Early weekend mornings are quiet around our household. The guys like to sleep in, the parrots are quieter than usual and I have the luxury of spidering around the web and spinning ideas. The newspaper still sits in the driveway, and will remain there until Eric, our middle son, goes out to retrieve it so he can read the sports pages.
Until that time, the world is mine.
Newspaper advertising is a consideration this morning. Im not sure exactly when the phones stopped ringing from real estate print ads, but the calls probably started tapering off when the overwhelming majority of home buyers and sellers discovered the luxury of shopping for properties online several years ago. Hungry for visuals and detailed information, home shoppers want lots of photos and more than a few lines of property description before theyll even consider picking up the phone and calling a real estate agent.
This morning, I discovered Realtor Chris Iversons very interesting and compelling article, Are Newspapers Dead? over at 3 Oceans Real Estate blog. He took the time to track the results of newspaper advertising for open houses he conducted in the Palo Alto and Redwood City, CA markets and compared them to the results from online advertising and signs.
The outcome? Out of 52 groups that came through Johns open houses one weekend, none came because of the extensive advertising he had done with local newspapers. He then goes on to detail the number of viewers who saw these two homes and their virtual tours online and reveals that signage and online promotion via the MLS and other available resources attracted the visitors.
I also agree with Johns premise that newspaper advertising is more about promotion of the real estate agent than bringing qualified buyers to see the home. Imagine the absurdity of telling a home seller, œI am going to advertise your home in our local newspaper with a grainy photo and five column lines of type.
Or better yet, œI am going to sell your home with a picture of myself on local grocery carts and bus benches!
Real estate sellers are becoming more demanding. A glossy magazine ad that has a month or two lead time for publication is likely not going to be the vehicle that will bring a buyer to the home. Neither will newspaper advertising. Both do little other than promote the real estate agent. By the NARs own estimate, over 80 percent of all home buyers are searching for their future residence online. And in metropolitan areas, I would expect that percentage to be even higher.
The newspaper, still unopened, languishes on the driveway awaiting Erics rescue. Failing that, it will likely become roadkill under my tires as I back out this morning to head into the office.
Seems most newspapers see the future, and they have an online version for users to search through and subscribe to. I wonder if the online real estate classifieds have a better readership than the paper version?
Thanks for the perspective.
Heidi,
I would imagine they do–if such eyeballs could actually be counted. The dilemma facing the print media is how to sustain themselves. If advertising dollars move elsewhere because eyeballs are doing the same, newspapers will have to look at other business models.
Thanks for stopping by!
Roberta,
Ads in the paper are really dead in my book. Here in the Twin Cities, one of the largest RE companies who every weekend took out about 5 pages in the Sunday paper to advertise open houses and listings, just ditched the whole thing and are doing it all online. I can’t imagine how much this cost their company every weekend. At least they figured it out, but I doubt the Pioneer Press is too happy about it!
oh, and by the way, what happened with the carival of luxury, I haven’t seen any activity since my last host?
There are so many resources available to the public these days and in a much easier format to read than the newspaper. I know newspaper ads cost a great deal of money. It’s interesting that Chris had no visiters that came as a result of the newspaper. I wonder if it makes a difference how far in advance the advertising is run?
Good post on a great blog. I really enjoy the quality photos in each article. Photos always capture more eyes. Good work!
Jennifer: I think much of the print media–and particularly those that depend on real estate advertising–are in trouble. It seems to be happening almost everywhere, except for resort area giveaway papers that advertise resort properties and rentals. Also, if timeliness is important, it would seem the internet has much more immediacy.
Brad: Thank you!