Brochure Boxes Can Be Great Advertising Vehicles. However, Only If They Are Kept Full! It Amazes Me That Over 55% Of All Flyer Boxes In Central Florida Are Always Empty. We Refill Flyer Boxes For Realtors In The Orlando And Daytona Beach Areas.

I absolutely believe that brochure or flier boxes should be used and be well-stocked. I know that a lot of agents feel like yours but I'm wondering just how many calls they are getting, especially in this slow real estate market. My husband and I were just discussing how frustrating it is when the boxes are empty. We aren't looking for ourselves but we have friends moving into the neighborhood and want to canvas it for them. We need a flier to know if the home is even in their range, style, size, etc... Pictures are highly desirable. We found AND purchased our last home based on a flier and we weren't even LOOKING for a new home. We just saw the brochure and fell in love with it!

As a buyer, I will not write down the address, I will not call the number on the sign. I want a flyer with the price and basic info on it. A website address with "more info and pictures on the website" is great.
I think many agents don't use brochure boxes hoping to make their phone ring so they can try to sell me any house, not necessarily the one I am calling about. It is a disservice to the seller to not have a box, and even more importantly; not keeping it full.

I'm not calling without one.
If you have a sign, get a box. More important, keep the box full. Putting the sign in your yard is just advertising for the realtor company. You want to advertise for your house.
I think the fact that most of the flyer boxes in my neighborhood are empty point to a bigger trend. Realtors don't care anymore. Lazy, unprofessional, and not getting my business. The current market trend is that you are expected to go get a buyers agent and have them find the house for you. They want me to call, and they want to be my buyers agent.... You want your house sold. Get some flyers.

Hello,

In answer to your question, I say that regardless of whether your Realtor prefers to not have a box, you are the client and it is your dollars that are paying the commission. I believe that we have a duty to give our best advice to our clients and give them the straight facts but if you feel that a box with flyers is a better idea, then tell your Realtor to get to it! It only takes about half an hour to do a good flyer since we are almost all tech savy and the printing shouldn't cost that much or be free if it is done at their office. Besides, flyers do give you an idea of how your home is doing and what kind of marketing exposure it is getting. Try putting little numbers on the back of the flyers to count how many are being taken every day. If none are gone, you are either not getting enough market exposure or your price could be too high!

Okay, there is my two cents worth! Good Luck!

Seems like a no-brainer to me as well. If the brochure turns the person off, most likely they weren't going to buy your home in the first place.

If I put out a brochure box, I put limited information....no price. Its a teaser...I want them to call.

I am a realtor in Fredericksburg, TX and have recently encountered very much the same predicament. When the brochure box is up, there are fewer calls from "drive-by's". Typically these "drive-by" buyers are just starting to think about buying. They haven't gotten serious and gotten a realtor yet. On homes that I have listed without the box, the calls do lead about 1/4 of the time to showings. My home owner appreciated the box because it reduced showings to those who were really serious about the house. She felt lookers got the brochure and then after getting more information about the home where able to decide if the home was really right for them.

The answer is MAYBE!

Exposure to the most amount of people is always key is selling a home. I typically use a brochure box at the beginning of the listing for the neighbors who are curious. Why not let them help me sell the property. I take it down later because my goal is to get them to call so I can verbally sell them on making an appointment with me to view the property. Give your agent a chance to present your property. So what’s your goal with the brochure box? If you or your agent isn’t available all the time to take calls then this might help but you’re GIVING UP the opportunity to present your home by talking to the potential buyer. Sure this is the easy way to eliminate calls, but that’s what you want isn’t it – Calls!

So what are you putting on the flyer? It better be full color photos and information and statistics if you expect them to follow up with you. More than 70% of buyers are searching on the internet with Virtual tours and multiple photos. Thinking that you’re going to get lucky that a buyer is driving by isn’t enough with all the properties available today. Yet to mention $4 plus a gallon a gas doesn’t leave many driving by. These are different times, if you have a good agent they will know what works. Good luck with your home sale and if I can help please contact me.
Dan Trembulak, licensed real estate broker, Buy-Sell Realty Inc. Seminole, Florida. E-Mail: RealtorDan@Juno.Com or 727-393-6500.

