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In an effort to improve the impact of the marketing of listings, I randomly choose current listings around the country in a variety of price ranges and comment on their effectiveness. No current clients of mine are used, nor do I know any sellers or buyers or have any additional information about the property.
4209 Bunker Hill Dr. North Little Rock AR 4 + 2 $239,900
http://realestate.yahoo.com/Arkansas/North_Little_Rock/4209-bunker-hill-dr:3225d5ea522746dae0aecba0b011fc8;_ylt=AkkYaheioXEiZvExWZB7ivZn47Qs
Although there is only one photo for this advertisement, this exterior shot does a good job of providing a potential buyer with a good perspective of this home. It is easy to tell this is a sprawling home, and needing a wide angle lets us see that it is on a side street surrounded by trees. The leaves being off the trees and on the ground shows this to be a recent photo. (However, if this home does not sell by the end of the year, the ad should be updated with a winter photo.)
The description of this home does an excellent job of taking the reader from one room to another, pointing out at least one (selling point) feature about each area described. For example, "Family room with a fireplace and a game room with a bar and built in cabinets" makes the room stand out from other ads that might just say "family room".
Even though the description copy ends with "A Must See", this is minimal of what I call "Realtor fluff" and does come at the end.
I like how this advertisement is tied together. Given the limitations of one photo, the photo does set the home apart, and the description copy continues along the same lines. The selling points that make this home unique are well scattered. It is obvious that time and effort went into this advertisement.
The only negative is that there are spaces for school information which is "not available". However, this is common on Yahoo and may not be the fault of the advertiser.
In another positive, clicking on the "additional information" link takes us to the office advertisement for this listing, which is also well done. In fact, there are several interior photos which after having read the description serve as a strong reinforcement to the selling points of this home.
This advertiser took into account that a potential buyer from out of the immediate area could find this home via Yahoo, and makes the presentation a strong enough one to entice a potential buyer to click to the next step. Too many agents expect a potential buyer to click further and fail to sell the property enough to entice the next step.
Here is a good example of a property which is not the most or least expensive of its type within this region, but provides enough information to shine above other listings.
GRADE: B
Note: This commentary is uncompensated and for marketing purposes only and is no reflection on the featured property. Its accuracy is not guaranteed. Neither Dave Kohl nor First In Promotions shall be held responsible for any representations.
At this time, I have openings for more realty agent/office clients to critique current and brand new listings on an hourly basis. No current or past client listings are featured on this blog.Random listings are chosen around the country.
Your comments are most welcome!
In an effort to improve the impact of the marketing of listings, I randomly choose current listings around the country in a variety of price ranges and comment on their effectiveness. No current clients of mine are used, nor do I know any sellers or buyers or have any additional information about the property.
127 Casselman St, Folsom CA $269,900 3 + 2
http://template.metrolistmls.com/sacramentobee/cgi-bin/GetOne.cfm?MLSNum=90076410&
The first impression is not as strong as it could be. The initial photo is one of only 2 exterior photos, and because of the big tree in front it shows off little more than the garage and driveway. The other exterior photo is of the back of the house. As a result, we are unable to get a true feel for the appearance of the exterior. Of course, we easily see the For Sale sign in the front. As if that would have any impact on a potential buyer. Over the years, I have seen it too many times where the For Sale sign seems to have an impact on the angle of a photo. Not a smart move.
While presenting several interior photos is usually a good thing, the empty room shots make it difficult for a potential buyer to envision how furniture or decorations would fill the room. Seeing a tag (which appears to be a price or service tag) on the dishwasher in the kitchen shot seems odd, since there is nothing in the copy to indicate any new appliances.
The description copy is too much Realtor fluff and not enough facts to entice a potential buyer. We are not told or shown why this is a "Great Location". We are told this property is "Turn-Key", but having seen that it is empty from the photos makes a potential buyer think of the work needed to fill the house with furniture. Using description copy for "Look at the pics!" is a waste of time. Being told this is "Not A Short Sale or REO" could be interpreted as this home not being available at a low or special price.
Having RV or boat parking could be a plus, although we don't know enough about the location to determine if there is a lake and/or recreation area nearby. The very last fact is "Horse prop", with no further details.
As a potential buyer, I could GUESS that the home is in or near a recreation area, could have horses and is near camping and boating. But, frankly, I have no idea. I also know this property is empty.
This home is far from the only one in this same area and within this price range. I can't even see what the actual front of the house looks like. Details and selling points are few and far between.
