DEL.ICIO.USOnline community
Real estate agents play matchmaker
For the AJC
Sunday, February 15, 2009
You’re probably quick to ignore that old flame or high school nemesis on Facebook, but you might want to consider confirming your real estate agent’s friend request.
Agents are befriending clients on the popular social networking site to learn more about them and their home preferences. Those efforts join status updates and postings on Facebook and another trendy free site, Twitter, with details about listings.
Photos by Christopher Oquendo / AJC Special/Special
Re/Max Metro Atlanta agent Joan Kaplan uses Facebook to keep up and network with her clients.
Sellers should attempt to start a conversation, Ramiro Garcia of Bo Bridgeport Brokers says, by highlighting interesting points about their homes.
Last year, 38 percent of the calls to Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty stemmed from Internet efforts, said vice president of marketing Janet Blanton.
Sometimes sellers even plead for people to buy their house.
Photos posted on those sites as well as Craigslist, LinkedIn, MySpace, Plaxo and other social networking tools help showcase an owner’s snapshots of houses and display links to virtual tours and blogs about homes or neighborhoods.
Ramiro Garcia, an agent with Bo Bridgeport Brokers, said these new marketing efforts make his intown listings stand out. He often receives comments from people who report seeing homes he’s mentioned on Facebook.
The use of social networking sites has grown significantly in recent years. In fact, 14 percent of all buyers use such networking daily or nearly every day, according to the National Association of Realtors’ 2008 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.
In addition, 33 percent of Realtors are involved in social networking sites or blogs for business, with the most popular being Facebook, ActiveRain and personal blogs, according to the NAR.
Local agents and sellers are quick to laud the sites’ accessibility to house hunters.
“My strategy with social networking is to be real and to portray the real life living we do intown,” Garcia said.
Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty has a fan page on Facebook, and 45 of its agents have individual pages they use for business. It also has started groups on areas of town, such as “I live(d) in Atlanta” and “I live(d) in Decatur,” in which it posts home sales data and local event info, and invites the public to comment on life in those communities.
New listings, price reductions and positive reports of contracts are posted in 140 characters or less on Twitter.
Last year, 38 percent of the calls to the real estate firm stemmed from Internet efforts, said Janet Blanton, vice president of marketing and a founding partner. Using social networking takes a “professional situation and makes it a little more personal,” she said.
With all of its efforts in the social networking realm, “people are more likely to find us and to have more interest in what we’re selling,” she said.
And if people are thinking about listing a home with agents such as George Heery with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty, he said sites such as Facebook allow them to learn more about him, from seeing pictures of homes he’s sold to candid family shots.
He especially is directing efforts to first-time buyers.
“We can basically on Facebook find them and meet them on their terms,” he said. “They can tell us what they’re interested in. They can click on the stuff they want more information on.”
Updates on social networking sites also direct people seeking more information to Heery’s Web site, which generated 1,000 click-throughs from August to December.
“They said, ‘OK, well this looks interesting.’ Click. ‘Let’s see what it’s telling me,’ ” he said. “That was a thousand more opportunities for me to sell what I had.”
The social networking strategy might be something your agent is pursuing, or something that sellers and buyers can use during the process.
Here are five keys to remember, which could lead to an exchange of a different set of keys.
Make it interesting
Don’t beg people to buy your house, but place the emphasis on interesting details to try to engage a conversation, Garcia said. “If it’s something unique about the porch or the stained glass or the rooms, I can kind of highlight a feature,” he said, “and say, ‘Hey, isn’t this cool? Anybody looking to have an interest in this type of home?’ ” From there, it can progress from computer conversations to human interaction.
Be open, friendly
Joan Kaplan, an agent with Re/Max Metro Atlanta, uses Facebook to reach out to clients and gain insight into their lifestyle and personality. “I view myself kind of as a matchmaker, and I like to get to know the whole person,” she said. “I truly try to connect with my buyers and sellers to get the sense of who they are and to find the ideal home for them.” When contacting agents about selling homes, ask them how they will employ social networking, Heery said.
Maximize exposure
It’s not enough to rely on status updates or one post on a social networking site. Efforts should be combined with pictures and virtual tours. In doing so, sellers should keep their agent posted on what they’re doing online so that it fits with the agent’s plan and that good intentions aren’t wasted. Garcia recalls a time when he and a seller had separate postings on Craigslist, but the seller’s effort didn’t have the photos from the virtual tour that he was providing.
Don’t dive in
Understand the “culture” of each of the social networking sites by spending time on them and learn how they can help accomplish your objective, said Toby Bloomberg, owner of Atlanta-based Bloomberg Marketing/Diva Marketing, a social media marketing consultancy.
Choose words wisely
Marketing your home online also gives people an opportunity to quickly comment about homes, neighborhoods and other issues that could be remotely related to what you’re trying to accomplish. You want to interact and give feedback, but Garcia advises against being caught up in bantering about issues that may not reflect well on your home.