The Broker Report - Properties Online Real Estate Marketing Tools

THE BROKER REPORT By Properties Online, LLC

2010 Real Estate Technology Information

Properties Online, LLC has compiled important statistical information for the real estate community. Statistical sources

include the 2009 National Association of REALTORS ® Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers, The California Association of REALTORS, and over 3 million website visitor statistics from over 15 thousand single property websites.

The Broker Report

Properties Online, LLC ©2010 | web: PropertiesOnline.com Page 1

The Broker Report R E A L E S T A T E T E C H N O L O G Y I N F O R M A T I O N

The Home Search Process

Real Estate Agents continue to be a critical component in the home buyers search process. Home buyers are

relying heavily on online sources and their agents to provide information, with decreasing use of some sources,

such as newspapers and open houses. Home buyers typically spend 12 weeks searching for a home and

preview an average of 12 properties before deciding on their purchase. The Internet has become an essential

and indispensible tool in the home search process with 90 percent of home buyers using it to search for homes,

and 47 percent of buyers stating that the use of the Internet was the first step taken during the home buying

process.

How Buyers Search for Property

Information Sources used in Home Search

26%

40%

46%

59%

87%

90%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Magazine

Newspaper

Open House

Yard Sign

Agent

Internet

2009

2008

2007

The Broker Report


What Buyers Like

What buyers deem "Very Useful"

Where Buyers Come From

Where Buyer Found the Home they Purchased

40%

43%

46%

63%

82%

84%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Neighborhood Info

Interactive Maps

Agent Contact Info

Virtual Tours

Detailed Property Info

Photos

36%

36%

12%

6%5% 2% 2% 1%

Internet

Agent

Yard Sign

Friend

Builder

Newspaper

Seller

Other

The Broker Report


Home Buyers & Real Estate Professionals

The housing market has shifted in the last year, while home buyers still rely on real estate agents and brokers

to be partners as they navigate the home purchase process. The confidence and trust that buyers place in

their agent translates into repeat business. Agents who satisfy buyers by providing the services that matter

are likely to earn repeat business from buyers.

What Buyers Want from their real estate professional

Where Buyers Come From

Where buyers found their Real Estate Professional

46%

16%

13%

9%

8%4%

2% 2%Help finding the right home

Help negotiating terms

Help negotiating price

Help with paperwork

Determine what comparable homes were selling for

Help determining how much buyer can afford

Help find and arrange financing

Other

9%

>1%

4%

4%

5%

6%

7%

10%

10%

44%

Other

Newspaper, Yellow Pages or home book

Walked into or called office

Referred by employer or relocation company

Referred by another agent or broker

Open House

Saw contact information on For Sale/Open House …

Internet website

Used agent Previously to buy or sell a home

Referred by friend, neighbor or relative

2009

2008

2007

The Broker Report


When the California Association asked buyers this same question, the numbers for Internet increased

dramatically.

Is California a sign of what's to come?

Why Buyers Chose their Agent Most Important Factors

77%

11%

5%

0%

7%

67%

13%

9%

8%

3%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Internet

For Sale Sign

Agent's Farming Materials

Used Agent on Previous Transaction

Referral from Friend or RelativeRepeat Buyers

First Time Buyers

31%

23%16%

11%

10%

3% 1%

4%Agent is honest and trustworthy

Reputation of agent

Agent is a friend or family member

Agent's knowledge of the neighborhood

Agent has caring personality / good listener

Agent's association with a particular firm

Professional designations held by agent

Other

The Broker Report


Response Time

Importance of Agents Response Time in the Selection Process

89% of Internet buyers said that their

agents response time was Very Important

Repeat Business

Would buyer use real estate agent again or recommend to others?

0%

1%

10%

19%

70%

0%

23%

23%

14%

40%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Not at all Important

Not Very Important

Moderately Important

Very Important

Extremely ImportantTraditional Buyers

Internet Buyers

66%22%

6%

5%2%

Definitely

Probably

Probably Not

Definitely Not

Don't Know

The Broker Report


Home Sellers & Real Estate Professionals

Referrals from friends and family continue to be among the most important factors when home sellers choose

a real estate agent. In general, marketing in print media, such as real estate magazines and newspaper

advertisements dropped significantly in 2009.

