Archive for May, 2009
We live in an age of marketing where the five second headline will make the sale whereas the indepth analysis will completely miss the target. People want the instant fix, the immediate rewards, the rush now. What’s in it for me takes on a whole new meaning. To many people, it should be ‘What’s in it for me NOW’
So advertisements that start with “FREE” generally make me nervous. Because FREE is not without COST. Somewhere in the equation, what’s been given away will be recouped, either an an additional cost (Sorry but we didn’t mention the GST), or as a deduction of the value of the transaction (You want good service with that?)
Neither has real estate been exempt from FREE type advertising. The most common I come across is “We pay for all advertising!” Yep, that’s it, the agency will pay for advertising your home. Zip, zero, nix: You sign up and we pay to advertise your property.
To the seller, the offer of free property exposure is an attractive proposition when deciding the agency. Not many sellers will bother to investigate what the advertising will consist of; to the owner the freebie is more important than the value of cost plus additions.
But FREE is here to stay and more so as agencies compete for scarce listings.
I recently was called in to advise on a listing and was asked by the owner to quote for vendor marketing. I sensed a need and offered the seller an expensive package. During the process of going through the options, I suggested additional advertisements that I considered appropriate to the owners requirements. The vendor agreed wholeheartedly.
Lesson 101. If I had gone in there to offer as much as I could for FREE, I would have missed out on a very healthy vendor paid marketing campaign.
And the vendor would have missed out on an opportunity to profile his property in such a way as to achieve a premium price.
Sometimes FREE does really cost money. Consider what is best for the vendor before going for the cheapest option.
THIS WEEK’S PHOTO: Freeloading trains is a national past time in many countries, India in particular. It’s a safe bet to say our hero today will have saved himself a few cents, but cost himself a dirty shirt, sore hands and the possibility of a hernia.
May 23 2009 | Arrowtown and Auctions and tenders and Buyers Analysis and Market Trends and Newsletters and No Description and Social Commentary | 1 Comment »
Social network websites have been proliferating like real estate agents in boom times, so of late I have been experimenting with several to see if they have value insofar as generating leads.
I must say the results are interesting. I have serious doubts about the need for a site like Twitter, but I am ready to concede that just because I don’t need it, that someone else might just want it. Some sectors
of society feel they have a better ally in a website than they do with a real live friend. But that’s OK as well. I don’t drink Red Bull either but I know some other do and have it for breakfast, dinner and tea. (These people usually have double vision and fidget incessantly)
So onto Twitter I go and I see I am in good company with other realtors. So far I have managed to attract a huge following, but unfortunately, most of the followers are female sounding names with dubious websites and ulterior motives.
YouTube seems to be better at filtering the seedier spammers and then there is Facebook, Bebo and others. By the end of this month, there will no doubt be others as well.
Will I sell a house because of my Facebook/Twitter/YouTube presence? I am not banking on it, but I will keep an open mind.
The world we live in so so connected, that I am prepared to try anything once.
And now I must go and Tweet.
May 06 2009 | Arrowtown | 1 Comment »
We have all heard about the theory of relativity: Simply described as the closer your rela
tives get to your home town, the more likely it is that they will drop in unannounced and ask for a free bed and breakfast.
Of late I have been putting this time honoured theory to practical use by determining exactly when a buyer will make that offer they have been contemplating about for the last … what has it been … the last four weeks.
I have devised a simple test to see if buyers are really keen on making an offer or just simply filling in time before going to the dentist for a root canal without painkillers.
I ask them to make an offer in writing.
Now I know this is mind blowing stuff and not easily grasped by the populus, but believe me, it works.
Some people look at you like a stunned mullet and others look at the ceiling, but every so often, a buyer will say “What a good idea” and so we go to print.
According to Einstein (that’s him with the tongue hanging out) time goes more slowly the faster you go. So it is perfectly feasible to go so fast during the day that nothing practical is achieved by the end of it. We are all too busy.
So I am s l o w i n g down and enjoying myself.
And whenever I take out a buyer, I make that wonderful statement on relativity:
“Well, what would you rather do? Buy this great house today or have all your relations come bludge for a month?”
Their answer is just sweet music as we go to print.
May 04 2009 | Arrowtown and Buyers Analysis and Newsletters | No Comments »
