The web is upending lots of traditional notions about what works and what doesn't work in real estate. Is farming next? It is for one agent who claims that traditional farming methods are too costly for the return.

I was forwarded a very interesting email from an undeniably successful online real estate agent who claims that traditional farming is ineffective. How successful is this agent? In real estate since the 70's, Barbara Simmons, of Thousand Oaks, California, reports that she now makes 100% of her living from her web site:

"I just put $2.8 million in escrow off my web site! That's 5 sales, over the last 10 days, all from my site: $441,000, $550,000, $177,000, $395,000, and $810,000. I offer myself to anyone who wants help in making their site as effective as mine," says Barbara.

Barbara participates in a brainstorming group of about 20 top real estate agents. They get together four times a year to enhance each other's business. They also send a stream of emails back and forth between each other all day long, swapping ideas, encouragement, and tips. It must work:

"I am currently making 100% of my living off my web site - other than past clients and referrals," she says.

Barbara claims that because of the web, traditional farming is now pretty much obsolete:

"I started farming in 1978 when my selling area had 350 homes. In 1994 I kept track of where my sales were coming from. I discovered that my farm was costing me way too much money to service for the return I was getting. I dropped it," Barbara explains. "I would always ask myself, 'Why am I spending money on about 485 folks a month who are not going to be selling their home year after year?' If I were starting my career in real estate over again today, I would not do it that way."

Sending an e-mail is far, far less costly than traditional postal mailings. With a few clicks of a button, the savvy Realtor can send the latest listings, or any relevant message, to hundreds or even thousands in their "web farm." With the tools available today, web leads can be sorted, organized, tracked, and, yes, even farmed - far easier than printing postcards and licking stamps:

"Everything I send out is email or they do not get anything from me. All the money I used to spend on the local newspaper, real estate books - everything - is 100% cut out of my budget. I spend 20% of that money on Internet advertising and marketing," says Barbara.