Use of "Response to offers immediately" within the description is not only poor grammar (which reflects on the listing agent), but indicates desparation.
In my opinion, the agent will keep going back to the seller saying "I'm not getting offers which are high enough" and blame the marketplace. The seller should blame the agent for presenting this property in such a way that there is little to no reason to make a full-price offer.
GRADE: D+
Note: This commentary is uncompensated and for marketing purposes only and is no reflection on the featured property. Its accuracy is not guaranteed. Neither Dave Kohl nor First In Promotions shall be held responsible for any representations.
At this time, I have openings for more realty agent/office clients to critique current and brand new listings on an hourly basis. No current or past client listings are featured on this blog.Random listings are chosen around the country.
Your comments are most welcome!
The news release from the Board of Realtors actually has some positives in it. This should not be such big news to me, but given the amazing amount of "less than positive" statistics many realty associations spew out, it is at the point of pleasant surprise.
Yet, the picture could still have been painted brighter. This is the news release they sent out:
---------------------
AUSTIN (Austin Board of Realtors) – According to the Multiple Listing Service report by the Austin Board of Realtors, the volume of home sales in the Austin market surged last month, possibly because of the tax credit for first-time homebuyers.
Last month, 1,823 homes were sold, a 38 percent increase from 1,322 in October 2008. The median price of Austin homes in October 2009 was $182,000, a 5 percent decrease from the same month the previous year.
In the early part of this year, the home sales volume in Austin was down significantly compared with 2008. However, that gap in sales volume began to close in July 2009 when the local market reached a volume similar to the same month in the year prior.
“Sales volume like this is similar to what we saw in 2005, which is an encouraging sign,” said Jay Gohil, chairman of the Austin Board of Realtors. “It’s possible some of this surge in volume was related to the original deadline for the first-time homebuyer tax credit, so it’s good for our market that the tax credit was both extended until April and expanded to include more current and prospective homeowners.”
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Again, I look at this type of news from a marketing perspective. The idea is, or should be, to make this information as positive as possible. This realty board exists to assist the dues paying realty agents and offices and to promote home and property ownership in the area.
But there is too much copy in this release that pulls this story back down. They don't know for a fact that the tax credit has any bearing on this information. The very last quote, from the Chairman of the Board, says "it's possible some of this surge.....". That is our final impression from this story - saying that there is a "possible" reason. Sorry, but facts are supposed to support statistics, not a theory.
It's not up to me, but to illustrate my point, here is how I might have released the same information they did, by doing some editing of this copy:
- - - - -
AUSTIN (Austin Board of Realtors) – According to the Multiple Listing Service report by the Austin Board of Realtors, the volume of home sales in the Austin market has surged.
Last month, 1,823 homes were sold, a 38 percent increase from 1,322 in October 2008. The median price of Austin homes in October 2009 was $182,000, a 5 percent decrease from the same month the previous year. In the early part of this year, the home sales volume in Austin was down significantly compared with 2008.
“Sales volume like this is similar to what we saw in 2005, which is an encouraging sign,” said Jay Gohil, chairman of the Austin Board of Realtors. “It’s also good for our market that the tax credit was both extended until April and expanded to include more current and prospective homeowners.”
- - - - -
Talk about addition by subtraction!
For those who wonder why I constantly gripe about how real estate is marketed, Southern California has provided still another example of the need to get it right.
The most recent home sales statistics are coming out around the country this week. Since the Southern California marketplace is not always a reflection on national trends (to put it mildly), I decided to pay special attention to news from the area.
Overall, it appears that home sales have risen and selling prices are down, at least for those who find it significant to compare against previous months and years. My opinion is that there should not be the automatic comparison that people in the industry insist on. In a challenged market, especially, the emphasis from within the industry should be on the positive.
Links are below to some of the articles I reviewed. You can see the issue here. Portions of Orange County clearly show an increase in sales, a positive statistic indeed. Yet, less than an hour drive to the south, San Diego home sales statistics are not bright.
According to the latest statistics, home sales are down while prices are up around San Diego. Granted, you can't twist the truth. But there are times when it could be hidden just a bit. My issue continues to be that realty associations and people within the industry continue to endorse publicity for these negative statistics. We have different realty associations, all with thousands of dues paying members and wanting the same things, counteracting each other by feeling the need to put out the negative along with the positive.
To put it another way, if I were a licensed realty agent in San Diego, I would be furious about the release of these statistics. The smart thing to do would be to release ONLY the positive statistics, such as the portions of Orange County and L.A. County and how the market is looking better on average throughout Southern California. Instead, a potential investor doing even mild research for Southern California is going to pass on San Diego upon seeing the information in question.
