Real Estate Marketing Gone Wrong
“Right now may actually be one of the best times to buy a home” National Association of Realtors 2006 Marketing Campaign
As it turned out when that statement was made, it was probably the worst time to buy a home.
Promoting home ownership as a primary real estate marketing ploy is a mistake that the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and its REALTOR members often make because:
-they run the risk of giving bad advice – it can’t always be a good time to buy a home*; and
-it sounds more like “now is one of the best times for us to make commissions”.
I understand the logic. If more people would buy homes, there would be more work for Realtors.
Imagine, however, if the American Bar Association were to run ads: “There has never been a better time to bring that law suit” as a way of promoting full employment for attorneys? What would you think of attorneys? Would it improve your impression of the legal profession?
Instead of promoting the concept of home ownership, the National Association of Realtors should try promoting the value of the services of its members. Realtors should do the same. Instead of telling prospective buyers or sellers “now is a good time to buy or sell”, explain what you will do for them in the transaction and outline the value that you will add.
The current NAR campaign focuses on getting people to sell their homes.
People are going to buy houses no matter what NAR or Realtors say. The goal of NAR and Realtors should be to make the public aware that if they are going to buy or sell a home they should use a REALTOR for the transaction.
Here are some ads that NAR employed that might make you cringe:
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Further Reading:
Gold and Real Estate are Assets, Not Investments
The NAR web page announcing its “best time to buy a home”campaign
*if it’s a good time to buy a home, how can a Realtor advise a homeowner to sell? Shouldn’t they wait until its a great time to sell a home? The thinking is flawed as the conclusion is “its always a good time to buy or sell a home because we make commissions when that happens”.
Perhaps its best summed up this way- If you own a home you should sell it because it is a great time to sell, but then you must buy another home to live in. If you don’t own a home,its a great time to buy and you need to get one so you can sell it and buy another one because either way its a great time to buy or sell a home!
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