Realtor Magazine

Realtor Magazine Depending on your perspective, eBay is either a glorified flea market or a revolution in resale. Some real estate practitioners are taking the...See more » Realtor Magazine Depending on your perspective, eBay is either a glorified flea market or a revolution in resale. Some real estate practitioners are taking the latter view, using the auction site’s reach to supplement their presence at REALTOR.com and their personal and company Web sites. eBay says it reaches 56.1 million active users. The obvious drawback: A vast majority of those users aren’t in the real estate market. But to reach those who are, eBay is a tool—like direct mail or news-paper advertising—that some practitioners are using to market listings, drive traffic to their Web sites, and attract new prospects. Christopher Walker, e-PRO®, vice president of Mission Grove Realty started advertising properties on eBay in 2003. He says that 80 percent of his business comes from various online efforts, but he also does traditional print advertising. Finding a needle in a haystack Anjelina Belakovskaia, a new salesperson with Long Realty Co. in Tucson, Ariz., convinced a listing agent in her company to create an eBay ad for a 31,000-square-foot, $13.5 million estate. The property includes state-of-the-art technology and is set on 10 acres in the Catalina Mountains. Belakovskaia felt it was so unusual that it needed broad exposure. In less than four weeks, the ad received 23,927 hits and has brought one showing. And because Belakovskaia is new in the business, the ad—which lists her as the contact person and includes a link to her Web site—is helping her establish a presence. Practitioners like Belakovskaia are attracted to eBay for its potential to find a “needle in a haystack”—that rare buyer who’ll jump at an unusual listing. John Shikany, a salesperson with Murney Associates, REALTORS®, in Spring-field, Mo., is currently running an eBay ad for a property that includes a log home, barn, and commercial building on 20 acres. Shikany likens the marketing of such a listing to selling a collector car. Few sales—but side benefits Web experts point out that the huge number of hits to an eBay ad is a rather meaningless measure of effectiveness. And salespeople agree that hits don’t -necessarily translate into sales. But there are other benefits to the volume of exposure that comes from eBay ads, practitioners say. Although eBay is no substitute for more targeted marketing efforts, such as REALTOR.com, Hayes and others are finding that—with few practitioners currently using eBay—it’s a way to set themselves apart and link up with more prospects, particularly those who are relocating or seeking vacation properties. Says Walker: “People are finding us online through REALTOR.com, eBay, and at our Web site. Seeing our name over and over helps build our brand. It’s especially important since we’re a smaller office and don’t have the national image of a big franchise.” Tips for eBay success Familiarize yourself with eBay’s site navigation, the difference between auctions and ads, and the way users provide feedback on sellers. For more about real estate marketing on eBay, see: http://pages.ebay.com/education, http://pages.ebay.com/university, and http://pages.ebay.com/realestate/homesellerguide.html.See less »