Search engine optimization is important in all industries. I have a house listed at roughly $169,000. When you search for it on realtor.com you have to search. In the same zipcode there are over 500 houses for sale. You can narrow the search by price ranges. The closest range is $150,000-$175,000. This puts the search results to around 180 homes. My house is listed on the 13th page. I am not sure how many people will make it to that page.
People can tighten the search by searching by number of rooms, bathrooms, floors, garage, etc… I was able to get it on the first results page after narrowing the search to exactly what the house has. I compare this to SEO as this feels like a long tail keyword campaign… I would like to reach the masses. I could raise the price to exactly $175,000. I would then be on the first page (even if overpriced). Is being on the first page of a search worth it, vs. being on the 13th page within my range? Realistically a realtor would be able to match the house with someone looking for it, but how good are their searches…
I am debating what to do, any thoughts?
Popularity: 3% [?]
June 15th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
I think you should talk to the realtor’s and give them a extra 5K if they sell it for you at a price that’s about 5K above what you really want. It’s one thing to have it on realtor.com and another to make a deal with the realtor’s out there that they can get their commission and a extra 5K if they sell it at your price. You move inventory and you have motivated realtor’s..
June 15th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
One trick I’ve had GREAT success in the past is appealing to the agent’s greed.
I’ve sold 2 houses FSBO - in both cases, I gave the buyer’s agent 3.25%. at the time, the typical commission was 4% split evenly between seller and buyer’s agents.
giving them more money to make the sale gets a lot more traffic.
In one case I got a full price offer within a week and I countered back HIGHER than the asking price!
June 16th, 2008 at 9:37 am
A year ago the house would have sold for $174,900 without much of a problem. In todays market though it is a different story. I have it listed at $169,900 with the 5 g sellers agent bonus. I am trying to “dump” it just to get rid of inventory.
The thing is I am lowering the price which is killing my placement on the search with the hopes of someone finding the house more affordable and an agent finding it profitable to sell…
Also I have this listed with MLS. I do not know if a realtor would even get the Agent Only remarks on the 13th page of a results search. A dilegent hustling agent might, but most wouldn’t. I have one agent listing the house and 2 others working with me to sell it, with an additional side bonus.
June 17th, 2008 at 12:38 am
I have built a few realtor pages and the real estate market is really hard to corner online. I would suggest giving google base a try.
June 30th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Be creative. Offer incentives. Play to people and Realtor greed. A home for $169K is not bad at all in this nation at the moment, but with so many homes on the market, look at your competition. How does your home line-up. Is there anything that gives your home an edge? Is there anything you need to fix?
June 30th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
I will go into all of the mistakes I feel I made later on with the house. There are a few, but mostly things that won’t help now. I was hoping to find a way to help it sell through SEO. I want it to be what realtors see, not what they have to search for…