realestate or realestateview?

[evguenii]

Just had an argument with an agent who is selling my property whether it is more effective to advertise on realestate.com.au, realestateview.com.au or place an ad in the paper (The Age). What are people's experiences have been with those sites? Do you find that it's not worth advertising on realestateview.com.au? Have you had any people who only look in the paper and never on the internet? (the property is in Prahran, Victoria).
Another interesting thing he said which is in short - if you don't advertise in the paper then you can't go to auction, is that true?
thank you in advance for your replies
Evgueni

 

[see_change]

Effectiveness of advertising varies from place to place.

The only comment I'd make is I've never heard of realestateview, but I haven't been looking to buy in melbourne , or anywhere over the last year.

I've now added it to my list of search sites.

Would be intersting to hear from some of the melbourne regulars for their opinions.

See Change

 

[likewow]

Another interesting thing he said which is in short - if you don't advertise in the paper then you can't go to auction, is that true?

Evgueni

I dont know much about real esate web sites beside the fact that they seem to work and realestate.com.au is the best. Is he saying the above quote is a legal requirement or just thats its no use having an auction if theres no newspaper advertising?

 

[quiggles]

Given the cost of going to auction, you'd want to have it well advertised in advance so that the people turning up on the day weren't tyre kickers, but serious bidders with finance in place.

That said, I'd be amazed if it was a legal requirement.

Mortgagees in possession and other foreclosings are required to advertise, but that is so the owner is not disadvantaged by (for instance) an unpublicised auction (or private sale) attended by the mortgagee and a couple of close mates - a practice which used to be somewhat common.

 

[likewow]

Given the cost of going to auction, you'd want to have it well advertised in advance so that the people turning up on the day weren't tyre kickers, but serious bidders with finance in place.

That said, I'd be amazed if it was a legal requirement.

Mortgagees in possession and other foreclosings are required to advertise, but that is so the owner is not disadvantaged by (for instance) an unpublicised auction (or private sale) attended by the mortgagee and a couple of close mates - a practice which used to be somewhat common.

I agree thats its not a legal requirement but i took it as tho the agent is trying to pull the woll over evguenii's eyes.

Agents love lots of people at an auction, tyre kickers or not. The more the better...in fact the whole stickybeaking street

Nothing worse than a dead auction.

 

[The Y-man]

Personally, I prefer to use ralestateview as the search and sort functions suit me better than realestate.com

Cheers,

The Y-man

 

[Sultan of Swing]

Hi Evguenii

I'm in Tasmania so it may not be relavant in your area, I'll let you decide.

I haven't seen the latest stats but a while back realestate.com.au was getting over 50% of the internet enquiry. This was followed by domain.com.au and then a few of the lesser know web sites such as realestateview.com.au etc.

If I was selling anywhere in Australia my main concern at this point in time regarding web advertising would be to make sure its on realestate.com.au.

Newpaper advertising definitely works as I explained in a thread 2 days ago in far more detail. (You won't find the thread as its been deleted by the moderators). It never ceases to amaze me how many buyers rely on the newspaoer to see what's available on the market. Some think that everything you have for sale is in the paper every week even when there are 3 properties advertised and 100 in the front window. I haven't worked out if its because they're not ready to buy just yet or just haven't really thought to much.

I don't think there's any legal reason for not having an auction without newspaper advertising. I'd assume what the agent was inferring is, its no use having an auction if noone nows about it. You can't sell a secret.

Good luck with it

 

[evguenii]

well he said that he will withdraw the property from auction and make it a private sale as legally he can't have an auction unless it's advertised (which it is - on realestate.com.au site!). What I offered was that I'd place an ad in the paper myself to which his response was that it's not the same as it doesn't have the logo or the details of the agency (which I disagree with as it would have his phone number and name but not necessarily the agency name or address). So my question is - is there really a legal requirement to have a property that is going to auction to be advertised in the paper and if so then is there a legal requirement to have full details of the listing agency in that ad?

 

[likewow]

well he said that he will withdraw the property from auction and make it a private sale as legally he can't have an auction unless it's advertised (which it is - on realestate.com.au site!). What I offered was that I'd place an ad in the paper myself to which his response was that it's not the same as it doesn't have the logo or the details of the agency (which I disagree with as it would have his phone number and name but not necessarily the agency name or address). So my question is - is there really a legal requirement to have a property that is going to auction to be advertised in the paper and if so then is there a legal requirement to have full details of the listing agency in that ad?

This is exactly what the deleted thread was about unfortunately. (Possibly a bit too quick with the delete button)

If he says that is a legal requirement you should ask him where you can find or can he provide the relevant law or ruling in writing? That'll stump him.

There is no legal requirement for the agency details to be in the auction ad. Theres a whole other reason for why he wants that.

Its your property AND your money, dont let him pull the wool over your eyes. Question everything, ask to see things in writing and get independent advice. (like you have very smartly done here)

 

[ren-A]

realestate.com.au covers ~85% of agents?

I did some research into REA as a potential share investment. I didn't buy (depsite good fundamentals) partly because they had signed up around 85% of agents, and it was evident where further expansion would come from.

 

[Sultan of Swing]

Hi again

In Tasmania there is definately a legal requirement for any real estate ad put in a newspaper to include the name of the company and its address. I'm not sure about the phone number although it makes sense to put that in too.

We've had the odd occassion where a zealous vendor has put in their own ad with the agents phone number and no address or mention of the agency and the Auctioneers and Real Estate Council have been notified. The offending agency has been asked to please explain. Fortunately they don't take it any further when they realise its not the agency that has inserted the ad.

