From a listing strategy perspective, featuring neighborhoods can help you gain credibility with your sellers and help you gain market share. Imagine going on a listing presentation and showing sellers that you have featured their neighborhood specifically in your website.

To maximize your results follow these specific strategies:

1. Make sure each neighborhood in your website has its own page of information like http://bradkorb.com/magnolia_park
2. Share with your sellers that featuring their neighborhood draws buyers instantly to their community, and in “one click,” will find their home quickly without having to do a tedious search. When coding the MLS search, it will only show properties in the specific neighborhood regardless of who has the listing. This gives the seller the assurance that their home is well positioned in a featured list of properties.
3. Buy a domain name for each of your core farming areas that can show that you are the hub for information about that area. For example, get a specific neighborhood domain name, like www.NameOfNeighborhoodListings.com, and then point that domain to pages on your website or stealth pages.
4. Buy a domain name specifically for market updates or Hot Properties new to the market in that specific neighborhood. For example, www.YourAreaMarketUpdates.com or www.NeighborhoodNameListingAlerts.com could provide information on what is active on the market as well as the ability to sign up for free listing alerts.
5. Buy a domain that leads a visitor to information about home values in your farming area. For example, buying the domain www.YourAreaHomeValues.com will give the site visitor access to a CMA request form to find out what’s selling in their neighborhood.
6. On any farming piece to the neighborhood, don’t forget to include the “call to action”. For example, on your just listed postcard, include verbiage like “Thinking of Selling? Check out the competition at www.NameOfNeighborhoodListings.com and then on that page they can see what’s for sale in the MLS.

Remember to think about the homeowner who lives in the area and give them information to show you are the expert. Give them what they want! At the same time, prove to buyers that they have come to the right place to find their special home in their favorite community.

1. Get a personally-written homepage that really connects to the needs of the consumer visiting the site. Gone are the days when we can just have generic words and a consumer is interested. You want your site visitors to know they have come to the right place and that you are an expert in the local real estate market and can help them with all of their needs. Whether you are focusing on first-time home buyers, the move-up buyer or the luxury home market, you want to make sure you are connecting the consumer with what they would want. Put yourself in their shoes and be sure to let them know you have the experience and expertise they need.
2. Targeted buttons and sections on the site that reflect the target market you are
   specializing in. For example, if you market specific towns within a metro area (Austin, Texas, for example), then your site should have main pages about towns that you service-such as Round Rock, Liberty Hill and Georgetown-to prove you are knowledgeable in this market. Give them a reason to stay on your site by offering unique calls to action on the site: the ability to get free market reports, home value information or elements like a custom search feature, located right on the front page. This will plant the strategy for lead capture.
3. On the targeted pages in the site, there must be property search links to get them to get back to searching for properties or-even better-have them see properties for sale in specific prices ranges. Get them engaged by having them look at properties while they are right there on that page. Have links that allow a visitor to easily search listings between $200,000 and $300,000, $300,000 and $500,000, and $500,000 and $750,000.
4. Have auto-drip cultivating tools to develop the relationship. Statistics show that home buyers will start searching for a home online months in advance of actually buying. If they come to your site and want to download free reports, get information on home values or register for the latest listings, make sure you have it set up so when they fill out the form, they, in turn, get the information they want. With the proper system, you won’t have to manually load them; instead, they go into a letter drip campaign for at least a year. Give them resources, cultivate the relationship and put their needs first, and you will convert a higher percentage of leads.
5. Have a site created so that when you are ready, a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy can be easily developed. Make sure that each page on the site has its own section capable of utilizing titles, metatags and descriptions for that specific page, making it structurally sound for amazing results. Also, having a blog within the site’s platform will allow new content to be added so that your site is flush with content that encourages search engines to keep coming back.
6. Have the site built in a “scalable” platform where it can grow with you for the long-term and you won’t have to worry about outgrowing the site and having to start over. Having the ability to change and add to your website will help your site stay on the cutting edge and allow your business to prosper. The ability to add your own content, buttons, traffic-tracking abilities and even social media tools, such as videos, podcasts, audio files and more, keeps your site interesting, informative and successful. A site with easy editing features will help you keep costs down and make changes without the stress of having to ask a Web developer for every change.

