Showing posts with label Real Estate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Real Estate. Show all posts

Thursday, January 31, 2008

7 Reasons Why Newsletters Get Good Real Estate Leads

Newsletters are publications issued by a specific real estate firm or real estate association geared towards a specific readership population, of a certain State, buyer preference or for the general real estate consumer. Such publications contain various information about the industry and its related fields, as well as about new products and services that the specific firm or association is promoting. Here are the top seven reasons why you should use the real estate newsletter to find good real estate leads.

1. Free Information

Newsletters are free. For that reason alone, active real estate buyers and investors should be on the mailing list of major real estate firms and associations. Most newsletters will definitely have sections on "free tips" in the intent of firms to show that they have a genuine concern to help consumers and in a way, demonstrate their company’s expertise in the field. Such free articles are also a way to attract readers, and get them hooked to read on to the sales pitches, which is the primary intent of issuing the newsletter. Nevertheless, anything that is free and informative at the same time should always be the searcher’s first stop.

2. Credibility

In general, newsletters have more credibility than the usual ads. The real estate firms that publish newsletters use it as a venue to establish their company’s leadership and authority in the profession. Thus, they most likely will publish reliable, well-researched and relevant market information, geared towards the benefit of the consumer, in order to maintain their credibility. Get historical real estate market trends, sound predictions and reliable leads through information in the newsletters.

3. In-depth Information

Real estate newsletter articles provide more in-depth information than real estate ads. The intent of real estate newsletters is to have a venue to better educate consumers about real estate details that are not covered in advertisements like construction quality assessment, safety, after move-in support, etc. Having such information will allow you to look into more details about the property that you intend to buy.

4. Financial Information

Aside from real estate leads, newsletters also provide other information that are related to the industry. Financial information such as mortgage rates, mortgage calculators and bank or lending institutions contact information are among the additional information that you can get from a newsletter. Occasionally, real estate newsletters will publish full-length articles on financial information such as “How To Compute Amortization” or “The Benefits of Refinancing.” Watch out for those articles and make sure to clip them for future use, unless you are into the habit of compiling the newsletter itself.

5. Locations

Aside from financial information, real estate newsletters also feature full-length articles and facts on hottest real estate locations as well as uncharted lands that have yet to join the boom. Depending on the profile of the property you intend to buy, such information will be beneficial for your search.

6. Seminars And Viewings

Information on real estate seminars and property viewings are also in newsletters. As a buyer, this is your opportunity to have first-hand experience on the property or the real estate firm without any financial commitment from your end. Most seminars and viewings are free, transportation and meals included and at times, discounts are handed out for the select who signed up. Now that’s one opportunity you should not pass up!

7. Testimonials

Testimonials are an essential part of real estate newsletters. Use such actual consumer experience to understand the capabilities and extent of service of the real estate firm. If, based on the published first-hand experience by actual customers, their profile or the rundown of their properties fit the portfolio of service you are looking for, then the company should be able to support you and give you good leads.

Modern day newsletters are already issued electronically; the e-newsletter, sent via e-mail or downloaded from the publication’s website, but offers the same useful real estate information without the hassle of piling paper. Whatever form you prefer, real estate newsletters are definitely promotional materials, but are of the informative kind. As a consumer, you should take advantage of all the available information, which can help you in the search for real estate leads.

Hand ‘Em Out: Real Estate Flyers

Every regular consumer has had an experience of walking around a commercial establishment. Afterwards they find themselves furnished with a flyer or brochure of some product or service. More recently, real estate flyers have gone from a rare few to becoming the huge majority of flyers being handed out in these commercial establishments. It may be safe for you to deduce, as a real estate agent, that this trend is a result of an inherent efficacy of the system.

And this isn’t too far the target either. Indeed, real estate promotional materials serve a huge purpose on-site, in home shows, and even in commercial establishments frequented by potential buyers. At the end of the day, these flyers have become handy and powerful marketing tools for real estate agents like you. Just how and why will be further clarified in this article.

Let’s first take a look at promotional flyers being distributed to the general public in places frequented by huge volumes of people. Typically you hand out your flyers to reputable looking people who are most likely to have the means and capacity to purchase a piece of real estate. While it may seem to the untrained eye that at that very level you are already discriminating against others who may potentially buy real estate but weren’t given flyers, never remove the inherent characteristic of these promotional handouts: they are both compact and easily transferable.

What does this mean? While your regular promenade-walker or mall afficionado may not be interested in buying real estate enough to visit an agent and browse through catalogues, a real estate promotional flyer allows him or her to bring this brochure home and ponder over it for a time. A brochure featuring the best assets of the home being advertised, as well as sufficient information as to where to contact an agent may in fact be enough to convince a non-buyer to consider buying a piece of real estate. The power of suggestion here is strong, and because of the fact that this is a piece of marketing platform that the consumer can bring home, they are given more time to take into consideration the choice they can make.

