David Sherfey

Steve apparently misses this important point, "No one wants to become a lead, or be captured. Internet-savvy consumers see through our tricks and deceptions." Lead "capture" systems rely on scooping up large quantities of "leads" that must dripped on over a long period of time to yield the one percent who finally give in and respond. That one percent statistic, which I have heard from several such system trainers is proof to me that what Teresa is saying is true. Just because those drippy lead "capture" systems work for less experienced or less caring sales agents does not mean they are the only, or the best way to find new clients. People, when given a choice, want to be treated like people, and drippy does not do this. Not one bit. Well, maybe one percent, but that number will be dropping in this market. Me, I would rather work on the other 99. When you give people what they are really looking for, you get people who are REALLY looking.

There are many ways to sell residential real estate, and for the past year we have chosen the 'more information is better' route, with better success, we think. However, we have also found the obvious: people don't look at houses online when they are overpriced, and they pass them over when the lead photo is weak - and as a result they take longer to sell. We had two similar homes several houses apart, with the better of the two priced a little higher than the other and with a dull-looking lead photo. The better home took three months longer to get an offer. The quality of the photos probably was not a factor in the Point2 study, and must have had an impact. Looking at the pictures in our MLS tells me that Realtors don't think about this enough. It looks like they walk around quickly just taking snapshots, which is NOT effective marketing. You need to use a wider angle camera and a little knowledge of how to shoot interiors to get good photos. I would strongly suggest checking out the "Techniques for Real Estate Photography" e-book available from Larry Lohrman at his blog http://photographyforrealestate.net to understand RE photography yourself or to be able to know how to work with a professional photographer. That lead photo is the moneymaker. Shoot the house when the sun is on the front and blue sky is in back to get a winning photo. A few puffy clouds are helpful too. Stormy clouds are not good.... Square up the sides as much as you can and stand on a ladder if necessary. Don't take snapshots, take photos, and take your time. It is worth going back to get a better shot, if necessary. It helps to be able to write, too, but that is another topic entirely....

I don't think you need the flashy presentation on Craigslist to get attention. If you can write great ad copy and take great photos, a simply formatted craigslist ad is enough to generate interest in a listing. The trick is to have a destination for the reader to go to for more information on the property. It's inexpensive today, and easy, to control your own content on the internet and have as many websites as you like to send people to for more information. You don't need to know a thing about html, with software like Dreamweaver and Expression Web. It helps, but is not absolutely necessary. I ran EW for six months creating property websites for our sellers before learning anything about html. Just buy yourself a an inexpensive hosting plan with any one of many suppliers out there, get a url for the house, create a site for the property and upload. Use the url anywhere you can (truliazillowetc) to send interested buyers to YOUR content. This is tons less expensive than print advertising, and it works to sell houses. The "plain" Craigslist ads we create, using no more html than what is described on the craigslist proposal - drives buyers to our sites quite nicely. It's a little more work, but it is certainly a value add for the seller, which is always a good thing you can use to differentiate yourself from your competition.