Death of the Vanity Ad: Real Estate Take-Aways from Agent ReBoot: Dallas Real Estate News

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When you shop for a high-end car, do you pick the salesperson (and buy the car) because he or she had a vanity ad in some glossy magazine or on a billboard? Or do you buy because of the car and dealer? We have bought almost our all cars for years from Park Place because their service is so flawless you never want to try another dealer again, ever. Like, I wouldn’t buy a car they don’t sell, that’s how be smitten I am. Inman’s Agent ReBoot on Wednesday really woke up the 400- plus agents attending to the fact that more than ever, real estate is an internet-based business. The Realtor is still necessary, but just not the overpowering personality force of nature of times past.¬† Guess what’s selling the most houses? Telephones. In January, Americans looked at 3 homes per second on mobile apps. In February they looked at 9/sec, last month as the market heated consumers surfed over 27 homes per second on the internet. On their phones! By 2014 mobile internet usage will overtake desktop. People today spend more time socializing on their phones — 2.7 hours — than they do watching TV. And increasingly, they use their phones to shop for homes while out driving or kicking the tires.

Shocker: when they are looking to buy a home, buyers they look for homes on the internet, not agents.

I think one of the things I love about Inman and ReBoot is how it deflates the Realtor’s ego bubble. (We are not talking about Dallas agents, of course, who are perfect.) If the internet has put house hunting back in consumer’s hands, it has also diminished the need for Realtors to poof themselves up as bigger than life celebrities who, in-between all their partying, fund raising, and photo ops on the red carpet, also happen to sell homes. One of the city’s top name agents says it best: realtors are employees who work for the people who hire them, not the other way around. Don’t ever forget it.

In case you do, Agent Re-Boot will remind you. Traditional branding is out; lifestyle branding is in. Think Apple & Starbucks branding — an environment. Harley Davidson is such a great brand people tattoo it on their arms! (Great Dallas RE examples: Nathan Grace and Clay Stapp.) Today’s real estate consumer cares about value and the experience, not whether you are the Hottest Agent in LA.

And how about this: 86% of people will pay more for a product if they really like it, even in a recession. Does that explain the i-pad phenomenon? Of course, then why are all the rich people buying real estate playing Bottom Feeder?

So here’s what we consumers can expect from Realtors who follow this tech recipe:¬† websites loaded with more video, because by 2013 video will consume¬† 90% of all consumer desktop traffic, 64% of all mobile traffic. YouTube has an audience of two billion and Americans now spend 15 minutes a day on YouTube — that time will only increase. They will end one of my serious pet peeves: using flyer boxes and tubes. Not only are those things ugly (and always full of bugs), they are usually empty. Sharp agents are using QR code technology so buyers can get the info on the home they are gazing at with loving eyes STAT. Because I swear, the next time I see an empty flyer box, I’m going to start posting the home for everyone to see.

Candy Evans, founder and publisher of CandysDirt.com, is one of the nation’s leading real estate reporters.

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  1. Anita Koppens on April 14, 2011 at 5:40 pm

    "Shocker: when they are looking to buy a home, buyers they look for homes on the internet, not agents."

    Candy, that some super advice for real estate agents. Well written article.

  2. Anita Koppens on April 14, 2011 at 5:40 pm

    "Shocker: when they are looking to buy a home, buyers they look for homes on the internet, not agents."

    Candy, that some super advice for real estate agents. Well written article.

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