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Wednesday, October 8, 2003 Hear all about the home of your choice New voice information service comes to local real estate Shopping for a home has come a long way from the days when you couldn’t find out about a property without contacting a real estate professional and have him or her show and tell you about every listing in the book. Now, consumers can browse through countless printed publications and surf dozens of Web sites to look at hundreds of homes available in a given area. A new service now available to the local real estate industry and home sellers can make it even easier for folks to find out about a potential dream home. RealTalk24 is a service which allows buyers to learn about a property in privacy without getting pressure from an agent, and agents or home sellers can tell buyers about a property without fielding dozens of phone calls. Here is how it works: * A prospective buyer sees a sign on a property with the RealTalk24 logo. * The sign says to call the number and enter a specific extension. * When you call, you hear a message describing that property, all its features, the price, and you’ll be given an opportunity to leave a message for the realtor should you want to learn more or make an appointment to go into the home. So what does RealTalk24 do for the prospective buyer? * From the convenience of your car, while driving around searching, or from your home, you can learn more about properties that interest you with anonymity. * When you find something you really care about, you can leave a message and only get a callback when the agent is available, avoiding the “no one is available to take your call” runaround. * You can learn more about a property than you can from the coded sheet in the “take one” box.ÊNo more 1BR, 2BA, LR, DR business.ÊThe property can be described to you in people talk highlighting the real livability features. * You don’t have to track down the Realtor — the Realtor calls you, but only when you have interest. What does RealTalk24 do for the seller? * The seller helps the agent recognize the wonderful things about the home, the neighborhood, the view, and the amenities. * The seller knows that the listing agent is professional, using all the tools available to move your property quickly. * This service gets more people hearing about your property every day independent of agent availability. What does RealTalk24 do for the listing agent? * The agent gets pre-screened leads.ÊThose prospects leaving messages have already learned a lot about the property and are truly interested. * The agent, through RealTalk24, is available 24/7 without being tied to a cell phone, pager, or message service.ÊRealTalk24 stands in for you while you are with customers, other prospects, or just away! * RealTalk24 works for you, accelerating listings and sales. “I’ve gotten a very good response from RealTalk24,” said Mark Barronton, who is marketing two new communities in north Meriwether County. He noted several advantages that the service has given him as well as home buyers. “A competing service in the area uses radio transmitters, but you have to be right in front of the house to hear them,” he said. “Now, you can just write down the number and go back home to call.” That is important, even in our high-tech society, Barrntonton noted, since not everyone has a cell phone all the time and cell phone do not have great reception everywhere. It also allows a third party, perhaps a friend of a prospective home buyer, to see a property and pass along the number for a later call. Barronton also put a longer message on his RealTalk extension that is available on the other service, he said. He took advantage of that to include the name and number of his mortgage broker, which has saved him considerable time in that several prospective buyers have been able to contact the mortgage broker directly without calling him. That is also an extra convenience for the buyer, he said. All RealTalk24 listings in the area, regardless of who is selling them, are accessed through a single central phone number. A real estate professional wanting to utilize RealTalk24 can purchase as many extensions off that number as is desired. Barronton has two so far. Oakland Hills in Alvaton, one of the communities Barronton is marketing through RealTalk24, is on Oakland Road just east of Ga. Highway 85, about four miles north of Gay. It contains what he likes to call “gentleman country lots” of 2-3 acres each, with homes of more than 1,500 square feet containing many amenities not commonly found in standard homes this size. All are priced at $109,900. A lot of home buyers are starting to see the advantages of moving into the northern end of Meriwether County, Barronton pointed out. “The quality of life is good,” he said. “It’s in the country, away from traffic, but it’s a quick trip back up to Newnan or Peachtree City, even to the airport.” The area is also becoming popular with people who work even farther south, toward Manchester and Columbus, he added. Spring Grove in Luthersville is the other community Barronton is currently selling, with similar homes and lots. Real estate professionals interested in utilizing RealTalk24 can sign up online by visiting www.realtalk24.com. For more information, call Karen Ratcliffe at The Citizen, 770-719-1880.
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