There is no doubt that the advent of the Internet as an e-commerce hosting tool has transformed the real estate industry. The Internet is a particularly well-qualified platform for the presentation of real estate. Today's major real estate websites sort available properties by area and then present them with a combination of written information, photos, and often videos. National firms such as Coldwell Banker operate sites that act as national dating services.
The home buyer can now do their initial research at a computer terminal. The traditional approach of contacting an agent and having the agent arrange home inspections, which may or may not suit the client, is no longer the first step. Today, a home buyer can select a number of homes suitable for viewing on the Internet and then have a real estate agent arrange a home inspection.
This new reality means that the agent is no longer the client's first point of contact. For this reason, it is important for active agents to establish an Internet presence. If a customer is clicking through homes and finds one they are interested in, it is important that the listing agent is clickable on the same page. Otherwise, the customer can call their friend, the real estate agent down the street, and ask them to step in.
The main host of non-commercial real estate websites is Realtor.com, a website operated by the National Association of Realtors. Realtor.com has over two million five hundred thousand listings, and for many of them, the realtor has ads and a web address right next to it. Their use of the site is an excellent example of e-commerce hosting: it is a well-formatted marketing and product presentation tool.
A real estate agent should have a personal website that is the next stop for a potential customer. An innovative real estate agent will often set up their site to provide additional images and information about the property. Contact information in the form of phone numbers and an email template is essential: the key is to make it easy for a customer who has found an interesting property to connect with the listing broker.
Nothing accomplishes this more effectively than an attractive, informative website that personalizes the real estate agent and connects them to the property. When choosing a hosting company, a realtor should choose one that understands the technology behind "virtual tours" and will provide the bandwidth to include them on the website.
Videos of different rooms in the house are a huge improvement to the presentation of the property. Hosting a real estate website can be something of a specialty, so choosing one with the most advanced technology to allow a potential home buyer to "view" the home online will be a great addition to the sales pitch.
It is also important that a realtor's site provides insights and information beyond what is provided on all national real estate internet listings. A real estate agent's personal website should be elaborate, sympathetic and offer the client as many options as possible.
Here again, the real estate agent, working with their personal web host, can design a website that leads the prospect to other listings in an area similar to the one selected. These properties may be listings from other brokers; the idea is to maximize the use of Internet technology to get a potential customer into the hands of a realtor, regardless of whose listing the customer ultimately decides to buy.
You must be logged in to post a comment.