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Consumer search for real estate online

It is said that over 80% of all consumers are starting their search for real estate online but where is the real estate consumer searching and what kind of results are they getting.

I just got a very thankful email this morning from a visitor to my website. She appreciated my availability and responsiveness and as you'll note, she did not get any response from other websites she had been visiting.

Mr. Arnoff,

Thank you so much for your timely response.  My husband and I have been
looking for weeks and inquiring on real estate websites without a single
response from a "real" person.  To give you a little background, we ...

Since it is inevitable that we will be purchasing a home in the Charleston
area in the next 2-3 months, I expect we will be talking to you again soon. 
Thanks so much for your time and attention. 
  

It begs the question, if a real estate agent has a website and someone inquires about a property, why wouldn't they respond. But what if many real estate consumers think that they are searching for property on a real estate agent's website but in fact are searching on a site that is only interested in capturing their contact information in order to sell it to a real estate agent or simply attracting "eyeballs" in order to sell advertising.

I talked about this in a previous post, Lead Generators. If you are searching for Charleston South Carolina real estate, what web sites are you searching and are you really dealing with a professional real estate agent or a technology company.

Published Thursday, October 11, 2007 6:13 AM by Howard Arnoff

Comments

# re: Consumer search for real estate online

"It begs the question, if a real estate agent has a website and someone inquires about a property, why wouldn't they respond."

I'll never understand it Howard. I can't begin to count the number of times we've heard things like:

"You're the only one to respond"

"I've been waiting for days for *my agent* to help me. Can you help?"

Etc etc etc.

It's unreal to me.

Thursday, October 11, 2007 2:20 PM by Jay Thompson

# re: Consumer search for real estate online

Jay, of course, on the bright side, the real estate consumer is looking for a good real estate agent and there is a difference between just having a license, possibly a website and being a professional real estate agent who is knowledgeable, available and responsive.

Thursday, October 11, 2007 5:49 PM by Howard Arnoff

# re: Consumer search for real estate online

I just came across this listing today and was shocked by the pictures.  MLS# 2732602

This could be a great house on the inside but those searching online (like me) may never know.  Why would you post these pictures???

Thursday, October 11, 2007 6:25 PM by Claude Daigle

# re: Consumer search for real estate online

Claude, on the positive side, the agent did not take pictures of the toilet with the lid up, an image of himself/herself reflected in the mirror  in a tight bathroom shot or a take a picture of the front of the home from the car with the car rear view mirror plainly evident.

That and many more bad real estate pictures are available most every day. Maybe the seller never looked at the listing to see how their home was being marketed.

The problem as I see it is that the seller isn't getting full value for the commission being paid to the agent to market their house with lousy pictures or a poor online marketing strategy.

I say that because the online real estate buyer wants pictures, pictures and more pictures. All marketable areas of the home should be photographed by the real estate agent and the Charleston MLS recently expanded the number of allowable pictures from just 9 to 24 to accomodate that.

Friday, October 12, 2007 3:20 AM by Howard Arnoff
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