Cindy Hartman's Southern Maryland Real Estate news and views... : "At least preview the flyer..."

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"At least preview the flyer..."

By: Cindy Hartman
Friday, January 11, 2008 5:45 PM

I am inundated with multiple emails a day announcing new listings, price reductions, agent bonuses etc. So I guess I haven't been opening them up regularly (as it seems a lot of other agents aren't either) so the one that stood out today had a subject line of "at least preview the flyer..."

What else can I say about this?.

And yes, I felt bad for the agent. I know how he must feel...

Comments

Member Since '07	Shelly Constantz said: that's funny!! I bet you did preview the flyer, didn't you? I would have. When someone takes the time to be a little creative, I need to reward them with my attention. things seem to be picking up here though. I sure hope this bodes well for my sellers. shelly January 11, 2008 5:19 PM
Member Since '05	Cindy Hartman said: I did preview the flyer ! I had another one today that was a little different - the subject line was "price increased!" and then when you opened up the email it said something about they knew that would get our attention, but the price was actually reduced. I'm too easy...both of them got me.... January 11, 2008 5:53 PM
Member Since '04	Vicki Owens, ABR, CRS, GRI said: It's interesting the topic of e flyers. I did them for awhile and got what seemed to be good reaction from them, I think, well - my properties were getting shown. Soon thereafter noticed everyone in the whole world was doing them, the price of doing them went up, so I stopped. Do you think they are worth the $25-$30 per listing (in my market) to do them? I don't open them in my inbox anymore either because there are so many. So my guess was that other agents are not looking at them and it is a waste of money. Are they influancing you as an agent to show a specific property or do you just search the MLS for your buyer's specifics? I found when I have a buyer, the flyers were doing no good on what I was showing as I send my buyers the MLS lists and they get updated automatically and let me know what they like. And the hotsheets will tell me about reductions. Also, if I have shown a property to a buyer that is still on the market suitable for another buyer, I will show them that from my experience in being in the home. Is anyone finding direct results that agents are showing based on you specifically marketing to agents, or is the MLS and having your listing in there with multiple photos, virtuals, good info and descriptions, etc., producing more results for you? Even agent bonuses do not seem to drive any more traffic in our market, nor would I show a home to a buyer just because it had a bonus attached. Putting the homes on the local board tour just got mud strewn all over one of my homes last spring and a very upset seller, so I stopped that - and the home was sold by an agent not in the local board a few weeks later. What works in marketing properties to you as an agent? January 11, 2008 6:32 PM
Member Since '05	Cyd Weeks said: I'm one of those who will read the flyers. Not all of them, but quite a few. The ones that are poorly done, those get reviewed and ditched. Those that are well done, will some good pics or links to the virtual tour, I'll check it out. I showed a house the other day because of the flyer. Buyer didn't buy that one but I can say I wouldn't have shown it had I not seen the pics on the flyer. January 11, 2008 9:01 PM
Member Since '05	Jana Davis & Virginia Houghton said: I look through the fliers and will click if it shows the location in the title of an area I have a client for. If not it may or may not get opened. Jana January 11, 2008 10:05 PM
Member Since '07	Rob Moen said: Hi Cindy, Most of the e-fliers in my area (Genesee County, Michigan) seem to be for REO Properties. I always look at them to see if there might be a great deal out there for one of my buyers. Rob Moen January 12, 2008 8:20 AM
Member Since '05	Cindy Hartman said: Vicki - I personally don't think the e flyers work either, I think that sometimes, with all the hype out there on what your REALTOR "should" be doing ...the sellers expect all the bells and whistles and the agents are under pressure to show that they are doing every possible little thing ...and every...possible...little...thing , EVEN if they KNOW it's not proven to work. ie: Open Houses MLS, in my opinion, is still the best advertising especially in this internet age. (along with that, the virtual tours, multiple pics etc.) Agent bonus offerings - I think they are a waste and the seller is just throwing the money in the trash - I don't know of any agent who would show a property based on a bonus. (not to mention, if it was a large bonus - why wouldn't the seller just lower the price to increase traffic?) But back to the flyers - I do think when it was a brand new idea, and you only received one or two a week - they may have generated some attention - but now that there are so many and most agents have them sent to their junk folders - I believe their day is over. (It was a short run) January 13, 2008 11:41 AM
Member Since '07	Bill Thompson, REALTOR® said: Cindy, I agree 100%! January 14, 2008 9:19 AM
Member Since '05	Cindy Hartman said: Now if we could only figure out ahead of time what the new thing to get some attention is over the horizon... it would be nice to be ahead of the curve... January 18, 2008 10:53 AM