Online? or Offline?

[mr.greenjeans]

I've noticed that a lot of real estate free lancers and big business real estate taking things online. I can understand there is a natural progress with taking your business online.

I was wondering if someone could elaborate on what the benefits are of going online in the real estate (whose business seems to take place offline)

What are the benefits of being online?

[HHI Golf Guy]

According to the NAR, upwards of 80% of all buyers begin their search for homes on the internet.

[mr.greenjeans]

Ah! because the NAR says so.....:D somehow I get the feeling my question is old news, I should have known. I do have some other questions though I think they'd be better addressed in another post.

Thanks for the reply.

[HHI Golf Guy]

Why would the NAR make up or distort information like that? They have no vested interested in agent web sites.

Try this - ask the next 30 people that contact you or walk into your office where they first began their search for a new home. My guess is 22 started on the internet, 4 with a newspaper, and 2 with a local real estate publication, and two by various other means.

Better yet, pick a few (decent sized) cities at random and do a Google search for "city name + real estate" and call the agents that have the #1 and #2 ranked sites and ask them how their sales are this year. From what I have seen and heard agents with top ranked sites have not been hit as hard by the decline in the real estate market this year.

Of course, an agent can make a good living without a web site. But even without going after top search engine rankings or PPC advertising, it's still a great place to direct people from your print ads or other advertising mediums.

[marcosll]

To list some of the many advantages of online advertising over other media:

1) It's much much more cost effective.
2) If set up correctly you can track the results very precisely and almost instantly.
3) In theory (if the website is good) a buyer can get more information and more pictures than in a magazine.
4) More up to date.
5) Increasing numbers of people are using the internet to browse for propreties.