by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Ken Brand:

I’m a big fan of Scott Ginsberg the “Name Tag Guy”, I thought the name tag idea would make my card seem casual and approachable…wanted a short little resume so I put it on the back of the card. No sense wasting the space.

I’m looking forward to seeing what others are up too…thanks.

It’s time for you to show us what you’ve got.

Technorati Tags: real estate, real estate marketing

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

This is me in the Arizona Republic (permanent link):

 
A buyer’s market? You bet, but even more than that, it’s a listing agent’s market

As I write this, there are 55,706 homes listed for sale in the Arizona Regional Multiple Listings Service. Some are anomalous listings, but those would account for far fewer than one percent of the total. Allowing for every possible quibble, there are a lot of homes for sale — double what there should be.

In July, 4,730 ARMLS-listed homes were sold. Funds changed hands, escrow closed, sellers moved out, buyers moved in — sold.

That’s not a very healthy number of buyers. Five years ago, in July of 2002, 6,113 homes were sold. This is before the market went crazy, so it’s a reasonable number for comparison.

So we have about 75% as many buyers as we should have pursuing 200% of the normal quantity of inventory. That’s an 11.78 month supply of homes. Another way of saying the same thing: Every buyer in the market right now could have twelve or more candidate homes to choose from.

Not all locations are the same. Some buyers might have two or fewer homes to work with. For example, historic or architect-built homes are always in short supply. If you want to live in a high-demand area, you may have no homes to choose from. On the other hand, in very low-demand subdivisions, buyers may have 30 or more appropriate houses available to them.

Is this a buyer’s market? Oh, you bet! But even more than that, I see it as a listing agent’s market.

Why? Because for every home listed in the next 30 days, only a very few are going to sell within 30 days of being listed. For every home that comes off the market, at least one will replace it in the MLS. The ones that don’t sell immediately could be out there for a long while.

Which homes will sell? Those that are perfectly marketed in every possible respect: Priced right, prepared right, presented right. During the boom, anyone could sell a house. Now — and for the foreseeable future — only the Read more

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Rudy Mayer:

It’s translucent plastic. It’s clean. No photo. It’s different than any other card. People always comment on it and remember it.

You’ll just have to pretend you can see through Rudy’s card. I think this is a fun idea. Might be cool to try on a very heavy vellum, also. As with size, texture calls attention to itself. We print our cards on a very heavy stock, just because so many Realtor cards are printed on the cheapest lightly-coated card stock. We UV coat front and back. It’s necessary in the Phoenix sun, but it also just feels lush. I’ve watched people rub my cards between their fingers. We are monkeys with minds. The quickest path to the mind can be through the monkey.

Technorati Tags: real estate, real estate marketing

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Thomas Johnson at ERA Houston has a unique take on making his business card memorable:

This two sided card is printed on a Tyvek envelope like you used to get from the bank to protect the magnetic stripe on your debit card. My thinking is that it could have a shelf life much longer than a normal business card. If the recipient uses my card and puts it in their wallet, I have their money covered.

I’m thinking the card is printed at credit card size, which makes it an odd fit with other cards. This is not a bad thing. The human mind craves order. Give people a bunch of business cards, and they will stack them into a neat little pile. The ones that don’t fit will call attention to themselves — repeatedly, like a popcorn hull trapped between molars. Cards that are slightly too small or have rounded corners will be stacked to the top. Cards that are too large will go to the bottom of the stack. Either way, people will look at the odd men out again and again, trying to make their little stack of cards neater. I don’t know that insinuating yourself into a prospect’s brain as an irritation is the nicest thing to do, but getting in there at all is the first challenge. This is a Black Pearl in the most literally figurative sense…

Your turn: What makes your business card tick?

Technorati Tags: real estate, real estate marketing

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Richard Riccelli is a direct marketing creative genius. Where better to express that genius than on his business card?

Says Richard:

A website preview and a free offer all on a business card…

Each card features a common contact front with a different info back that makes a free offer — while visually previewing my website.

Common front of the cards.

One back.

And another.

What better way to sell the product than with small, unobtrusive but very potent demonstrations?

What about you? Show us your business card and the thinking behind it.

Technorati Tags: real estate, real estate marketing

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

This is a Richard Riccelli idea: Let’s talk business cards in depth.

I have built a form that you can use to upload an image of your business card. The form also asks you for your thoughts on your card. Use that space to explain your objectives for your card and how you went about achieving them.

I’ll make posts out of the responses so we can see what people are thinking and how those thoughts are expressed visually.

Technorati Tags: real estate, real estate marketing

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

The Associated Press:

Damage from the nation’s slumping housing market is evident throughout the economy and permeates financial markets. Add real estate agents to the growing list of victims, although they know few tears will be shed for them.

The National Association of Realtors expects membership rolls to decline this year for the first time in a decade. The group ended 2006 with nearly 1.4 million members — almost double the roughly 716,000 it had in 1997 — but expects 2007 to close with 1.3 million, a drop of more than 4 percent.

Agents’ ranks continued to rise even after the market began to cool about two years ago because of the 18-month lag between the downturn in sales and membership, says NAR spokesman Walter Molony.

Trade groups in two of the hardest-hit states — California and Florida — also forecast membership drops. The California Association of Realtors is expecting its first decline since 1997, forecasting a year-end tally of 185,000 members compared with more than 199,000 last year. The Florida Association of Realtors currently has about 154,000 members compared with more than 161,000 last year at this time, but expects flat membership by year-end.

Not to rob graves, but people working — successfully — in bigger brokerages should be attentive to the folks who are leaving the business. Not only will they have stuff to sell, like half-price lockboxes, but they are possessed of warm networks that will need to be serviced in the coming years. Not everyone can make a living selling real estate, but just about everybody likes to live indoors. If you can be the Realtor-of-choice for your former colleagues, you can work with a lot of people who will come to you pre-sold. And while I would never, ever suggest that anyone violate state laws by paying referral fees to formerly-licensed former-Realtors, it remains that gratitude is simply a matter of graciousness — and gift cards come in many denominations.

Technorati Tags: real estate, real estate marketing