Thursday, May 22, 2014

What do Realtors Spend money on to find you Mr/Mrs Buyer or Seller?

From an Inman News Report released this week, I thought it was interesting to share with my clients, friends and colleagues. Most clients think Realtors are lazy and not needed. What do they need their 3% for, when I can do all the work myself and save the commission and headache. I think its only going to get worse with Zillow, Trulia and Realtor flashing red lights at consumers saying they should work with them, instead of a broker/agent. Well, enjoy:


The National Association of Realtors’ 2014 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends report is packed with must-have knowledge for any real estate professional who wants to generate the best return on his marketing dollar. Where should you be spending your money?

Are you spending thousands of dollars each year on search engine optimization, Facebook ads or other types of Internet advertising? How much do you spend each year on direct mailing, newspaper ads, calendars and magnets?

If you are spending heavily in these areas, you may seriously want to reconsider whether the return justifies the costs. In fact, you may be wasting valuable marketing dollars that would be better spent elsewhere.



Surprising findings: Where do sellers find their listing agents?

Because listings are in short supply, agents are being much more aggressive about advertising. According to the NAR report, however, many agents are spending their marketing dollars in the wrong places.

Consumers and agents both agree that having a Web presence is absolutely necessary. With all the millions of real estate dollars being spent in this area, however, did you know that the percentages of sellers who found their listing agent from any Internet site in this survey was equal to the same percentage of sellers who found their listing agent at an open house or from a yard sign? (Only 4 percent!)

With all the noise around prospecting using websites, social media and other online resources, the one factor that really makes the difference is a referral from a trusted resource or face-to-face contact."
Putting it a little differently, a yard sign coupled with an open house generated twice as many closed seller transactions compared to all categories of Internet websites (8 percent vs. 4 percent).

Moreover, you were just as likely to receive a referral from a relocation company or from another real estate agent or broker as you were to have a seller find you on an Internet website.

Ever-shrinking returns



Search engines, newspaper ads, Yellow Pages or home book ads accounted for less than 1 percent each of all closed seller leads. Mobile or tablet applications, direct mail pieces (newsletters, fliers, postcards), and “advertising specialty (calendars, magnets, etc.)” all accounted for less than 1 percent of the closed seller leads reported in this survey as well.

Perhaps the most startling statistic was that floor duty (“Walked into or called office and agent was on duty”) generated almost as many closed seller leads in this survey (3 percent) as websites.

Buyer findings

The results from the buyers mirrored the seller results. Specifically, websites were responsible for generating 9 percent of the buyers in the survey who closed a transaction as a buyer.

As before, you still would be more likely to meet a buyer who will close if you have a yard sign combined with an open house. Nine percent of buyers who closed were from websites. Twelve percent of buyers who closed came from either an open house (6 percent) or a For Sale/Open House sign (6 percent.)

Floor duty held constant at 3 percent.

With all the noise around prospecting using websites, social media and other online resources, the one factor that really makes the difference is a referral from a trusted resource or face-to-face contact. This is true for buyers and sellers from all age categories.

For sellers, 39 percent found their real estate agent through a friend, neighbor or relative. Another 25 percent used the agent they had previously used to list or buy a home. Another 4 percent came from referrals from other real estate agents or brokers, and 3 percent came through an employer or relocation company. That’s a whopping 71 percent of all closed seller transactions resulting from “trusted sources” or face-to-face contact.

The buyer numbers mirror the seller numbers. Seventy percent of all closed buyer leads came from a “trusted resource” or face-to-face contact. (Specifically, 42 percent came from the agent’s sphere of influence, 12 percent had used their agent on a previous transaction, 6 percent met at an open house, 4 percent were referred by another agent, and an additional 4 percent were referred by a relocation company.)

Where to spend your money



These findings make it abundantly clear as to what your best ad spend will be.


  • First, your No. 1 priority should be expanding your database and generating referrals from people who like you and the services that you provide.


