The Economics Of Template vs. Custom Web Design (Continued)
 http://www.patyoung.com |
http://www.gailjackson.com |
 http://www.jillmcgovern.com |
http://www.daviddodero.com |
Custom Website Design Costs
Year 1
Custom design web site - $3,000 - $3,600 One-Time Fee (fairly common)
Hosting- $25/month
IDX MLS feed additional (estimate $40-$70/month)
Year 1 Costs - $4,740.00 (the 50/50 agent's income from one $316,000 sale @ 3% fee)
Year 2 and beyond
Custom design (you already own the web site completely) - $0
Hosting- $25/month
IDX MLS feed additional (estimate $40-$70/month)
Year 2, Year 3, etc. Costs - $1,140.00 (the 50/50 agent's income from a $76,000 sale @ 3%)
For many agents, the cost of a having a custom web site designed and managed by a professional is less than the agent's income from 1/2 a sale or even 1/4 of a sale!
So compared to an Advanced Access template site, does it really cost more? And after Year 1, where your custom "web office" was originally built and paid for, how do the Year 2, Year 3, etc. costs really stack up to Agent X sites or Point2Agent sites? Yet, all the time, you had a professional doing this work that hopefully knows what he/she is doing - rather than you stumbling through the process. Just like as a real estate agent you have a professional loan officer to qualify your buyers, a professional home inspector to conduct inspections, a professional escrow or title company to conduct your closings, a professional web designer becomes part of your "team" in making you look good to your current and potential clients and bring in more listings and sales.
All it takes is one $300,000 sale from your web site to reimburse yourself for the entire first year's operation. Do you believe that if you had a custom real estate site that you can get at least one?
Other Ways To Prospect
Lastly, lets compare other forms of real estate marketing techniques to see how these costs compare with having a web site to attract visitors 24/7, 365.
All agents are taught to market themselves by prospecting. One of the more popular ways to prospect is by sending out color postcards to around 500 homes consistently each and every month to start becoming a "household" name to these possible future "clients". The prices below came from Sparrow and Jacobs - www.sparrowandjacobs.com - a popular supplier of prospecting needs to real estate agents, for the costs of getting quality postcards with custom imprinting to send out each and every month.
$1,560.00 - 500 color postcards for 12 months (26 cents each per month)
$1,440.00 - 500 postcard stamps for 12 months (24 cent postcard stamp each per month)
$3,000.00 Per Year
What about classified advertising? What is the shelf life of a classified ad? Maybe 2 to 5 days! And what does a classified ad cost in your area? Homes Magazines are good to bring in leads, but how much does a full-page color Homes Magazine ad cost you? What is the shelf life of a Homes Magazine ad? 2 to 6 weeks? For the cost of just a few full-page ads you can have your own personal "cyberspace" real estate office that is open 24 hours a day!
Think about these issues when trying to decide whether a template or custom web site is right for you. Web marketing can be one of the least expensive forms of marketing a real estate agent can ever do. Where can you market yourself to the World for so little money?? Your very next client may be contacting you from Europe or Asia... not just down the street or around the corner.
