Real Estate Leads Via Newspaper Classified Ads

Newspaper ads are convenient sources of real estate leads.  The top reason why real estate agents put out advertisements by the hundreds and thousands of dollars in newspaper ads is this:  they need to acquire listings.  The simple fact of the matter is, most home sellers look at these newspaper ads.  Via this route, they then ponder and get to decide who or which is the real estate agent and company that does a great job of marketing homes. 

Newspaper real estate ads create\ an impression to home sellers that these real estate companies will just as similarly do a great job in selling their houses.  Usually, it is the bigger companies in real estate that also puts up the big newspaper ads. 

These large real estate companies also have a similarly big inventory of houses which they put out in wide two-page ads in newspapers.  Chances are, the house that you are selling will be included in this large spread. 

Home sellers require that the houses they are putting up for purchase will have the most exposure and the ads in newspapers put up by such companies seem to fill this real estate need.

However, the risk in these types of ads are that the real estate company may have an additional of three hundred or four hundred more of these houses in their roster.  It all depends on luck and timing as to the number of times the house you are putting up for purchase will be seen.

Another reason for putting up real estate ads in newspapers is this:  it is done in order to gain leads.  There are numerous buyers who look at these newspaper ads.  And the number of readers and eyes that look on these ads are unlimited.  Or so it seems, because according to a survey profile of Home Buyers as well as Home Sellers, only a measly five percent of people who look for homes in newspaper ads actually make a purchase.

In effect, a total of ninety-five percent up to ninety-eight percent of newspaper readers do actually just that, they read and neglect or simply do not purchase real estate despite the number of ads put out by real estate companies.

This is a stark difference to the whooping fifty-three percent of buyers who actually start their search on newspapers and magazines. 

But the most important reason why newspaper ads are so much used for snagging those real estate leads is because agents use this avenue as an effective means for self-promotion. 
The idea is that, the more their names are exposed and the more it gets to be familiar to readers, it is therefore highly likely that home sellers will come and get them when they are thinking of putting up their homes for selling.  This is a very subtle yet effective form of branding. 

Fortunately or unfortunately, though real estate agents know the value or the invaluable contribution that newspaper ads provide, they hardly inform home sellers of this fact.  It has also been proven that the real estate section of newspapers is its' least read part.
Some home magazines go to the extent of touting that advertising in them would, more often than not, generate sales.  Though it seems they offer the best value compared to the rates of ads in newspapers,  the survey shows that readers actually do little buying in spite of the highly glossy pictures the home magazines provide.  This even if in addition to the millions of people they call their readers, and the coast to coast reach of their magazine, the numbers show that their readers just read, and a very small percentage of them actually buy.  But it is also a fact that the two percent who actually buy may leave a bit of room for hope for the home seller, so what the heck.

In short, home sellers have been conditioned that advertising real estate in newspapers works, this even if real estate agents have surveys that prove otherwise.  This is because the benefits real estate agents get are just as money-worthy, and these are in the form of leads.  And in the world of real estate, leads are investments that could be worth a lot; if not now, it will be in the coming weeks, months or years ahead.

James Mahony is the founder of Real Estate Guide - A site dedicated to Real Estate Buyers and Sellers information

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