DO I NEED A WEBSITE?? please help..

[BG_Realty]

Okay so I am a new realtor and just starting to begin my career. I was anticipating creating a website to help market myself and to possibly generate leads. However after speaking with my broker I am uncertain as to whether or not this is a good idea. Be advised that the company that i work for does have their own website as does the office that i work for. My broker basically told me that the websites are cost ineffective and that they cost a whole lot of money to actually see result generating leads and that I would be better suited using the office website to market myself through that. I would like your thoughts on the subject and any advide would be greatly appreciated.

p.s. i look forward to being part of this forum as it seems that there is plenty of good tips and advise for new realtors such as myself :)

[CoastalJacksonville]

Welcome to the forum. I'm a new realtor as well and I have actually had a website built. It's been up and running since mid June. I have had four goods leads already where I have made a presentation to each and signed them up to be their realtor (a new lead today). It is a little a expensive but once I close on my second deal it (website) will pay for itself. I also recommend using your personal email address when doing business. Not knowing what the future holds you may end up moving to a different company and the customers/leads that you were in contact will follow you. Blessings to you and don't be afraid to spend money to make money.:o

[Copywriter]

In my very humble opinion, here are a few thoughts to consider:

1. Sellers might be less likely to list with an agent who does not have a website.
2. Each year, the number of consumers who research their home purchase on the Internet is growing.
3. Your off-line and on-line advertising becomes more powerful when you can put a teaser that says, "View more photos & details of this home at YourName.com."
4. Your off-line and on-line advertising may actually become weaker when you don't offer further information at a website. With all the ads out there and the growing role of the Internet as a consumer tool, your ads might be passed over for similar ads that offer more juicy information at a website.

Granted, you said that your broker has a website, so you might be able to work around numbers 3 & 4.

But it seems to me that a website is becoming more and more of a necessity. Just like cell phones became a necessity.

And you don't have to break the bank getting a site. I'm sure there are plenty of people on this forum who can offer you advice in that respect.

[HomeSurfer]

Get a website.

Do all of the OTHER stuff to help you get started as a real estate agent without focusing on the web site. Build that slowly. Think of it as a place to do customer service for the people you come in contact with face-to-face. Write articles based on what you learn and what you think your clients find important.

Later, once you are a successful real estate agent -- IF you make it (most don't), then your web site will have the age and maturity to start becoming something important.

[Cedar City Utah Realtor]

This is a great question. My opinion is this, you should absolutely go and buy yourself a domain name that doesnt include your brokerages name. If you have the money have a custom website built and have all the SEO work done ect. When I say have the money I mean its going to cost you between 5-10k for the first year if not more. This would include custom web design, Seo, link building, paid directories, ect.
If you dont have the money, go to point2agent.com and build your own site for free. Make sure you have them transfer there site onto your domain. Then start building links. The reason I say you should do this is 2 fold. 1rst you get to tell clients you have a professional website ect. 2. You will be marinating your domain name and all the new links.
(Go out and link build! You dont need to do the paid directories at this point but it wont hurt either. )
Then when you get the money have the Custom site built on your domain. You will avoid the Sandbox and you will have links that are aged as well. This should mean you will be able to Rank fairly quickly in the search engines at this point.
Also if you would like to get some leads from your point2agent site while you wait to have more money you can always use PPC in order to get people to your site.
See this is a free way to get a new website that will work untill you have the money to have a nice custom professional website.

[HHI Golf Guy]

You need a web site - period.

Here's my 2 cents on the important points for a new agent (although some apply to all agents):

Above all, your site must be professional in appearance. It doesn'y matter if you do it yourself, buy a template, or have a custom built site. Your web site is your first impression to a web surfer. Make a good first impression.

Provide MLS access on your web site. You may not have your own listings for a while. Give them something to look at.

Do not worry about search engine rankings and do not invest in SEO right away. I know that sounds strange from someone who does real estate SEO, but it's true. It will take 6-15 months to get top rankings on the search engines. Since most new agents have limited income, you are better off investing that money elsewhere.

Where should you invest? Print media is a good place to start. But you don't have to advertise where 99.9% of the other agents in your market advertise. For example, if you are targeting the investment buyer you may want to run an ad in the financial section of your newspaper. If you are targeting people that want to buy homes on the golf course, advertise on the golf page in the sports section of your newspaper.

Wherever you run your print ad, always lead the ad with your web site address. You can drive a ton of traffic to your web site through print media.

Make sure that your web site address is prominent on all of your own collateral material. Again, it drives web site traffic.

Create a brand image for yourself. Specialize in investment properties, golf properties, starter homes, or any niche - except multi-million dollar homes. Why? These buyers generally prefer to work with seasoned agents. You're better off getting experience and working your way up to that buyer demographic.

Once you pick your niche, write articles about that niche and place them on your web site. Let them know you're an expert in that area. Remember, branding yourself as an expert or market leader in a particular niche does not precluse you from selling other properties. It does help you get your name established in the market.

Next year, when you have a few sales under your belt, give me a call and we'll set up a killer, custom site for you :)

[BG_Realty]

thank you for all the feedback and after considering everybody's input i decided to create a template based website through point2agent just as another source of information for my clients not necessarily to produce leads. The reason for this is because i had no idea how much cost was actually associated with getting a professional website and being that I am just starting out I am on a bit of a tighter budget. Maybe somewhere down the line i can upgrade my website to include everything i want it to but in the meantime this will have to do. Is point2agent the best option for someone like myself looking to not spend much money at all but at the same time having some sort of web presence. Also i did purchase my own domain name just for the sake of havin a more profession looking html.