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Advertising Real Estate Dramatically Changing

By
Real Estate Agent with Sequim & Port Angeles Real Estate

Real estate advertising is dramatically changing, because consumers have changed the way they shop for real estate. Traditional print media is struggling to remain relevant, because consumers have been empowered to take control of their own destiny and they are doing it. I absolutely love this reality: New York Advertising Agencies no longer dictate what products and services will be crammed down consumers' throats; Consumers now have the power to research and shop on the Internet with total control of their decision making process (and their wallets).

But this means traditional media is struggling just to survive. Another big one bit the dust yesterday.

real_estate_marketing

The Huffington Post reported today, December 15, 2009, "After 125 years as the 'bible' of the newspaper business, Editor & Publisher magazine announced yesterday that it would shut its doors at the end of the year."

This continues the hemorrhaging of newspapers and magazines trying to survive this new economy. The challenge is not just that we are in an economic recession, although that certainly is a major factor. The bigger reality is that there is a massive shift in consumer control from the old to the new, and Internet technology has created the fertile soil in which this new marketing and advertising medium is so rapidly growing.

Real estate is unquestionably one of the major industries that is so dramatically effected by these extraordinary changes. How real estate is marketed and advertised is in the midst of changes I've not seen in my 30 years in the real estate business, and consumers are clearly the winners. They now have more tools and more freedom to find their next home than ever before, and they can do it more efficiently, faster, with no annoying sales pressure, and have fun in the process. This is the age of the new real estate broker--the virtual real estate broker.

I give you Sequim and Port Angeles Real Estate, LLC with hundreds of articles, videos, MLS search tools, and many other great tools and guides for buyers, all absolutely free. Read, watch, and find your next Sequim or Port Angeles home here, and enjoy yourself along the way. If I can be of help, email or call. I'm chuckmarunde@gmail.com and my phone is 360-775-5424.

Comments(6)

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Don Wixom
RE/MAX Executives Nampa, ID - Nampa, ID
"Looking out for your next move..."tm

Chuck..  It's nice to know you have embraced it after 30 years of this! Great job by you!

Jan 24, 2010 03:15 PM
Tom Davis
Harrington ERA,DE Homes For Sale, $$ Save $$ Buy Today ! - Dover, DE
FREE Delaware Homes Search!, $$ Save $$ - Find Homes! Delaware Realtor

Advertising is changing and newspapers are just the suffering target... they might need to get more creative because they still offer some benefit...just not as much.  They should all consider big price reductions in advertising and give deals to those that advertise more.

Thanks,

Tom Davis

Jan 24, 2010 03:19 PM
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona Condo Realty, 386-405-4408 - Daytona Beach, FL
Buy Daytona condos for heavenly good prices

Chuck,

It is a challenging time. Virtual - yes, but the other side is face-to-face, whihc is still there, but different than it used to be.

Jan 24, 2010 03:24 PM
Renee L. Norton
Birmingham, AL

I read the paper front to back for many years.  But, like many consumers, have given it up for the Internet.  I definitely do not use it to advertise listings...the ads are like setting a match to a fifty dollar bill...wasteful!

Jan 24, 2010 03:31 PM
Aaron Silverman
SuccessfulRental.com, Bluewater Property Management, LLC and Lowcountry Turnkey Properties, LLC - Charleston, SC
Improving Real Estate Experience through Education

Yesh, it does take a mix of advertising in multiple media sourses, but one thing remains the same, people still want to talk to a person.  Yes, providing automated information is good, but some Realtors, Investors and other professionals make it too complicated or cumbersome for human contact. 

Believe it or not, but a yard sign still drives a majority of my traffic.

Jan 24, 2010 03:39 PM
David Jirasek
Jirasek Realty, LLC - Temple, TX
ALC, CCIM

I still subscribe to the local newspaper, but only for local news stories, etc., as there are almost no real estate ads, as compared to ten or twenty years ago. Buyers can get almost everything they need on the internet, with only a few exceptions, before they ever decide which Realtor to call. I have basically dropped all my newspaper ads, and dropped all four yellowpage books, opting only for a one line "free" business listing for anyone needing to find my number in the white or yellow pages, and since AT&T is my phone company, the free business listing carries across to the other three phone books automatically, at no cost. And yes, yard signs are still a very efficient way to promote property. I am resistant to change, but it's that or get left behind.

Jan 24, 2010 10:22 PM