As an investor, I have been involved with real estate full time since late 2004. In the beginning, when we knew little, my husband and I had a terrible experience with a real estate agent who took advantage of us as newbie investors. We found out, after the fact, that he had a dozen or so lawsuits against him.
I also found out soon enough that most agents have no understanding of investor needs. This is not their fault, by the way. Typically, they are being trained to work with retail clients, not with investors.
As an investor, access to the multiple listing service (MLS) is vital for conducting comparable market analyses, at a minimum. So, I chose to become my own agent. Later, I became a broker as well.
To become a licensed agent, it only takes a few months of intense studying, followed by passing a state exam. In contrast, it takes years of constant learning and persistence to understand how to invest in real estate correctly to the point where you can secure positive cashflow consistently each month – unless, of course, you happen to be blessed with someone who is experienced, successful, and willing to coach you, thereby helping you accelerate your learning curve.
Once I learned how to use some basic analytical tools both inside and outside of the MLS, my focus has always been on the buy-side of real estate.
Recently, for the first time, I went on to the sell-side. I listed on the MLS a couple of properties. Perhaps because of it, I started receiving emails from Realtor.com, which showed the very first property that I have ever listed – our residence. (The second one, which was owned by our investor client, was sold to a cash buyer and closed within two weeks of listing. Having been priced right for the market, it required no marketing effort.)
In any case, I learned that all listed properties show up on Realtor.com automatically. Good news: It affords a greater exposure to the market at no extra cost. Bad news: The placement of one’s listing is likely to be toward the bottom of the last page. That’s what happened to my first listing, and I was not happy. So, I called to find out how, if at all, I could get my listing to move up to the front page.
To make a long story short, earlier this month, I paid $1,505.75 for “ConnectionsSM Plus,” offered by Realtor.com, to increase the chances of that listing moving up toward the top of the list for the next six months. That cost, however, was about a quarter of the most expensive option, which would guarantee the listing on the first page. Now that I understood how it worked, I decided that being on the first page was not worth paying that kind of money. While my listing did move up to page 2, I have yet to see it on page 1. Regardless of the placement, however, Realtor.com does guarantee that I receive 20 potential-client leads during the six-month period. Such potential leads are likely to be from those looking for a buyer’s agent, and not necessarily those looking to buy the listed property. In other words, not exactly what I had in mind…
I also paid $215.73 for the “Local ExpertSM Zip Ad” to secure a 20% share of the market for the same six-month period. There is an option to dominate the market in a specified zip code at 100% – if the spot is available, that is. Again, I was not willing to spend more, not to mention the fact that gaining retail-buyer clients was not my objective. All I wanted was to increase the chances of selling the first property I have ever listed on the MLS as quickly as possible.
What I did not realize when I first signed up for these two programs was that they also come with roughly 20 training sessions – to help improve the chances of securing leads from the ads that consumers see.
Another good thing I did find out was that, even if I do not renew the subscriptions for “ConnectionsSM Plus” and “Local ExpertSM Zip Ad,” as an MLS subscriber, I will always have access to “Realtor.com for Professionals.” In other words, I happened to stumble upon the need to update my profile at Realtor.com. If left unattended (which would have been the case since I didn’t even know anything about it until now), my on-line presence would have remained looking less than professional.
I also figured out that I could include the information on my profile in Realtor.com, indicating that my specialty is to help new investors buy their first rental property correctly. Such content, if I so choose, will remain intact at no additional cost for as long as I remain an active REALTOR®. After all is said and done, finding out about this side benefit, alone, was worth the cost.
Lastly, an interesting fact about Realtor.com. While it has a long-standing partnership with the National Association of REALTORS®, it is not one of its affiliates. Instead, Realtor.com is owned by Move, Inc.
Happy investing and a Happy New Year!
