Real Estate Forums

Buy New Tampa · 02-24-2008, 09:57 AM

I totally agree with Jim B, if you are moving into a new area / market it is nearly impossible to do this without a website. I personally had a great deal of success without a website in this scenario, but that was because I moved to Florida from California and was representing California investors that already new and trusted me and wanted to invest in Florida as I was. So, I had an established customer base. This is the point. If you ALREADY HAVE AN ESTABLISHED CUSTOMER BASE, you do not need a website to be successful.

If you do not have an established customer base, you must develop one. Is a website and a web presence a tool to accomplish this? You bet. Is it the only way to accomplish this? Not really, but for my money, it is the most cost effective way to do it. Of course, that is partly because I have a clue about what I am doing.

An agent that does not have a clue can not just throw money at a website and expect it to generate good leads. It doesn't work that way. Bottom line, it is not a straightforward yes or no to the question "Do real estate agent really need to have a website?" because it depends on the agent and the needs of the agent and the agents perspective customers.

Jim B · 02-24-2008, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buy New Tampa

I totally agree with Jim B, if you are moving into a new area / market it is nearly impossible to do this without a website. I personally had a great deal of success without a website in this scenario, but that was because I moved to Florida from California and was representing California investors that already new and trusted me and wanted to invest in Florida as I was. So, I had an established customer base. This is the point. If you ALREADY HAVE AN ESTABLISHED CUSTOMER BASE, you do not need a website to be successful.

If you do not have an established customer base, you must develop one. Is a website and a web presence a tool to accomplish this? You bet. Is it the only way to accomplish this? Not really, but for my money, it is the most cost effective way to do it. Of course, that is partly because I have a clue about what I am doing.

An agent that does not have a clue can not just throw money at a website and expect it to generate good leads. It doesn't work that way. Bottom line, it is not a straightforward yes or no to the question "Do real estate agent really need to have a website?" because it depends on the agent and the needs of the agent and the agents perspective customers.

Very good points Buy New Tampa,

I would also strongly recommend that a new to the area agent setup a blog and make it their business to know everything they can about a niche they want to do business in, and write about it. They will get people reading it, they will get calls from it, and if they are doing it write and linking back to their website as well, they will help their site's SEO as well.

SEOWolf · 02-25-2008, 10:24 AM

Again, I think Buyer’s Agents (especially new Agents) need a website to solicit buyers.

Listing Agents can get by with out a web presence but lose a great Listing tool when they attempt to reject a web presence in addition to the possible loss of the sales side of the transactions.

I just can’t see a Buyer’s Agent being successful in today’s market with out a good web presence.

You make a great point Buy New Tampa. Throwing money at a website thinking the leads will come in is not enough. Just like any other aspect of your business you need to have a plan.

Not just what a site looks like but who it targets, what it does and how you manage your leads once you have them.

SEO is crucial. If you have the best site in the business and no one sees it you have wasted time and money. SEO and organic rankings can bring in traffic and leads. Of course you can still get traffic by advertising your website by traditional media too.

The major problem I have seen is that Agents put no real planning into their websites.

~VegasMack

teamaguilar · 02-27-2008, 04:26 AM

you just can't do business without a site !

geri.rice · 05-17-2008, 11:18 AM

I think that the value in the website is making yourself available in as many channels as possible.

San Diego Real Estate · 05-17-2008, 11:27 AM

REALTOR web sites?

Well I can tell you that if you are going to be standing when the dust settles you are almost going to have to have a site of some sort Team or otherwise!

In today's market the buyers are wanting to do a lot of the browsing on their own and if you don't a site they will or could possibly go with someone that does.

One other key factor besides time and traffic is the fuel prices with them continuing to rise the buyers of today need the ability to browse from the comfort of their home!

jr991 · 05-18-2008, 08:41 AM

I only have 2 listings right now at the time of posting this and they both are leads I had gotten from my own personal website. The one listing when it sells will also result in the seller purchasing from me aswell, so my website so far this year may potentially produce 3 ends for me.

I tend to rely a lot on my website for leads which makes it difficult for me to do other things to generate business, so I think having a website is a must, but you also gotta be doing the other things as well.

relievemystress · 05-18-2008, 09:00 AM

Very interesting topic, I think It is better to have a website for the real estate agents...

teamaguilar · 05-19-2008, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by relievemystress

Very interesting topic, I think It is better to have a website for the real estate agents...

this is spam, found this post on several forums!

jay.robinson15 · 05-21-2008, 06:33 AM

A website is essential these days for real estate agents, but it cannot be the only business tool you utilize. You have to attack your marketing and your lead generation from several different angles to maximize your profit potential.