(An Interview with Christian Ullman, Internet Marketing Specialist and Personal
Web Developer for Real Estate Agents Nationwide, by Graham Marden,
Real Estate Broker, Prudential NW Properties)
Graham Marden (GM): Chris, you're an Internet marketing specialist, and you work with real estate agents all around the country, myself included... so I'll start off with this question - how important is the Internet when it comes to trying to sell your home for top-dollar value, in today's marketplace?
Christian Ullman (CU): It's absolutely essential. About 80% of today's home purchases begin with a search for homes on the Internet. The Internet has changed the way people shop for homes.
GM: And how does that affect a home seller?
CU: It affects them drastically - especially if they don't list their home with a real estate agent who can get their house seen by a high number of potential home buyers on the Internet.
GM: How so?
CU: The more exposure a home gets on the Internet, the more top-dollar bids the owner of that home will receive. If you work with a real estate agent who can HIGHLIGHT your home on a highly trafficked Web site - a site that is visited by home buyers from all over the world - you will receive more offers, and more high-dollar offers, on your home. It's simple math here.
GM: You're my personal Web developer and Internet marketing specialist, Chris... so... if someone lists their home with me, will their home get SEEN by more people around the world, than would be the case if they worked with an "Average Joe" real estate agent - and if so, how does that work? You know more about this than I do...
CU: I'll try and keep this simple... I oversee hundreds of Web pages and Web sites for you, Graham, as you know. And those hundreds of various Web pages are generating over 100,000 hits per month, combined, which translates into 600 extra home buyers per day, or 18,000 extra home buyers per month, on average, who are viewing your clients' homes on the Internet... and that figure is climbing every day, because I've been doing some intensive work lately at expanding our Web presence...
GM: And how is that different from the "Average Joe" real estate agent out there in Hooterville?
CU: The average real estate agent doesn't get his clients' homes SEEN by that many Internet home buyers... the average real estate agent has one Web page, which is found deep within the guts of his corporate Web site. On that page is a link to that agent's personal home listings. And very few people ever see those listings - unless they stumble upon them by an act of God... the only way the average real estate agent's homes get seen on the Internet, is if a home buyer does a property search at his corporate Web site - or at the local MLS Web site - in the exact price range in which those homes are listed, and in the exact location of the city WHERE those homes are listed.
GM: I'm starting to see what you mean here... but can you firm this up a bit for our site visitors, be a little more specific?
CU: Sure, let's go at this another way. We'll call our prospective home seller Mr. Smith... if Mr. Smith works with an "Average Joe" real estate agent, Mr. Smith's house is going to be placed in the local MLS database on the Internet, for starters - that's standard procedure. And Mr. Smith's house is going to be placed in that real estate corporation's database of homes, on that corporation's Web site. That's standard procedure, too - Graham, you do the exact same things for your clients, when they list their homes with you. ALL real estate agents do those two things for their clients these days. But that's not enough - because Mr. Smith's home is going to be BURIED in the middle of all of those thousands of OTHER homes listed for sale on that MLS Web site. And it's going to be BURIED in the middle of all of those thousands of OTHER homes listed on that big-name real estate corporation's Web site. It won't be HIGHLIGHTED on those two Web sites, on a stand-alone Web page - a stand-alone Web page that gets a lot of traffic... it won't be seen by hundreds of people every day who are LOOKING to buy a home in Mr. Smith's area. It will be relegated to the generic pile of homes in both of those databases, in which case, if someone happens to see Mr. Smith's home on the Internet, it will be more like winning the lottery for Mr. Smith. Or more like an act of God, which was the analogy I used earlier.
GM: And why is that?
CU: Because the Average Joe real estate agent who designed his personal home listings page - or the person the real estate agent hired to design it - doesn't know how to DRIVE home buyers from around the world TO the Web page where his clients' homes are listed for sale... the Average Joe real estate agent is at the mercy of his corporate Web site, and he is at the mercy of the MLS web site... fortunately - for you, and for your listing clients - that's my specialty: Internet marketing as it pertains to home sales... getting my real estate clients' LISTINGS seen by Internet home buyers all over the world... I've placed ads for you in hundreds of real estate guides, city living directories, and other Internet venues, all over the Web during the past eight years. And as you know, our Web sites do really well in the world's search engines, too...
GM: Yes, I'm aware of that - and anyone who is reading this right now probably came to this site from one of those Internet venues you just mentioned...
CU: Exactly! And that's the difference. If someone lists their home with you, Graham, their home will be seen by way more prospective buyers than would be the case if they listed their home with someone who has their face on a BUS BENCH. (Laughter.) Nothing against real estate agents who have their faces on bus benches, mind you, but you see my point here. Knowledge protects, ignorance endangers.
GM: Boy, isn't that the truth.
