THE BENEFITS OF REAL ESTATE WEBSITES

By Wayne Martin
Coldwell Banker Bullard Realty

The real estate industry has come a long way in a short period of time in relation to technology! From cell phones, to PDAs to wireless computers, technology stands at the forefront of today’s real estate industry.

Industry statistics tell us that in 2006 that approximately 80 percent of all home buyers used the internet to search for a home. It’s easy to see why home buyers would rely on websites like our own which is at http://www.cbbullard.com/.

* Easy online home search. (On cbbullard.com, that’s over 90,000 Atlanta area properties)
* Access to company information including office locations, contact information and the ability to select from over 300 agents.
* Online information requests with a guaranteed quick response time.
* Ability to schedule a showing while online.
* Valuable information and contacts for relocation services, mortgage information, foreclosures and careers.

For the real estate agent, the benefits are obvious! By pointing a prospective buyer or seller to the company website, you are providing that person with valuable tools that assist them in buying or selling their home, as well as reflecting your professional affiliation with a corporation that is committed to providing those tools. Ongoing SEO (Search Engine Optimization), pay-per-click programs and lead generation are just a few of the items that make a website like cbbullard.com invaluable to a company’s agents.

What is the future of technology in real estate? The demands are tremendous and technology is here to stay. It will play an even bigger part in real estate as new, cutting edge hardware and programs in development today become the standard of tomorrow.

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(Wayne Martin is the director of information technologies for Coldwell Banker Bullard Realty, which has seven offices in the Metro Atlanta area and is the parent company of Coldwell Banker American Land Mart. This column originally appeared in the “Bullard Blog”, a regular feature of the company’s website.)

Add comment March 20th, 2007