HomeGain’s  Home Buyers and Sellers Listing Preferences survey finds home buyers want to see marketing amenities like photos and floor plans in home listings; A majority of home sellers select real estate agents based on fees, web presence and office location rather than on their specific marketing plans

We’re pleased to announce the results of its survey on home buyer listing preferences and home seller listing agent criteria.

HomeGain surveyed over 1,000 home buyers who were asked to rate, on a scale of one to five, the importance of certain home listing amenities and information including, but not limited to, the number of photographs available, neighborhood information, virtual tours and interactive floor plans presented in connection with home listings.

The results show that the most important listings feature (scoring 4.3) buyers want to see is a large number of photographs. The next most important listings feature (scoring 4.1) for buyers are maps that display the location of the listed property.

Top 10 Most Important Property Listing Features for Home Buyers (Cumulative Averages, 1 = Least important, 5 = Most important):

1. Wide selection of photographs (4.3)
2. Location of the property on a map (4.1)
3. Room sizes (4.0)
4. Floor plans (3.9)
5. Town name (3.8)
6. House number (3.57)
7. Street name (3.57)
8. Room description (3.51)
9. 360 virtual tours (3.4)
10. Information on local services, eg. shops and schools (3.2)

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HomeGain’s For Sale By Owner (FSBO) vs. REALTOR® survey reveals home sellers’ success rates and satisfaction. Home sellers have greater success and higher satisfaction with the home sale process using a REALTOR® than going FSBO.

HomeGain surveyed over 1,000 homeowners asking whether they used a REALTOR® to sell their home or whether they attempted to sell it themselves. Eighty-three percent said they used a REALTOR® to sell their home and 17 percent said they tried to sell their home on their own.

Fifty-nine percent of home owners that used a REALTOR® to sell their home were successful vs. 39 percent of FSBO’s, reflecting a 50 percent higher closing rate for those home sellers using a REALTOR®.

Eighty-one percent of homeowners that used a REALTOR® to try and sell their homes said they would use a REALTOR® again for their real estate needs.

Eighty-eight percent of home owners who sold their homes using a REALTOR® said they would use a REALTOR® again. Continue reading this post

HomeGain.com announced today that it has released the results of its nationwide home improvement and home staging  Home Sale Maximizer™ survey. Past findings from the survey have been a guide for thousands of home sellers in preparing their homes for sale.

HomeGain recently surveyed nearly 600 real estate agents nationwide to determine the top 10 low cost*, do-it-yourself  home improvements for people getting their home ready to sell.

The top five nationwide home improvements that Realtors recommend to home sellers, based on average cost and return on investment (ROI) to sellers, are:

1. Cleaning and de-cluttering ($290 cost / $1,990 price increase / 586% ROI / 99% recommended)
2. Lightening and brightening ($375 cost / $1,550 price increase / 313% ROI / 97% recommended)
3. Home staging ($550 cost / $2,194 price increase / 299% ROI / 80% recommended)
4. Landscaping ($540 cost / $1,932 price increase / 258% ROI / 93% recommended)
5. Repair Electrical or Plumbing ($535 cost / $1,505 price increase / 181% ROI / 92% recommended)

Costs are averages and rounded up.

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Referrals remain in top spot; YouTube and video sites bump blogging from last place; Agents get lower results from print marketing toward end of year

Announcing the results of the HomeGain Realtor® Marketing Preferences Survey reflective of cumulative data from May and August surveys.

Based on responses from over 1,200 real estate agents and brokers nationwide, the results show a large dependence on referrals for acquiring new clients, with a cumulative overall score of 8.9 out of a possible 10 for effectiveness, which is slightly higher than Realtors indicated in the December-February HomeGain Realtor Marketing Survey.

Leads from their brokers and events, which includes open houses and fairs, are considered the next two most effective marketing strategies, replacing featured listings and email campaigns as indicated in the December-February survey.

Postcards and mailers were bumped from the fourth rank in the December-February survey to sixth, but for August results alone, it was scored as the eighth most effective strategy. Print ads were bumped off the list as a most effective marketing tactic, but listed as their ninth top marketing objective.

Survey results show a substantial decline in agents’ marketing results with blogging (moving from the fifth spot to eleventh spot since February), but an increase in social networking, which includes Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn, particularly with Facebook.

Agents’ opinion of how effective getting leads from their brokers was scored 6.0 in the May HomeGain Realtor Marketing Survey and decreased to 5.5 in August. Similarly, agents scored the effectiveness of participating in real estate focused events a 5.3 in May and only 4.7 in August.

Four least effective strategies and marketing objectives that did not make either top 10 list, from highest to lowest score, are blogging, outdoor ads, pay per click and banner ads.

Top 10 Effective Marketing Strategies for Realtors:

1. Referrals (Total score of 8.9 out of 10)
2. Leads From Your Broker (5.7)
3. Events (5.0)
4. Featured Listings (4.7)
5. Email Campaigns (4.6)
6. Postcards/Mailers (4.5)
7. Craigslist (4.3)
8. Social Networking (4.3)
9. Online Lead Generation Services (4.3)
10. YouTube / Video Sites (3.8)

(Cumulative Averages, 1=least effective/10 most effective)

Top 10 Marketing Objectives for Realtors in 2010:

1. Referrals (8.8 out of 10)
2. Leads From Your Broker (6.0)
3. Events (5.7)
4. Email Campaigns (5.3)
5. Craigslist (5.0)
6. Postcards/Mailers (5.0)
7. Social Networking (4.9)
8. Featured Listings (4.9)
9. Print Ads (4.2)
10. Online Lead Generation Services (4.0)

(Cumulative Averages, 1=least likely to use/10 most likely to use)

Surveyed agents indicated that they will continue to focus on referrals as their leading marketing strategy for the remainder of 2010, followed by leads from their brokers, events and email campaigns respectively. Craigslist moves up to the fifth top objective, and featured listings moves down from the fourth to the eighth top objective.