Already today, I have had a mortgage lender advertising client of mine, who services Southern California, pass on the San Diego area while still considering Orange County. Based on the research I shared, and I am not at all biased toward one area or the other. He wants the most bang for the buck in an active marketplace.
Of course, there will be regions and communities which do better than others in any real estate market and climate. We should hear about those. It helps to spur interest and attract attention to properties in those areas. But we should NOT hear about the areas that are suffering. It does not serve current home owners well at all. Which I thought local realty firms are supposed to be doing.
Here are some of the articles I explored. With so much difference between one area and the next, the positives are negated, and the negatives sour the overall impression.
http://southcoasthomes.freedomblogging.com/2009/11/18/laguna-beach-home-sales-up-619-over-last-october/
http://www.kpsplocal2.com/news/local/story/Riverside-County-Home-Sales-Prices-Fall-in-October/HJyF9VB3U02JxhZXtKUgdQ.cspx?rss=2276
http://www.10news.com/news/21641119/detail.html (San Diego)
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2009/nov/17/government-is-helping-stabilize-the-housing/?partner=yahoo_feeds
In an effort to improve the impact of the marketing of listings, I randomly choose current listings around the country in a variety of price ranges and comment on their effectiveness. No current clients of mine are used, nor do I know any sellers or buyers or have any additional information about the property.
924 Rita Dr. Pittsburgh PA 4 + 2.5 $155,000
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/949-Rita-Dr-Pittsburgh-PA-15221/2135626632_zpid/
NOTE: It is rare that we use a Zillow.com ad for this evaluation. However, this was linked to me via the Tribune-Review Newspaper site.
The first impression with the exterior photo is a positive one, showing the exterior and surrounding looking toward the front. Normally a lawn littered with leaves is not good, but in this instance it adds to the photo because it is a reasonably current photo.
However, the only 2 other photos are also exterior shots from about the same distance, with only the angles changing. We can barely tell there is an attached garage, yet we are not told in the description whether or not it is a 1 or more car garage. That could be a "lost" sales point right there.
We have no interior photos to choose from even though the description begins with "Spacious home with a lot of character". We do not see this, and this, plus the "convenient location" comment at the end of the description are examples of what I call "Realtor fluff" in the copy. We do not see the "character" or know what this home is "convenient" to.
Out of all the features and "character", we are first told about the "plaster crown moldings" in the description. Once again, the advertisement does not target the likely potential buyer. This is hardly the biggest concern for a family looking for a 4-bedroom home.
Further into the description, there is a misprint of "&". That is how it shows on the advertisement. I understand with HTML code things like this can go wrong. However, this shows me (and a savvy potential buyer) that the agent or the office obviously did not check this ad.
There are several strong sales points within the description for a potential buyer who sticks around on this page long enough to see it. Amenities such as the Central AC, 2 fireplaces, zoned heat, and a laundry room are excellent points for a 4-bedroom home, especially in a city with all 4 seasons.
Information about local schools ranging from elementary to high school is included. As important as this is along with a 4-bedroom home, this is one of few listings which actually provide that.
However, the "last impression" on this page happens to be Zillow's map comparing this property at its asking price with other surrounding homes. Fine in concept. But upon further review, this map shows this home to be at least $13,000 HIGHER than any of the others included.
The map situation is not necessarily the fault of the agent or the listing office. But since it appears to me that nobody checked this ad, they probably don't realize the damage done. If I were this advertiser, I would either demand that the map be removed from this page, or I would pull this listing ad effective immediately. There is nothing in the property description to help me justify this being the most expensive property. Not to say that there are not good reasons. For example, something like "only 4-bedroom home on the block" in the description would easily explain the higher charge.
If I was the seller of this home, I would be furious about that map and strongly question the agent whose job it is to represent and sell this home.
Right information, but wrong way to present it. This is another of those listing advertisements which could EASILY be improved and get this home sold.
GRADE: C+
Note: This commentary is uncompensated and for marketing purposes only and is no reflection on the featured property. Its accuracy is not guaranteed. Neither Dave Kohl nor First In Promotions shall be held responsible for any representations.
At this time, I have openings for more realty agent/office clients to critique current and brand new listings on an hourly basis. No current or past client listings are featured on this blog.Random listings are chosen around the country.
Your comments are most welcome!
