War Stories
Realtors Tell About their experiences
For some time now we have been collecting "War Stories" about the experiences of Realtors on the Web. Here we will relate some of these. Many of these stories teach a lesson and others are perhaps more valuable for the humor.
There is a Real Estate Company with multiple offices that had contracted for a Web Site to be developed. The Web Site development firm was an established company with good references in the Real Estate industry. The site was developed to the satisfaction of the franchise owners and they sat back anticipating the results. Nine months later with thousands of supposed "hits" and very few inquiries they began to examine the site that had been designed for them. They found that the site had never been submitted to the search engines and that it was not "keyworded" for the cities that they serviced. They had not been getting the detailed log reports which they should have and had not had a search engine performance analysis on the site. When they confronted the Site Developers they were told that changes in the industry were responsible for the poor performance and the site had to be redesigned because of this. Of course this is ridiculous. As professionals they should have kept up with industry changes. Not only that, they never did submit the site to the search engines. To date, they had already paid more than $75,000 for the site development and administration. They were locked in. So, they agreed to pay an additional $5,000. To correct the problems caused by "industry changes". Two and a half months later their redesigned site is coming up on the search engines. It is still not key worded for the cities they service and the corrections continue.
This story is not a unique one. Today, there are middle school students who can develop a Web Site. This does not mean they fully understand the Internet and how it works. A Web Site is a key business element that requires knowledge of the business, sales and marketing and all the facets of business management. It also requires a broad-based knowledge of the workings of the Internet.
The greatest problem that we see is a lack of knowledge on the part of the business person who is considering a Web Site for his business. Without an ability to evaluate the competency of a Web Site Developer the business person is at a loss to make a qualified judgement. There are many people who have developed numerous Web Sites but there are few who have created sites which produce the intended results.
4/5
From a realtor in Tucson we hear that she has been getting regular inquiries from the Internet and has a client flying in from Japan. After a year on line and with listings in Realtor.com and her own web site she has a regular flow of inquiries from around the country.
5/7
We continue to get e-mail from Realtors around the country. There are many Realtors who are just learning about the Internet and making the adjustment from the "snail world". At first it is hard to get accustomed to the speed of the net. E-mail is transmitted to recipients in a matter of seconds. People who have been active on the net for a while come to expect a response from others within 24 hours. One is not surprised when a business responds within hours to an e-mail. The businesses that are seriously "doing business" on the web often respond within an hour. So, for those of us who are just starting a commercial enterprise on the Internet, this concept of speed is something we have to adjust to. Those of us who do not make this adjustment will fall by the wayside as more aggressive and attentive companies give customers a faster response.
7/11 Three Web Designers and $$$ over 1 1/2 years
Signed up with a web master who had done a nice, clean site for a nearby local Realtor. I
did not know the right questions to ask, so I signed up with him too. He was in the
northwest states. Turned out that he did "cookie-cutter" sites, and didn't like
it at all, when I had too many creative ideas. He was a very nice "person" but
did not, absolutely did not, want to follow my instructions. Also, he told me I absolutely
did not need my own domain.
After several months of begging, pleading, and stamping my feet, because he never made any
of the requested changes, such as marking listings SOLD, I couldn't deal with it all any
more. So, I switched to someone else who came recommended. Altho' his work was good, and
delivered on time, he was "extremely" expensive for any tiny little thing done
after the initial site was up and running. Also, he decided that he had become a
"consultant" and took it upon himself to "run my life". Made changes
to the site without being asked, took it upon himself to "alter" my colours --
which are a major part of my identity, without consulting with me first, added links to
places he thought should be on my site, and on and on it went for several weeks. When I
stamped my feet, and insisted these things be removed, it took weeks to make those
changes.
He also informed me that studies had been done (this has been done in most forms of media
for many years)saying that the only recognizable colours on the Net are red, white, and
blue. Well, that's wonderful, but part of my success over 17 years is due to being
"different" which is also "recognizable" by nature of not being like
everyone else.
