|
a
USING
THE INTERNET TO LIST AND SELL LAND IN 2000
A friend of mine came to my office last week. He is a
retired president of an agri-business company and had ask
if I would take a few minutes to show him how I used the computer
and the Internet in my business. Two hours later as he was
leaving, his reaction was, "How do you know all this?"
Until
he asked the question, I didn't realize that I had a choice!
Our goal always has been to provide the best professional
farm and land broker service possible. To do so meant constantly
changing to new marketing methods that would benefit buyers
and sellers. We believe our ideas are working. Here's why.
Last
fall, a Missouri land owner living in England called me. He
and his sisters (one lived in Colorado and the other in Missouri)
had over 350 acres in Montgomery County to sell. A broker
in the area had contacted them, but the brother had refused
to list with their firm. The reason: The other real estate
company did not have an e-mail address.
He
had learned about us through the Internet while sitting at
his computer in London. He had review pages of our website
where he learned of my background and experience. He also
read letters from previous clients that were also on our website.
He
liked how we included maps, pictures and detailed property
information on each of our exclusively listed properties which
was something not done by other real estate companies with
web sites.
After
a discussion (we were familiar with the land and the area)
a listing price was agreed upon. The agreements were faxed
to each of the owners for their approval.
Within
90 days all of the land was sold in three tracts. During that
time, the four of us communicated through the exchanged of
more than 150 e-mails. In seemed that each morning when I
opened my e-mail, there would be messages either from London
or Colorado or Missouri.
The
negotiations of each contract were done by either email or
fax. This meant that buyers received responses to offers quickly
even though the sellers lived in different parts of the world.
Does
this mean that all people are doing business through the internet?
No, however since January nearly 30% of all serious inquiries
have originated from buyers who have viewed listings on our
website. More than 25% of our closed sales have been with
buyers who saw the property advertised on our company website.
The
internet is not replacing classified ads and signs yet. And,
Email is not replacing letter writing, telephone call, or
face to face meetings. There will always be a need for personal
contact. But the Internet has become an effective way to get
property information to buyers.
|
