Hi

I just looked at Hitwise for April 2007 realtor.com is still #1 for real estate.  I have showcased listings I think it is worth the money

I have gotten so much value from my Realtor.com site! I have sold homes because of my showcase ad! Once through an open house (both sides of the deal) and others from inquires. It is a great listing tool! I always point out that i have a "Showcase" ad and how when prosepctive buyers are searching they will only go to the listings that have #1 a virtual tour #2  are still pictures. No pics no enhancements no lookers! Do you know that you can load your own virtual tours from Point 2 to Realtor.com! No extra cost when you have a showcase ad...usual cost is 19.95 per VT. By going with point 2 and Realtor.com I saved money on virtual tours!  I can load the still pictures and they will look like a VT and I don't have to hire a VT person, I don't have to pay my broker to use his visual tour account ($25.00 a pop)....I could go on and on buy I already have! Oops one more thing...I switched brokers and she is getting a whole site just for the office...we are getting discounts through her!  Ask your broker about advertising through a company site!!! Good luck

I have been enhancing mine for years and it is a great resource for me to attract buyers from all over the country to visit my website and call  about relocating to my area.  If you check out realestateshows.com, you can get virtual tours free uploaded to Realtor.com through them as part of your annual $125 fee for unlimited shows - really adds a lot to the Realtor.com showcase. I found them through www.recs.com which is the Real Estate Cyberspace Society.  Lots of cool tools and information there.  I would love to see Point2 get on the bandwagon with that kind of virtual tour benefit to send them over to Realtor.com when you have enhanced listings.  

Recently, my latest new buyer clients tell me that searching Realtor.com is not great because there are no addresses and they feel it is annoying - but they found me there and then went to my site which had all of the info they were looking for - and they appreciate that.  Alot of Gen X and Y like to research on their own and fly under the radar and will call when they are ready.  They like as much info as possible (even though I know some agents don't agree with giving up all of the info it works very well for me and attracts the tech savvy clientelle that I am seeking).  Best wishes in your decision making!!  

I did it when I was new to the business and I think it is a great value!

www.markroncone.com

P2 does have the upload virtual tours to realtor.com for free thing...if you have enhanced listings you don't have to pay $125 a year or anything extra if you are with P2....  

Good post. I have been paying Homes.com. Sometimes I like to go to an area of advertising where not much competition. But I don't think I got that much off it. So I am thinking Realtor.com now. But also, considering some other unique marketing. There is so much competition on Realtor. com. Has anyone else used homes.com? Feedback? I hope to see more on this Realtor.com, because also considering.

I have only received maybe little over 10 leads over the last 4 years from Realtor.com (just in the last two years, I have advertised over 35 listings with them) ... not really worth the money for me. Never got a serious lead, not to mention a sale. my showcase subscription is expiring in the summer and I am not going to renew ... I'll much rather simply pay $20 per virtual tour to get them uploaded and save the rest and use it on other advertising.

I agree with Michaela - I used them for 2 years with all the options they had and didn't get a single dollar return on my investment. I stopped in 2004 and think it was money wasted. I get a much better return with Point2 and PPC.

I stopped using Realtor.com completely this year. Last year I just purchased 2 featured homes spots. The cost is too high for very little return for me. The year before last it cost me $2400 for the Showcase listings and 2 featured homes spots. I link my v-tours for $20/listing. I started using Realtor.com about 6 or 7 years ago when the cost was something like $125/year and for that I got a web site, e-mail, 6 photos and I could write my ad in HTML to add color, bold, enlarge print, etc. So for me I saw a great increase in cost for diminished service. It was a nice listing tool, but I got very few calls.

One other thing I forgot in my previous post. $2400 can buy a lot of marketing. Even if you back out the $20/listing for the v-tour. If you get 50 listings/year that's $1000 to post tours. I spend $27/sign post installation. But if you spend $1000 in tours, you can still do a lot with the $1400 left over. PPC like Gary mentioned. Pay a copy writer for your web site if you're not strong there or lack the time. Some work from a web designer to tweak your site. Even paying for back links. Our local news paper- The Detroit News- will put our listings online on their site for $39/month for all our listings. That's $468/year no matter how many listing I carry. Your local paper might offer something similar.

I do and I really like the reports they provide.  My sellers love getting the reports and seeing that activity.  My broker has this package for the office which makes it a better value for her agents.

I'm with Michaela, Gary, and Jackie.  As of 2 days ago all my Realtor.com enhanced marketing ceased.  I was using enhanced combined with Featured Home in two zip codes.  The cost was around $6000 per year over two years.

My own broker website has received an average of 2.75 leads per day over the past 3.5 years.  I have enough leads that I picked up 4 agents that get the daily leads as part of the duty day and I've trained them to handle the leads from my site.

In contrast, Realtor.com provided me no more than 1-2 leads per month in the HOT market and has provide zilch in the slower market (my broker site is only down slightly at 2.65 per day).  I will be reassigning my realtor.com budget to other online marketing such as PPC and fore-going the realtor.com avenue for the next year to see what happens.

Next on the Marketing Chopping Block...The Real Estate Book and my local printed magazine!

I just stopped 1 year enhanced with realtor.com because I received no value leads for a year althought always had 12-20 active listings. I also had commercial listings that I could not ads. in realtor.com. But still wonder if 1 year is long enough to say bye?    

I canceled Realtor.com enhancements earlier today. I got more traffic and leads from P2.

Todd

I used to showcase everything on Realtor.com but stopped a couple years ago.  Got too many email inquiries from people too early in their searching process.  I think a more ready and focused prospect will be surfing a different site altogether and it took me like an hour a day to respond to all the emails.  I'd rather use the marketing funds elsewhere... something more personal like a Client Appreciation BBQ.

I do enhanced listings.  If nothing else, it helps me when I go to list homes.  As a new agent, you don't have anything to lose.  They look at your number of listings in the previous year to determine your cost structure.  If you had no listings, your rates will be very low!! So, here is an opportunity for you to a) possibly pick up a lead and b) help give you a presence in the market and c) help close that listing presentation with a little investment.  Later in your career you can determine if it is working for you or not.

Just my humble opinion,

Shelly

I refuse to list without enhanced features. Such a huge difference in appearance. I am not aware of a buyer contacting me directly because of a realtor.com enhanced mls ad. I think the benefits may not be 100% trackable. For me, I user enhanced because of pride in my work and because shoppers can click to get to our website. I like being able to play with headlines, etc. I would eliminate other items from my ad budget before I eliminate enhanced. If I can't do enhanced, I will not list. I believe clients deserve the extra umph and the reports.

PS: Sorry, I didn't read all the posts. Your enhanced membership also allows your listings on

http://worldproperties.com  . My understanding is that you have to call realtor.com customer service and ask them to place your listing on worldproperties.com . There is no additional fee, just an additionals step and another cool site for your listing.