Listing of the Day - Charlotte NC

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!

Carolina On My Mind

No, not the James Taylor song. At least in this instance.

This may serve as the most classic of examples regarding my point over the past few months about how the real estate brokers sometimes shoot themselves in the foot.

Keep in mind that I have seen all of these stories within this week. It's not like conditions have changed since one or the other was written. That is far from being the case.

First, a couple of the stories released within the past few days with help from the very real estate associations that agents pay dues to and support:

http://www.digtriad.com/news/local_state/article.aspx?storyid=119397

http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/1409013.html

So after reading these, why would an out-of-area (or even local) real estate investor even think of buying there? Some might even put an X through that region on their map and be done with it. Again, those stories above include info provided by the realty association. No one is out to attack the local marketplace.

And then, a national builder's association announces its 15 "best" builders markets around the country. And can you guess which state appears more than once in their Top 15 list?

Very good - it's North Carolina, with the Raleigh area being its highest, showing the top 7. And top 2 nationwide other than the state of Texas:


http://www.builderonline.com/local-markets/the-healthiest-housing-markets-for-2009.aspx?page=10

Right now I wish I had a client that is a builder in any of those areas of North Carolina, but unfortunately I don't. I'd be on them hour after hour to start a campaign showing that the reason the home market is in shambles is because there is so much interest in (name of developments). And show their web site and phone number.

What's that saying? "If you build it, they will come"? Especially in North Carolina. Ouch.