…is Kicking 2.0’s Butt
Real estate 1.0 seems to be kicking real estate 2.0’s butt these days in California’s East Bay area. Keller Williams Realty in Danville, CA (the office I work out of) has about 200 agents; on average about 75 – 100 Realtors attend each week’s meeting of the Realtors Marketing Association (Alamo, Danville, San Ramon) and the Valley Marketing Association (Pleasanton, Dublin).In the last month, I haven’t heard from a single Realtor about any new business arriving via their website. Houses are still be bought and sold in this part of the East Bay. Here’s what is working:
- Working Expired Listings
- Door Knocking
- Working the Database
I don’t claim this to be 100% accurate, but it seems that the majority of new listings and new buyer agreements are arriving the old fashion way in this slow market.
Danilo Bogdanovic
January 27, 2008 at 10:18 am
John,
Glad to hear that the agents in your office are busy with clients, whichever way they may be getting them. But don’t count out real estate 2.0 and web 2.0. Here’s why:
My business partner and I run three blogs – one is agent-centric and the other two are consumer centric. The two that are agent-centric are pulling in 2 to 3 ready, willing and able buyers/investors with lender letters in hand per week. An example of their email or phone call to us is, “We like and read your blog and want to buy a house. Can you help?”
The blogs are also pulling in an average of one listing every 2 weeks. The same type of email or phone call listed above applies.
Btw, we don’t do any of the action items you described in your post whatsoever and we don’t pay to advertise in print media. The way we get into print media is for free through quotes and articles on us by local newspapers as well as the Washington Post, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, etc. This is because the media reads and follows our blogs. And this happens with regular frequency. Consumers read this and then elevate the level of credibility they give us, which helps pull in buyers and sellers.
This is not to say that the items you described don’t work. It just means that your claim that real estate 1.0 is kicking real estate 2.0’s butt may not be accurate.
Btw, (static) web sites are real estate 1.0, not 2.0. You can’t clump blogs and social media sites into static web sites.
Benjamin Bach
January 27, 2008 at 11:21 am
Interesting John… interesting
I would agree that at my KW Market Centre (Kitchener-571) most everyone is getting business the old fashioned way – but most of my ‘new’ business (every sale so far in 2008) is now coming from people I’m initially meeting via my blog and other internet presence (facebook, among others)
John what are you finding in your own business ?
Lani Anglin
January 27, 2008 at 1:20 pm
John, I can’t say the same about our market (or at least our company). As always, out approach has been a consistent, delicate balance of 1.0 and 2.0. If you omit either, you may miss the business boat.
Candy Lynn
January 27, 2008 at 4:04 pm
There were a few months that I was beginning to think my website was broken. The last 4-6 weeks both hits & info requests have been going crazy!
Offers & listings produced from internet in last week.
I use print to PUSH to website, I do not doorknock nor work expired listings. I do have a very personal high touch relationship with my clients. I work a niche market of horse properties so there is a great deal of common interest that results in clients not becoming just clients for life but friends for life.
Is my marketing Web.1 or Web.2? I tend to think of it as just plain old fashioned professional service that just happens to use the tech tools of the day.
Cyndee Haydon
January 27, 2008 at 5:50 pm
John,
Maybe it depends on where your buyers are coming from – we find most of the people buying here are from somewhere else so we are seeing almost 100% of buyers coming from the web – now the listings are a different story – they seem to come more from the 1.0 way for us.
Jonathan Dalton
January 28, 2008 at 1:20 am
I’m seeing some business from hitting expireds, though I’m not as consistent as I ought to be.
But given I’ve pulled in a solid lead a day off the various websites this past week (and going back for some time), 2.0 has its place.
Actually, forget I said that. If you’re an agent in the Phoenix market, please do not bother with the web. it’s a fad and will go away. Knock on doors. Much better.
Benjamin Bach
January 28, 2008 at 5:46 am
This may be what we call tunnel vision – it seems all of us commenting on blogs (i.e. and are ‘in the web 2.0 know’) are getting business from blogs, while ‘old school’ realtors may not be generating leads online.
I had a realtor ask me last week how quickly would he get business from a blog if he paid me to start one for him. I chuckled.
Chris Lengquist
January 28, 2008 at 10:20 am
I do both…with heavy emphasis on blog/web. And the leads/clients generated reflect that.
The key is DOING SOMETHING.
Port Orange Homes For Sale
January 28, 2008 at 1:10 pm
If it works don’t break it. Seems like that what works in his market and hey he is on this blog so he appears to be on the internet blogging that will bring more business. Good luck to all in these hard times with creativity and doing what ever it takes to sell real estate.
Borino
January 28, 2008 at 1:56 pm
John,
Your information confirms what vast majority of my clients from almost every US market confirm – expireds are plentiful, fairly easy to work, and can be one of the most profitable niches right now.
Good ol’ fashioned work is back in style, it seems. And it’s profitable. 😉
Borino
http://www.ExpiredPlus.com
Nouveau Riche
June 15, 2008 at 4:59 am
Very interesting blog you have here. I don’t know much about real estate and I had started to read about this subject a few days ago and I must say that your blog made me understand a lot of things about real estate. Thanks
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