Where does our business comes from?

In a recent survey of all agents at Beach Realty on all closed transactions for the year (a list of 101 deals), it was quite shocking to find out where we meet our buyers and sellers.  We think of ourselves as being a primarily internet based marketplace since the majority of our buyers and sellers (over 60%) don’t live here.  While it’s clear that 100% of our clients USE the internet during their search/purchase, they don’t necessarily find their agent or home that way. Beach Realty’s advertising budget is of course a lot bigger than any of its personal agents’ budgets, as you can imagine.  Last checked it was $35,000 to $40,000 per year.  Yet, look what that money has produced in return????  Not a single deal from Homes and Land, Trulia or Zillow.  Only 3 transactions total from web originated leads – where the majority of our advertising budget goes. I personally spend about $5,500 per year on various advertising sources, mainly for the write off.  I can tell you I’ve not closed a deal all year from a web generated lead.  I’ve talked to a few…even shown houses to a few.  No deals yet for 2014. The moral of this story is that word of mouth/database/referrals is the primary way to generate business for real estate agents.  People really prefer to work with someone they know or are referred to.  I think we can all relate to that. So, as far as advertising goes, it’s important to let the world know your home is for sale, but it’s highly unlikely the buyer of your home is going to call the listing agent from an ad and buy it.  It’s 99% more likely they will find an agent and that agent will introduce your home to their buyer based on the interview of wants, needs and desires. However, I will still continue to advertise for the potential leads as well as tax write offs!