What About
Real Estate Advertising
in Newspapers and Magazines?

Is This Traditional Real Estate Advertising Method Effective?

Can you successfully find a great home by simply perusing real estate advertising in newspapers and magazines?

Next to spending tons of time and money on gas while driving endless neighbourhoods looking for lawn signs, the old-fashioned, traditional method of searching for a home by patiently scouring countless newspapers and magazines is probably the most inefficient method for realty search.

In an active market, especially for hot listings, the best properties are often sold before the REALTOR® even has a chance to insert an ad in the paper, or, for that matter, get it uploaded to the corporate REALTOR® website.

And during the lag time, after the ad is booked and before it appears (especially in most magazines), another buyer who was actively working with their own real estate agent, was informed promptly of this new listing and viewed it right away.

The Diligent REALTOR®

... during an initial consultation, will (hopefully) pepper you, their new client, with a multitude of questions regarding your wants and needs.

They'll then enter specific search parameters into a sophisticated proprietary, industry-only search engine which will keep them automatically posted every day on all new listings, sales and price reductions - and most importantly ...

As Soon As They're Uploaded to MLS®

Even if the agent was 'asleep at the switch', but programmed it correctly, you may have already received an emailed property listing with details, including the street address, interior and exterior photos, and possibly a virtual tour, directly into ...

Your Personal email Box

Surfing REALTOR® websites is a little more efficient, but still not necessarily current - and there are oodles of real estate websites.

Luxury Homes

... are sometimes promoted successfully in specialized real estate advertising magazines. Since the pool of potential buyers who can afford high-end homes is substantially smaller, it usually takes longer to sell them. So, a luxury homes REALTOR® can place a full-colour glossy advertisement in a print media and realistically expect the property to be still available when the ad appears in the publication. And if the advertised listing is unsuitable for the buyer who responded to the ad, the agent can probably introduce that buyer to other potentially interesting properties.

Real estate advertising in the print media is intended, not to sell specific properties, but to generate phone calls and emails from interested parties. A brokerage simply wants to literally make the phone ring.

Also, some agents who advertise real estate regularly in the newspapers, from small ads to full page spreads, are often just fishing for listings. Their focus is mainly on the listing end of the business. Sometimes, they don't even work with buyers. Or they delegate the buyer contacts to junior sales people or team members. Homeowners are sometimes attracted to agents who advertise regularly, thinking they'll receive superior marketing service. This may be so, but not necessarily.

The vast majority of real estate sales result from ...

The MLS® System

So, when you see a sold sign installed on the lawn, chances are it was listed by one brokerage, and sold by another who was working with a buyer. That's just the way it usually works.

So, scrutinizing real estate advertising in newspapers and magazines, while once a mainstay, is no longer a viable method of finding a home. It will likely leave you frustrated ... and with ink-stained fingers.

Your best bet?

Find a Good Real Estate Agent

Click real estate advertising for the best advertising medium in Canada. And for the best in the USA, click here.

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