I used them for a while, people just grab them, sometimes one for the whole family! Then you have to be sure that the box stays full. I have mixed feeling about it, like some said, if they grab the brochure and it has all the info, they don't need to call the realtor. After all, we do want them to call, make the contact. Guess you could have an abbreviated brochure in the box, but you'll still run into the problem where everyone is just grabbing them and you've got the challenge of keeping the box full. This could also get costly.

I have always used brochure boxes for my flyers. I use inside photos to interest them in wanting to view the inside of the house for themselves and this allows me to meet them speak with them in person. I do however leave off the price so they will call me directly, and this gives me the opportunity to ask them questions and get a feel for what they are looking for. Ultimately the decision is made by the seller.

You are hiring a realtor to "sell" your home and without the opportunity to speak directly with potential buyers they won't be able to do their job effectively. If an agent uses a brochure box, then they probably leave some information off the flyer (like the price) so if there is a serious buyer they will call the agent. Then the agent can start the communication process of selling the home or sell them something else that fits their needs. Also there must be a system to keep the box filled. Most of the flyers are taken by neighbors and sometimes children throwing them away.

Personally I use an 800 number on my signs with the talking ad hotline. It gives them the info and the system captures their info for me so I can follow up immediately... sometimes while they are still in front of the property.

I prefer NOT to have a brochure box on the For Sale sign. In my flyers and Just Listed mailings I don't show the price, but rather I encourage interested parties to call me or go to my website. Calls received are most likely from people who may have a real interest in the property

This has always caused a big debate. I think it is better to have a brochure with lots of pictures to make the potential buyer want to see inside.

I definitely would put a flyer box on every property listing all the details of the property and plenty of pictures. What you might want to leave out is the price. That way when the buyer has seen the property and actually gotten some interest in it he will call for a price and then you will be able to actually capture your buyer's attention with your own enthusiam and hopefully arrange an appointment for a showing.

I find that the brochure boxes are normally raided by the neighbors. I use Talking House and DOT COM the home address. Everyone's on the web, it saves paper, and can give a ton more information as well as being able to be forwarded. It helps brand "you" better as well as showing you have the technology on your side that most agents really need to catch up on!

At my Company we do not normally place a brochure box unless the Seller specifically requests it. If we do place one, we do not give all the information on the property; we want the prospective Buyer to call us so we can have the opportunity to get the APPOINTMENT!

I think this goes along with agents who don't list prices on flyers. The theory is that it will make people call to get more information. My take is that it intimidates people. I am all for a flyer box, as long as you are going to keep it filled!) and a price on the flyer.

One of the problems with a brochure box is inability to follow up with potential customers. When someone takes a brochure, I can't contact them about Open Houses, answer questions about the home, help them establish value or any of the many things we do to sell you home. We need a way to communicate face to face or phone to phone to accomplish that. I use an information hotline on my signs (instead of a flyer box.) It provides my recorded narrative about the home, will connect directly to me if the customer wants more information and captures a telephone number for future follow-up. The recording tells the customer they may receive a follow up call and leads them through the process depending on their needs. I've had very good responses from customers using the "hotline." It really helps when we are having an Open House or in the case of a price reduction. It allows me to return to people who previously stopped by the home and re-introduce the possibilities. It's one of many tools in my tool box!

I prefer not to use a brochure box. It seems that they are always empty the day after I fill them and yet I don't receive any calls. My sign has my cell phone number and my web site on it. I have also found that an 800 number is a good way to get buyers to call. They can listen to a recorded message and not feel uneasy about talking to an agent.

I also agree with most to not have a box because you can't sell someone you can't talk to..

Brochure boxes eliminate prospects too quickly. They can cross your house off the list based on limited info on brochure without seeing inside of property. If house shows well from outside- a buyer should take time to either call sign # or contact their buyers agent to find out more about the house. I feel that it peaks interest and procures more lookers as an end result.

