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

How Will A Buyer Find My 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 2007 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?”

• 79% of buyers who purchased a resale home (not new construction) used a real estate agent.
• 84% of buyers used the Internet in their home search process.
• Among those buyers who used the Internet, 86% also used a real estate agent.
• Buyers first learned about the home they eventually purchased:  34% from a Real Estate Agent; 29% from the Internet; 14% from a Yard/Open House Sign.  Only 3% from a Newspaper Ad and 1% from a Home Magazine/Book.
• Buyers stated that the most important features of a web site were Photos (84%), Detailed Property Information (82%) – followed by Virtual Tours (60%), Interactive Maps (39%), Neighborhood Info (37%), Real Estate Agent Contact Info (31%).
• Web Sites that buyers used in search:   MLS (54%), Realtor.com (49%), Real Estate Company web site (44%), Agent’s personal web site (40%), Newspaper (12%), Real Estate Magazine (5%), Other (27%).

Why is it important to know these statistics?  If the goal is to find a buyer for your home, you need to know where the buyers are.  Yes. A Multi-Media Marketing Campaign is important – to touch “all the bases”.  But focus on the areas that work.  For example, those beautiful, glossy “Home Magazines” – only rate 1%.  In my opinion, they’re more for advertising the real estate company – than for attracting buyers.  If you’d like more information about this report, please email me at Cheryl@LIagent.com.

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