Selling that home
A survey released this month found that agents are rushing to try blogs -- online journals -- and social-networking sites such as Facebook for advertising purposes. Coldwell Banker Real Estate announced in March that it had opened an office in Second Life, the online "virtual world." There are firms that send listing information to prospective buyers' cell phones and give the agent a heads-up.
I quote Joel Burslem, founder of the Future of Real Estate Marketing blog, but could fit only a fraction of the interesting things he said into the story. Herewith are some of his answers to my questions about what people are (or should be) doing to market homes:
--Create a video tour. "You don't even necessarily have to hire a camera crew and do any kind of professional editing," he said. "Most people's pocket digital cameras shoot decent enough web video."
--Blog. Whether you're an agent or a homeowner, you can blog about your community -- your block, even. For Realtors, there's the benefit of being able to "demonstrate that they're the expert without having to say it outright," Burslem said. On a related note, Realtors can also Be The Expert by answering questions on sites like Trulia and Zillow.
--Experiment. Realtors are trying social-networking sites, for instance. "I can't point to any particular success stories yet, ... because it seems like it's a fairly new thing that most of us are trying to wrap our heads around," Burslem said.
Of course, marketing can do only so much. Lenn Harley, broker at Homefinders.com, which works with buyers in Maryland and Virginia, says the key nowadays is choosing the right asking price. "That's critical," she said. "That's absolutely critical."
