As I twittered earlier today, it's a changing world with respect to TV ads. This link in the Toronto Star indicates that consumers are increasingly tuning out commercials.
Personally, I can attest to that because we often record our preferred shows and watch the recorded version so we can fast forward past the commercials. Some TV stations are just nuts with frequent commercials. Others string a seemingly huge number of them together. In an average hour-long TV show, 15-20 minutes is often credits & commercials. Zzzzzzzoom right past it all!
Which leads me to my next point on printed ads. It's been my experience over the last several years that they too, are dying a slow death, especially real estate ads. People just aren't looking at 1x2" photos of houses in newspapers anymore. Statistically, over 80% first start looking at houses online! It's no mystery why. Larger photos, more photos, more details and dimensions etc.
And since high-speed Internet is widely available *and* current, consumers are looking at properties almost as soon as they hit the market, not on a printed-media publishing/distribution schedule. If you look at what's hot and current - it's products and/or technologies that have instant contact - text messaging, email, cell phones, Twitter and the web in general.
As a Realtor, for far less than the cost of a single ad printed and distributed in a newspaper to a specific geographical market, I can create a dedicated website for that house with unlimited photos, details and global access *and* have it online for TWELVE MONTHS!
If you're selling your house, which kind of market penetration/coverage would you rather have? And that's just one of numerous things I do to market a house.
I find that many Realtors simply do what they've always done to sell a house (or what older Realtors have always done) - despite the fact that marketing and advertising media is changing in a big way. Some don't even believe in websites!
When you're thinking of hiring a Realtor to look after your best interests, be sure to ask them enough questions so you can determine that what they'll be doing to sell your house will help maximize buyer interest and return the best possible price to you.