Where Sellers Come From

Method used to find Real Estate Agent

How Sellers Use the Internet

40%

24%5%

5%

5%

4%

3%3%

3%

3% 2% 1%

5%Referred

Used Agent Previously

Referred through employer

Visited an open house

Personal Contact by agent

Referred by another agent

Yard Sign

Direct Mail

Internet Website

Walk in

Newspaper, Yellow Pages, or Home Book

Advertising Collateral

Other

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Research comparable prices

Recent neighborhood sales

Find a specific agent

Track interest rates

Track housing market

Research commission rates

Online appraisal 2006

2007

2008

2009

The Broker Report


Marketing Real Estate

Methods Real Estate Agent Used to Market Home

Repeat Business

Would seller use real estate agent again or recommend to others?

90%

82%

59%

37%

29%24%

20%

12%

4% 2% 4%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

59%

22%

10%7%

2%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Definitely Probably Probably Not Definitely Not Don't Know

The Broker Report


Technology & The Real Estate Agent

The demographic characteristics of Realtors have not changed significantly in recent years. The median or

typical REALTOR is a 54 year old white female who attended college and is a homeowner.

Value of Broker Supplied Technology

48% of agents and associate brokers would like their broker to

expand the amount of technology provided.

How Technology Gives an Advantage Over Other Real Estate Agents

22%

35%13%

11%

6%13% Exceptional Value

Valuable

Neutral

Fair Value

Poor Value

No Technology Provided by Broker

8%

15%

16%

19%

19%

22%

49%

49%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Saves money

Saves time

Clients demand it

To keep up with the competition

Marginal agents can't keep up

Make other agents look behind the times

Respond to clients faster

Stay competitive

The Broker Report


Networking How important are each of the following in generating leads?

Relationship Building Tools used to stay in touch

Only 18% of agents touch base

with past clients on a monthly basis

Not Important

Somewhat Important

Important

Very Important

46%

36%32%

41%44%

56%

46% 45%48%

38%41%

54%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Email Phone Call Postal Mail Client Party Workshop Other

Former Client

Active Client

The Broker Report


Customer Inquiries Generated from Website How many website inquiries do you get a year?

The median number of inquiries is 4 per year.

60% of Realtors have a website.

Business Generated from Realtors Website What percentage of business came from your website last year?

26%

33%

13%

7%

8%

4%7%None

1 to 5 inquiries

6 to 10 inquiries

11 to 20 inquiries

21 to 50 inquiries

51 to 100 inquiries

More than 100 inquiries

36%

27%

14%

11%

7%5%

None

1% to 5 %

6% to 10%

11% to 25%

26% to 50%

More than 50%

The Broker Report


Website Traffic Report

In the 90s, the telephone was the primary source of contact between a client and real estate professional.

Today, the Internet has replaced the telephone as the first point of contact. Web traffic on broker and agent

websites confirms this.

Where Traffic is Coming From

From a total of 3,477,867 Listing Domain Visitors

Listing Syndication

Break down of Top Referring Websites

44%

37%

18%

1%

Referred by another Website

Direct Traffic

Search Engines

Other

42%

9%6%5%

3%2%

2%

1%

1%

1%

28%

Craigslist

Other Listing Domain Sites

Zillow

Trulia

Facebook

Realtor.com

Yahoo Real Estate

Hotpads

Frontdoor

Vast

Other

The Broker Report


Search Engines Traffic

Which Search Engine Sends the Most Traffic?

Browsers Used

Top Browsers Used in Internet Search

Operating System Used

78%

14%

3% 2% 2% 1%1%

Google

Yahoo

Bing

AOL

MSN

Live

Other

68%

19%10%

1% 2%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Internet Explorer Firefox Safari Chrome Other

85%

13%1% 1%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Windows Macintosh iPhone Other

The Broker Report


Contact Information

Properties Online, LLC

1820 Empire Industrial Ct., Suite C

Santa Rosa, CA 95403

tel: 800.826.5123

e-mail: [email protected]

web: PropertiesOnline.com

The Broker Report - Properties Online Real Estate Marketing Tools

Documents

Transcript of The Broker Report - Properties Online Real Estate Marketing Tools