Thanks to Larry Lokker at FNRES for telling us about this article, and the team at Real Trends for publishing this summary of a valuable research study from Yahoo! that illustrates how real estate agents and brokers are still spending money in print, whereas consumers are overwhelmingly going online to do their research. This is a classic case of going fishing where the fish aren’t.

To real estate agents and brokers who may be reading this: Your consumers are doing their research online. Why wouldn’t they with the multitude of resources now available to them? They can find what they are looking for more quickly, and have deep resources to service their curiosity. Furthermore, they are better researched than their offline counterparts, and when they’re ready to buy, they act faster than traditional offline buyers. So, why wouldn’t you go fishing where the fish are, and connect with buyers and sellers who are online looking for real estate.

Lastly, in this Yahoo survey, it was found that 74 percent of people who accessed an agent Web site got there with the help of a search engine which means that when you are thinking about advertising online to connect with these buyers and sellers, you must have a strong Search based solution to connect with these consumers, otherwise you are missing out on where they are. Please contact us to learn more about how you can do this on a cost effective basis.

Here are the survey results:

Yahoo! Inc., released the results of a study on how online resources influence home buyers and sellers - specifically when it comes to selecting a real estate professional.

Yahoo! found that online resources played a pivotal role in the selection process and was central in helping
consumers identify agents. While friends and family are mostly responsible for recommending agents, the vast majority of home buyers and sellers still rely on the Internet to search for potential agents in their local markets as well as to verify their choices.

However, there is a disconnect between advertising dollars and consumer behavior. Based on Yahoo!’s study, 77 percent of respondents used an online source for information during their research process compared to 34 percent for print. But, according to a recent analysis by Borrell Associates, Realtor advertising dollars have yet to catch up to where homebuyers are going - the Internet. While this year’s online media spend did in fact double from 2005, capturing 32 percent of the overall advertising spend, newspapers continue to get more share of dollars with 40 percent.

According to the Yahoo! study, consumers look to the Web to ensure that the selected agent will best meet their specific needs.

Key findings include:

• Home buyers and sellers consider approximately two agents on average before making a final decision
• The Internet impacts consumer trust. Forty percent of respondents credited a site in increasing their trust in the agent
• 74 percent of people who accessed an agent Web site got there with the help of a search engine
• The online research process is quick and intense: consumers spent an average of 12 hours online researching agents and 75 percent selected an agent within one week of starting their search
• Online resources provided introduction to new agents as well as promotional deals:
• 45 percent of respondents used the Internet to learn about agents they didn’t know existed
• 41 percent discovered special deals and promotions offered from an agent through the Internet