You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'idx real estate website design' tag.
What do we do Now?
-by Peter Francese
Since October of 2007, the value of an index fund based on the Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen 40 percent. But a great many stock funds are down at least 50 percent from a year ago, and hardly anyone is suggesting that this is the bottom.
By comparison from October of 2007 to this past October, the median sale price of a New Hampshire residence (not including condominiums) has fallen just 13 percent. All homeowners can rightly be distressed about the drop in home prices in our state, but over the past year it’s pretty clear which was the better investment.
Considering the sharp drop in retail sales and the general economic situation, it’s likely to be some months before consumer confidence climbs up from its all-time low point. The president of Best Buy recently said, “In my 42 years of retailing, we’ve never seen such difficult times for the consumer. People are making dramatic changes in how much they spend, and we’re not immune from those forces.”
The fact that, despite their problems, Best Buy is so much better off than their chief competitor, Circuit City, which has filed for bankruptcy, offers some insight for REALTORS®. The biggest difference between those firms is that Best Buy invested a great deal more in their website, and they invested more heavily to understand how customers for electronic goods were changing.
There is no doubt that this is an extraordinarily difficult time for New Hampshire REALTORS®. But it is my belief that when the economy recovers, the most successful ones will be those who invested in upgrading their website and increasing their knowledge of today’s home buyers.
Results from the monthly survey which we ask you to complete will provide more information about home buyers (October survey results are described below).
But improving your website really requires some technical assistance. Here are three suggestions for the next time you upgrade your site:
- 1. Make the print bigger. More of the people visiting your site are older and have trouble reading small print.
- 2. Use as many virtual tours or video tours of homes as you budget permits. More site visitors will expect to see some type of video presentation rather than just small still photos.
- 3. Describe in more detail a home’s benefits in terms that matter to prospective buyers. More buyers, for example, want to know if it has broadband access, how close it is to town or if it’s handicap accessible and/or energy efficient.
CENTURY 21 Summit View & Lakes Realty
(IDX Real Estate Website Design & Lakes Region NH Web Design)
New website includes Google NNEREN Mapping along a ton of information for buyers, sellers, community & mortgage. View Live Website
WGC Designs just introduced a new property search results page that now shows a detailed google map with your results. Click on each marker to see a picture and more information about the property, then click “More Info” so view the entire listing sheet.
IFramed example: http://c21energyshield.com/real_estate/Newport_nh/
Currently available for VREIN MLS customers and NNEREN mls customers from around New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and Massachuettes.
Also available is a non-iframed version for customers who want to maximize their exposure with the search engines.
Non framed example: http://wgcdesigns.com/clients/steve_mardis/properties/view_featured_properties.asp
Contact www.WGCDesigns.com for more details.
