Technical Sergeant Richard A. Curtis, stationed at Fairchild AFB in Spokane, Washington isn't your typical dot-commer, but he does have a good idea that he is trying to make work - create a Web site designed to bring Realtors and relocating military families together.

"I have been on active duty for 13 years and currently on my 6th assignment," explains Curtis. "My wife and I started our Web site Militarylink.net early this year. We offer several services to military members, but the one that continuously got attention was our classifieds."

Classified advertising is popular around military communities, because so many families move in and out throughout the year, says Curtis.

"Everyone seems to have something they are trying to sell before moving," he observes. "Each base has a newspaper, and this was their best option, however newspapers are only published once a week."

So, the couple did some research and found only a couple of other Web sites that offer classifieds for military.

"These other sites grouped advertisements by category, so the items got advertised to everyone, everywhere," says Curtis. "We decided to separate our classifieds first by location, then by category. This allowed for advertisements to be placed only in the community where the item would be sold, and not advertised to all military, everywhere. After developing the site and getting good search engine ranking, we started seeing a positive response. We now have 145 military installations listed, with advertisements in each one."

But Curtis had other hurdles. Getting the word out to military members was a problem, because Militarylink's services are free, and it is costly to advertise in each base newspaper.

"We needed a way to fund our advertising, so we decided to create a separate section dedicated to real estate and charge a small fee," he explains. "Again we did our research and found one Web site offering real estate listings by military owner. We envisioned more than just 'for sale by owner.' We saw a need to bring real estate agents, property managers and military members together. So we started our real estate section. With minimal advertising, we started receiving a positive response. We received the ads via email, along with the photos. We created the advertisement and posted them. Our Web site offered full-page ads with features such as four photos, private e-mail form, a link to MapQuest, and hit counters."

Using real estate dollars, Curtis was able to buy space in newspapers at more military bases.

"We had a target audience, with 1.4 million military members relocating an average of every three to four years," he explains. "We knew there was a huge market. Each military installation has a housing office that helps military members find housing, but they don't offer a service to provide agents a means to advertise property. We are convinced that a union between real estate owners and military members would work, so we started plans for a new site."

Militaryclassifieds.com could potentially serve as many as 1.4 million active duty military members.

"With most moving around every few years, we are providing the connection between Realtors near military installations and the men and women that need homes," says Curtis.

Why should Realtors be interested?

"We have an advantage over local Realtor Web sites and newspaper ads," says Curtis. "Realtors must compete for their share of the military market, where we are in a better position to capture it. We make it easy on the member because they don't need to find an agent to find a home, but when they find the home they will find the agent. And only those that choose to participate will get the attention. I am confident that as we grow, we will be the number one place for military men and women to look for off-base housing, and we are providing a way for Realtors and property managers to tap into this market and find military renters and buyers."

In addition to placing classified ads on militaryclassifieds.com, Realtors can also take advantage of a one of the new features of the Web site called "House Hunter."

"Military members can log in and build a profile of a home they are looking for," says Curtis. "When an agent places an ad that matches the profile, the military member will get an e-mail notification."

Realtors can also create an affiliate site. "Realtors can create an affiliate site using our database," says Curtis. "They can customize the look of their real estate section to match their own Website, however all listings are fed into our data base. This is perfect for Realtors who already have a web site that work with military personnel."

Militaryclassifieds.com is also offering free advertising for seven days starting today as a special promotion.

"Realtors can place as many ads as they would like, and they will remain until sold or rented," says Curtis. "After the promotion period we will continue with our regular advertising rates. We recognize Realtors spend a lot in advertising just to sell one home. That is why we are offering a special rate for multiple listings."

Published: September 17, 2002

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