Real Estate Investing ... You
Need A Website
By Matt Gerchow
The author has permitted the reprinting and redistribution of this
article.
Internet Marketing… You Need A Website
Every Real Estate Investor Should Have a Website!
Your website can be used as part of a “Credibility
Kit.” A “Credibility Kit,” is just a
collection of information that you can present to your sellers that
will show them that you are a real business professional and not just
someone looking to take advantage of them.
You can put testimonials up there that you get from sellers of past
deals or letters of recommendation from your insurance agent, Realtor,
mortgage broker, or anyone you have good business relationships with to
show that you’re a legitimate professional.
Not only does a website give you some upfront credibility, but it gives
people a way to find out more about who you are and what you can do for
them before they contact you. By building credibility you will take
some of the skepticism out of the seller, and you will find that you
get a more flexible and cooperative conversation from the seller that
could lead to an accepted offer.
One of the most important uses for a website is to help you pre-screen
your prospects. You can provide a feedback form for your prospects to
fill in the details about the property they are selling (asking price,
location, mortgage balances, reason for selling, etc.). This
information can be automatically emailed to you and then you can be
armed with deal closing information when you return the call.
It’s a fact that a large percentage of homeowners will look
to find information online before they start the process of selling
their home. With some simple search engine advertising, and by adding
your address to all your marketing material, you can drive some of that
traffic to your website and cash in on it.
Keep in mind that you want to have your website content setup as a
“resource” for your visitors, not necessarily a
sales pitch about how you can buy their house.
If you have a good source of information about various ways to help
them with their current financial situation, you will be perceived as
someone that is looking to help, rather that take advantage of their
unfortunate situation. This is the critical step to building the
relationship you are looking to establish.
How to Work with Web Designers – Don’t!
Thank God for duplication through software. Imagine if people
hadn’t bought into Bill Gates’ view of how software
should be created and distributed. We would all be operating a
self-developed version of Microsoft Word or Excel. I have built
software from the ground up and it’s a pain. Just this
morning I got off the phone with a web contractor that’s two
months late on a simple project. So far of the six or so companies I
have worked with, only one company has successfully completed a project
with any sort of resemblance to the original bid price or time frame.
And then on the next project they failed miserably.
Software is complicated. Unless you truly are o.k. with spending long
hours dwelling in frustration, you might try buying or leasing a
website that someone else is losing hair developing.
Hope this helps,
Matt Gerchow
If
you would like to take advantage of the market and learn how to invest
in real estate and you are local to the Dallas Fort Worth area, I know
a really great teacher and mentor here in Arlington Texas. Please take
a look at his web site: DennisJHenson.com,
Dennis has a great Mentoring and training program, I know because I am
one of his former students. I learned a lot from his one on one
teaching technique. - Michael Harman 817-457-7572
mchfun.business@gmail.com
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