By Geoff Williams, FrontDoor.com | Published: 3/20/2009
Real Estate Among Friends
Facebook is how Chuck Gullett, based out of Chicago, landed a couple clients and is currently looking for a house for them. Some friends on Facebook noticed one of their friends grumbling online that he was frustrated by the experience of looking for a home. And so upon being told this, Gullett shot over an email to the frustrated Facebooker and soon had a new client.
That's happened a couple times now, says Gullett, who says that in each case, the person was a little surprised to hear from him, but they quickly come to realize that it's natural for a Realtor to reach out if they can. "You already know they have a need since they posted it for the world to see, and it's just natural to offer help," says Gullett, who for now isn't giving up on traditional real estate advertising, but likes what he sees.
"In five years, these tools may evolve into a preferred marketing and communication channel," says Gullett, "but today, they're a novel and fun way to making contact and following up with clients."
Having fun seems to be part of the success of looking for a house to buy or sell through Twitter, Facebook and the rest. Before trying to find a Realtor on LiveJournal, Sullivan had considered actively looking for a Realtor on Twitter -- which she uses frequently -- but says, "I thought the Realtors on Twitter were way too marketing focused."
Sullivan wanted to find a Realtor who remembers the social part of social networking. "We spent a lot of time with our Realtor," she says, "and since she was around our age with similar interests, it made it a lot more enjoyable." Her advice to homebuyers and sellers, which could also be a useful tip to real estate agents: "I'd shy away from someone who is using Twitter or Facebook only to promote themselves and not really to connect with people. In my opinion, these 'professional marketers' are only out for the commission and not for establishing a long term relationship. You can tell a lot about a person by how they act on a social networking service."
NEXT: How Twitter is changing real estate >>
Geoff Williams is a regular contributor to FrontDoor.com. He can be found on Twitter at www.twitter.com/geoffw.
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