@thereal360I am a Realtor as well as a photographer. I also owned several retail stores and e-commerce sites for for over 20 years. The general rule of thumb for marketing expenses for a small retail store is 3-5% of annual revenue. National brands spend as much as 20-25% on their marketing. Real estate is different ball game. It's different because for a large chunk of the agents it is speculative spending. The agent has to spend their own money on marketing and if it doesn't sell for any reason, it becomes an unproductive expense. In my current market, an agent could sell a property with Polaroids for photos. I closed on a property recently where the home sold within 18 hours and the photos were taken with a cell phone - I was on the buyer side. Photos don't sell a home IMO, they give enough info to a potential buyer to consider visiting the property.
Marketing varies by agent, brokerage and location. But in general it works like this:
The listing/selling agent generates a lead through networking, referrals, farming and social media ads. Well established selling agents in a lot of cases work purely on referrals from their Sphere of Influence (SOI). Farming generally involves picking a geographical area and then they grow their clients by direct mailings, door knocking etc..
I believe quite a few Real Estate media Pros fail to realize how most agents actually market. In my area a lot of the marketing is done through social media using FB and Snapchat ads and posts. Direct mailings using post cards etc.. The fact that I see hundreds of posts that state that due to Covid-19 sellers need virtual tours more than ever, reinforces my belief. Open houses are rarely used by listing agents (seller agent). Open houses are usually held by buyers agents. The buyer agent does this for several reasons:
1. to hopefully sell the house
2. The main reason: to meet buyers that are not represented by an agent. They then cultivate these buyers into becoming their clients. This is how a lot of new agents get the cash flow started. If you go to most open houses, they will collect as much info about you as possible, including your contact info. The contact info is not generally shared with the listing agent.
One reason that listing agents don't hold the opens houses is sometimes due to state law and brokerage policies. I hold a Florida and an Alabama license. In these states if you sign a Single Agency brokerage contract with a seller, then you cannot also represent the buyer as it is illegal due to conflict of interest. In my case I have a Transition to Transaction broker clause which allows me to capture both ends of the deal. But not all states allow this. My point is that a listing agent may not feel there is a lot of value in a virtual tour for open houses.
The listing agent (seller side) secures a contract to list the property. They then fill in all the details on the MLS and add the photos, video links etc.. The MlS usually syndicates the listing info to different websites - this varies by MLS. One thing to remember is that the MLS is very powerful and controls a lot of what can be done in regards to marketing the property. The listing agent will usually send out email blasts to clients and other agents announcing the listing. In my area there are numerous private Facebook RE groups where agents share their listings. Listing properties in printed glossy magazines is less popular now. A lot of the Facebook ads use either photos or videos.
Some listing agents do just post it on the MLS and wait and others are more pro-active.
On the buyer side, the agent solicits the desires of the buyer and then searches the properties that match that criteria. The MLS is more than just a database. The MLS generates neighborhood reports, comparative market analysis reports (CMA - Property Value). an agent can draw a circle around a neighborhood and generate a mailing list of every property resident and owner in the area.
As a RE photographer/videographer/tourprovider there are numerous ways to create marketing products for the listing agent: virtual tours, photos, walk-through videos, agent intro videos, aerial shots, headshots, property summaries. As far as single property websites: my own opinion is that they are not very effective and most agents that I know don't seem to care about them. Most properties are found via Zillow, MLS/agents, social media.
Agents use FB ads, they post on their own page (FB has diluted this, by not sharing posts as much). Most brokerages/agents have their own CRM. In my case the CRM provides all the tools to create mailings. social media posts,FB ads, Google ads etc.. A lot of successful agents use their CRM to run drip campaigns. They email because its relatively inexpensive, easy to repeat and trackable.
Keep in mind a listing agent has two target customers: buyers and buyers agents. In my area quite a few Open Houses are Broker Open Houses and not open to the public - that should tell you something.
In my area Covid has created a shortage of properties - it literally means an agent can list a property and sell it within hours or days. Most see no benefit of a tour.
The golden rule of listing is: Price,Condition and Location. The most important criteria is price followed by condition. Both of these criteria can be modified. Your goal is to convince a listing agent that your media product will help convey the best of these criteria visually to the buyer. It also helps if you present yourself as being able to do something they can't.
My favorite saying when I owned retail stores was: " you hire people for two reasons: to do something you can't do, or to do something you don't want to do." I shot a MP tour for another agent at a $750,000 beachfront condo on the Gulf. His Pro photographer/videographer showed up as I was leaving to shoot a video for him. He was equipped with a smartphone and a gimbal. I wasn't offering video or photo services at the time, but I had a DSLR and a Black Magic camera on a Crane 3 Lab gimbal in my truck. My point being that the highly successful agent (just closed the largest deal in our brokerages history) could have done that himself. It was an agent intro video. I'm assuming they had a long standing relationship. But for the average agent, seeing a Pro using Pro equipment is good marketing.
I'm not an expert or a lawyer so take my post as random ramblings. |
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