Moreover, these promotional handouts are easily transferable between persons. One impressed recipient of the handout who is not interested in buying real estate may likely give the promotional handout to a friend who is. The best thing here is this: you are using the power of word and mouth with the reliability of an information sheet that allows the person referring you to give the new lead complete information about how to get in touch with you. This translates to more solid leads.

On location, a promotional handout also allows for your prospective buyers to browse over the features of the house and its excellent qualities while they tour the facility. This means that they are given more time to take into consideration these winning qualities of the real estate even long after you’ve long mentioned them. Moreover, they can bring home the said handout and, with the help of pictures that truly communicate the property’s value, remind and reinforce the good impressions they may have gotten when they visited the property.

In home shows, promotional materials allow for your prospective clients to compare your offers to that of the next real estate agents. In these home shows, these clients are willing to make on-the-spot decisions about whom to leave their calling cards with, and a well created brochure just might win them over. After all, if your brochure contains a very convincing description of the property you are selling, and contains pictures that truly showcase the finer qualities of the property, you are definitely going to find those leads you want.

It is important to remember that the efficacy of these promotional handouts lie in how well you put the property into paper,or how well you market the property. This means that layout, pictures, and other inherent characteristics of the property should be showcased prominently in these handouts. Given that these are already very effective in suggesting the acquisition of real estate, the best of all is that creating these brochures is relatively cheap in comparison to other methods of advertisement. Moreover, you can include in these brochures sufficient information about sales agent to whom these prospective clients can get in touch with.

How To Find Real Estate Leads Via…Local “Parade Of Homes”: A Lifetime Goal

In today’s growing economic crisis, most people are reluctant to buy their own home. This is unfortunate because it is a buyer’s market and a good time to buy.

Why? Because properties for sale abound as a response to the recent economic crisis. Some previously overpriced houses have as low as 25% discount.

Therefore, since there are too many housing projects on the horizon, realtors have to work double time and employ radical measures to be able to generate real estate leads. The competition becomes so intense that most realtors find it hard to generate the quality leads that they need.

Therefore, it is best for each realtor to find some effective strategies that will help them produce the leads that they need in order to create the sales and the money that they want.

One of the best ways to do this is through the local “parade of homes".

In this manner, realtors, builders, and developers work together, in order to display model houses that are being sold in the market. Through the parade of homes, real estate developers are able to systematize the building a number of homes under one “sub development” through the help of some group of builders. This group of builders were arranged and coordinated by the real estate developers themselves.

Basically, homes that are included in a “parade of homes” are freely available for the public for sightseeing and explorations. Usually, parade of homes showcases groundbreaking ideas for most homebuyers.

For this reason, organizing a “parade of homes” will definitely allow realtors to find their much-needed real estate leads. This is because most people who will attend this kind of event are the ones who have the potential to buy or are interested in buying a house.

Moreover, local “parade of homes” can give the potential buyer a chance to meticulously scrutinize the overall condition, structure, and features of the house. Seeing the house on its actual condition can definitely entice every customer who is very willing to buy a house.

Therefore, it would not be hard for a real estate agent to convince the person to buy the house, not unless there is a problem with money.

It is a well-known fact that people who mostly go to “parade of homes” are the ones who are interested to buy a house or those who have plans of buying a house. Hence, these people can be easily converted into leads, and leads can easily generate deals and transactions.

Besides, it would be easier to explain presentations and features of the house to a person who have exerted efforts to attend this special event just to see the house. This is all based on the interest of that person in buying the property.

The logic is simple. If the person were not interested to buy a house, then he would not go to all the trouble of finding “parade of homes” events and travel from his place to the venue.

In addition, through the “parade of homes,” realtors can easily take their client through each property in detail, explaining the topography of the lot, the neighbors, the streets, the drainage, the security, the whole package. In this way, the realtor can explain why the property will fit the buyer’s needs.

Having been informed with all the “parade of homes” can provide, the buyer could easily realize that they have gained more than just a roof over their growing families. In turn, they would be more than willing to buy the house.

Indeed, the importance of using "parade of homes” in finding real estate leads is undeniable clear. What is important when using this strategy in generating leads is to make the buyer realize that they have just made a major investment.

When you use this tactic, you should be able to make the buyer feel that money-wise home ownership in the coming decade means buying to sell in the future. Moreover, they can only be satisfied if they were able to see the actual features of the house.

All of these things are boiled down to the fact that generating leads through “parade of homes” is relatively effective because homebuyers get to see what they are paying for. Hence, they get to be assured that where their money goes is worthy of its cause.