In an effort to improve the impact of the marketing of listings, I randomly choose current listings around the country in a variety of price ranges and comment on their effectiveness. No current clients of mine are used, nor do I know any sellers or buyers or have any additional information about the property.
175 Swiss Drive, Rapid City SD 2+1 $159,900
http://www.munroteam.com/listings/26742EAE-0B4A-6C66-AB7ADB8FDBDFAF2B.shtml
If I had to sum up the critique of this listing ad in one word it would be "understated". No sizzle. Not nearly enough to entice a potential buyer into seeking it out.
I found this ad via Yahoo real estate, complete with just one photo and a minimal description. As in one just one photo, one sentence, and no surrounding information even filled in. I could have stopped there and commented about how it makes little to no sense to have a property ad on Yahoo and let it sit there unattended. But there are 2 places to click for "further details", which led me to the realty firm's own site. However, even the web page about this listing comes up short.
First, the 12 photos with a slide show makes for a postive first impression. A good blend of exterior and interior photos for the most part. However, 2 of the exterior photos are only trees and a mountain view, with absolutely no perspective on the house itself. We don't know if we need to be on the deck or out on the road to see this, or if it is a view from one of the rooms. (If either one is a view from any of the rooms, it would be quite appealing to a potential buyer to know that, but instead we are left hanging. That is still another missed opportunity to reel in a potential buyer.)
While it always helps to "sell" the area or neighborhood around the house, the limited description spends way too much copy hyping the area, and nowhere near enough about the house itself. The agent overlooks that a potential buyer could drive up and walk around the trails and forest and lake at no cost, without having to own property nearby. The purpose of this ad, which represents the seller of this home, is to sell the merits of the home.
All we get in the entire descriptions of the interior is "loft, tile floors, wood stove, and main floor bedrooms". That's after an extra click on "interior". We are also told this house is "completely remodeled" but are given no idea, either by the photos or the description as to WHAT they refer to. The skeptical investor is likely wondering about the cause of a "complete" remodeling.
It is also a challenge to get a feel for this "two-story" home with "main floor bedrooms" and a loft. Makes me wonder if there is a realistic use for a second level or if it is really a one-story house with an attic or spare room above.
Since we are not even told how far from a town this home is, or the distance to schools, shopping, highway, etc., we are left to guess as to whether this is a mountain retreat.
This seems to be a house that would have appeal as a second home, summer home, or an executive retreat. Based on this, chances are the buyer of this home could be from beyond 50 miles away, as opposed to moving out of the nearby town. In concept, it would be through Yahoo that potential buyers should be attracted to this home.
Yet, the Yahoo ad, as mentioned earlier, is a throwaway on first impression. Not enough into to want to make a potential buyer link over to the company listing page, such as what I did. But even when someone does, they don't get any of the sizzle.
If this were my listing, I would be 110% certain that anyone looking on Yahoo Real Estate got the concept of a mountain retreat home with views and pounding out the amenities left and right. Potential buyers should want to know more about the AREA, not be stuck to guess about the property.
GRADE: D+
Note: This commentary is uncompensated and for marketing purposes only and is no reflection on the featured property. Its accuracy is not guaranteed. Neither Dave Kohl nor First In Promotions shall be held responsible for any representations.
At this time, I have openings for more realty agent/office clients to critique current and brand new listings on an hourly basis. No current or past client listings are featured on this blog.Random listings are chosen around the country.
Your comments are most welcome!
In an effort to improve the impact of the marketing of listings, I randomly choose current listings around the country in a variety of price ranges and comment on their effectiveness. No current clients of mine are used, nor do I know any sellers or buyers or have any additional information about the property.
9421 N. Backer, Fresno CA $239,000 3 + 2
http://www.homefinder.com/CA/Fresno/54251272d_9421_N_Backer
I randomly clicked on this listing advertisement, available through the Fresno Bee, which is the dominant local newspaper. Part of the reason I chose this property among a list of possibilities to review is that it shows for a higher price than a couple of homes in foreclosure in the same area.
My thinking was that potential buyers in this area would be more apt to check out "competing" homes in the area in foreclosure in homes of getting a bargain, and therefore this home needs to be heavily marketed.
What I found is quite the opposite. One photo, and that was taken using a camera which adds distracting lines to the roof, while showing a front lawn that is not in the best of shape. Not exactly a strong first impression.
Then, I look at the description. It says, " ". Nothing. There is no description filled in. We are told on the side that it is a 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and 1,740 square feet. Absolutely nothing else. Not even a link to the office web site. Just a phone number to the listing agent. With zero reasons to call.
