Hi,
I work fin Oakland Township sell Luxury New Construction Homes and out of the 50 people that visit our model home weekly, 85% of them are finding us from signage. It is just another way to advertise your home.
I would also recommend that you allow your agent to show your home -- even if it is at a moments notice, whenever they would like. There are several homes that have been sitting for long periods of time because the homeowners have stringent restrictions on showing appointments, meanwhile we have had 10 sales most likely because we are available to show them at their convenience.

Thu Mar 13 2008, 23:51

I found on realtor.com a interesting house in an area I didn't really know, we visited the house and it was rather disapointing, but I liked the sub a lot and drove by afterwards to see what else is there and wrote down every phone nr, even the For Sale by Owner. I put an offer on the best house in the sub I a knew it is the best one because I asked my realtor to show me all of them. So yes, I definitely would put a sign in front of my yard...A buyer like me would allways do this! Hope this helped! I am not sure about the million price range and hidden homes though, I was looking in the $400.000 range in a normal sub.
S

Tue Mar 11 2008, 13:53

Having a Realtor sign in front of your property indicates that you are represented by a knowledgeable professional, and that more information is only a phone call away. It also leads the potential buyer to visit the Realtor's website for more information and hopefully more pictures and a virtual tour. SALES is the name of the game.

Tue Mar 11 2008, 09:09

ABSOLUTELY! In addition to all of the online and print marketing that is done, anything that draws attention to the property is helpful. Statistics prove that many moves are very local in nature so you want neighbors to spread the word about your house being for sale at work,church, etc.

Tue Mar 11 2008, 09:08

It is always a good idea to have a sign vs not to have one as long as the sign is a clean, professional looking sign. Small, cheap signs are not a good idea. A nice clean post with a clean sign and ryders will help draw attention to the house and show prospective buyers you are proud of your home. A small, cheap dirty sign will only tell buyers your home is the same.

Tue Mar 11 2008, 09:03

Ginger,

You bring up a good point and a reasonable perspective of placing a sign in the yard for multi-million dollar listings.
HOwever, you did say you "listed" a 2 million dollar home...not sold!
I can understand your thinking to a degree, but really a sign will still attract more attention to the property which is what the sellers obviously want. Again, it boils down to the point that if you want to sell ANY house, or ANY thing for that matter, why would you cut out one significant way to bring more exposure to the house?
Perhaps, you may need a much more elaborate and well designed sign than just the regular broker "for sale" sign, but it still boils down to the point that.... why cut out a proven useful marketing tool?

Fri Nov 16 2007, 07:09

Again... Does a seller really know what a buyer looks like? Because the sign could be the first clue that a home is being offered for sale, it is important.

If you are affraid of the home having the impression of a stale unsaleable listing what will you do to prevent that from happening in the computer systems? The fact is that when a home goes up for sale most sellers want total market exposure if they are really serious about selling. And again, how does nayone know where the buyer will come from? (Sign, internet seeker, an advertisement, an open house, another Realtor)

Only the seller themself can really answer the question as to weather or not a sign is really important. Again only 10% of buyers or so may come from a sign, but if a home that did not have a sign did not sell will the seller just wonder why or blame the agent?

Fri Nov 16 2007, 06:08

I have a listed home without a sign. The price is $2 million. The house is not visible from the road but down a very long driveway. I just don't believe that buyers in the $2 million range are driving around looking for houses. I believe these buyers are on the web and with an agent. I do feel that lookey loos driving down the driveway would be somehwat instrusive but I mostly feel that only nosy neighbors will take the flyers, Also, in my area, homes in this price range generally take a year to sell. I feel a sign out there for a year will create an impression of a stale, unsalable house.
Am I making a mistake? Pardon me for piggybacking on this question but some have asked why a seller would not want a sign. That is my reasons and I would really appreciate your feedback on this.

Fri Nov 16 2007, 04:19

Not sure why you would NOT want a sign in the yard...... could we hear why you dont? Obviously you've got several reasons of why they're good, so I would like to hear why you think it's bad..

Thu Nov 15 2007, 20:55

If you knew that a buyer was driving around the neighborhood looking for a home would you know what a buyer looked like? Generally speaking, this is the first clue that a home is available to those buyers who are beginning their search in neighborhoods they like.

There is a small percentage of buyers that actually come from the for sale sign. If you are located in Michigan, wouldn;t you want every possible sales advantage so that your home could successfully compete against the many other homes for sale in the area? While the percentage is approx onlyl 10% of buyers that come off a sign, only you can answer if that is a big enough difference in your home sale to make a difference, right? (If you had a crystal ball on where the buyer would be coming from this would be an easier question to answer I assume.)

Thu Nov 15 2007, 20:30

I believe signs do make a difference, specially if they are from a trusted company in the community. I work for a Century 21 In Las Vegas, NV over the past few years I have had many callers advise me that they called my sign because they were familir with the brand. Everyone has given great answers. I believe not having a sign would cause more harm than having one.