How To Find Real Estate Leads Via… Virtual Tours: When Image Really Matters

It is a well-know and well-accepted fact that the Internet is currently considered as one of the best pragmatic tools that technology has ever created. It provides a lot of possible information that can be quickly accessed without having to resort to manual process and without having to exert physical prowess.

That is why most of the activities on the Internet are described as virtual, meaning the activities are executed without having to carry out the actual activity. It is when things classified as virtual fall under the category of things existing in essence or effect though not in actual fact or form.

For this reason, certain businesses have realized the potential of the Internet in giving their clients the much-needed presentation without having to physically and actually render the actions. This goes to show that people who are in different places can still get access to some relevant information about the matter without having to be physically present in order to evaluate the item in scrutiny.

This concept was greatly accepted by the real estate industry. Most realtors had seen the probability of gaining sales without having to propose the properties to their clients in actual time and space. This is possible through the use of virtual tours.

Virtual tours refer to the access of the potential homebuyers in getting a good look at the insides of the house that they plan to buy through the use of the Internet. This is possible by using a web-based software that enables the potential homebuyers to “tour” in and around the house. This enables them to assess whether or not the house is worthy enough to buy.

With the convenience that the Internet gives, most people are comfortable with online shopping. They contend that it is easier and more comfortable to access information of the things they want to buy through the Net. That is why most home buyers request virtual tours online.

For this reason, most experts contend that for every realtor who has a web site and wishes to generate real estate leads with the help of the Internet, then, it is best to use virtual tours. These tools will enable the realtors to get access to people who are willing to buy a house because they are interested in how it looks inside and out.

Virtual tours are great lead generators because they attract potential homebuyers to your web site. Keep in mind that most people who get access to the Internet are usually those who are hungry for information.

Hence, it is best to provide them the things that they need. In return, once you have provided people with the necessary things that they want, you can easily lure them to buy these things, such as properties, from you. And one way to attract and compel them to buy is to give them a reason to do so.

Such that, when they see your house is appropriate to what they have called for, then, they will definitely buy the house from you.

In fact, statistical reports show that almost 56% of the people who have plans in buying a house usually use the Internet to search for probable houses. Among these people who use the Internet as their primary source of housing information, 70% of them contend that using virtual tours had been the most effective tool in searching a house. This is because virtual tours let them save time and enables them to have fewer expenses because they have fewer trips to the actual site.

Hence, virtual tours are considered to be one of the most important marketing tool for a realtor. It’s an effective means in generating good real estate leads, which, can be converted into actual homebuyers.

However, when you want to use virtual tours in finding real estates leads, it is best if you will consider some factors first that can make or unmake the probability of your business to generate more leads.

Here is a list of some tips that you need to know:

1. Be Wary On The Images That You Will Use

The most important part for a virtual tour to be an effective tool in marketing is that you should use crisp and detailed areas of the house that you are trying to sell.

Keep in mind that the pictures of the house are one of the most important information that a customer wants in order to decide whether they will buy the house or not.

The problem comes when your pictures are not clear enough. In this case, the customer will have the tendency to look and find other virtual tour sites that provide clearer and crisper pictures.

2. Be Particular With Details

The key to an effective virtual tour is to have comprehensive description of the details of the house. This means that you have to specify everything even up to the tiniest and most obvious details.

The key here is to never assume that a particular area is already obvious that’s why you thought it is okay not to include that on your descriptive article.

Keep in mind that the tiniest detail that you might take for granted to include could definitely make or unmake your property.

Indeed, virtual tours can absolutely generate real estate leads. Just remember to use appropriate shots and pictures in order to attract more customers and generate more leads.

Your First House

You’ve been living in that small apartment for a few years now. You have both worked hard and saved when possible. After talking it over, the two of you decide to buy your first house.

Now what do you do? Drive around your city. Decide which areas you would prefer. Are you going to be concerned about the school district? Is it important how convenient to shopping you are? It might be important to you to be near a tennis club, golf club or fitness facility. You have to decide what is important to you.

You have the areas narrowed down. Now it would be best to select an agent. Look thru the Yellow Pages and you will see hundreds listed. What are you going to do. My suggestion would be to talk to your friends. Ask about their experiences with realtors. If it is a lukewarm recommendation, forget it. You are looking for enthusiastic recommendations. Keep asking until you have a few possibilities. Then you can interview the candidates. Have questions prepared ahead of time. It may be the answers or it may just be a “feeling”, but after the interview you should be able to decide on your realtor.

You can now sit down with your personal agent and plan the attack. Let her know which areas you prefer. She might even have suggestions of other, similar areas. She will be able to present you with several choices. Now it is possible to narrow the search down by viewing possibilities on the internet. You can even see the inside of houses by using the Virtual Tour.

Once you find the house of your dreams, you will need to work with your agent on the deal. It will be presented to the seller and , if you are lucky, it may immediately be accepted. Congratulations! You are on your way to becoming a homeowner.