RealLead Blog

How many Benjamins are you Spending to Sell a Listing?

This is a question we’ve been curious about here at RealLead — so we set-out to conduct some research. We found that most Realtors (on average) are spending around $750/listing – now this includes a percentage of marketing expenses, like: MLS fees, board fees, developing/printing flyers, taking quality photos, running ads, SEO, hosting open houses, [...]

4 Birds, 1 Stone…

You know about the old adage of “killing two birds with one stone” — well how about 4 birds? Now let’s substitute the word “kill” with “acquire,” “birds” with “leads” and “stone” with “RealLead strategies.” Makes more sense and is less offensive to bird lovers (like me!). Our strategy here at RealLead will actually help [...]

Why Realtors Should “Listen” to Tweets

Realtors should utilize Twitter like Google – and enter search terms to see if anyone is searching for a Realtor in their area. Better yet – you can set-up keyword alerts, so that you’ll be informed whenever someone tweets your keywords. Examples of keywords Realtors can set-up alerts for are: your name, your business name, [...]

Would Your Customers Buy this Tee-Shirt?

Ever wonder if your customers would buy the “I Love My Realtor” tee-shirt?? Ever wonder what the heck it even means to be considered an “Excellent Realtor?” We here at RealLead did wonder — so we asked! Would your customers say you meet these qualities? .Qualities that Warrant the Title: Excellent Realtor! #1. They respond [...]

5 Reasons + 10 Rules: Realtors Blogging

Okay, you can admit it – most Realtors’ relationships with their clients look much like this: Realtor helps client find property – Relationship ends. Now wouldn’t it be great if your clients stayed in touch with you long after they purchased a property with your assistance? Okay – maybe not ALL of your clients, but [...]

What’s all the Tweeting About?

Posted by reallead on January 19th, 2012

As the CEO of RealLead, I was excited to get the opportunity to share our free mobile marketing tools on stage at the Inman Connect conference last week in New York City. It was great to hear so many Agents and Brokers talk about the need for having a mobile marketing strategy in order to reach today’s consumers. If you missed the conference below is our 5 minute demo – and below that are some of the great Tweets about our technology. Thanks for the great support! We’re excited to offer a top quality mobile marketing tool to allow Agents and Brokers to generate more qualified leads in real-time! Follow is on Twitter: twitter.com/realleadnews

Comparing Mobile Phone Lead Gen Tools

Posted by reallead on January 4th, 2012

For the real estate industry, it’s imperative to have a mobile marketing solution for generating real-time leads for your listings. Below is a chart that compares the current mobile phone technologies that allow you to generate leads – including when the technology was first used, consumer usage, consumer adoption, and whether or not it’s hit a tipping point in the market.

One of the things we do here at RealLead is track mobile marketing trends. For example, QR codes are all the rage right now, but we know they will soon become obsolete, or morph into something that provides more ROI to the businesses using them. SnapTags may begin to gain market share, or augmented reality – if that’s the case, we’ll modify our mobile marketing tools to meet the consumer adoption needs happening in the market. So you can sell listings, while we help you generate real-time leads…

Comparing Mobile Lead Gen Tools

if you find any other data – please post it here so I can update this content. Thank you!

Two Real Estate Industry Predictions for 2012

Posted by reallead on December 30th, 2011

It’s that time of year when people start making predictions about what’s to come in the year ahead. The real estate market is no different – we all want to know what lies ahead for home owners, buyers, sellers, realtors, banks, investors, mortgage companies, and real estate technology…

We’ve scoured the Web and below are the two themes based on overall market behavior and trends. One is about properties, and the other is about technology…

#1: Ubiquity of Real Estate Owned (REO) Properties: Several people are predicting that the large inventory of distressed properties will continue to plague the real estate market longer than anticipated. According to the RealEstateInsiderNews.com site – “The number of homes repossessed by lenders in the first half of this year dropped 30 percent compared to the same period in 2010. But foreclosure processing delays — with lenders taking longer to take action against delinquent borrowers — is stalling the housing recovery.” Therefore, an estimated 1 million foreclosure-related notices for defaults, auctions, and home repossessions that should be filed by lenders this year will be pushed back until next year, according to the latest report by RealtyTrac.

