ways to get and promote our Real Estate business, and like to "try things out" when I am in the field.  In evaluating this listing, I felt that it really needed some Craigslist love and NYC marketing, so I exposed the listing to this market. I got A LOT of inquiries and requests to see the house.  So, whenever I drove to Ringwood to show this rental listing, I would pull over along the way and "Check in to Foursquare".  I would also take photos (iPhone) of a different areas of the town or place along the way.  So, my "Ringwood, NJ" posts were frequent.  I would rotate posts to Twitter, Foursquare and FaceBook.

THE LISTING:  I got a direct FaceBook message from a "friend" that she and her husband needed a Realtor to list their home in Ringwood.  I didn't recognize the name, but responded immediately and it turned out that she and her husband already had two Realtors do a CMA and they couldn't decide who they wanted to list the property.  The problem was solved when the wife told her husband "No problem, I know who we will use.  I have a friend who is in Real Estate and who is an expert in Ringwood".  They meant me - and I was a "FaceBook friend" - not a "real life" friend. I later figured out that this person was a friend of a friend and we had become "connected" along the way on FaceBook.  So I was her "friend" too.  She told me that she saw all my posts and photos on FaceBook and knew they had the Realtor that knew Ringwood best.  HOUSE LISTED AND SUCCESSFULLY MARKETED!

BUYER CLIENT:  One day while I was showing the Rental Property and waiting for my client to arrive, I "checked in" to Foursquare (which auto posts to FaceBook).  I had already created a "place" giving the property address as the location.  After I showed the house, and the client went on their way, I noticed a car parked outside the driveway.  The person rolled downed the window and yelled out to me using my nickname from 25 years ago (Eppie).  I used to work with her at Chilton Hospital where I was a Nurse Supervisor in the Emergency Department.  She lived in the area and would notice my FaceBook posts and noticed my Post (via Foursquare) that I was "on location" that day.  She hopped in her car and came right over and waited for me to be done with my showing.  Her son was in the market to buy a home and she was so excited to know that I was active in the Real Estate profession and that her son would be in good hands.  COMMITTED BUYER CLIENT.

LISTING PROSPECT - FUTURE BUSINESS:
I was showing homes in Ridgewood, NJ to another friend.  Ridgewood is in my service area but is about 30 minutes away.  We saw DOZENS of homes.  So, I had DOZENS of postings to Twitter, FaceBook and Foursquare.  I got a call from a good friend (I had her home listed) - She was being transferred out of state and eventually her Mother would be relocating there also.  Her mom lives in Glen Rock (next to Ridgewood) and my friend "had no idea" I was able to list homes in that area.  She was just about to research agents to go and evaluate her mom's house, when she saw my posts and frequent check-ins to the Ridgewood area.  So, within a week, I met with "mom" to evaluate and make suggestions for an eventual sale.

TWITTER- (a micro blogging site)
Twitter is real easy to post to and only allows up to 140 Characters per "tweet".  I often use Twitter as a platform where I not only "tweet" things such as "showing houses in Kinnelon, NJ., I just love being a Realtor", I also  "tweet" positive quotations and motivational messages.  One of my "followers" was also a "positive message tweeter" himself.  Turns out he lives right near me in Kinnelon and also happened to be in the market to buy a home.  He "followed me" because of my "positive quotation tweets" but because he followed me, he also saw my Real Estate tweets.  WE, OF COURSE, CONNECTED IN REAL LIFE FOR REAL ESTATE.  

CONSUMERS, FUTURE CLIENTS:  Check out where your agent is active.  What is their knowledge base?  Are they technology saavy?  Do they know the market where you want to buy and/or sell? SOCIAL MEDIA HAS THE ANSWERS.  Check out your agent on Twitter, FaceBook and LinkedIn.  What is their Klout Score?