Have you made the move to embrace the internet as a means of conducting your business, or are you still working entirely in the offline world? Here are some statistics that should give you pause:
From a recent study of the 2006 California Real Estate market by Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist and vice president of the California Association of Realtors® (CAR®):
- 92% of Internet buyers found their agent on a Web site; 63% found them through an Internet search engine; 0% of Internet buyers found their agent through brochures, flyers, yard signs or mailers to their home
- In 2000, 28% of people said that they used the Internet as an important part of their home-buying and selection process. In 2006, 70% said they did
- 86% of home buyers started using the Internet as part of their process before they started looking for a specific home; the other 14% did after they started looking, but before they contacted a real estate agent; that means that 100% of buyers surveyed started looking at homes first, agents second.
- fully 81% of Internet buyers stay with the first real estate agent they choose to contact
- Internet buyers spent an average of 4.8 weeks doing research before contacting an agent; traditional buyers only 1.7 weeks. That means an Internet buyer is better prepared and twice as less likely to waste your time
- Internet buyers bought a home on average after spending 2.2 weeks looking for a home with an agent; traditional buyers spent an average of 7.1 weeks
- Internet buyers previewed an average of 6.7 homes with their agent (they had already eliminated ones they did not wish to see), traditional buyers previewed 15.4 homes; an average of just under nine fewer wasted showings per customer
- Number of agents an Internet buyer interviewed, on the median: 1; Traditional buyers? 3.
- 69% of Internet buyers said response time was extremely important.83% of those buyers chose email as their favored communication method with their agent. 0% chose "in person."
- An incredible 97% of Internet buyers said they would use the same agent again. Traditional buyers? 50%.
So what does this mean for you? Adapt or die. As more and more buyers go entirely online to find their next home, there will be fewer and fewer traditional buyers out there. Now is the time to shift offline marketing dollars (brochures, newspaper ads, etc) online, so that the internet starts making money for YOU.
No matter where you are, these data and trends are coming at you. You must get on board or you will be literally run over and left behind.
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