There are several benefits to buying REO properties. Examples include:

All liens against the property are removed once it becomes an REO, and taxes are paid.
The bank or lending institution that owns the property will often offer financing with better deals than they would offer on traditional properties.
Lenders and banks do not like holding REOs on the books, and try to get rid of these as quickly as possible.

Click here to read other benefits listed by The Bigger Pockets Blog.

#2: Mobile Solutions Become Essential for Realtors: We have seen an unprecedented growth of mobile technologies this past year, and it’s only projected to continue growing. Consumers today utilize their mobile phones to research, shop, connect, share, and much more! It has fast become our main mode of connection – especially when we consumers want immediate information.

According to NAR (National Association of Realtors), in 2011, smartphones made up the majority of all US cell phone purchases. Ginger Wilcox, head of industry training at Trulia, says that “mobile solutions for real estate pros will be essential to help agents connect with mobile consumers.”

Actually, technology competence in general will become the norm in the real estate industry. We’re already hearing stories about how consumers don’t want to work with a real estate agent who doesn’t understand mobile marketing, web marketing or the need for sharing all property information upfront. It’s actually a great time to be a Realtor – you have access to so many amazing technologies that help you win more listings, close more deals, communicate more effectively, and position yourself as tech-savvy.

We also recommend following Stefan Swanepoel on Twitter, New York Times best selling author. He’s also a business, leadership & motivational speaker, as well as a real estate trends strategist. He’s created a great Twitter list of the “The Most Influential People Online in Real Estate.”

[photo source: http://kimcurranrealtor.wordpress.com]

Free Signup for Mobile Leads – For Real…

Posted by reallead on December 21st, 2011

Today is an important day here at RealLead – we’ve officially moved from Private Beta into Live Beta. Any of the users listed below can sign-up for RealLead, and activate properties with unique mobile codes for FREE! Yeehaw! This means you can:

Sign-up – for free!
Activate all of your listings with Pay-Per-Lead mobile plan – for free!
Set-up multiple mobile marketing campaigns – for free!
Track where you leads are coming from on your personal Dashboard – for free!

Are you?

A Realtor®?
A Broker Owner?
A Commercial Property Owner?
A Property Manager?
Selling or Renting a Property (FSBO, FRBO)?

If so – then you’re eligible for RealLead’s mobile marketing tools. We’ve made it easy for you add mobile marketing to your properties – so give us a try – it’s:

Free to sign-up
No contracts
No hidden fees
No risk

You can try before you buy – isn’t that fantastic!

We offer two mobile marketing plans:

PAY-PER-LEAD: Free to set-up, only pay for the leads you want to claim. The leads are either $0.99, $1.99 or $2.99 each (depending on the level of data we collect from the consumer on your behalf).
UNLIMITED LEADS: If you have a property getting a lot of traffic/activity, you may want to upgrade that listing to Unlimited Leads and only pay one low monthly fee of $9.99 – and you’ll get to claim all leads.

Watch video below to see an Overview of RealLead:

Take a Tour of RealLead

Posted by reallead on December 13th, 2011

And the winner is…

Posted by reallead on December 13th, 2011

Bobby Stevens – of Windermere Lane County – is the winner of our sign rider contest.

Congratulations Bobby! We hope you enjoy your gift certificate.

Any other US-based Realtors wanting to be a part of our FREE beta testing should request a Beta Key at info@reallead.com. Free Beta entails access to free mobile generated leads for all of your listings through February 2012.

This offer to request a Free Beta Key ends December 29th, 2012.

IDX, Inc. and RealLead, LLC. Announce Real Estate Survey Results

Posted by reallead on November 8th, 2011

Over 65% of REALTORS® surveyed report that integrated IDX/MLS search sells more homes

Eugene, OR: In July 2011, IDX, Inc. and RealLead, LLC. surveyed thousands of Realtors and home buyers nationwide. The Home Buyer Survey focused on home buying “pain points”. The Realtor survey focused on the value of real estate websites and use of mobile marketing technology in the real estate market.

