Hiring YOUR Long Beach RealtorHiring YOUR Long Beach RealtorLONG BEACH REAL ESTATE
Well, Im going to try to make this process a little easier for you.
Back in March I wrote an article, Selling Your Long Beach Home, which you might be interested in reading. The article explains many of the issues Sellers are facing in todays real estate market. Issues that are also new to most in the real estate industry today.
Traditional marketing and advertising just doesnt work anymore. Many real estate agents are going to tell you they can put you on the internet, and they just might. After all the MLS is on the internet, but you cant access it, I can though. So what good is that going to do you?
Most Realtor sites provide what is called IDX which is an MLS search and lead generation system designed for the use of buyers in the market. Not all IDX is equal. Did you know that Trulia, Zillow, Yahoo and a lot of the other large search sites do not provide a full MLS feed? They have contracts with just a few of the larger brokerages and only show thier listings; they capture your information and sell it back to the agents at the brokerage companies providing the listings for them to advertise. When you search these sites you are not viewing ALL properties that are available. They cant provide you with the entire MLS because they are not in the real estate business. They are not licensed Realtors or Brokers. Only a licensed Realtor or Broker has access to the entire MLS. They sell advertising.
You are reading this article on my blog site. Blogging is taking the nation by storm. Top Realtors across the nation are getting their message out to consumers on blogs and social networks. Blogs have the ability to rise rapidly to the top of the search engines in a fashion that no web site can or ever will. I can get more information out to consumers on my blog than I ever could get out using print media. Over 80% of todays buyers are using the internet to find their next home. Ask me more about blogging, I would love to tell you all about it.
An agent who has a listing in one of the complexes I sell heavily in called me this week. She wanted my assistance in selling her listing. I asked her what she had done so far. She went on to tell me that 'the seller made her' distribute flyers around the area and send postcards out. She was running an open house here and there, but no buyers were coming to view the condo.
I asked her if she had placed the property on the internet. She claimed to have it on about 25 sites. Well folks, I am all over the internet and this sounded a little fishy to me. So I hopped onto my beloved Google and went looking. I searched using all of the likely terms and even searched by
I further explained to this agent that consumers rarely go past page 2 or 3 of Google when searching on the internet and that if her listing was not there it would not do her seller any good. She was very quiet and did not know where her listing was on the internet. She asked me how she could get her listing there. That was easy to explain. Anticipate the future of the industry you are in and work your butt off for a few years, 7 days a week, 18 hours a day building lead generating sites and your internet presence. Throw a ton of money at web site companies who promise SEO and dont deliver until you finally seek the education required to do it yourself. Oh and by the way, it is a second full time job, plan on carving out a few extra hours from your sleep time!
So, why am I telling you this story? Because, when you interview Realtors and ask them about their internet presence I want you to have them show it to you. I want you to watch the keywords that are entered into the search engines and ask yourself this question. Is that a likely search term that a potential buyer would have put in the engine?
Dont fall for the agent that puts their own name in the search engines to show you how their site comes up #1, that is a load of pooh. Anybody can do that, it is your name, how many other people do you think have that name? Of course they will be easily findable, try finding their properties and web sites with realistic real estate related search terms.
So lets say you have a Downtown Long Beach Condo. What terms do you think a potential buyer might use? Which terms would you use if you were looking for a Downtown Long Beach Condo?
Or maybe you have a Belmont Heights Condo, go ahead you are getting it now:
Go ahead, pop those keywords into Google, Yahoo and MSN. Is the Long Beach Realtor you are thinking about hiring anywhere to be found? When you go to their site, are their listings easy to find? What are they doing to sell their other listings? Get the skinny!
Ask for a list of their other listings. Pop the addresses into Google, Yahoo and MSN. If you cant find them easily by address, they are not there, its that simple. Can you say next?
Next questions: How many hits a day does their site receive? How many leads a day/week/month are they generating? Have them show you the back-end statistics on their site, make them prove it.
Open houses just dont work anymore. Buyers are not trudging around in the summer heat, they are sitting in front of the computer, in the comfort of their own homes, searching on the internet. The internet provides property details, full color pictures and video tours. They can decide which properties they are interested in and make an appointment with their Realtor to view them, at their convenience. It really whittles down the process for them. We are all short of time these days and buyers dont want to waste any of theirs either.
Which leads us to the next issue. Photos. Yep, that is another one of todays Realtors jobs. Taking near professional grade photos, knowing how to enhance them without altering the truth in them and how to build a video tour worthy of representing your Long Beach Home or Condo. Check out the photos taken of this Downtown Long Beach Condo. These are great photos that clearly depict the incredible job this seller did on the remodel of his Long Beach Condo. This unit has been on the market just a little over a week and is getting a lot of showings. Photos get showings. Showings sell properties!
Photos are not going to represent your Long Beach Home very well if you have not staged your home for the photo shoot. Another talent expected of todays professional, staging your home, or providing a professional staging service to do the job for you.
I could go on forever here, but this article is just getting way too long. I will save the rest for another article. In the meantime you might want to read an article regarding an important issue, 'Chasing the Market Down' and begin to understand that pricing is of the utmost importance in todays market. If you are not priced right, you can forget selling, you wont even get showings.
Other Articles of interest to Sellers of Long Beach Homes and Condos:
http://www.longbeachrealestatehome.com/005F36 Posted on July 26, 2007 18:24:48 by Laurie.Manny
 Laurie.Manny  Send feedback »
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The seller has already reduced the property to a ridiculously low price for that particular unit, he should not have had to bring the price down that low to sell it. The condo is a beautifully upgraded, upper corner unit, with a fantastic view, in a very highly desired building. By dropping the price that much, this seller is damaging his neighbors property values, and is being cheated out of his fair market value. It was uncalled for in this instance and isnt helping to sell this unit.
Yes, I am drawing the line in the sand. There are very few Long Beach Realtors who actually have a substantial internet presence and that is the dead honest truth! Why on earth would you settle for less for one of the biggest transactions in your life? 
On a positive note, if you go onto the market priced right, with a cohesive and comprehensive marketing plan, stage your home and keep it neat and clean, you stand a very good chance of selling and getting a fair price. Bear in mind that there are a lot more properties on the market than there are qualified buyers, the competition is fierce right now. Put your best foot forward. To begin your search for the perfect home or to sell your home in the Long Beach area, begin your journey by calling Laurie Manny at (562) 212-5420.
