Discuss with the seller that pricing is an art, not a science.  Your suggested price is an opinion, only the current buyers out there looking will tell them if the price is right.

As a rule of thumb, if after the first 21 days, the seller had a lot of showings, but no offers, the price is probably within 5 percent of market.  If after 21 days there are very few, or no lookers, the price is likely at least 10 percent over market, or more.  You can explain to the seller that most buyers are willing to offer 5 percent under the asking price and not be afraid of offending the seller, but very few buyers will offer 10 percent, or more, under the asking price.  The buyers, and their agents, will simply refuse to even look at a property that is 10 percent or more over priced.

Here is where your Tech Task Force will keep you updated on all technology for Real Estate Professionals. Please join us Wednesday, April 22 2008 in the South Power Rd training room. The TTF will be disscussing how to setup your blog and share ideas about what to blog about.

If you want your web site to do more than just impress your listing prospects and sellers, you need to concentrate on the content of the site from the perspective of the site visitor. The site needs to provide information and resources that potential buyers and sellers want to see. It isn’t about you, your excellent sales results or your company’s long history. On the first visit to your site, you’ll lose or keep that visitor based on whether you’ve given them the information they want.

1. By Far the #1 Feature is Providing a Listings Search Capability

Hopefully, your MLS system provides you with an IDX feed. IDX is “Internet Data Exchange” among real estate brokerages. It allows you to present a search page where your visitors can search the listings of all participating brokers.  

Careful gathering of web site traffic statistics has shown that a listing search page is by far the most-visited page with the longest time spent there by visitors. Without it, you’re simply not going to get the traffic you want. Opinions about whether to force sign-up to search vary significantly. You might want to test both ways to see which works best in your market.  

2. Area Market Trends and Statistics

Individual MLS rules will dictate what you can display on a real estate web site as far as sold statistics. You may only be able to place gross annual stats. However, most will allow you to provide these statistics to potential clients who request them. This is also a great way to capture prospect email addresses. Do some surface and long-term statistical graph representations on the site, and then offer a form for them to request more detailed reports. You’ll find this quite popular with both buyers and sellers, and you’ll expand your prospect data base rapidly.

3. Local Government Resources

Provide pages with brief descriptions and links to city, county, state and federal government offices in the area. The descriptions help the visitor to determine which link they need to visit and will also help the search engines rank your page properly. 

4. Maps, Maps and More Maps

Don’t assume that your site visitors are from the area or have even been there before. Provide maps that help them to figure out where property listings are located, especially when your MLS uses neighborhood or subdivision names as area field identifiers. There are now many free interactive mapping services on the web that you can integrate into your site. In vacation or resort areas, this is one of the most popular site features, as almost none of the buyers are local.

5. Local Utilities and New Resident Information

Don’t think that this information is not helpful because they’re already moving and not a potential client. Many buyers move into rental units while they search for a home to purchase. If your site helps them to get their utilities set up for the move, you’re already ahead of the competition to help them with their home search. Another less obvious value to this page is in saving you time with clients. It’s really easy in your closing process with buyers to send them a link to the page on your site with who to contact for electricity, phone, gas, etc.

6. Your ‘A’ List of Home Service Providers

By providing a list of quality home service providers in the plumbing, painting, carpentry, pest control, masonry trades, etc, you will make your web site the one resource for all your clients needs. Be sure and provide contact names and phone numbers as well and you’ll keep them coming back for more.

7. A Blog for Your Site

A. Keep visitors returning for fresh information: By making regular posts to your blog about current events, activities, neighborhood association meetings and more, you encourage visitors to visit regularly for the latest information.

B. Position yourself as the area expert: Regular posts about local codes, regulations, real estate market trends, etc. position you as the knowledgeable professional they want for their transaction.

C. The search engines love them: New and changing content gets better search engine exposure than a static site over time.

Want to learn more about creating a low cost effective lead generating website?  Just call Lee at PSS for more information (310) 833-0432. www.PSSPROS.com

Welcome to Steve Chader’s Blog! This blog will provide you with valuable information, tips, and general insight into the real estate market in Mesa.