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Real Estate News and Advice |
July 3, 2009 |
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 How Broker/Realtor Debbie Ferrari Conquered the Internet
by Blanche Evans
The housing market is setting new records daily. Consumers by the millions are going online to hunt for homes. And Internet Realtor Debbie Ferrari of San Clemente, CA is waiting in key real estate-related sites for them--using the Web to gain 95% of her total sales annually. In 1998 Ferrari did $5 million in sales, in addition to other sales, solely from leads gotten through her 60-page web site at http://www.debbieferrari.com . How? Because the Internet has become a key way for home buyers to look at homes even before they actually visit the city they are moving to. The National Association of Realtors predicts that in the next three to five years, 85 percent of those who are going to buy a home will start the process on the Web. And when they go to look, Debbie is there waiting for them, in not just a few, but in virtually all major real estate MLS search sites that are linked from the major commercial web portals. To get that kind of exposure, Ferrari has help from her fiancé, Web consultant and designer, Bill Koelzer. It is Koelzer's strategy to secure multiple domain names and blanket the search engines with sites that lead to Ferrari. The plan has paid off. In 1996, Debbie’s overall sales were only $700,000. Then in 1997 with Koelzer's help, her sales from Web leads shot to $2.5 million. Then she discovered how to make her site easily found everywhere. In 1998, she hit $5 million solely from web leads, mostly from remote buyers. At this rate of increase, she expects to hit $12 million in 1999 solely from Internet leads. Debbie is now attracting an average of 175 visitors per day. Many of these visitors are considering moving to the area during the next year, from points all over the US as well as internationally. First, they want to "look" at some homes for sale over the Internet, get local area information, and third, find a Realtor® who’ll represent them when they finally arrive to find a home in person. Ferrari accommodates buyers on her 60-page web site by offering not only vast amounts of area information and general "buying" tips and hints, but also the convenience of searching for homes listed on her area’s Multiple Listing Service. Searchers can view photos of the homes, plus read details about them. Ferrari says, "most web-savvy buyers go hunting for homes themselves over the web first, narrowing down their choices and familiarizing themselves with a region’s offerings, and then they choose an agent online by comparing what services agents offer on their web sites. To help make sure that they choose me, I just make sure to offer everything, on one site--everything that a buyer could ever want from an on-line Realtor." In addition to serving buyers, Ferrari also serves home sellers. She says, "Because I have so many people visiting my site, sellers quickly deduce that it makes sense for them to let me list their home." For her expanded Internet service to buyers and sellers, Ferrari is covering her bets by offering "Ferrari-fast" access to her Web site. Visitors can go to any search engine and enter "San Clemente realtor" (or, substitute Dana Point, or any one of the nearby cities) and you’ll find at least one of her numerous Web sites. These secondary sites attract as many as 3,000 visitors, more traffic than most brokerage offices have in a month. Why so many? The sites exist as bridge pages to enable Ferrari to be found on search engines and to direct consumers to her main site. Here are a few of Debbie's links. Note how Debbie came up with her key words:
More than 30 leading national Realty and quality-judging organizations have given Ferrari’s web site their top "content and design" awards. Ferrari was featured on the April, 1998 cover of Orange County’s Broker*Agent magazine. Last fall, she was profiled for her Internet service to buyers and sellers by virtually every one of the leading national Realty industry publications and web sites. These include the National Association of Realtors (web site), Inman Real Estate News, AgentNews, Today’s Realtor (NAR) magazine among others. In August, The Register newspaper for Orange County, CA had Debbie in the number one slot on its annual list of the county’s Top Ten Realtor Web Sites. Will the Internet be a boon for real estate agents? Ferrari says, "Yes, but only for those who quickly adopt the new technology. Perhaps the more important question is ‘Will the Internet be good for buyers and sellers?’ and the answer there, too, is a resounding ‘yes!’" "Where else can a buyer 2,500 miles away become familiar with a strange region, view homes for sale, and get personalized daily service from a Realtor who intimately knows about the area, its neighborhoods and even its individual homes?" "Yes, real estate done over the Internet is good for real estate agents, but it is infinitely better for their clients," concludes Ferrari. "especially for those planning to relocate." Interview Dec. 22, 1997:
Published: May 6, 1999 Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws. 
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Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68.
