Determining where buyers look for homes is the basis for any successful marketing strategy.

Are you selling your home?  Doesn’t it make sense to spend advertising dollars where buyers are looking for homes – rather than spending money for advertising venues that don’t attract buyer prospects?  The 2006 National Association of Realtors Profile of Buyers and Sellers addresses that issue within their report. 

Here are some of the more pertinent facts that answer the question, “Where do buyers look for a home?”

• 80% of buyers who purchased a resale home (not new construction) used a real estate agent.
• 80% of buyers used the Internet in their home search process.
• Among those buyers who used the Internet, 87% also used a real estate agent.
• Buyers first learned about the home they eventually purchased:  36% from a Real Estate Agent; 24% from the Internet; 15% from a Yard Sign.  Only 5% from a Newspaper Ad and 1% from a Home Magazine/Book.
• Buyers stated that the most important features of a web site were Photos (83%), Detailed Property Information (81%) – followed by Virtual Tours (60%), Interactive Maps (43%), Neighborhood Info (37%), Real Estate Agent Contact Info (31%).
• Web Sites that buyers used in search:   MLS (53%), Realtor.com (52%), Real Estate Company web site (41%), Agent’s personal web site (40%), Newspaper (14%), Real Estate Magazine (6%), Other (10%).

I already place a heavy emphasis on web marketing – using lots of photos, photo slide shows, virtual tours, walk-through videos, interactive floor plans, listings with their own web sites, abundant neighborhood information, detailed school reports and much more.  All can be accessed from my website.

 Based on the data noted above, I am putting even more emphasis on web marketing – and less on print advertising.  If buyers are not looking at Home Magazines (only 1% do) then is that glossy full-color ad for my benefit (self-promotion) or for the seller?  Keeping abreast of real estate trends and using that information to create a marketing strategy that yields the most buyer prospects is an important part of any real estate agent’s business plan – and something sellers should be aware of when selecting an agent to represent them in the sale of their home.

You can find more details about this survey at Realtor.org.

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