Cumulative averages are based on two surveys conducted in March and August 2010.

HomeGain conducts regular surveys of Realtors, including the HomeGain Home Improvement Survey, a quarterly HomeGain Home Prices Survey, and a Green Home Improvement Survey. The 2010 fourth quarter HomeGain Home Prices Survey results will be announced next month.

HomeGain’s AgentView online marketing program provides real estate agents with several of the top 10 most effective marketing practices for reaching potential home buyers and sellers in an all-in-one, exclusive and ad-free platform.

How effective are the different marketing options out there for you as a real estate professional? What are other Realtors spending money and time on that you aren’t…but perhaps should be?

Over 600 real estate agents and brokers completed the HomeGain Realtor Marketing Survey this month, giving us insight into this year’s top marketing strategies for acquiring new business.

Top 10 Effective Marketing Strategies for Realtors*:

1. Referrals (Scored 8.9 out of a possible 10)
2. Leads From Broker (6.0)
3. Events (Open Houses, Fairs, etc.) (5.3)
4. Featured Listings (5.0)
5. Email Campaigns (4.7)
6. Postcards/Mailers (4.6)
7. Social Networking (4.3)
8. Craigslist (4.2)
9. Online Lead Generation Services (4.1)
10. Print Ads (4.0)

* (1 = Least Effective /10 = Most Effective; Final scores are rounded up or down)

Surveyed agents indicated that they think referrals is the most effective strategy for acquiring new clients, with a score of 8.9 out of a possible 10 for effectiveness, compared to 8.7 earlier this year. Similarly, they also indicated that they will continue to focus on referrals as their leading marketing strategy for the remainder of 2010.

The next two most effective strategies were new additions to the survey results — Leads from the broker and events, which includes open houses, fairs, etc. Craigslist was also a new addition not seen on the previous two surveys.

The survey revealed the lowest most effective marketing strategies, in order: Craigslist, online lead generation services and print ads.

Five marketing strategies that did not make the top 10 most effective marketing strategies list, in order of score highest to lowest were: outdoor ads (4.0), YouTube / video sites (3.8), blogging (3.6), banner ads (3.4), and pay per click (3.1).

2010 Marketing Goals

Surveyed agents indicated that they would like to focus on top marketing strategies — referrals, leads from their brokers, and participate in more real estate focused events.

Top 10 Marketing Objectives for Realtors in 2010**:

1. Referrals (Scored 8.8 out of 10, most likely to use)
2. Leads From Broker (6.2)
3. Events (5.8)
4. Email Campaigns (5.4)
5. Postcards/Mailers (5.0)
6. Featured Listings (5.1)
7. Social Networking (4.8)
8. Craigslist (4.8)
9. Print Ads (4.6)
10. YouTube / Video Sites (3.7)

**(Cumulative Averages, 1 = Least Likely to Use / 10 = Most Likely to Use)

Five marketing methods that did not make Realtors’ top marketing objectives for 2010, in order of score highest to lowest: online lead generation (3.6), blogging (3.6), banner ads (3.4), outdoor advertising (2.7), and pay per click (2.3).

HomeGain conducts regular surveys of Realtors, including the HomeGain Home Improvement Survey and the quarterly HomeGain Home Prices Survey. The 2010 1st quarter HomeGain Home Prices Survey results will be announced in two weeks.

HomeGain’s AgentEvaluator marketing program helps Realtors build their referral pipeline.

AgentView online marketing program provides real estate agents with several of the top 10 most effective marketing practices for reaching potential new home buyers and sellers in an all-in-one, exclusive and ad-free platform.

How effective are the different marketing options out there for you as a Realtor? What are other Realtors doing that you aren’t…but should be?

Thanks to over 1,300 real estate agents and brokers who completed the HomeGain Realtor Marketing Survey in December 2009 and March 2010, the results are in! HomeGain today announced the survey results for the top most effective marketing methods of Realtors® in a national press release today.

Top 10 Effective Marketing Strategies for Realtors*:

1. Referrals (Scored 8.7 out of a possible 10)
2. Featured Listings (4.8)
3. Email Campaigns (4.7)
4. Postcards/Mailers (4.6)
5. Blogging (4.1)
6. Online Lead Generation Services (4.0)
7. Facebook (4.0)
8. LinkedIn (3.6)
9. Outdoor Ads (3.6)
10. Print Ads (3.6)

* (Cumulative Average Scores, 1 = Least Effective /10 = Most Effective)

Referrals

On the survey Realtors indicated that they think getting referrals is the most effective strategy to acquire new clients, with a cumulative overall score of 8.7 out of a possible 10 for effectiveness. Surveyed agents indicated that they will continue to focus on referrals as their leading marketing strategy in 2010.

Featured listings (4.8 effectiveness score) and email campaigns (4.7) were considered the next most effective marketing strategies.

Social Media

The survey shows that Realtors rank YouTube (3.5), Twitter (3.3), banner ads (3.2), pay per click advertising (3.2) and MySpace (3.0) as the least effective marketing methods.

Although Realtors did not indicate Facebook as a top 5 most effective marketing method (scored at 4.9), surveyed agents indicated that they will increase their use of it in their marketing plans in 2010.

2010 Marketing Goals Continue reading this post