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HOW IMPORTANT IS A GOOD INTERNET STRATEGY WHEN SELLING?

Real estate agents have been using the internet in different ways to attract maximum benefit for themselves and their clients.

As a consumer, you may also wonder exactly what impact the internet has had on real estate marketing. The most important point to remember about the internet is it is cheaper, offers more information and has a longer shelf life than a newspaper advertisement. A print ad can cost anywhere from $200 to $2000 and usually lasts 1 day maximum. An internet ad is a fraction of the cost of print and lasts until your property has been sold. The message here is be very wary of any agent that requests upfront money to advertise your home in a print marketing campaign. If they have so much conviction in print marketing, why do they want to be paid upfront? Research now overwhelmingly supports the point that buyers prefer the internet when searching for a new home. The double benefit for home sellers is the internet is more effective and cheaper than print!

A good agent will offer plenty of information on their web site for buyers. As a seller always remember that an agent with a lot of listings will have a lot of buyers. So simple but so true. Research across all industries shows that buyer enquiry plummets when a price is not displayed on a product. Remember this if you are considering an auction or Expressions of Interest strategy. Just by having an asking price, you attract more buyers. The more an agent offers buyers in terms of properties, information and continued service, the more buyers they will attract. Check the quality of your agents web site before listing your property with them.

All good agents know the power and benefits of building a database of qualified buyers. Email enables real estate agents to communicate a new listing to the market place in a very short amount of time. Real estate will never have the liquidity of the stock market, but it is now a lot quicker than in the days of print.

Marketing a new property listing on web sites where buyers are searching along with emailing the property to a database of genuine buyers will create incoming enquiry within 30 minutes of being placed on the market. That's how quickly some buyers respond to a new listing. A good email strategy from your agent should have your property appearing in the "inbox" of buyers on day one of your marketing campaign. The cost to the home seller for this awesome marketing strategy - ZERO. Proactive agents will also follow up with a phone call. Buyers really appreciate being emailed new listings. Buyers know the fresh stock is usually the best.

The next time an agent asks you for advertising money to sell your home, ask the agent

� How many buyers they have on their database?
� Why not promote to the database first before spending any money on advertising?
� Is the agent looking to market your home to buyers or promote the agency brand with your hard earned dollars?

These are the questions a home seller needs the answers to. A smart marketing campaign using popular web sites and email will market the property to buyers without risking a dollar of the home sellers money. Why has it become the norm to put money at risk when trying to sell property? Buyers chase properties not agents or advertisements. If you have a special home to sell, remember that someone will buy it well before you sell it.

So don't risk your money on advertising and put your agent to work, or find a new agent.


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