It is interesting to look back on a career in Atlanta real estate, and look at what worked, what didn't, what I would not do again, where did I make money, where did I throw money away, and what I wished I did more of sooner! The longer I am in real estate the Internet is one of those things that seems to fascinate me more and more. It is so effective! The more I use it I appreciate it for how it transformed our lives. Over all the years in the Atlanta real estate business has something worked as well as it should. A real estate website was literally a gift from God! We enjoyed a fairly successful career in real estate with post cards, mailers, real estate classifieds, magazine ads, cold calling, bulk mailings, knocking doors, working for sale by owners and expired! It was all exhilarating to say the least! It was also draining like an exorcism, and exhausting.
For many years in selling real estate in Atlanta, it always seemed like we were a few closings away from finally getting a few dollars back in the bank, and turning real profit. Then I found the Internet. My first Atlanta real estate ad onlinewas not a website but a $45 classified ad on Compuserve. It netted us over 45K in closed commissions with several homes sold in Alpharetta and Roswell. 6 months later it did not work...no one was using Compuserve ads any longer, and I started my first website as a shared domain. I think my cost was about $95 and $25/month for hosting. But the return was still worth it! Then I started my main Atlanta real estate site in 1997. Wewere Atlanta's #1 real estate website for a long time!
Over the years, our Atlanta real estate website allowed us to received listing calls, buyer calls, persons looking for a buyers agent to represent them when buying a new home, relocation calls buying and selling...etc. Some of the best ones were Atlanta home buyer calls looking for buyer agent representation, and they had already chose the home. That was nice, to show up at a property walk it with the buyer, and sit down with the builder and write it up! It isn't always about the buyers, it is also about the sellers. With a very high web placement, our Atlanta real estate listings and Atlanta homes for salealways get shown a lot! Quicker sales are a lot less stressful for all even in today's market! It is so easy selling when you do not have to dress up in a suit, and can answer the responses in the privacy of your own home! Even in your PJS or sans!
What this all translates to is less time spent in marketing, more quality free time, and more closings with less effort. We also have more time to devote to our Atlanta real estate clients on evey deal because we are not actively looking for our next lead also. Everytime an Atlanta home buyer looks for Atlanta homes for sale, Atlanta homes, and Atlanta real estate ... we show up! They love searching the Atlanta MLS for Atlanta homes for sale and Atlanta real estate.
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