The Sorry State Of Internet Listings

by Blanche Evans

According to the National Association of Realtors 2003 Profile of Home
Buyers and Sellers, it is the first time in real estate marketing
history that more buyers have turned to the Internet than their local
newspapers to find a home. Two-thirds of homebuyers in the first half of
2003 used the Internet to search for a home while only 49 percent of
buyers reported using newspapers. What does that mean to Realtors and
their marketing strategies?

It means it is time to take Internet marketing of listings more
seriously. Homebuyers are turning to the Internet to look at homes (93
percent) and to get neighborhood information (22 percent.) In 2003, 41
percent of home buyers found the home they purchased through a real
estate agent. Sixteen percent found their homes through a yard sign, and
eleven percent found their homes through the Internet. These are
important changes from 1997 when 50 percent of homebuyers found their
homes through agents, seventeen percent through yard signs and two
percent through the Internet.

While it appears that the Internet is stealing thunder from the agent,
consider this - nearly 90 percent of Internet searchers also used an
agent to find a home, and 18 percent found their agent online.

It's obvious that homebuyers are using the Internet to preview homes.
Buyers told the NAR that the two features they look for in a real estate
Web site are photos and property information. Seventy-eight percent
found photos useful, and 77 percent found property information useful.
Forty-seven percent of buyers found virtual tours to be useful. So
useful in fact, that the buyers took action - 72 percent actually drove
by or looked at a home they found online, 46 percent walked through the
home, and 18 percent found an agent online. While it isn't spelled out
in the survey, it is safe to say that most or at least a large
percentage of those lucky agents were found because of online listings.

And how is the real estate industry responding? By putting up
lousy-looking listings with as little information to move the sale along
as possible.

While this is an unscientific assessment, a perusal of sites as diverse
as Realtor.com, the local MLS public view Website, and a selection of
Realtor Websites in Dallas, the ninth largest metro area in the nation,
shows that as many as one third of listings don't have basic photos, and
less than ten percent have virtual tours or multiple photos.

With the availability and expediency of digital photography, there is
simply no excuse for this. If a broker can put a listing on his/her
Website as soon as the listing agreement is signed, a photo of some kind
should be there, too.

This contrast is made all the more obvious by the sharp-looking
presentations done by some online Realtors, where there are plenty of
photos, the listing remarks are well-phrased and correctly spelled, and
there is plenty of property and neighborhood information for the buyer.
It's understandable if the agent wants to give some time to the
homeowner to clean up, but there's bound to be a view of something that
could go online right away. The homeowner should be told that once the
listing agreement is in place, that MLS rules state that the marketing
to other MLS members must begin within a certain time frame - usually
about three days. In three days, can't the homeowner cut the grass,
clear off the porch and at least let the front-door view of the home get
photographed?

Marketing without photographs isn't marketing. In fact, according to
Realtor.com, Internet shoppers pass over listings without photos, so the
longer the homeseller and listing agent delay, the worse for the seller.

There's also a time-lag in many communities to get virtual tours
completed. In some areas, due to lack of service providers, it can be
days or weeks before a virtual tour is ordered, completed, and posted to
the Web. Well, that's unavoidable if a professional service is the only
way to get a virtual tour ordered, but that doesn't mean the listing
agent can't go to plan B. Can't the listing agent, an assistant, the
broker or somebody get out to the house with a digital camera, and take
some shots?

The lack of photo enhancements wouldn't be so bad if the problem didn't
go on and on. Most of the listings that didn't have photos weeks ago,
still don't have photos. Does the listing agent have something better to
do than to market the listing s/he already has under listing agreement?

The marketing of single-family homes is deplorable, but heaven help the
customer who wants to look at townhomes or condominiums. The same
building view pops up over and over. What in the world makes any agent
think that is helpful to the buyer? Can't Realtors take a hint from
apartment listing sites and include a floor plan or at least multiple
photos of the interior, community pool and grounds?

And speaking of property information, is there any reason why HOA fees
and what they cover are seldom included? Aren't community fees that can
impact a monthly payment by as much as several hundred dollars important
to a buyer? Most agents leave them off because they don't want to
startle the buyer - like it's better to startle them later?

Explaining what the HOA fees cover doesn't have to be bad news - it can
help make the sale. A several hundred dollar per month fee doesn't sound
so bad when it is explained that it includes all exterior maintenance,
water bills, and insurance, for example.

And that "no room to put more information" excuse doesn't fly,
particularly in areas with a high concentration of multi-family housing
stock. Any MLS software can be modified to allow the expansion of
listing features. That is what it is for. If you want a field that
provides a space about what the HOA fees cover, it is possible to have
it. Just make the request of your MLS.

Either a broker and agent are part of the problem or part of the
solution. If you want to be the agent that 18 percent of 75 percent of
homebuyers in the U.S. finds online, you'll have a much better chance if
you take the time to enhance your listings with photos, property and
neighborhood information.

In fact, you can use your prowess on the Net to knock your competition
out of the running. The next listing presentation you go on, be sure to
show your seller how you present listings online, and how quickly you
get them to the marketplace. Then go to your browser and show your
seller some of your competition's listings - how they've been on the
market for four weeks with no photos, no enhancements, and no interest
from buyers.

There's a reason why many agents are so neglectful of Internet marketing
- they still see it as secondary advertising, when all the new NAR data
says they are wrong.

Judging by the number of agents who still heavily invest in newspaper
marketing of listings, it stands to reason that they are still
convincing sellers that newspapers help sell listings. They do, but by
quite a bit less than the Internet. In fact, less than 7 percent of
homebuyers bought the home they found in the newspaper, while 11 percent
bought the home they found on the Internet, and that figure is doubling
every two years, according to the NAR.

Blow your competition away by showing the seller how listings should be
handled on the Internet. Brokers, don't settle for any excuses when it
comes to why your company's listings don't have photos. If the agent had
time to get the listing, s/he had time to snap a pic while at the
seller's home.

Don't let your competition show the next seller what a lousy job your
company does with Internet listings.

Published: August 5, 2003
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