Where's The Stinking Address!

Did you ever wonder what was up with real estate advertisements? What is the MATTER with these stupid agents? They do not put in the price, they do not put in the address, they leave this, that or the other obvious pieces of necessary information out of the ad.

Now, you have called on ten ads and NONE of the properties are in the area that interest you. NONE of the properties are what you want or you just had to leave messages! Your blood pressure is up to 200 over 180. (Good is about 130/80 or a bit less). What is wrong with these miserable agents?

As Pres Clinton says, "I feel your pain." But, there is a reason AND a solution to avoid the hassle.

Real estate agents pay for their ads out of their commissions. Generally, the company is not a participant in these costs. My advertising bill exceeds $20,000. per year and is only second to my salary (which I pay myself from my business.) I advertise for two reasons. First and foremost, I need to get my listing clients' properties sold. Second, I need to find buyers.

If I put all of the information about the property in the ad, I limit the responses to the very few people who might actually want that house. My business flourishes, even in bad times, because I pick up a healthy number of buyers who call on my ads. Sometimes they actually buy the listing they called on, but, usually not.

OK, OK, you do not care about my problems and you shouldn't. But, how can you avoid the frustration of calling a hundred agents to talk about 99 properties you could care less about?

Easy. Find an agent who works the area(s) or types of properties you might like. Get "married" to that agent and let him/her provide you with the information you need. He/she will be happy to provide you huge amounts of information on most homes. In this age of automation and computers, you can designate an area, price range and other details and receive, at least in my area, an email notification of every property that fits the criteria as soon as it is listed.

Does that mean you will not be reading ads and magazines anymore? Probably not, but, now, you just give a list of the ads to your agent and he will get you details on all of them. This is part of the service we do for our LOYAL clients. I often call half a dozen agents about their listings to service my clients.

In the meantime, I will continue to bait my hook with 2/3rd's of a juicy worm to try and draw as much interest as I can.