Now you might say, “Tricia, what does this have to do with working short sales?” This means that if you want to reach distressed homeowners you have to meet them where they are and focus on their emotional mindset. Sellers facing foreclosure are not going to necessarily go to a general real estate website to get information. To make sure that you are positioned, you have to have more than just a simple response form on your site. Use these 5 steps to create a web strategy to reach homeowners in need.

• Step 1: Buy a domain name that is focused on their needs. For example: www.VirginiasHomeRescue.com. This is a domain name that tells the sellers exactly what this will do for them. They say to themselves, “Yes, I live in Virginia and yes, I need help so I don’t go into foreclosure.”
• Step 2: Now that you have a targeted URL, create a stand-alone niche site that is purely focused on the needs of the seller. This allows them to feel anonymous while getting information. Think of a family member who has gone through a serious illness. You want to research and get the information so you can speak with the doctor on an educated level. This is how a homeowner feels.
• Step 3: Throughout the site integrate “Calls to Action” sections like free reports, qualifying forms, worksheets, and more. By having information and lead capture sections you to be positioned to get the lead and help them. Drew Hartanov with Prudential California shared with me, “Tricia, I realized that when I was talking with a homeowner or they got my mailing that I was not giving them the opportunity to interact with me. I knew I had to have a website that was more target focused so I could drive distressed sellers to my site.”
• Step 4: Once they fill out forms you want to make sure that you have a way to stay connected to them during their process. This is where an email follow up campaign is critical. Sellers seeking information and looking for answers may be in denial about what is happening. A drip campaign will allow you to stay in touch with them and also be positioned to help them when they ask for it.
• Step 5: If you are certified for handling short sales, have the certification information on your website so that sellers know that you experienced and trained to handle their situation.

The feature is similar to the Home Q&A that Zillow.com launched last month.

Trulia has also added real estate guides for US geographical areas. Here’s the one for Philadelphia, which gives you a breakdown of home prices, crime stats, home age, household income, travel time to work, and community links.

Both websites show the recent trends from showcasing listings to building an engaged community around real estate transactions. Sites like these offer a great way for real estate agents to become the “local real estate expert” for their particular area.

Here are some interesting charts. The first shows the top 10 states with the most agents (New Jersey, California, Minnesota, Virginia, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York, Georgia)

The second shows the top 10 states according to transaction sides (New Jersey, Minnesota, Texas, Virginia, California, Pennsylvania, Florida, Illinois, New York, Georgia)

From the looks of things, PA and NJ are looking a bit overcrowded 413,199/64,354 = 6.4 transactions per agent. Pennsylvania is a bit higher at 131,748/13,918=9.46. With the average home price in NJ, NY and PA being $264,715 (also from the report), that means all things being equal, you won’t make much money in real estate just by being average – and a large number of agents aren’t going to make it.

Let’s say you get 1/4 of the 6% commission (that assumes 3% commission to the buyers agent and 3% to the seller’s agent. Then, let’s assume you split the commission 50/50 with your broker.) If your average transaction is $264,715, that means you net $3970. If you do the average, that means $3970*9 in PA = $35,736. You still have to pay all your business expenses, insurance, and have something left over to live off of. And, of course, nothing guarantees that you willl do 9 transactions – that’s simply the average if all transaction sides were split evenly amoung agents, which obviously they aren’t.

So that begs the question – what are you doing to set yourself apart from other agents?

Here’s a quick way to analyze a market if you have a geographic focus. (Note: you’ll have to do some research and crank some numbers. Most of this stuff isn’t something you’ll find just by searching the internet.)

