July 2, 1999

New tool in online property marketing

By TOM KELLY
The Real Estate Advisor

One of the main reasons professional sports teams are now so splashy in their overall package is they are constantly competing for the public's entertainment dollar. The more glitter and show the club can deliver -- not including the actual game -- the better chance of drawing a larger pool of potential customers.

However, some presentations are now so choreographed that they are boringly common. For example, you experience the same National Basketball Association game-day pitch in every city, including the same high-decibel songs. If you are a NBA owner and wish to bring a creative wrinkle to your struggling franchise, you are out of luck if it does not fit with the present drill.

Realtors also have a finite amount of dollars to spend in marketing their properties for sale and the Internet has brought more opportunities than ever to spend those bucks. However, unlike the NBA's stringent marketing guidelines, real estate agents and brokers can be creative and varied with their marketing presentations.

That, in a capsule, is why Russ Cofano decided to take a leave of absence from his real estate law practice and head up http://www.onlinevisit.com, an online marketing tool that "enhances" the exposure and content of properties listed for sale.

"This is a concept that keeps the agent in full control," said Cofano who has specialized in online law, including "spam" legislation, the past several years. "They can do as much, or as little as they want to on this site. If they want to have one picture, or 10 pictures of a house, it doesn't make any difference. The cost is the same and they can have as many listings on the site as they wish."

There are many sites similar to onlinevisit.com but there is no known service that provides the number and amount of features for a flat monthly fee. That charge, in the neighborhood of $40 a month for an unlimited number of listings, has been waived for all agents and brokers until Jan. 1, 2000.

Cofano, who has taught real estate mandatory "clock-hour courses" to state agents for years, said his new company jumped out in front of others because of its enormous potential capacity. The "mass" the site will be able to handle will prove to be the critical value for agents.

"Let's say you have two seemingly identical cars," Cofano said. "They are both blue, both have power steering... everything. However, one car is able to go 50,000 miles before it breaks down and the other is still going at 250,000 miles. In our case, because we can "go further" it costs the agent less money."

Although gorgeous photographs of homes highlight onlinevisit.com, it does not contract photographers. Any agent can take digital pictures of a property, load it into a computer and immediately have it uploaded to the website. Companies that focus on interactive pictures and online photography -- like Bamboo and IPIX -- also can send their photos to onlinevisit.com.

"While some people may perceive that we are competitors, I don't think that's the case at all," Cofano said. "If a Realtor wants to hire Bamboo to take pictures of a house and post them on our site, that's fine. If those pictures enhance what the agent is trying to present, we're all for it."

Bamboo, formerly known as Jutvision, set the real estate industry on its ear two years ago when the Canadian company announced the it would take three pictures of any house and post those pictures on a website in three days for $99. Other companies were charging two and three times that amount at the time.

Onlinevisit.com provides the opportunity for agents to take pictures on the day of their choosing -- days that best display the property (sun, snow, wind, rain) instead of a day that fits a professional photographer's schedule. When the agent recoups the cost of a decent digital camera ($700 and up), the cost is greatly reduced.

"One of the reasons I got into this deal was that the agent remained in control of what and how they market," Cofano said. "This lets them be more comfortable in what they provide because you're not constantly telling them how it's got to be or look.

"So many of the real estate websites that you call up these days look the same. This site gives the Realtor the chance to provide their own sticky content in just about any form they wish."

"Sticky" content is information that keeps visitors glued to a particular site. It also encourages creativity, something many other industries have abandoned for dull repetition.

Previous columns:

• Fixing up the home, 06-25-1999
• A father's gifts to his son, 06-18-1999
• Supply, not higher rates, restricting home sales, 06-11-1999
• Make sure mortgage is a safe assumption, 06-04-1999
• Is it time to refinace again?, 05-28-1999
• Slow sale? Suggest a lease option, 05-21-1999
• Wamu to debut new mortgage web site, 05-14-1999
• NWMLS strikes deal on the Net, 05-07-1999