Not so long ago, housing inventories were turning over so fast you had to pretty much put a bid on the home of your dreams the day you found it, or someone else would snap it up. But times are changing. Rather than staying on the market for just a few days, or a week or two, single family homes are now taking 30 to 60 days or more to sell in most markets.

"We are clearly experiencing a market transition, moving from a prolonged boom to a more balanced period of sustainable sales,” said David Lereah, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors in the organization’s 2006 home sales forecast. Translation — it’s turning from a seller’s market, into one that’s more favorable for buyers.

With more inventory out there, sellers are having to work harder to get their listings to stand out. NAR statistics indicate that in 2005, 77 percent of U.S. consumers started their search for a new home online. The most recent data published by Ipsos-Reid for online activity indicates that 54 percent of Canadian adults who have an Internet connection browse for real estate online. Based on these figures, industry experts say marketing on the Internet is the way to go.

“Sellers have come to realize that to get good value for their home, they need to make sure they choose an agent who knows how to effectively market a home online; and that doesn’t mean just putting the listing up on a company Web site either,” said Brendan King, chief operating officer at Point2 Technologies, a software technology company specializing in online marketing tools for real estate professionals.

Rob Tucker who works in the Boulder, Colo., office of Keller Williams, the fourth largest real estate franchise in the United States, stumbled upon Point2’s real estate software, Point2 Agent, three years ago while searching for a more efficient way to market his properties online.

“Before getting into real estate, I owned a Web-based company that sold outdoor gear and online training, so I was fully aware of the power of the Internet from the start,” said Tucker. “I was spending a lot of time and a small fortune on a Web site that offered the tools I knew I needed to make my listings stand out from the rest on the Internet. Point2 offered everything I wanted and at a fraction of the cost.”

Among the tools Tucker takes advantage of to get his listings to stand out, and in front of as many people as possible: providing lots of pictures online, offering extensive descriptions that answer all the questions a person may have about the property before they set foot inside, and getting his listings onto search engines such as Google and Yahoo! and real estate consumer Web sites such as Realtor.com and Point2Homes.com. He also includes tools like Google Earth, so potential buyers can see what’s nearby, and get access to neighborhood information.

“The successful online marketing of real estate doesn’t work unless you pull out all the stops,” said Tucker. “I’ve often had people – buyers and sellers alike – thank me for offering as much information as I do. A lot of sales have gone through because my listings were more complete than the next guy’s.”

If you’re planning to sell a home in the near future, log on to www.point2homes.com to see how your listings can, and according to King and Tucker, should appear. You can also use the site to find an experienced agent near you.

— ARA Content

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