1. Find the find out how many homes are in your particular area of focus, the turnover rate for the last 6 months, and the average selling price from your local NAR organization or Chamber of Commerce.
2. Research all the homes that sold in the last 6 months within that target market. Make note of all the real estate agents that completed the transactions.
3. Look for the 3 top real estate agents in your target market – those that completed the most transactions – within that time frame. Divide the total number of houses sold by each real estate agent during that time frame by the total number of homes sold during that time frame. That’s their market penetration.
4. Multiply (the number of homes in your area) x (turnover rate for last 6 months) x (market penetration of one of the top 3 real estate agents) x (what your commission would be on the average selling price)

This will give you a rough idea of what your top three competitors in the market are making. Now, compare what they’re making in 6 months with what you’d like to make in 6 months.

Also, look to see if any one or two agents are dominating the market – meaning their total market penetration is at least 40-50% or higher. If so, you’ll probably have a difficult time entering the market. If no agent is making a lot of money from this market, that may mean it’s being underserved.

Of course, you’ll have to look at the trends to make a decision. Do the numbers look good? Is there a good turnover rate? How long are homes staying on the market? What’s the average sale price? Now look at those numbers from a year ago and compare. Do the numbers look like they could be profitable to you?

Picking a profitable target market is key to your real estate success. A bit of initial research can mean the difference between struggling in real estate and having a successful business.

Need more help identifying your target audience or ideal clients? Check out our Lifelong Clients Workshop, where you’ll learn how to identify ideal clients, ways to generate more referrals and revenue, and how to provide exceptional client service.

Tickets were sold on a three tier pricing structure. VIP tickets went for $499 and gave you access to special seating in the keynote hall. Second tier tickets without the special seating – which I bought at a discount – went for $179. Access to just the expo hall and seminars – no keynotes – went for $49.

The conference was packed from the start until well into the evening. While I didn’t hear an overall total, Tony Robbins mentioned that 14,000 were packed into the keynote hall to hear him speak, so I’d guess that there were around 20,000 or so attendees total on Saturday.

What I can say with certainty is that the place was packed with would-be investors hoping that this weekend could make them “a millionaire”, as the conference program promised. I talked with a number of people at all stages. Most, it seemed, were beginners or had dabbled in real estate but weren’t too successful, though there were a number of successful investors there as well.

Personally, I went to hear the keynotes and check out a few of the seminars on running an internet business. I arrived around 9am, just in time to catch the last 15 minutes of Jim Cramer’s talk. I had heard Cramer speak before at an Investment Management conference held by The Wharton School and would have loved to hear his entire talk.

Once Cramer was finished, the sales pitches started. I’m not sure what the deal was, but it seemed like the keynotes were paid big bucks to be there and everyone else was there to push several thousand dollar products and services onto an eager crowd. I’m guessing the Learning Annex got a cut of any products and services sold since they were extremely efficient in taking people’s orders right then and there.

Bob Kittell was the first guy I saw and he spent much of his time pushing a website called InvesTools, designed to help you pick stocks. His talk was light on the specifics of day trading but heavy on the benefits – get in and out, buy covered calls, etc – and you can consistently make over 20% returns on your investments. The catch was that you couldn’t just buy a membership to the website. You had to spend about $8000 to attend their training seminars before you could join their site.

Then, attorney Robert Bluhm spoke about the importance of getting all your legal ducks in a row. His talk included good information about how you hold your assets – his big spiel was that no one should hold real estate in their own name because if they’re sued, the plaintiff can take everything. He touted the benefits of CRTs, living trusts, running your business as a C-Corp or LLC, and setting up Family Limited Partnerships (FLPs) to protect yourself from losing your assets if you’re sued. Then, he began the sales pitch for his $2000 software that would allow you to set all this stuff up yourself without the guidance of an attorney. And no, he wouldn’t give out his business cards but they had a hotline people could call for legal advice. It sounded very shady to me.

After that, I decided to check out some of the other seminars available to all attendees. I soon learned they were virtually all filled to the max and had lines of people waiting to get in. Not wanting to see anything that badly, I returned to the keynote hall where James Smith was speaking about flipping real estate.

