Special offer

Why Not Give Your Ad A Chance?

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Daytona Condo Realty, 386-405-4408

When I check my email, I see ads sent by real estate agents. Quite a few of them are from neighboring cities, which are part of different MLS. And I am often puzzled by how agents do it.

Take for example the ad I saw in the mail today:

Buyer's loss is someone else's gain!  Beautifully redone 4 bedroom pool
home in Xxxx Xxxxxx area.  Lots of bells & whistles over 2500 sq ft; two-story
with Master Bedroom downstairs, 3 large bedrooms and a bonus room upstairs.  Big corner lot.  MLS # 55555555555. 

Priced right!  Bring me an offer!

What is in it for me? Agents in Daytona may not have access to this other county MLS, so this MLS number is not really of big help. But even if you are an MLS member, it is not linked.

What is the important for us when searching MLS? Would it be the price? Probably… Do you see the price in the ad? For me it would also be the street, and then something special, which I might not noticed when checking the hot sheet…

Would I open MLS and go and check this house? What for. I have access to MLS, I could check everything I need, so if I did not notice this house, it means it was not what I was searching.

Could it be a great house/great deal? It could, but how do I know it? Seeing “priced right” does not give me much. Can it be under $200K? And then a possible deal for an investor? Yes, but I do not know it. What is in the description that would make me want to go and find this house?

Success

The thing is that we are people, and react as normal people (most of the time), and if you do not make it interesting AND CONVENIENT, I would not even go and check. I have 2 dozen similar ads, believe me, I have what to do, so I delete these ads without ever checking them.

What is the purpose of sending an ad, which will not work? Just to report to the Seller that the agent did something?

Something what?

Why not give the ad a chance?

Image by   Chris Potter  via Flickr.com

Comments (8)

Ted Glover
Alderman Classic Realty, LLC - Moultrie, GA
ABR in Moultrie, Georgia 229-854-5422

Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL good points. Even thought most don't get it there are ways of finding homes in areas that border you but are not in your immediate mls. Usually most mls systems providers have a consumer site which listing can be viewed.  Good luck searching for the ads that will be just right for your buyers.

Oct 06, 2015 03:06 AM
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL

Ted Glover - the whole point of the ad is to catch the attention of an agent. It is not that we can find information, we can, but if these guys want me to pay attention to their ad, they need to give me something. Or i click away...

Oct 06, 2015 04:39 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

I have sent info to angents outside my MLS when I get a "fringe" property. One that is located in the outter edges of where I do work in the just outside of where they work. I always include the full MLS sheet that shows price, commission offered and all info on the property. I can't imagine not showing the price when sending to an agent.

Oct 06, 2015 04:42 AM
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL

Tammy Lankford - I don't think this is rocket science. Just think about whether you would be interested in an ad, which has nothing important. I understand they do it to impress the Seller, but why not make it someting that might work, not pretend? Weird...

Oct 06, 2015 05:01 AM
Bob "RealMan" Timm
Ward County Notary Services - Minot, ND
Owner of Ward Co Notary Services retired RE Broker

The lack of information would have me deleting this one Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL 

Oct 06, 2015 05:56 AM
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL

Bob "RealMan" Timm - that's what you would do, that's what I would do, so why not tweak it, so that it is not a waste?

Oct 06, 2015 12:29 PM
Ron and Alexandra Seigel
Napa Consultants - Carpinteria, CA
Luxury Real Estate Branding, Marketing & Strategy

Jon,

You make an excellent point here...We all need information to make a decision, not just some hoopla.  A

Oct 06, 2015 06:11 AM
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL

Ron and Alexandra Seigel - exactly the point, thank you.

Oct 06, 2015 12:29 PM
Dick Greenberg
New Paradigm Partners LLC - Fort Collins, CO
Northern Colorado Residential Real Estate

Hi Jon - Agent marketing and advertising runs the gamut, with a tendency to cluster toward the bad end of the scale, which is where examples like this one live. And with just a bit of effort and study, and maybe some advice, it's all so easily avoidable.

Oct 06, 2015 07:29 AM
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL

Dick Greenberg - and this is what surprises me. It is all about common sense, which is so often missing

Oct 06, 2015 12:28 PM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Jon, I see the same here often, prices omitted from ads.  Intentional or not, I don't know.  An attempt to force a call for more info?

Oct 07, 2015 06:08 AM
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL

Liz and Bill Spear - or maybe simply laziness?

Oct 08, 2015 12:59 AM
Inna Ivchenko
Barcode Properties - Encino, CA
Realtor® • GRI • HAFA • PSC Calabasas CA

If the house fits the criteria I'm looking for I would gladly use this chance to bring my client. Yet, i'm receiving them from MLS as auto-notification. I do not need any additional subscriptions for information that  I already know.

Oct 07, 2015 04:48 PM
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL

Inna Ivchenko - It is an option in the MLS to broadcast to members. What they do is copy the description from the remarks field and shoot it to every agent out there. But when we are looking at the listings in MLS, we can see other fields as well, but here we can't. It is a small effort to ad something that is as important as price and that special something, which is not a search parameter, and which we may have not noticed, but they do not make this effort...

Oct 08, 2015 01:02 AM
Andrea Swiedler
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties - New Milford, CT
Realtor, Southern Litchfield County CT

Jon, I get these all the time. I really scratch my head when they are from agents in other parts of the country! I only open from one agent because she is a master at advertising and she lists some of the most spectacular homes! Of course she has a link to the MLS listing in the ad, so I get to really see it all. 

As far as agents in CT go, I am a member of two MLS' because I live in an area that is at the border of both. I can't click delete fast enough. I use the MLS to search for homes, not my email. 

I always wonder why they do that? To tell a seller they are emailing the listing to a million people? 

Oct 09, 2015 12:50 PM
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL

Andrea Swiedler - "To tell a seller they are emailing the listing to a million people?"


Do you have a better explanation? I never do that, as I understand that this is a distraction, unless there is something so unique, but how often we have something so unique?


The ad I mentioned came with no link, just the MLS number. A waste of the agent's time...

Oct 10, 2015 12:23 AM