Good Luck,
Ken Herrera
Century 21 Infinity

Wed Oct 17 2007, 12:48

I am in the minority here, and will probably receive thumbs down for this. Regardless of the anticipated thumbs down, Midnights in Michigan is entitled to opinions when they do not run with the pack. Certainly Midnights can tally the responses and determine the consensus.

In my experience, the value of sign calls has drastically deteriorated. Before listing data was readily available online, a primary source of inquiries resulted from signs. It was a common way for neighbors to inquire about prices of new listings. Today, a large percentage simply look it up on the internet. (Keep in mind the look up on the internet may come as the result of noticing a sign.)

It is definitely true that neighbors can be a great source of referral for buyers in the area. So, alerting neighbors about the availability of your property for sale is important.

The actual inquiries that come from sign calls that are serious buyers is few. In my experience, most of the drive-bys that call in are curiosity seekers. Inquiries that come from the web usually represent, in my experience, a greater chance of a serious inquiry. Those on the web have already determined the property has some level of potential match for their needs and generate the email or phone inquiry to get even more data or to make an appt. I won't say that a qualified buyer will never call from a sign, as that is simply an unknown. More often, it is simply a passer-by who makes a quick curiosity call from their cell phone. Active buyers are on the internet and working w/ an agent. In my experience, direct calls from signs are rarely serious buyers. (Regardless if I get a thumbs down, my spreadsheet stats on where our leads come from totally backs this up for our company.)

Still, I do strongly support and suggest that you use a sign. As mentioned, neighbors may recommend your property to a friend or family. Neighbors are not active buyers searching the net or working w/ an agent. They may only come to know of the availability as a result of a sign. Their friend or family have an agent, or might be out of the area. The buyer may still come as a result of an agent setting an appt. That doesn't discount the role the sign played in generating the interest. A buyer may drive by and ask his or her agent about your property. Again, you won't ever know the role the sign played.

The sign also serves as an identification point for those who are trying to locate your property. This is what I discussed in my initial post. Buyers go to do drive bys and take a look at the outside and street. I have discussed feedback from buyers and have heard buyers say, "We couldn't find it" or "There wasn't a sign, so we thought it wasn't available any longer and didn't pay much attention. We just drove on."

Unless you are in community that prohibits signs, I suggest the use of a yard sign. (Yes, I run w/ the pack here and add to the consensus on usage of signs, just not the value of sign inquiries.)

Wed Oct 17 2007, 09:04

We have communities here in Austin that specifically do not allow a sign. They sell all the time.

Frankly, I believe this is an "indirect sales strategy". In other words, no real focus on how or who you want to sell to. A direct strategy would be a focused action to drive business to the home. For example, sending an email to the top 5 people at every company in town. That's a specific action targeted to the top people who probably can afford your home.

On the whole and direct strategy can be measured but indirect can not. I tend to suggest going with realtors who use the most direct strategies in your marketing plan. Unfortunately, most of them stop at putting the listing on the MLS, and that remains to be the only one they deploy.

BTW-signs, flyiers or any other "takeaways" are all considered indirect. The MLS and web site listings barely qualify as a direct. Prospective realtors should be considered "minimally qualified" and not a stand out if they feature this in thier direct campaign. Look for more realtors with the most direct campaigns...

Wed Oct 17 2007, 08:50

Even though buyers are looking at homes on the internet, I think it's important to have a sign for the drive-bys that aren't necessarily in the market but may know someone who is.

Wed Oct 17 2007, 08:32

Hi Midnights,

You bet. Your neighbors will see it and so will people driving by. It will be easy for other agents to find the home and also for people to get information from the brochures your agent will place on the sign. Good luck.

Tue Oct 16 2007, 01:38

A sign is a definate plus - but not the end all - be all...
I would rather hire a Realtor that exposed my property in such a way that if I "googled" my address there it was in the first hit. Virtual tour, Slide Shows, MLS, Homes Magazines -etc-etc-etc.
I have personally had several people list thier home without signs(for various reasons) and they SOLD.

Mon Oct 15 2007, 21:41

Excuse me for not being able to find the reference I took this from but I will look for it and see if I can't find it. Basically what the survey of 3 million Realtors by NAR found was the following. It must be that "new" math that makes this add up to 100% but what is 1 percent anyway ;-)

"A survey of 3 million RE agents by the National Association of Licensed RE agents to find out the best thing that works for finding buyers said that 60% of the buyers came off YARD SIGNS. 30% came from the internet (MLS, For Sale by Owner, Craigs List, Zellow, etc.). That only 11% came from printed media (newspapers, fliers. door hangers, car window stuffers, etc.), now don't ask me how 60%, 30% and 11% make a 100%, but I think this survey tells us something. "

Eric West
No Down Payment, No Qualifying, No Credit Check - Real Estate Blog
allstatehousing.blogspot.com

Mon Oct 15 2007, 15:12