Smith started off by announcing that he was different from the other speakers in that he wasn’t going to sell any books or tapes. He was here to tell it like it is. He was a self proclaimed “unemployable” guy who woke up at 11am and managed real estate for a living. To be fair to the guy, he was an extremely entertaining and believable speaker – but his primary purpose was to sell a $6000 package of training and consulting services that could help anyone become successful in real estate. If Smith was to be believed, there was virtually no risk in real estate and regardless of how poor your credit history was, you could still find a way to buy undervalued properties, fix them up, and sell them at a 30-50% profit.

Tony Robbins spoke after Smith for 2.5 hours and was probably the best speaker of the day. I wasn’t sure what to expect going in as I’ve heard that Tony Robbins live events are like evangelical services that rally everyone up into a frenzy. This wasn’t like that, though there was a considerable amount of audience participation. In most cases, we’d try experiments like introducing ourselves to the people around us in a variety of moods like fearful, angry, or confident. He also had us jumping up and down and screaming as if our favorite sports team had just won the national championships to demonstrate how we “could” celebrate our own victories if such behaviors were socially acceptable.

Admittedly, I got bored with Robbins about 1.5 hours in and decided to try another seminar outside the keynote hall. This time, I was able to find a seat in an eBay Millionaires course run by Duane Barney. I probably would have gotten more out of sticking with Tony Robbins as Barney’s seminar wasn’t about eBay so much as the no risk software he was selling that would make everyone gobs of money. I stayed for about 20 minutes, copied down the names of the websites he mentioned, and then left for the evening.

I’m a skeptic at heart, and since I found some of speakers a bit shady, I did a few searches. It turns out that the company Barney was promoting had 114 complaints in the last 36 months on the Better Business Bureau site. A search for some of the other speakers turned up complaints on RipOffReport.com and other forums. Unimpressed, I decided not to return today, though I had wanted to hear Trump speak.

I’d rate my experience there around a 3/5. For $100-200, the keynotes might be worth your money (maybe). Just be sure to check out the reputations of the other speakers online before you go. And be aware that if you want a balanced look at the risks and rewards of investing, this isn’t the seminar to attend.

You have to wonder what they’re thinking with virtually everyone talking about the cooling housing market and the holidays right around the corner. What makes now a great time to buy a home?

Sadly, the ad doesn’t address the main problem with the market – that houses are currently overpriced. Any time there’s a significant inventory – in this case 3.75 million homes – that prices need to fall for buyers to jump back into the market. For short term buyers, renting looks like the better option in many cases, as Noah points out over at UrbanDigs.com. But unfortunately, the ad doesn’t push for sellers to lower their prices.

Rather, it prefers to mislead potential buyers by painting a rosy picture that now is the time to buy. I wonder how many will bite when more realistic information is just a Google search away.

I also have to wonder what in the world made them choose that dreary picture of a house? It looks like something out of the 50s and does nothing to make me desire a new home, let alone “don’t delay” and rush out to buy right now. Perhaps they need a catchier call to action.

Columnist Blanche Evans went a bit overboard in her response by ranting that no one has the best interests of sellers or real estate agents in mind when they let these types of valuation sites get away with murder.

Yes, Zillow.com often misses the mark when it comes to estimates – and she correctly points out that

Zillow.com admitted to BusinessWeek in February 2006 during its much-publicized launch that its “estimates are typically on target, falling within 10 percent of the actual home-sale prices 62 percent of the time.”

BloodhoundBlog’s Greg Swann has criticized Zillow repeatedly about their estimates, but even he finds the article a bit hysterical. If the seller put up $300 for a home appraisal, he’d have solid evidence to refute that potential buyer and the two sides could get on with negotiations.

Here’s the deal. Zillow.com may not be 100% accurate – yet. But they aren’t going away. In fact, they’ve just struck up a deal with Yahoo! Real Estate and Prudential California Realty to put estimates on their sites.

Why? Because Zillow offers a service that real estate agents weren’t providing – that is, offering buyers a wealth of information about the homes in their neighborhood. Zillow saw a niche they could go after, and they did. That’s just smart business practice – find a want or need that’s not being met and fill the gap with your product or service.