Perhaps a Victorian agent (Kristine..) can shed some further light on the matter for you.

Cheers

 

[likewow]

I did some research into REA as a potential share investment. I didn't buy (depsite good fundamentals) partly because they had signed up around 85% of agents, and it was evident where further expansion would come from.

Do you mean it wasnt evident where further expansion was coming from? Maybe the private sector?

 

[likewow]

Hi again

In Tasmania there is definately a legal requirement for any real estate ad put in a newspaper to include the name of the company and its address. I'm not sure about the phone number although it makes sense to put that in too.

We've had the odd occassion where a zealous vendor has put in their own ad with the agents phone number and no address or mention of the agency and the Auctioneers and Real Estate Council have been notified. The offending agency has been asked to please explain. Fortunately they don't take it any further when they realise its not the agency that has inserted the ad.

Perhaps a Victorian agent (Kristine..) can shed some further light on the matter for you.

Cheers

Of course the agency needs its name and contact details in its advertising but i think the question aksed is different than that.

 

[Sultan of Swing]

What I offered was that I'd place an ad in the paper myself to which his response was that it's not the same as it doesn't have the logo or the details of the agency (which I disagree with as it would have his phone number and name but not necessarily the agency name or address). So my question is - is there really a legal requirement to have a property that is going to auction to be advertised in the paper and if so then is there a legal requirement to have full details of the listing agency in that ad?

Of course the agency needs its name and contact details in its advertising but i think the question aksed is different than that.

 

[likewow]

"So my question is - is there really a legal requirement to have a property that is going to auction to be advertised in the paper and if so then is there a legal requirement to have full details of the listing agency in that ad?"


The above question contains 2 questions:

The first is being ignored by you (but evguenii says 'and if so') and the second is ambiguios in the sense that of course the ad (just as any ad does) needs contact details for people responding to the ad to contact the agency. But it doesnt legally require the agencys contact details AND logo. Thats just advertising the agency at the vendors expense.

 

[evguenii]

second is ambiguios in the sense that of course the ad (just as any ad does) needs contact details

but does it have to have the contact details of the agent (the person) or the agency (the company)? i.e. can I say "contact Tom Brown on 040404040" or does the ad have to say "contact Tom Brown 0404040, XYZ Real Estate, Main St, Some City"?

 

[Michael Yardney]

Part of our group is an estate agency(Metropole Property Management - www.rentingmelbourne.com.au) that is only involved in buyer's advocacy and property management.

We subscribe to all 3 big portals - domain, realestate.com and realestate view.com. The latter is owned by the REIV.

Many agents subscribe to only one portal site and as you require an annaul subscription, they can't just advertise your property as a one off on a different site

Which is best?

realestate.com gets more enquiries, but if your property is in Prahran most of the agnets in that area use realestateview.com so you will also get lots of enquiries from this site. But not enuf to conduct an auction.

If you want the great results that a good auction will receive, this requires a number of interested bidders. This usually requires a good marketing campaign.

It sounds like you are not confident in the advice your agent is giving you. This is unfortunate because if you have lost faith so ealry in the sales campaign, it is goingt o be hard to acept his suugestions and advice when someone puts in an offer.


BY the way, it is a legal requirement in Vic for an agency to place its name and adddress in all print advertisements.

 

[likewow]

but does it have to have the contact details of the agent (the person) or the agency (the company)? i.e. can I say "contact Tom Brown on 040404040" or does the ad have to say "contact Tom Brown 0404040, XYZ Real Estate, Main St, Some City"?

Im not sure, check with the Real Estate Institute and/or the Dept. Of Fair Trading in your state.


www.reiv.com.au

www.consumer.vic.gov.au


Let us know how you get on.

btw: Have you signed a contract with the agent yet?

 

[evguenii]

thank you everyone for your opinions and advice, it certainly does help.

It sounds like you are not confident in the advice your agent is giving you

it's not that I am not confident, I just want to be personally comfortable that the right advertising is used for my target market. And since my target market are young single professionals (I'm basing this on the type of apartment, price and location) I believe that internet is the right advertising medium for them. So I'd rather spend my money on advertising on internet rather than advertising in the paper.
I do agree though that some people still only read the paper, and I'm happy to pay for an ad there, but I'm not happy to pay extra $70 to have agent's logo taking up almost half of the ad ($70 might seem like a small sum, but multiple it by 4 weeks of the campaign and we are talking $280!).

Have you signed a contract with the agent yet?

yes I have and what annoyed me the most is that when we were discussing the advertising campaign we've agreed that they will advertise it on 3 sites: realestate, realesateview and domain (unfortunately - and that will be a lesson for me for the future - I didn't get it in writing). Then the ad was only placed on realestate and domain and when I queried the agent on when it will be on realestateview he said that they've decided not to use the site!

 

[David E-Noosa]

As an aside no one here or even close to here uses realestateview. I only know of it because of my high net usage.

Our web stats are spread evenly between our own site, realestate.com.au and domain.com.au.

For others info:

realestate.com.au costs me $499/mth and I do not charge sellers to lists there.

domain.com.au costs me $375/mth and I do not charge sellers to list there.

e-noosa.com.au costs me an inhouse full time IT manager and hosting etc and I do not charge sellers to list there (we do virtual tours inhouse also at no cost for exclusives)

I point this out not as bragging but that as I see it they are costs that should be carried by the agency in doing business