Real Estate Marketing Web Sites

Choosing the Best Internet Real Estate Marketing Site For Your Needs

With the popularity of the Internet has come a proliferation of online real estate sales venues providing consumers links to the latest home listings in their area. Because most sites offer similar services, it can be hard for an agent to discern which site, if any, is the most appropriate for their marketing messages. The following article provides a review of the services offered by some of the top online real estate marketing sites.

Text Box: Some of the Top Internet Marketing Sites ü Craig’s List ü Realtor.com ü Yahoo Real Estate ü MSN.com ü Redfin.com

Craig’s List

Craig’s List provides agents a free classified advertising space (except in New York City where there is a $10 brokering fee). The site has listings ranging from household items to jobs. Established in 1995, Craig’s List has listings for 450 cities around the world. It has a monthly traffic count of 7 billion page views with 17 million new advertisements each month and more than 20 million users.

In addition to standard classified posts, brokers can buy a block of ads. A minimum first time purchase of $675 is required to use this feature. Listings can be as complex or simple as the broker chooses. Photographs can be included well as links to Yahoo or Google maps. The ad expires in seven days in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, Seattle, San Francisco and Washington DC. All other locations have 45 day expirations.

Agent’s reviews of the effectiveness of Craig’s List are mixed. While most state because it is free, it is worth the effort, many indicate minimal results using their services. Given the seven-day expiration in some cities, several did suggest it as a way to advertise upcoming open houses. In addition, there have been cases of theft and other criminal activities when addresses are listed in the ad. It is recommended that an agent email address be provided on the listing, with the listing address being given only after an email request is received.

Realtor.com

Realtor.com is part of a group of service offerings, which includes the Welcome Wagon, senior Housing Net, Home Plans and Move.com. In order to post your listings through Realtor.com, you must first become a member of the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Fees for the NAR are $80 per member (for the year 2008).

Enhancements are also available for purchase to create added attention for your listing. Enhancements can include additional information on the agent (slogan, photo, contact information, website link, brochure), broker office descriptions (logo, name, address, brochure), showcase opportunities (additional photographs, banner on search results page, open house information, scrolling text). The cost enhancements are prorated based on the circulation of the market in which the home is listed.

The Move network captures up to half of the United States real estate traffic and has 9.5 million unique users per month. The site offers local targeting and includes listings for every state and several international areas, along with maps of the home location. The average site visitor is aged 25-55 with an income of $50K-$150k.

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