  • Second, it is vital that you stay in contact with past clients. Not only are they great sources of referrals, they are highly probable to hire you the next time you transact if you stay in contact.


  • Third, any activity that puts you face to face with buyers and sellers is more likely to produce a closed deal than activities that rely on impersonal contact.

Most of my business comes from you, my friends and colleagues. Referrals from a trusted source are like a warm blanket on a cold night. But, you have to meet a LOT of people and get yourself out there. You need people to know you are "Open for Business".

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Zillow adding 5000 new agents in the first 3 months of the year?

I know that there are millions of Realtors and Real Estate Agents practicing in the United States of America, and I also know that there are many who have a marketing plan and equally a number without a marketing plan, looking for the magic bullet to solve all their sales and marketing issues. However, to hear that 5000 brothers and sisters are using Zillow to assist with their business is interesting.



Real estate search portal Zillow boosted website and mobile traffic to new highs and added nearly 5,000 real estate agents to its subscriber base in the first three months of the year, helping the company surprise analysts with a 70 percent jump in revenue from a year ago, to $66.2 million.

At 52,968, the number of Zillow “Premier Agent” subscribers at the end of March was up 56 percent from a year ago. The portal grew its subscriber base by 4,654 agents in the first 90 days of the year, or about 52 a day.

Each of those agents was also spending more — $286 a month, on average, compared with $259 at the same time a year ago. Nearly 60 percent of new Premier Agent sales in January, February and March came from existing Premier Agents buying more advertising, the company said.

Average monthly unique users during the first quarter were up 51 percent from a year ago, to 70.7 million, with mobile and Web traffic peaking in March at nearly 77 million. Traffic continued to grow into April, with close to 79 million monthly unique visitors.

I have used Condo.com before and had some leads but nothing serious. I get a few leads here and there, but the same old same old works best for me, referrals from past clients and friends/family. 70%+ of my business comes from people I already know. I have been a Realtor now for 10 years, so know that there is no magic bullet no magic potion, you need to work on meeting new people, building your business daily.

#LizBobeck

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Schools are a big issue as we wrap up another school year

Maybe its the end of the school year that has people talking about the next school year. Our school district in #Jacksonville, according to many teachers I speak to, is getting better, but it has incredible competition from the folks next door in St. Johns County, where their schools are number 1 in the State of Florida. Yes, only 67 counties in Florida and being number 50 out of 67 does not seem so bad, but then you see the real issues.



Our  high schools were so bad for so long, we needed someone to help us turn that issue around. It takes, per my resources, almost 10 years to go from plans to complete construction items regarding a high school. Take Lee High School, they just completed a multi-million dollar remodel and the school looks amazing with new emphasis on technology, but where was this push for tech 15-20 years ago, when Tech was really becoming prevalent? These high schoolers will be getting what they need for the future, but those who were stuck using the abacus from 10 years ago, sorry we did not do better?


As a Realtor, I am not supposed to discuss the education or ratings of schools. It is in the ethics of the Realtor guide. It is something that has been there for a long time, and discussing the ratings of a school system could cost me my license. Thankfully, I have a number of friends who are teachers or in charge of schools in the area, I mention to those asking to reach out to them, my friends, and discuss their thoughts on kids, schools and what is important to them in a neighborhood with a good school system.


There are countless neighborhoods for kids, good ones with parks, here in #Jacksonville. The issue that I find is for parents to find the right one for their kids. We do feature some of the top schools in the USA here in Jacksonville and some very good magnet schools, but sadly, there are not enough of these in Jacksonville. While our focus is on development of downtown or some area of Jacksonville, shouldn't our focus really be on the schools and education we provide to our kids? After all, they are the future leaders of Jacksonville and it would be a shame for them to leave our great city, just because the next trend is occurring elsewhere.



Come on Jacksonville, we can do this, lets make it happen.

#LizBobeck