Special offer

Short but sweet ad gets a call! - update 2-17

By
Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Edge Realty

Wow!  8:30 a.m. Saturday morning and my cell phone is ringing.  I answer and a man starts talking about a 3 bedroom house with a white picket fence.  Being a little early in the morning my mind is still groggy and I was thinking he saw a property that was listed that he wanted to take a look at, but I knew none of my listings fit this description.  Still confused, I finally asked him where he got my number.  He said, "From your ad in the paper."  What ad I'm thinking??  Oh..... I DID have an ad in the paper.  I got a call ALREADY???  8:30 in the morning on the first day it ran!!!  This is too good to be true!  I have first page ranking on Google under Portage Lakes Real Estate and I get quite a few buyers looking for lakefront or lakeview properties.  Being it is the first of the year, I'm always reading up on new ideas to generate business.  I came across one that said to have a quick call to action ad.  So I decided that since I have 4 buyers right now who are looking for lake properties and haven't found what they are looking for, I'd do a Wanted ad.  My ad says, Wanted - Lakefront or Lakeview Homes. I have Qualified Buyers!  I figured what the heck, maybe I'll get a call, find a house for my buyers or possibly get a listing from it.  Not realizing how quickly it might happen.

It gets even better!  After speaking with the guy for awhile, I find out that he has a total of SEVEN homes between he and his brother that they will need to sell in the next year or 2, so they can retire and head south.  Granted they are all little cottage-type homes, but this could be a BIG deal if I can get the listings and then also receive a few buyers off of it.  All because of a little $25 ad!!!  I'm meeting with him next week.

Update -  I received ANOTHER call from a man who bought a lakefront property at a Sheriff's Sale that he was working on fixing up.  He said that he was putting about $275k into it and it would be selling around the $400k - $500k price range.  He then mentioned that he wasn't sure he even wanted to sell it, BUT if I came across any fixer uppers on the water to let him know!!!!  Ha!!  I may have even gotten another buyer out of the ad!  Woohoo! 

 

 

Posted by

Portage Lakes Beach Bash Cleanup

Beach Bash Cleanup
Brownie Troop 90790 from SCOPE Primary School held a "Beach Bash Cleanup" on July 13 after the Portage Lakes Dragon Boat Festival at the Portage Lakes State Park.  They started planning it while school was still in session and the date ended up co-ordinating with the Festival.  While the participants were receiving their awards, the girls, with a little help from a couple brothers, picked up the beach.  We are happy to say there was VERY little litter left behind by the racers.   Special thanks to Troop Leader Shawna DeCola for Planning and use of her boat and Ava Branz for coming up with the idea. The kids also spent a couple hours swimming in the Portage Lakes and riding on the pontoon boat on Turkeyfoot Lake.  After they got back to land, they didn't want to break up their little party and spent a couple hours playing at our hostess's house and took a few dips in the hot tub. A great memory was made that day and the kids also learned about community giving and volunteering. 

Comments (9)

Julie Jalone
MagnumOne Realty - Roseville, CA
Nice!  Did you run the ad in the local paper or on the internet?
Feb 16, 2008 03:28 AM
Deborah Burns ~ Seattle Real Estate Agent
Realty Executives -BRIO - Seattle, WA

Groggy or not, that was a nice way to begin your weekend!  It was certinally a good idea to do a little more to find some more homes for buyer clients to look at.  The really savvy part was using older media to get the attention of an older segment of the population who still look at newspaper ads, and who would likely be thinking of selling property they have owned for a while.

Feb 16, 2008 03:30 AM
Kay Bennett
First Realty Company - Cookeville, TN
Your Best Cookeville Area Agent!
Good for you.  Sometimes the simplest things is all it takes!
Feb 16, 2008 03:35 AM
Tara Branz
RE/MAX Edge Realty - Green, OH
ABR, Portage Lakes Real Estate, Stark County Real Estate
JULIE - Yes, it was just an ad in the Special Real Estate section that comes out in Sat's local paper.
Feb 16, 2008 03:39 AM
Marlene Bridges
Village Real Estate Services, Inc. - Laguna Hills, CA
Laguna Homes|Laguna Condos|Laguna Real Estate
Tara - It will be a double win when you're able to match one of your qualified buyers with one of the homes they need to sell.  Happy Saturday!
Feb 16, 2008 03:40 AM
Tricia Jumonville
Bradfield Properties - Georgetown, TX
Texas REALTOR , Agent With Horse Sense

How wonderful to get a response to quickly!  I, too, am wondering - was this on the internet or in the paper or somewhere hard copy?

Feb 16, 2008 03:52 AM
Tara Branz
RE/MAX Edge Realty - Green, OH
ABR, Portage Lakes Real Estate, Stark County Real Estate
Tricia - It was in the local paper in the special Real Estate Pull out section under the Portage Lakes heading.  I'm thinking about doing it in an even more localized newspaper that is more focused in the Portage Lakes area. 
Feb 16, 2008 04:50 AM
Jimmy McCall
JimmyMcCall.com - Cunningham, TN
The Ex-Mortgage Consultant
Tara, it looks like you hit the jackpot by running that ad.  Hopefully, this client does sque the number on futre response from the ad.
Feb 16, 2008 06:58 AM
Heather the Realtor Orlando, Lake Mary
LemonTree Realty - Orlando, FL
First Time Home Buyers, Bank Owned Homes
I have been thinking about doing a call to action ad and now you have just convinced me to do it for next weekend. Congrats to you!
Feb 16, 2008 07:21 AM