The #1 Reason Real Estate Marketing Lacks Innovation

Ever wondered why real estate — one of America’s leading industries — lacks marketing innovation, or why new home sales and marketing professionals are so afraid to step outside their comfort zones?

“Hey, did you see that amazing new home builder in AdAge,” said no one ever. 

Well, the crux of the problem is that the real estate industry is light years behind just about every other major industry. And it’s not for a lack of technology, budgets, or smart, creative people.

So what’s the deal?

As an advertising professional who has spent nearly a decade building a thriving and successful marketing firm (often banging my head against a wall through the process), I’ve often contemplated why so many innovative ideas are rejected.

The only plausible answer I could come up with is: risk aversion. The real estate business is all about minimizing risk and limiting exposure. Did you hear that: Limiting exposure. That’s the antithesis of what great marketing should do. And therein lies the problem.

This inclination has stymied the tide of innovation. It has pushed creatives, innovators and big thinkers into a box, rather than challenging them to think bigger and be bolder.

Change seems to take a little longer in the home builder industry but it is possible. As marketing professionals, we must relentlessly pursue ideas that challenge convention and look for like-minded partners looking to lead the charge.

So this is a call to arms. To all the trailblazers, innovators and risk takers: Let’s shake things up. Let’s challenge ourselves and our teams to push the boundaries of marketing greatness. Let’s stop letting risk aversion be our compass and instead start focusing on surprising and delighting consumers.

“OMG. Home builder work is really dominating at this year’s Webbys. Not.”

After all, when it comes to advertising and communications, the biggest risk you can take is taking none at all.

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Robert Galletta is managing partner at Blackjet Inc., a Toronto-based, Webby award-winning digital and design agency with extensive real estate experience. The agency’s philosophy is to be fearless; and it challenges both clients and partners to do the same. Blackjet’s work recently won five Gold awards at the 2016 Nationals in Las Vegas.

Article courtesy of NAHBNow.com

GSA Business: SC house flipping slows

According to a report by GSA Business, house flipping in South Carolina has slowed, dropping from 5.3 percent of total sales in the first quarter of 2014 to 4.5 percent in the second quarter.

Flipping is defined as being sold twice in the same 12 month period. 

In the Upstate, in Greenville 4.1 percent of all house sales were flips, down 42 percent.  Spartanburg was higher at 4.9 percent, but still down 13 percent.  And in Anderson, 5.1 percent of houses sold were flips, up 26 percent.  Pickens County also saw a rise in flips to 4.6 percent, a 47 percent jump.

Read the complete report at GSA Business by clicking here.

Rethink Real Estate: 4 predictions about 2012 real estate market

On the "mood of the market," Tara Nicholle-Nelson, a real estate author, analyst, and commentator, recently offered four predictions for the 2012 real estate market.  Remember, real estate is local, and these predictions have a national perspective.

1. Even more foreclosures
2. REOs and short sales will become the new normal
3. So-called "smart cities" will do well (could Greenville be one of these?)
4. Consumers will get hopeless (a good thing?)

Read the details on Nelson's predictions at rethinkrealestate.com by clicking here.

Foreclosures drop in second quarter

Foreclosures across South Carolina dropped more than 10% in the second quarter of 2010 compared to the second quarter of 2009, according to a real estate market report on residential housing.

Still, across the country, foreclosures accounted for nearly a quarter of all residential home sales in the second quarter of 2010.

In the Upstate, foreclosures fell faster than the state as a whole with the exception of Anderson County.

Anderson 102 2%
Greenville 222 -24.23%
Spartanburg 128 -23.81%

Statewide 1,799 -18.19%

Read the entire report at GSA Business by clicking here.

Group Calls Upstate a Strong Market for Real Estate Investors

According to Local Market Monitor, a real estate forecasting firm based in Cary, NC, the Upstate is one of the best markets in the country to invest in real estate. The firm ranked the Upstate 9th in its list of top ten markets "suitable for conservative investors."

Custom Builder Solves Riddle of Spec Lending

Not too many custom home builders are constructing spec homes these days, nor getting financing for them. David Werschay of Werschay Homes in St. Cloud, Minn., however, is an exception.

Werschay’s approach to spec homes is straightforward: “I can’t sell cars if I don’t have cars on my lot,” he says. “If I don’t have a house out there to drive traffic during these promotion times — or any other time — I’m not going to sell lots and I’m not going to sell houses,” he adds.

Read the entire story in Residential Design and Build by clicking here.

Homeownership Rate Falls

According to a report on Bloomberg.com, the U.S. homeownership rate fell to 66.9 percent, the lowest rate since 1999. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the number of vacant homes at 18.6 million, the result of foreclosures, homes for sale, and under utilized vacation homes.

Read the entire report by clicking here.