Real Estate advertising survey, please help - The Hull Truth

35donzi · 09-17-2009, 11:13 AM

As a homebuilder I am trying to determine the best way to market my product. In years past I went on word of mouth and an advertisement in the local paper, but in this rough market I am trying to be more aggressive.

My question is when looking for a new home, where is the first place you begin your search? Do you pay attention to direct mail from realtors featuring a listing? Do you use the internet sites such as realtor.com mls.com trulia.com? Do you read the local paper or pick up the local real estate shopper magazines?

Thanks in advance.

bellsisland · 09-17-2009, 11:24 AM

I would think realtors, give them some money if they bring you a deal and it closes.

Dwain · 09-17-2009, 02:17 PM

Jeremy: I am a realtor up here in London, Ontario, Canada. Since realtor's are on straight commission the higher the commission then the more that listing is going to be shown. Some builder's will offer commission up front once there is a firm deal. Mls works extremely well and of course internet seems to be the norm these days. I have found that working for a builder in the past that most people cannot look at a plan and understand it let alone trying to imagine a home. It seems spec homes always sold especially when they were well staged. I do not think anyone is going to come up with the sure way of advertising in what media. There are some colour real estate booklets that come out monthly. They seem to be okay as most people hang onto them and leave them in offices and on tables. Hang in there things are going to get busy. Dwain

bamaboy473 · 09-18-2009, 06:41 AM

If new home buyers are currently living in town and know the area they want to move to, then those signs on sticks would be effective; more effective than regular newspaper.
If you can offer more SF for the $ than existing homes, advertise that fact on little signs. Another guess is that a real estate agent is more comfortable showing an existing house and possibly believes that a new home has very little, if any, price flexibility. Little signs saying, "Make an Offer!" will bring people through the doors, anyway.

RI Builder · 09-18-2009, 06:58 AM

Jeremy:

Your issue is too market specific to get a blanket survey, and could even be broken down to an even more micro level within the various towns/jurisdcitions in your area.

I have used all the medium's and with varying degrees of success. Are you trying to market your services or market spec houses?

SEATOAD · 09-18-2009, 11:16 AM

I always try and find the local MLS and use a website that provides me with a free search. No email address capturing, no BS, just MLS access. That way I can determine what I want to look at and have a game plan before I pick up the phone to call anyone. You might want to check out higher end magazines like Homes and Land similar that will upload your advertised listings to a lot of different web sites so you get more exposure online. I always pick up the local magazines where ever I am and take a look at what's available, but I dont use the newspaper... text ads are useless IMO. I want to see a nice picture or two that shows the house well, a price or price range, bedrooms/baths, SqFt, etc... What I dont like is when a relator tries to write a novel on the house using $10 words, thats useless too.

Hope this helps...

tommyr904 · 09-18-2009, 12:38 PM

not sure how it is up your way,but we {my 2 older kids} just bought houses.when we started we called and agent to see what was available in the area.They gave us a list of 40 or so houses and none where new they where all short sale or repo's.I had asked why no new houses and her comment was ''why look at new houses when you get get a repo for half the cost".I do new home's also and now I know why the new home sales are so slow.the house'e my kids bought we got 1 for around $35 a sqft and the other for $24 a sqft.no builder can do anywhere near that.untill some of these are sold it is going to be tuff times for the builders.

beenie · 09-18-2009, 02:53 PM

To answer your question, I choose the area that I am interested in and then either go for a ride or get a realtor to search the area for me. The commission is paid by the seller so that isn't a consideration when buying. There is also something called "fsbo.com" in this area. This shows the ones the realtor won't have.
Mike

cjd · 09-18-2009, 06:52 PM

We have bought 5 houses in the past 11 year (lots of moves for work) I use the internet (realtor.com) exclusively for all pre work, then hook up with a realter once we hone in on a area. I would say online info is the most important factor in getting us TO the house.

Once we get to the house, it is up to the house to close the deal.

Eastbound · 09-18-2009, 07:05 PM

I'm an agent with RE/MAX and can tell you print advertising is almost a complete waste of money nowadays. It's very limited to it's target audience, and that internet advertising is the way to go!! Where else can you pack in the amount of information one needs on a website to be successful compared to a page that costs $800.00 a month. For instance our website www.AboutHHI.com. Plenty of info and it keeps buyers looking and coming back for new material because it's "fresh", similar to the "Hull Truth". Everyday something is new or being brought up again for discussion that's informative. By the time print comes out it's either a week old, or a month.

We've had some success on Craigslist and zillow which are free too. You might want to try that avenue.