This is flat out carelessness on the part of the listing agents, which is shown to be a team. That makes it worse. A "TEAM" listing this property and not one of them has time to create an ad to actually SELL this home or even to check its advertising?
If I were the seller of this property I would be absolutely furious about this and try to cancel the listing. If I were a potential buyer, I'd be gone from that advertisement in a few seconds, maybe sticking around long enough to make a note not to work with the listing office in the future.
With the majority of these randomly selected listings, I have problems with the realty agents and offices not customizing or checking every advertising and marketing piece that leaves their desks. They are looking to represent people involved in possibly the biggest single transactions of their lives, and need to treat their effort as such. But this is an embarassment to the real estate community.
GRADE: F
Note: This commentary is uncompensated and for marketing purposes only and is no reflection on the featured property. Its accuracy is not guaranteed. Neither Dave Kohl nor First In Promotions shall be held responsible for any representations.
At this time, I have openings for more realty agent/office clients to critique current and brand new listings on an hourly basis. No current or past client listings are featured on this blog.Random listings are chosen around the country.
Your comments are most welcome!
While some people within the real estate industry are pleased about the tax credit extension, I am still not sure this was really the best way to go in terms of the impact on the economy. Or the market.
First, the deadline factor has been blown forever. The government stepped in to the auto industry with the “cash for clunkers” program and it was considered a success. That deadline came and went. Those that procrastinated and then held off clearly lost an opportunity. The $8,000 first-time buyer tax credit was a government move designed to get more consumers into home ownership. But in this case, the deadline has already been extended. So much for sellers and realty agents putting pressure on potential buyers now. A potential buyer can take his/her sweet time about it now, and there is no rush for those who were going to try for a “last minute” bargain.
This “extension” seems to have been pushed through as a result of pressure instead of on market impact. I was looking at some statistics about home sales for 2009. Because of this “extension” already being in place, we are not likely to see any sort of spurt in first-time buyer sales for the remainder of November. (That is one bad side effect right there!) In keeping with the home sale statistics thus far, it will very likely mean that less than 40% of home sales for the first 11 months of this year will have involved the tax credit. In other words, the majority, to the tune of over 60%, of home sales this year will have had nothing to do with the tax credit. While the result of this program has indeed sparked some first-time buyers, this has hardly been at a dominating pace.
While this thought is not a statistic, my hunch is that consumers saw that the car “cash for clunkers” deadline was NOT extended and this motivated them to proceed as first-time home buyers. Therefore, I do not foresee a significant increase in activity now that the deadline has been extended. Once we get into first quarter of 2010, the $8,000 tax credit wouldn’t go “in pocket” of the participants until 2011. Not that it won’t help, but hardly an immediate boom to the economy.
It is true that this extension also offers benefits to existing home owners, based on income and length of time owning the current home. However, this part of the tax advantage does not necessarily spur additional home sales.
From a marketing standpoint, I have another concern. Thousands of realty agents and brokers have been promoting this tax credit to potential first-time buyers (or should have been!), hoping to use the “act now!” approach because of the November 30, 2009 deadline. So what do they do now?
They can’t put any urgency into the same program, when it was already extended before the originally scheduled deadline. If home prices continue to drop in many areas, these potential first-time buyers will have benefitted by waiting! They would get a lower price for the “same” home, and then the tax credit to boot, compared with if they had listened to the agent in recent weeks. If home prices rise instead, then the tax credit does not make the same home any more affordable at the time of possible purchase. It would still be a matter of homes not being affordable. This could come off as another marketing blunder by real estate agents and brokers.
Why do I blame them? Because I also saw the information that Realtors reportedly spent, get this, more than $12,000,000 lobbying for extension of this tax credit. That’s right. Over $12 million dollars. Money that could have been spent advertising and marketing properties available for first-time buyers. For that matter, also for long time home owners looking to move on up or downsize. Or, money that didn’t have to be spent. Maybe this is where the real tax breaks are going!
In an effort to improve the impact of the marketing of listings, I randomly choose current listings around the country in a variety of price ranges and comment on their effectiveness. No current clients of mine are used, nor do I know any sellers or buyers or have any additional information about the property.
8760 Robinson Forest Dr. 2 + 2.50 $159,900 Allen Tate Realtors
http://realestate.yahoo.com/North_Carolina/Charlotte/8760-robinson-forest-dr:31bc28b8a4af54da5f647e861fab52a8
The Yahoo advertisement for this listing is the one on which this review is based.
