I haven’t been posting much at Bloodhound lately, or really for awhile. Professionally, I did not make the progress last year I usually do. I went backwards and was simply distracted by other things. By this time last year, I was a very sick boy and it took until nearly Christmas to be back to having much energy or vitality. But, it wasn’t time wasted. From a personal standpoint, it confirmed what I already know, and that’s to just do the things that I want to do. Since that’s pretty much how I’ve always lived, I looked at my life and decided it was perfect.
So, about January, I had the energy to get back to speed on business. My brokerage wasn’t doing what I wanted it to do. It wasn’t doing much at all. So, I decided to fix it. I did some Ryan Hartman type of web marketing and got the leads flowing again. In my market, a market that hasn’t seen over 150 homes sold annually since 2007, I was getting 2 to 5 real buyers per week asking to do business and sending me their contact information. That was a good start.
But, that wasn’t enough. I’m the rural hound in this crowd. We have a group of brokers really happy with their own little MLS system that doesn’t track much data. It would look pretty 1992 to the rest of you. So, by digging into it and looking at what was actually selling, I noticed that foreclosure sales, bank owned and short sales, had gone from a handful of percentage of the market to at least 20%. Even more instructive, the number was growing quickly.
While I had a bunch of buyers calling, I was having issues getting folks who could get loans and get deals done. By dipping my toe in marketing foreclosures I found that most all of them were looking to spend cash. And, in this resort market, most were wanting premium properties. Awesome! That solves the qualification problem
So, I found out that lakechelanforeclosures.com and chelanforeclosures.com were available. In a matter of a few days I had 5 of the top 10 spots on google searches for foreclosures in the area. I now have a great bunch of buyers, new leads coming in looking for properties of all types in the area and deals getting done.
It took about 6 weeks from the decision to change the outcome I was getting in my brokerage to a complete turnaround in results. I would love to tell you I thought of some new marketing secret. I didn’t. The mechanics of doing it can all be found in the pages of bloodhound. I didn’t do anything new but set up a web site that catered to the happening part of my local market. Since then, I have been working the leads. If you’ve been looking at all the information on Bloodhound and wondering how effective it is, I can tell you yet again: This stuff works.
Jeff Brown says:
It ain’t rocket science, is it? 🙂 Good to hear you’re back in the saddle.
March 28, 2011 — 3:51 pm
Al Lorenz says:
@Jeff. It isn’t. The only thing that surprised me is how fast things can be changed. And, thanks!
March 28, 2011 — 4:30 pm
Greg Swann says:
Very cool stuff, Al. This post was the cherry on the sundae that was my Monday!
March 28, 2011 — 8:27 pm
Al Lorenz says:
Thanks Greg! And, thanks for spearheading the whole Bloodhound experience. You, your work and the hound’s efforts are much appreciated.
March 29, 2011 — 10:53 am
Don Reedy says:
Music to my ears….and my eye. Ah, would that the winds of springtime bring to me the same air of clarity that you have experienced.
Love hearing from you!
March 29, 2011 — 7:49 pm
Jarrod Frenzel says:
I love your approach you used. It sounds like you were very strategic and methodical in how you used the data that you found in the foreclosures and short sales. I bet your SEO knowledge gives you a HUGE advantage in rural areas like this.
April 3, 2011 — 8:25 pm
Crystal Tost says:
That is awesome! I love how the industry has changed so much, years ago you wouldn’t turn to the internet to make a fast appreciation in your income. it simply would take too long to show any results, but with today’s technology, it is possible to see results quickly. Thanks for sharing!
April 4, 2011 — 5:49 pm