My corporate identity and my
corporate colours were very important to me, and the subject was just not up for
discussion. This infuriated him. He did set things up under my own domain, tho'. However,
strange as it may seem, the name I'd picked out all along, had just been taken by someone
on the outskirts of my trading area, just weeks before I applied for it. Had I gotten it
in the first place, I would have it now. I'd used the name in other types of media, and a
huge franchise Realtor decided he would register it, in case I ever wanted to
"BUY" it back from him.
Finally, I'd had enough. I went with a out-of-town Canadian friend who builds websites.
Although my site was already "built", he now manages it for me. He doesn't
argue, just does what he's asked, and gets paid well.
A similar horror show took place with the ISPs --- their servers were continually going
down. Had to move four times before I found a compatible group of people with whom I could
work. AMAZING. Everyone wants to argue. Everyone is an expert. They charge huge set up
fees, and people who are not "in the know", need to really be careful about
signing those kinds of contracts. Some keep on charging my AMEX cards, sporadically, after
months of no charges. Trying to get that rectified is another nightmare.
All I want to do is sell real estate. I have spent the better part of the past year and a
half "working" on the Net. Indeterminable costs in $$$, and much more in nerves.
A true horror show, that finally is, in spite of itself, finally producing excellent
results. Not lots, but I am good at weeding and feeding. Response time is
"everything", as you say on your site. I, for one, believe this is absolutely
business on the cutting edge of the future, and we are now, fortunately, positioned to
take advantage of the way that business will be conducted from here on in.
I have made some valuable new contacts in the industry, we belong to three network
communities, and look forward to exceptional success from here on in. Our site was
written up in the Canadian Real Estate News newspaper which is delivered to all real
estate offices across Canada. Many Realtors made contact as a result of that article, too.
I was at a meeting for the Real Estate Council of Ontario recently, and was informed by
the President that he'd just returned from an Air Canada flight, on which he'd read an
article about my web success. Not realizing he'd be seeing me, he didn't keep the article.
I am now trying to locate a copy.
Keep up the great work that you are now doing. You provide a very valuable service, that
I'm certain is much appreciated. I came across your site quite by accident, and have
bookmarked it for continued use.
Carolyne Lederer
Carolyne Realty Corp
Brampton "Toronto"
7/27 This from Bob Jurgensen in Manassas, VA
I average about 3-5 requests a week for my "free relocation kits" and about 1 in 10 ever communicates back in any form. Most do provide phone numbers but few return calls and I usually get voice mails. (Bob has stopped sending out the kits to every request, he contacts people first now)
In spite of this seemingly poor rate of return, I did sell 11 homes and almost $2 Million in sales off the Internet in 1997. This year, thus far, about 5 so far and two on the way (I hope) ...
I tracked my sales last year very carefully because it was all new to me and I wanted to know what works and what doesn't.
My first contact was an Air Traffic Controller from Boston moving to this area (Dulles) and we began a dialog. He came down alone and I gave him a tour the day he interviewed for his new job. Then two weeks later he returned with his family and we went out to do some serious searching.
Right after this family bought, he passed my email address to another friend in Boston, who visited my site and also requested a relocation kit. Bingo... another sale a few weeks later. Between these two guys I had a referral from each and that's a total of 4 sales in about 3 months. (A new ATC facility opened at Dulles recently and they had to staff it so many are coming here from other parts of country.)
That's not all, this year these same two controllers have each sent me yet another referral and one is coming in August to "take the tour", the other most likely in October. So that's a total of 6 sales (hopefully) in less than two years off basically ONE HIT on my site.
There have been several others, mostly military and/or government employees. Not sure why, but I guess they use the I-net daily. Coupled with the fact this area (DC-Northern VA) is a major gov't area, keeps them coming I guess. I seem to have the most success with gov't and military types.