According to the Realtor survey of IDX Broker subscribers, over 65% confirmed that a real estate website integrated with IDX Broker, generated at least one recent real estate transaction.

“The Realtor survey points to the value of integrated IDX search to a segment of Realtors that actively track the source of a transaction. Not every Realtor® tracks this stuff. Many Realtors offer integrated IDX/MLS search simply because they know it makes them more competitive.” says Luke Walsh, General Manager of IDX, Inc.

According to the Home Buyer Survey, distributed by Caroline Cummings, Co-founder and C.E.O. of RealLead, LLC., approximately 86% of home buyers expect a very quick response from a Realtor. The majority expect a response within a few hours, with 44% expecting a response within the first 30 minutes.

“This survey provided us with a lot of great information about home buyers’ pain points. Response rate is immensely important to home buyers. This is an area where RealLead can help Offices and Agents by implementing and tracking a mobile marketing campaign for each of the Realtors’ listings,” says Cummings.

The Home Buyer Survey indicated that 52% of home buyers prefer to work with a Realtor that understands how to use the Internet and mobile marketing technology to help them buy or sell a home.

About RealLead, LLC.
Based in Eugene, Oregon, RealLead, LLC is a technology company that provides Mobile Marketing tools, and an online Lead Marketplace that connects qualified home buyers to Realtors in real-time. RealLead recognizes that the home buyer wants to hear back from a Realtor within a few hours of their interest in a specific property, RealLead helps facilitate that connection in a more meaningful and efficient way by using the latest mobile marketing tools. RealLead is currently in Private Beta Testing. Realtors interested in being notified of the Full Beta launch this winter can register at http://www.reallead.com/.

About IDX, Inc.
Based in Eugene, Oregon, IDX Inc. is nationally known as a leading provider of real estate search applications. IDX, Inc. actively manages over $1 trillion worth of active listings data from over 400 individual Multiple Listings Services (MLS). IDX, Inc. provides integrated IDX software, customizable listing search utilities and lead management tools for real estate based websites ( IDX Broker ). In addition to the primary web-based software, IDX also provides an integrated WordPress widget for use in WordPress based blogs and websites ( IDX Broker WordPress Plugin ) as well as a dedicated mobile application available for the iPhone and iPad ( myAgent IDX ). The entire suite of real estate software available from IDX is easy to manage and maintain and helps real estate professionals display real estate data from their multiple listing service (MLS) regardless of their technical ability. For more information on all the services provided by IDX, Inc. please visit http://www.idxbroker.com

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5 Listing Agent Differentiators

Posted by reallead on November 1st, 2011

Stand Out in Today’s Market

When home owners seek to find a Realtor partner to help them sell their property, it’s important for you as a Listing Agent to stand-out among your competition. Below are five ways you can stand-out, land the client, and show them how you sell homes differently than anyone else in your market…

#1: Showcase Your Mobile Marketing Strategy: Show them how you’ll generate more qualified leads by utilizing a mobile marketing campaign for their property. Remember, adding mobile marketing to your properties alone is not enough – you must track your lead generation (i.e. what marketing medium the leads are coming from, how the consumer is requesting info – be it QR code, texting, calling to hear an audio recording). Utilize a mobile product like RealLead.com

#2: Plan, Monitor and Report: Realtors should treat a property they are listing like a business would treat selling a product. No two properties are alike – so treat them differently by developing a marketing campaign specific to that property. Monitor the results of each marketing medium – and share the results back with the property owners monthly – or bi-weekly if that makes sense. Remember the old management adage: “You can’t manage what you don’t measure!”

#3: Showcase Your Track Record: Tell them about other homes similar to theirs that you’ve listed – including the process you used to sell the property. Be clear about what worked and what didn’t work. The more transparent you are, the easier it will be to build trust with your clients. Encourage they call some of your prior clients to hear what they thought about your services.