CU: Yes, it really is... here's another thing to consider - on top of the home buyers that you personally attract to your clients' listings, Graham, via the advertisements you place in local papers, and the home buyers you attract "organically", through Prudential's corporate web site, and the home buyers you attract "organically" through the local MLS Web site, the people who list their homes with you are getting an extra 9000 looks per month, from serious home buyers. And this is all TARGETED traffic. What I mean by that is, most real estate agents put their face on a bus bench and think that this will somehow pull in home buyers from around the world, who will see their clients' homes for sale on the Internet. Well, that doesn't happen. That bus bench isn't connected to the Internet, and it's in Hooterville. (More laughter.) However, the home buyers I corral for us on the Internet, these people are ACTIVELY LOOKING to buy a home in the Portland area - and they are actively looking to buy the SPECIFIC types of homes I showcase for you on the Internet. So we are getting an extra 600 home buyers, every single day, who are looking at your clients' homes, which is 600 more than the Average Joe real estate agent gets. Eighteen thousand a month.
GM: What about worldwide real estate investors, Chris... how does your Internet marketing work pull real estate investors into the home buyer pool, into this equation, for my listing clients?
CU: Real estate investors buy one-third of all the homes sold in the USA these days. The smartest investors use the Internet, and a good buyer's agent, to purchase those investment properties for them. Oftentimes these investors never even visit the actual properties that they purchase.
GM: I know that's true - it happens to me a lot now, since you started handling my Internet marketing work - people call me about my homes for sale from all over the world, and a lot of them are investors...
CU: You're right - more and more often I'm talking to real estate agents who tell me that investors contact them, and tell them to find them a good investment property to buy - and the investors never even LOOK at the property... well... here we go again... how did those investors FIND those agents? How did they find you, Graham? On the Internet. I made you VISIBLE on the Internet, due to all the marketing work I've done for you. But back to your question... if Mr. Smith utilizes your services to sell his home, Graham, Mr. Smith is going to tap into the worldwide investor market in a big way. Because one-third of the people who see your clients' homes on a daily basis, on the Internet, Graham, are investors. And as you know, the Web properties I design for you, and the homes you list for your clients, are currently being seen by people all over the world - right now. We have both logged into your Web site statistics bay and seen the truth of this... real estate investment is a big-time, worldwide business. And investors and home buyers from China, Europe, Australia, Canada - from every continent and country in the world - come to the Web sites I manage for you, and look at your clients' homes for sale. And this means your clients get way more top-dollar offers on their homes, than they would get if they worked with a "typical", Internet-brain-dead real estate agent. Your clients' homes get seen by more people all over the world, than 99% of the other real estate agents working in the United States today...

GM: So... it's become increasingly important for a home seller to work with a real estate agent who is extremely VISIBLE on the Internet, is that right?
CU: Absolutely... nowadays, when a prospective home seller goes to sell their home, it's not just about the REAL ESTATE AGENT - it's about that real estate agent's WEB PRESENCE. Most real estate agents use "Web site designers" who create really pretty, dreadfully ineffective "Web sites". Nice pictures on the home page, tons of graphics. But those sites take forever to load. And that's because those Web designers don't have a clue about how to design a Web page that loads fast. And on top of being slow-loading, those sites never get SEEN, because most real estate agents have a personal "Web site" that GETS VERY LITTLE TRAFFIC. Just as is the case with our Average Joe real estate agent we talked about earlier. So it's all about the real estate agent in question, and how many WEB PRESENCES they have online, and how much traffic those WEB PRESENCES generate from the Internet, and how many home buyers those WEB PRESENCES drive to the homes that agent has listed for sale.
GM: Well, that certainly gives the people reading this page something to think about. Thanks for sharing that.
CU: No problem... I could talk about this stuff all day long, as you know. Web development is pretty much all I do, besides sleeping and eating.
GM: I'm the same way with real estate, Chris, so I can relate... I focus 110% of my efforts on the real estate side of my business, taking care of my customers... so I'm not well-versed on the Internet side of this thing, which is why I asked you for this interview...
CU: I'm glad to do it - it's all about education. Opening people's eyes to the truth.
GM: What would you say to the people out there in the Portland area who are thinking about selling their homes right now, Chris? You have lots of clients all over North America... would you recommend they talk to me about listing their home on the Internet, and getting their home seen all over the world, and helping them sell it for top dollar value?
CU: Absolutely. The sites I have designed for you, Graham, and continue to manage and upgrade on your behalf, pull in more traffic than any of my other real estate clients' sites in North America. You currently rank in the Top 5% of all real estate agents, nationwide, for total home sales annually... and our Web sites currently rank in the Top 1%, WORLDWIDE, for total visitors from home buyers. So now I'll reverse this situation and ask you a question, Graham...
GM: Okay.
CU: How can a person get a free home listing consultation with you, in order to find out more about having you sell their home...
CU: Sounds simple enough.
GM: Yep - it's very simple. And unlike most real estate agents, I actually answer my phone during business hours. Thank you for the interview, Chris.
CU: It's been a pleasure, Graham... thank you.
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