Listing on Zillow Puts You on One Website For FREE. Landfall Properties, LLC Puts You on HUNDREDS of Websites For FREE
Copyright © 2014- 2020 AUTHOR: Paul R. Marino, REALTOR®, e-Pro®
We're going to explain why using our service will place thousands more in your pocket on closing day. Now we'll admit, there's a lot to wade through here. But it's going to be worth it, since five minutes reading this article is going to save you a serious amount of money. You should know that when listed on the Zillow site, your home is exposed on one single site on the Internet (actually two, since Zillow owns Trulia, and Zillow replicates your home data and photos out to Trulia as well). But when listed with Landfall Properties, LLC, your home will be seen on hundreds of sites, not just one or two. Logic dictates that if your home data and photos are exposed across a much broader spectrum, it only makes sense that the chances of you being seen are far greater. It's really that simple.
Never forget there are only two things that sell a home. That would be an intelligent asking price, combined with massive Internet exposure. Nothing else matters. Brokers don't matter on the listing side if you want to know the Gospel truth. Obviously, other factors other than price and exposure come into play (like location and condition – two factors no broker can change), but at the core, fundamental level, it’s price and Internet exposure that sells property. Price has already taken into account factors like your location and condition.
Landfall Properties, LLC has a syndicated relationship with approximately 90 property search websites. These include sites like Zillow®,Realtor®,Trulia®, Homefinder®, and many, many more. Plus, not only will your home be listed on these 90 websites, but you will be listed on hundreds of other sites. How?
Nearly every real estate brokerage in the states of CT, FL, MA, ME, NH, and VT has a website. And nearly every one of them offers the ability to search for available properties (yours included), right from their website. On top of that, 75%+ of all agents and brokers have their own individual websites. Your home will be seen there as well if these agents have a search function built into their website, which many do. This is massive exposure. If you tried to do this yourself (post to hundreds of websites), it would take you weeks, if not months. We do it in 24 hours, and all for FREE. In actuality, you'll be exposed on thousands of websites, but we know people have a hard time wrapping their head around thousands, so we use the more conservative "hundreds" reference.
Obviously, if we're pushing your house data and photos out to hundreds of sites across the Internet, Zillow and Trulia are naturally included in that list. But here's why it's far better to use Landfall Properties, LLC as your "go to" company for mass marketing: Because there is a far greater likelihood a buyer lead will get routed to you directly. How? Before we answer that question, it is important to understand how Zillow generates revenue. It generates revenue from real estate agents and brokers who pay large sums of money to Zillow to get their name and photograph to show up (in the right hand corner of the screen in full color) when someone looks at property details. Go ahead and see this for yourself.
Go up on Zillow®, and search for any property in CT, MA, ME, NH, or VT. Doesn't matter which one. OK, do you see those four pictures of real estate agents on the right side of the screen? Only the one at the top (the listing agent) has any connection to the property being sold. The other three have no connection whatsoever to the property you are viewing. These agents have paid a lot of money to Zillow to get their photo in there, in the hopes a buyer will click on it, thereby setting up the possibility they can serve as a buyer broker for a prospective buyer.
Now I want you to follow me closely here, because this is going to fly by really fast if you're not paying attention. Major sites like Zillow and Trulia provide buyers with the ability to directly communicate with the various agents listed on the page. By listing with Landfall Properties, LLC, the photo and contact information for Principal Broker Paul R. Marino will be cited right at the top (above the other three agents that have no connection of any kind to your property). Human nature is to click the one at the top, plus, it's the default selection in Zillow and Trulia. When the Zillow or Trulia lead comes into Landfall Properties, LLC, we immediately bounce it to you for followup. We do not intercept buyer inbound leads.
How do you know we're telling the truth? You don't, unless you ask to be put in touch with any one of home seller clients. Pick one at random out of our Testimonials section, and we will place you in direct contact. Of course, once you're up and listed, you can simply test the process for yourself. Simply go to Zillow or Trulia (for example), and fill out the “I want more information” box. Or, tell a friend, whose email we do not know, and sit back and watch the result. The result is, your cell and email will light up. This is your best chance of connecting with a buyer directly, and bypassing a broker commission of any kind (no listing side sales commission, and no buyer broker side sales commission). Attention to detail on buyer leads is what sets us head and shoulders above the competition. Never forget, every home sale begins with an inbound buyer lead.
Now you might be asking: "Well, I can just list my home for free on Zillow, and my contact information will be listed right on the page". Sure it will. At the bottom of the list of four agents, and dimmed out in gray. Most buyers do not know how the system works, and will naturally "tag" a full color photo at the top of the list, not to mention the fact the Zillow default selection is the one at the top, not your dimmed out option at the bottom. So what happens in a high percentage of cases is that your contact information will not be selected. That mouse click just cost you a five figure sales commission. Ouch.
We often see the following verbiage attached to a For Sale By Owner Zillow or Trulia listing: "We will compensate buyer brokers 2.5%". Your offer is falling on deaf ears. Why? Because it is buyers that are using Zillow to look for properties, not agents and brokers. Agents and brokers are using their respective local Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Even if an agent or broker does see your offer, in the back of their mind they are thinking: "How am I going to ensure I actually get paid a commission on this transaction, and won't be cut out of the deal? By working with another REALTOR®, and MLS broker (i.e. Landfall Properties, LLC), at least I know my payment is guaranteed. With this FSBO home seller, I don't know who I'm dealing with, and have no confidence I'll be compensated for my work".
Here's another very important observation: Why is it that of all the homes listed on Zillow, 97%+/- are also listed with a real estate brokerage? You can see this for yourself by going to Zillow and filtering your search so that it only displays For Sale By Owner, FSBO properties. Now remove the filter and conduct the search. The numbers are nearly identical, meaning only 3%+/- are "go it alone" For Sale By Owner, FSBO sellers. Why is this percentage so small? It's because real estate brokerages get the job done (i.e. bring you to the closing table), not because sellers have a particular affinity for real estate brokers. Home sellers do not use real estate brokers because they enjoy being hit over the head with a large sales commission. They only use them because the market has conclusively demonstrated they get results.
By listing with Landfall Properties, LLC, your home data and photos will be pushed out to hundreds of agents in your market area, who are motivated to find a buyer because they know they will unequivocally be compensated (via our contractual relationship with the Multiple Listing Service [MLS]). This is not stopping you from finding a buyer on your own and paying nothing to any real estate brokerage. Continue to do whatever it is you are doing to locate a buyer. But if it doesn't work, at least you've got a backstop. And if you do have to pay a real estate commission, it is 50% to 67% lower than a full service 6% commission (for example). This places thousands of dollars back in your pocket.