First, the only photo for this listing is somewhat blurred, even though the photo angle is excellent for this exterior shot. Since there is no photo spread here, the appearance of the one photo that is there becomes even more important. Obviously, a blurry photo gets in the way of a solid first impression.
The sentence in the description that reads "Livng Room and Dining Room lead into Kitchen and 2-Story Family Room w/ Gas Fireplace and High Ceiling Fan." leaves something to be desired. Does this mean that one room is 2 stories? Some could take that to mean that there is an entire room with unused and not useable air space. If so, I'm not clear on why that would be a strong selling point. And if that is not the case, it means this description is not clear.
Then, the very next sentence in this description refers to the "Powder Rooom". Yes - the word 'room' is not spelled correctly. While it is true that an error of this nature may not be the fault of the agent (or the person that created this ad), I continue to blame the agent or the realty office for not double checking every advertisement and/or marketing piece that goes out. Even one person thinking their agent can't spell the word 'room' correctly is way too many.
This description doesn't always make sense. A "Powder Roooom w/Large Coat Closet"? When people think of a powder room, they think of it in terms of a partial bathroom with privacy rather than a space for coats that several people would have access to. We are also told that "Staircase to upstairs loft overlooking family room". Sorry, but what you can see from a staircase is not going to entice very many people to want more information about the property.
Underneath the description copy is the place for "Neighborhood and school information" on the ad. However, every category shows as "Not available".
We are being presented for the first time with a townhome listed at just under $160,000. And greeted with a single blurry photo, an unclear description of one of the featured rooms, a spelling error, and information about what we can see while on the staircase. With no information about local schools or the neighborhood. Not exactly a solid gold first impression.
Yet, if a "second impression" actually sold real estate, this ad would be a huge success. You see, if one were to click on the "more property detail" link near the photo, they are redirected to the company's web site which presents an in-depth photo spread and a much better and more thorough description which addresses these and other questions.
However, the majority of potential buyers are not enticed to click any further. With so little valuable information within a few seconds, the tendency is to click back and keep looking for other properties in this price range in the same area.
If this were my client, they would have the selling points showing and a much better photo for a solid first impression. More importantly, the description would tell them how they can see more photos and descriptions of the rooms including some key points.
The agent and office overlook that chances are more people will be driven to the lesser ad on Yahoo than the better one on their office web site. The seller deserves better.
GRADE: C
Note: This commentary is uncompensated and for marketing purposes only and is no reflection on the featured property. Its accuracy is not guaranteed. Neither Dave Kohl nor First In Promotions shall be held responsible for any representations.
At this time, I have openings for more realty agent/office clients to critique current and brand new listings on an hourly basis. No current or past client listings are featured on this blog.Random listings are chosen around the country.
Your comments are most welcome!
I always try and point out what I find to be positive research as it relates to real estate since there doesn't seem to be enough in this turbulent market.
Now Coldwell Banker has released some of its data researching housing prices in college towns across the country. I'd bet the ranch that you would not have guessed that Akron OH came up as the most affordable college town. I never would have, either.
And while this is a good thing for the agents who will be sharp enough to use this in the higher ranked cities, I give a writer in Austin TX credit for incorporating amazing public relations skills into this.
http://austin.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2009/11/02/daily22.html You see, Austin did not finish in the top 10 most affordable college towns in the country according to the research it reviews. Or the top 20. Or the top 30. For that matter, Austin didn't even finish in the top 50. To me, and I'm sure to a lot of others, not finishing in the top 50 of a national list is nothing to crow about, with the possible exception being a significant rise from a previous year or earlier research. Yet, there are no comparisons to past research in this article either.The fact is that Austin came in 59th on this national list. Yet, this article provides a glowing report on the city of Austin, the University of Texas, and the local real estate market. As they say in the P.R. industry, this is a textbook case of "turning a negative into a positive".Yet, this is not to toot the horn of the writer or the publication doing the spin. It is to make realty agents and offices aware of the need for positive publicity. Over the past couple of years, it seems like the only other real estate statistics coming out of the Austin market have been to show the drop in home sales in comparison with past years. Instead of simply reporting that "x,xxx homes sold last month" and leaving it at that, we always seem to get the comparison. Once the people hear that the total is, for example, 842 homes fewer than sold in the same month last year, it practically negates the value of the information.Instead of sitting and repeating the negative statistics about the current market compared with one year ago, we should be turning this market into a positive. It's a start.
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