Real Estate Forums - View Single Post - Do real estate agent really need to have a website?

SEOWolf · 02-21-2008, 12:40 AM

A lot of excellent points HHI Golf Guy and great question Neal.

There are two types of Real Estate Agents and two sides to every sale.

You have Listing Agents and Buyers Agents. So you have the listing side of the transaction and the selling side of the transaction. Most of the time the commission is a 50/50 split between the two sides.

Listing Agents benefit from having their listings distributed through the MLS to many websites. Now while you can argue that their listings are advertised on many sites, if they advertise and sell their own listing they get 100% of the commission minus office fees and split. So naturally they would want to do their best to sell “In House”.

Buyers Agents on the other hand depend almost entirely on their websites to make a living. The most they can hope for is the sales side of the commission. Again, usually 50%.

Since Buyers Agents have few or no listings they must generate buyers for other Agent's listings. The best way to accomplish this in today’s market is a solid website that captures leads.

Print, TV or other traditional advertising is not that effective for Buyers Agents IMHO.

~VegasMack

02-21-2008, 12:40 AM	#3 (permalink)
SEOWolf Status: Administrator Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Missouri Posts: 884	Re: Do real estate agent really need to have a website? A lot of excellent points HHI Golf Guy and great question Neal. There are two types of Real Estate Agents and two sides to every sale. You have Listing Agents and Buyers Agents. So you have the listing side of the transaction and the selling side of the transaction. Most of the time the commission is a 50/50 split between the two sides. Listing Agents benefit from having their listings distributed through the MLS to many websites. Now while you can argue that their listings are advertised on many sites, if they advertise and sell their own listing they get 100% of the commission minus office fees and split. So naturally they would want to do their best to sell “In House”. Buyers Agents on the other hand depend almost entirely on their websites to make a living. The most they can hope for is the sales side of the commission. Again, usually 50%. Since Buyers Agents have few or no listings they must generate buyers for other Agent's listings. The best way to accomplish this in today’s market is a solid website that captures leads. Print, TV or other traditional advertising is not that effective for Buyers Agents IMHO. ~VegasMack __________________ In God I Trust.... It's you I'm worried about! Providing IDX Solutions for; San Diego real estate, and others in the Columbia Missouri real estate market and Las Vegas real estate websites too.