Real Estate Marketing Web Sites (continued)

Redfin.com

Redfin is an online real estate program serving Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Seattle. It has been in operation since October of 2002. Like the other listing services, users enter location information or an MLS number into the search page and receive listings for that area. The program offers both buyer and sellers services.

The seller’s service helps consumers accurately price their home and prepare it for sale. Once the home is ready for market, Redfin registers the home with the local MLS, provides yard signage, flyers and lockbox. When the seller receives an offer Redfin helps with negotiations and prepares all closing materials upon the acceptance of the offer. In return for this service, a flat fee of $3,000 is charged up front or $4,000 at closing. Redfin’s buyer’s service consists of an online offer and sale agreements as well as telephone consultations with a Redfin agent. For using their services, the organization refunds buyers 2/3 of the commission earned on the home sale.

The company has future expansion plans in the Washington D.C. and Chicago Markets.

Local Newspaper Listings

By their very nature, local newspaper websites do not have the reach of the national sites such as Realtor.com and Yahoo. However, they have something the larger sites do not have – local appeal and specialization. In addition, many newspapers offer their online listings as part of a package deal with the placement of an advertisement in the paper. Online newspaper listings can come in standard classified advertising formats, however, many also have searchable listings similar to the ones on the larger sites. Pricing varies depending upon the community size and circulation.

An agent only need to click a mouse to see that there are many real estate Internet sites vying for their marketing dollar. Before choosing the one that is right for you, carefully consider the needs of your target market to ensure that the online source you select will accurately promote your brand identity and service offerings.

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