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The death of printed Open House Advertsing

By Stephen M. Wigg

Services for Real Estate Pros with http://4114Info.com

January 19, 2009 11:57 PM

More and more cities are facing the loss of the Weekend Real Estate sections. Why? Why not? Nobody uses it. What is replacing printed media?

Do the Consumer-Facing MLS systems, which are now in 50% of the markets, solve that problem?
- Some are very successful. They are expensive but are worth it. The one in Houston provides an average of 17 leads per agent per month.
- Why isn't there advertising on those high traffic sites to off-set the costs to the agents and brokers?
How does a consumer find where Open Houses are today?
- They go to each of the big brokers' websites and takes notes?
- Do they realize those broker sites are showing all MLS listings? Not often.
We're trying to address that issue with 4114OpenHouses.com. One central database, displayed with simplicity but all the information a buyer would need to get excited about a house.
What are the issues regarding an MLS putting out software to the public?
A consumer-facing MLS system will do one thing over all else, "You list it, you sell it." Is this so wrong?

We've learned a lot while designing our website.

Agents contact only 49% of internet leads.
Realtor.com's record is approximately more than 71% of the leads generated from there go unanswered.
75% of the leads take more than 24 hours
Average time for response of those that do is 16 hours.

Sofware is a service, not a bunch of screens. What a good software program will do is improve the service to consumers.

You list it, you sell it. Are agents and brokers ready for that?

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Heather Goodwin

Licensed by the Louisiana Real Estate Commission - Shreveport, LA

Results That Move You

Personally, I wouldn't want to buy a house from the listing agent - too much potential for conflict. Why would I want to provide leads with information that only leads them to the listing agent? I think perhaps I'm not sure of your point in this post.

Jan 20, 2009 12:07 AM

Tony & Darcy Cannon

Aubrey and Associates Realty - Layton, UT

The C Team

Stephen, I agree that we are dropping the ball when it comes to internet generated leads. Those that aren't seem to be doing well, but then, they are the agents that would do well in any lead generating model. They follow up, and they do it promptly. Scary numbers about how many agents aren't following up!

Jan 20, 2009 12:31 AM

Marty Remo

RE/MAX Benchmark- Marty Remo-CDPE, E-Pro - Monroe, NY

HV Home Team

I like the idea of the local mls advertising to offset the agents expenses. It seems to make sense.

Jan 20, 2009 01:28 AM

Stephen M. Wigg

http://4114Info.com - Omaha, NE

4114Info.com

Heather, the point? Thanks for asking.

A "Consumer-facing" MLS system is like giving the MLS Listings Books from the olden days to every consumer, i.e. they have all the information for a listing, including the Listing Agent.
Broker ABC's site shows all listings and if a consumer is interested in a property from WXY Broker, that consumer will be contacted (in the perfect world) by an agent from ABC, right?
- AND if ABC's website has 70% of all local website traffic, they'll get 70% of all leads through the internet.
- In an MLS-based site, or third-party site like we're testing, the Listing Agent is the contact.
- The consumer with a Buyer's Agent can just forward the property to their agent in an e-mail.
- On our site, if a consumer that doesn't want to work with a Listing Agent wants more information, we have set it up so that, like Craigslist, the initial correspondence is anonymous at the discretion of the consumer.
- I hated going to Open Houses until I learned to lie when asked, "You working with somebody?" When I answered no, I could hardly get out of the house without 100 quesitons. "Remember when the internet was free and anonymous?"
You list it, you sell it. That levels the playing field. Small brokers with a lot of listings, like the top AtiveRain agent in Nebraska, David Matney, get more leads with more listings, period.

We are doing our beta test in Omaha, NE. There are approx. 5,000 listings by 1,200 of the total licensed 3,200 agents. Isn't a good Listing Agent going to try to work with anybody that asks about their property listing? "If you don't want this particular home, I can get you into any other that suits your needs."

I bought my last house using a Buyer's Agent. She was great! She was a horrible Listing Agent. I'm sure that works both ways.

Thanks for replying!

Stephen

Jan 20, 2009 09:01 AM

Tony,

How about these statistics?

M.I.T. did a study (From RIS Media) that said you have 100 times more chance of success responding in 5 minutes vs. 30 minutes?
90% of the Consumers will work with the first agent that replies.
I sent out 12 specific requests for information on homes I was interested in with a corporate transfer and only heard back from 1 agent, who ended up selling me a $300,000 house.
Consumers said they would be very satisfied if they just heard back the same day!
My girlfriend just bought a house, and sent out three e-mails before settling on Terry Kempf. She heard nothing from 2 of the 3 and finally a week later heard back from the other.
1. Terry showed her 2 houses! She used our beta site with Bird's Eye View and found a property that's located right on a park. She was all but sold before she found somebody to show her!
2. Okay, Terry's my business partner, but still, she sent out feelers for others to no avail.

Thanks for the comment!

Jan 20, 2009 09:07 AM

The death of printed Open House Advertsing

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