#4: Develop and Share Success Stories: It’s so easy today to capture short video testimonials from your clients. Most smartphones today come with a video camera built-in. Ask your happy clients if they’d mind sharing a short story (less than 60 seconds – 30 is best) about how you helped them find their dream home! This kind of video content is priceless. You can post this on your own Web site, your Facebook page, your blog, and even create a YouTube or Vimeo channel. When your clients provide a video testimonial ask them to be as specific as possible about what they liked about your style (i.e. how quickly you responded to their inquiries, your strong negotiating skills, your business- and tech-savviness, why they trusted you, etc.).

#5: Be Creative: Share creative ideas you may have about how to increase the value of your client’s home. For example, maybe how the home is staged will increase the value, or the color of paint. Maybe the landscape needs a little work. Let your client know you know what home buyers are looking for – and tailor their property to meet those needs. Bring something interesting to the table with each client. After all, this is why they are working with you in the first place! Oh – and ask yourself, why would you hire you to sell your home? Make a list and lead from there…

Share other strategies you use to stand-out as a Listing Agent in today’s market…

Responding to Mobile-Generated Leads

Posted by reallead on October 20th, 2011

I’ve been asked a lot lately from Realtors about proper etiquette related to responding to a lead that is generated by a mobile marketing campaign.

It’s important – first to know that most consumers want to hear back from someone within 30 minutes of their interest in a property. And this response to them can be a phone call, a text, or an e-mail. Now, if you have their mobile phone number (which you will if you’re using RealLead’s mobile marketing tools) then you should call them – and call them as soon as you can!

Research from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) conducted in February 2010, showed that 89% of consumers indicated response time is very important when choosing their agent. RealLead’s mobile marketing tools allow the interested homebuyer to text, scan quick response codes, or call to hear a voice recording of a property’s listing. Within seconds, the consumer receives a response back, and is able to view that property’s photos and listing details. Simultaneously, the listing agent receives a text (like shown above), and an e-mail, informing them someone is interested in that specific property, and they can follow-up immediately.

Here are some examples of what you can say when you call the lead:

“Hello, my name is Mary Jones – I’m representing the owner of 123 Main Street. I just received a text message informing me that you’re interested in this property. Can I answer any questions about this property for you?”

“Good Morning – this is Bob Smith. I’m the Listing Agent for 123 Main Street. I just received a text message informing me that you’re interested in this home. I just happen to be free right now – would you like me to come and show you inside the home?”

In some cases – you may even have the consumer’s name, e-mail and comments if they’ve elected to provide that information on their mobile phone. The more information you have, the more personal you can make your message when you speak with them. For example:

“Hello, is this Susan McAdams? — Hi Susan, this is Mary Jones – I’m representing the owner of 123 Main Street, and I just received a text message informing me that you’re interested in this property. I see you’d like to know how old the roof is. —- The owners replaced the roof 10 years ago, and it’s a 30-year roof. —- Are you currently working with a Realtor? —- Well I’m available to show you inside the home in about a half hour if you’re interested?”

You can also choose to send a text message back to the consumer who has requested additional property information – like shown to the left.

The important thing is to RESPOND to their inquiry within a 30 minute window. It’s okay if the consumer doesn’t want to speak with you, or if they’re working with another Agent already – at least you’ve followed up with the lead, and they now have your name and mobile phone number in the event they’d like to call or text you back. And if their existing Realtor isn’t as responsive as you are – who do you think they’ll call for help when they need it?

Just as mobile lead generation is a relatively new service to the real estate market, it’s also new to the consumer market. Add mobile marketing to your Listing Presentations so property owners see you understand the latest mobile marketing technologies to help them sell their property.

RealLead is also building tools that will help you track your mobile marketing campaigns – so you’ll be able to show your property owners what mediums of marketing are working (sign rider, newspaper ad, brochure, etc.) is generating the most interest. Mobile marketing with meaning will help you think and respond more strategically – as a result, you’ll sell more homes! Have fun – and best of luck!