Dan Polimino's Blog

After reading this title you’re either saying, “No one is buying homes off Facebook,” or you’re thinking “What the heck is Facebook?” Don’t worry. I’ll explain both.

Facebook is a social networking Web site. What’s a social networking Web site? It’s sort of like making 40 phone calls to friends. If you called 40 people just to catch up, or to let them know how you are, that would take a while. What Facebook lets you do is type a few sentences on your own personal Web page regarding “what you are doing right now” or “what’s happening in your life.” With one click of the mouse you send that note out to 40 friends. It’s called networking in the year 2009.

There are many sites like Facebook including My Space, Twitter, Plurk, Live Journal, Bebo and on and on. You can share photos, videos, notes, e-mails, blogs, invitations and yes, even homes for sale. I put every one of my listings on 34 social networking sites. Why? Because I can reach thousands of people with one mouse click.

Social networking is here to stay. In fact, Dirk Freeman, owner of Steeleboy Productions and Web 2.0 guru, says e-mail will soon be a thing of the past. Freeman says, “If you speak with high school and college students, they’ll tell you they e-mail very little. Instead, they communicate their entire life in 140 characters or less, and they do that through social networking.”

I can hear it: “But Dan, high school students don’t buy homes.” Maybe not, but their parents do. And I know plenty of parents that have started a Twitter account and a Facebook page just so they can communicate with their kids.

The same can be said for blogging (which means writing a personal Web log). Blogging about homes for sale, posting pictures and blogs of homes for sale and then virally spreading them over the Internet is the fastest and easiest way to expose your home to people all over this country, actually even the world. If you’re trying to sell your home, social networking, blogging and video blogging all should be in your marketing tool box.

Before you by a car, you most certainly will take it for a test ride. Before you purchase a pair of pants, you’ll try them on for fit and comfort. And before you place that 52-inch plasma in your home, you’ll watch dozens of flat screen TVs while playing your favorite movies to check for picture quality and color. So when it comes to the single greatest purchase of your life, why can’t you try your new home on for size before you buy it?

That’s not really the way real estate works, or is it? I suggested to a sellers he try a concept called “test drive my home” or “try it before you buy it”.  A buyer can actually live in the home that is for sale for a certain period of time and try it out before making an offer.

Here is how the premise works: The seller is going to let buyers “test drive” a new, custom, four bedroom, five bath, 6,200 finished square foot home. It’s built green from top to bottom, incredibly energy efficient and has all of the high-end finishes and features one would expect in a $1.65 million home. Buyers will check in on Friday at 3pm and check out Sunday at noon, just like visiting a posh hotel. It’s fully decorated, and he’ll even take care of the food by providing you with your own private chef during the course of your stay. This is a great opportunity for any buyer who really wants to get a good feel for the home as well as the neighborhood before signing on the dotted line.

Of course, some conditions must be met before your stay, and there is no obligation to buy.

So what’s the take away here? It’s simply this! If you are a seller in this market place it’s time to think out of the box. Get creative; throw any and all ideas at the wall to get your property noticed like having strangers stay in your home. Have a brain storming session with your friends, family and yes your realtor to come up with fresh, new ideas. You may have to take some chances like the guy above, but it could pay off.