From the “Huh, I knew that, but it’s good to see a chart” department…

This is a screen cap of the National Association of Realtors® 2009 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Instinctively, I believe many agents know this in their bones, but it is still something to see the chart laid out with cold, hard numbers.

Todd’s spin: In 2009, there was no difference between agents and the internet as sources where the buyer eventually found their home. ffff99;">As agents, we have almost been replaced by the internet in terms of buyers finding a home.

ffff99;">Another “Big Point” for agents to also consider: 36% (over 1/3) of buyers found their home online. And that percentage just keeps climbing…year…after year…after year.

If your marketing material doesn’t include a web-presence, please join us in the 21st century. For those that have a web component to your marketing material (which represents an overwhelming majority of you reading this, I am sure!), your marketing needs to stand head and shoulders above your competition…

…and not from YOUR perspective!

You need to view your web marketing through the eyes of the “average” buyer hunting and pecking for homes online…

…AND you need to see your marketing effort through the eyes of your seller.

• Are you making good on your promise to “be everywhere” on the ‘net?
• Are you quantifying what “being everywhere” on the ‘net means to your sellers?
• Can 100% of the potential buyers find the home online?
  • That is, is your site/blog – which no doubt includes your listings – readily findable in a typical Google search a buyer would likely do to find that listing (e.g., “name of your town homes for sale,” “name of your town real estate,” etc.)?
  • If not, then your site/blog – no matter how beautiful or otherwise “cutting edge” it may be – is little more than a digital business card.
• Is your seller engaged in the online marketing of their property?
  • With the rise of video and social networking, it is a no-brainer for you and your sellers to collaborate in marketing their home.
  • Using video and social networking, your seller can easily reach a network of folks that you cannot.
  • With your marketing, it is easy for your seller to spread the word of their house for sale (e.g., by re-Tweeting your Tweets and by linking to places where you are marketing their home on the web).

But then, I’m preaching to the choir again, aren’t I?