Agents Leading Their Clients "Down The Garden Path"

Thousands and thousands of dollars in so-called “marketing” is being ripped out of clients’ hands by real estate agents. Agents that claim they tailor every campaign to suit the needs of each property – as long as it involves thousands of dollars on newspaper ads!

There has been an enormous amount of research done by The National Association of Realtors on how buyers are finding their new home. The results are damning with less than 5% of buyers indicating they found their new home in a newspaper.

The so-called “expert” agents in Sydney are preaching how important it is to capture every possible buyer and therefore place numerous advertisements in several newspapers at the clients’ expense. It seems more than a little suspicious that the majority of the money in a marketing campaign is being spent on newspapers that evidence is suggesting fails more than 95% of the time. If we look at it another way it only succeeds less than 5% of the time – yet it costs a fortune.

So who is really benefiting from this? The answer of course is real estate agents. It is wonderful branding to have pages of property advertisements in the local paper. Those looking through perceive that these agents are successful and fall into the trap of calling them into sell their home and also spend thousands of unnecessary dollars promoting the agent – not their home.

The internet age is well and truly upon us. The National Association of Realtors suggest that more than 80% of buyers find properties on the internet, around 15% from signboards and less than 5% in newspapers. The real estate agent’s own magazine doesn’t get a mention and nor does the agency database. When you decide to sell your home do not fall into the trap of wasting thousands of your hard on dollars on promoting the agent and not your home. Food for thought?

Michael Marquette michael@marquetteturner.com.au

Junk Mail is a load of rubbish!

As the environment continues to be one of the most important topics in the world at the moment I am ever fascinated by the increase of junk mail in both home mail boxes and private post office boxes.

The focus of the world has been on increasing the awareness for the need to conserve our precious resources and yet both individuals and businesses in our local areas continue to proliferate tonnes of unsolicited as their main source of marketing. This is especially true for real estate agents and Marquette Turner Estate Agents has taken a stand against this ever increasing pile of junk by banning "Do you want to sell?" letters and focussing on environmentally friendly communication - namely the internet and email.

Only last Saturday (October 27, 2007) I was in Barry Street, Neutral Bay conducting an auction of a unit for fellow Marquette Turner Director, Christine Watson. I was horrified to see just how many real estate agents had stuffed junk mail in the letterboxes of the apartment block. The free local newspaper is called The Mosman Daily and there was a pile of them scattered near the mail boxes - all of which had been soaked by the rain in Sydney on Thursday and Friday. Most real estate agents in the area feel compelled to waste their vendor's money on advertising in this newspaper even though the latest statistics from the USA have indicated that less than 5% of real estate buyers are finding their properties in the newspaper. The cost of this madness is massive to both vendors and the environment and Marquette Turner has taken the stand that sound, statistically proven sales strategies that actually sell homes rather than promote real estate agents is what we are going to do.

Our 100% sales record for 2007 remains intact even though we have not advertised in papers like the Mosman Daily or Wentworth Courier. I fully support the Lord Mayor of Mosman in her environmental focus and congratulate her on taking a stand to end the endless pile of junk mail in Mosman mail boxes. At Marquette Turner we strongly advise a "No Junk Mail" sticker on your mail box and we hope that other councils take a similar stance on stopping real estate agents and other proliferators of junk mail in their tracks. Michael Marquette

How Much Money Should You Spend to Market Your Home?

How much money should you spend on marketing when you choose to sell your home? This question is one of the biggest problems facing vendors when examining marketing proposals from real estate agents in Sydney, Melbourne and throughout Australia. Rarely are the true facts ever offered as most agents have no formal marketing or negotiation qualifications. Even worse for vendors is that the entry requirements into real estate are so low, requiring a Certificate of Registration - taking in some cases just three days or even less if completed by correspondence.

The real issue here is what are the facts when spending money with real estate agents? Are they really looking to sell your home for the highest price possible and will their marketing suggestions make any difference? At Marquette Turner we have examined the issues associated with marketing in enormous detail and the reality is very different to that put to vendors by agents with little knowledge regarding marketing - which is in most cases your biggest asset. The fee you pay to real estate agents in Sydney, Melbourne and throughout Australia is one of the largest professional fees you will ever pay! - usually more than you will pay to your Solicitor or Doctor.

The best research has been done in the United States by the National Association of Realtors who examined how buyers found homes between 2004 and 2006. The internet is becoming more and more important in the lives of all Australians and the results of their research cast enormous doubt over the effectiveness of newspaper real estate advertisements. Most agents would suggest advertising in glossy newspapers like the Wentworth Courier and Mosman Daily in Sydney costing up to $3500 per page each week of any marketing campaign. The research from the USA sugggests that less than 5% of properties are purchased by buyers who found their home in a newspaper. The research indicates that almost 80% of all homes sold are found by buyers searching on the internet.

I guess the most important consideration when looking to find the agent to sell your home is what evidence they can show you to substantiate their suggested marketing campaign. What statistics can they offer from independent sources to support their claims and what formal qualifications do they have in negotiation? These questions if answered well will make the process of choosing an agent an easy process and will ensure that you save thousands of dollars in wasted marketing money. You will also achieve the highest price possible by ensuring your agent has formal qualifications in real estate negotiation - maximising your net result.

Michael Marquette