If real estate agents want to survive in the internet age, they have to stop complaining that things aren’t how they used to be and embrace change. That means learning new skills and becoming more technology and marketing savvy. And realizing that there are a lot of companies vying for the eyeballs and wallets of lucrative home buyers and sellers. If you want to compete, you need to find a way to meaningfully differentiate yourself from everyone else.

Real Estate Industry Statistics

The total number of licensed real estate agents has surged more than 70% in the last 5 years, from 1.5 million licensees in 2000 to 2.6 million licensees in 2005. Of those that get their license, about 50% leave the industry by the end of their first year. NAR reports that 85% of new agents have no sales background, while the other 15% have limited sales experience.

In 2004, the median income for new agents was $22,500, compared with $39,300 for all sales agents. Two in seven Realtors worked in other occupations and earned a median of only $14,700 for 25 hours of work a week. Full-time Realtors (both old and new) who worked an average of 43 hours a week earned a median of $36,000.

Situation Analysis

When creating your marketing plan, it’s important to keep an eye on the big picture so you’re aware of some of the trends that could impact the real estate industry. A situation analysis looks at your industry as a whole and tries to uncover opportunities for business growth and threats to your business. It takes into account the following trends:

1. Economic Trends – What are the major economic factors that are influencing your area? Who are the economists and real estate gurus talking about booms, bubbles and busts? Other economic factors can include anything from how inflation rates, taxes, or unemployment levels are affecting your business to whether you’re in a buyers or sellers market to the costs of running your business. Marketing and advertising costs seem to grow every year while third party internet sites sell leads to agents in exchange for referral fees. (See my article, Realtors’ Tech Budgets Exceed Marketing, for more cost considerations.) In addition, what are your competitors’ business models? Most traditional agents negotiate for a percent commission of between 5-6% but some go lower. Others charge a flat fee for ala carte services. Some charge a flat rate to list a home in the MLS. What do you provide that would make a prospect choose you over each of these companies? Finally, what is your broker offering you? With so many real estate firms to choose from, agents can pick and choose brokers who offer the best incentives, services and support. Getting your broker to pay for certain business costs or cut their commission can drastically improve your bottom line.
2. Social Trends – How does the public perceive real estate agents? Anthony Marguleas wrote an article about how real estate agents are qualified to sell homes with only 50 hours of training. The next lowest profession he looked at – beauticians – need 12 times the amount of training, or 600 hours to be certified. There’s also growing interest to set up standards for the profession as more consumers file complaints. What are your competitors doing to set themselves apart from the bad apples?
3. Political Trends – What issues are politicians pushing that effect your market? Does your state have incentives to help first time buyers? What are the tax incentives in your state for owning real estate? Are any politicians proposing to cut or offset property taxes?
4. Legal and Regulatory Trends – Every few months, there seems to be some new report raging against real estate brokers’ commissions (PDF) or the FTC files suit against Realtors for violating antitrust laws. Like the FTC, the Department of Justice has an active interest in how NAR manages its MLS listings and who should control and hold copyright for the database. In Maine, there’s even a grassroots movement to replace the MLS.
5. Technology Trends – According to the NAR, 77% of home buyers use the internet during their home search. Internet buyers spend an average of 4.8 weeks looking at homes and neighborhoods before they contact a Realtor. They also spend on average 1.9 weeks looking for a home once they work with an agent, compared to non-internet buyers, who take 7.1 weeks. Internet buyers tend to be younger, with an average age of 38.5 years, compared to 43.5 years for traditional buyers. The internet brings all sorts of competition from FSBO websites to thousands of competitors’ websites available through a Google search. In addition, websites like Craigslist and Redfin make it easier for buyers and sellers to connect without agents. Popular valuation site, Zillow, just got another cool $25 million from venture capitalists to improve its services. Clearly, the internet is changing real estate business models. Finally, Techno-phobe agents who shun technology will soon find themselves falling behind the curve as new agents spend money on laptops, cell phones, digital cameras, contact management software, and other productivity tools.

These are just some of the issues you may want to consider when putting together your marketing plan. For any situation analysis, you want to look at the macrocosm – the entire real estate profession – and the microcosm – the market for real estate services in your city.