I believe in brochure boxes. A beautifully created bruchure, filled with the correct wording and pictures will a entice a buyer to want to come in and experience the feelings described in the brochure.

As a consumer I want as much info as possible before I make the decision to bother my Realtor and the seller with a showing. I'm annoyed by what I perceive to be "sales strategies " to make me call, so they can capture my number and try to sell me something else.

As a Realtor I don't want to waste my sellers time cleaning and making plans to remove themselves, their children and pets, so someone that drove by and liked the exterior, can come in only to find out it has everything they don't want and would never buy this home. I also know that by making the buyer call me to get the info on the home, I can then attempt to sell the buyer something else, if this home doesn't meet their needs, in essence using this tactict as a way to pick up new buyers.

I believe today's buyers are saavy and the days of Realtors being the holder of all information are long gone. Where I live, brochure boxes are standard practice and as long as they remain filled (big pet peeve, empty boxes) they benefit both the seller and the buyer, but not necessarily the Realtor. Just my opinion...

You do not want to miss any opportunity to inform a potential buyer about your listing. The key is to include just enough information that the buyer will call if interested in knowing more. I create a flier with professional pictures of the home as well as general information such as "beautifully remodeled 4 bedroom, 3 bath, 3000 sq. ft of luxury complete with majestic views from magnificent master suite all on a large private lot, you have arrived!" Leave out the price! They will call.

Having brochures gives potential buyers too much information and then they will come to their own conclusion about your home which is probably wrong! They may think it's too high price and the pictures can't show everything. If they are interested, they will call their agent to set a showing or call the sign and ask questions, if they call we can at least describe all the qualities and defend the price.

I believe brochure boxes answer too many questions for the buyer and it gives them an excuse not to actually see the inside. How many times have you heard, "The house is alot bigger than it looked like from the outside!" or "I didn't think it had all these amenities?" or "What great colors in the interior!"

I agree with your agent that having a brochure box for flyers which give all of the information about a property will hinder potential buyers from calling your agent for information, which would give your agent an opportunity to build rapport, answer questions, and possibly generate a showing for your home. I install brochure boxes and flyers because my seller clients want me to, not because I believe the flyers generate leads or buyers. After going through literally thousands of flyers over the past 12 years, I can honestly say I cannot recall ever being able to attribute a sale to brochure boxes and flyers. The 1st two dozen flyers are picked up by neighbors, wondering how much you're asking for your house.

On the other hand, I've had buyer clients tell me that they will not even write down the address of a home for sale that looks interesting to them if there's not a brochure box with flyers. This tells me that flyers are useful in a general way when buyers begin house shopping to educate themselves about prices and features. In this sense, they're more of a public service than a legitimate marketing tool.

What a great question!

Personally......there are too many reasons not to implement a "Box." From the curb, a buyer can see everything they need to to make a decision to consider a home further. The agent/office telephone numbers should provide direct access to the best source of information.

The "Eckler Team"
ecklerteam@comcast.net

Ginger R.....I hope you don't mind but your answer to this question was PERFECT and you are not even a Realtor. Every single word you said were my exact feelings. So..............instead of writing my own response I just copied and pasted your words into my Answer.....I hope you don't mind, it's just that I couldn't have said it better myself and I just tried to in another question. I really hope more Realtors "catch on" to how the modern buyers think.......it'll be better for everyone. Thanks again for a GREAT answer...here it is again....

================================================================================

Wow - 19 answers to that question. With all the thumb action, there was only one TU for the question that sparked all this discussion. (I just gave a 2nd TU.) You guys are tough.
As a buyer and seller, this is my take - not that it is right - but to give you a client reaction:
1) I like brochure boxes. I will take a flyer home. If it sparks my interest, I will use it to go to the agents web site and look further. I personally do not like to do business on the phone so this is the best avenue to reach me.
2) Your best shot with me is to get me on the web, not the phone. I will generally inquire by email. If you jam me on the phone, it is probably our only contact. If you have a killer web site, I will save this and come back. A killer web site has complete information on properties with tons of photos. It has great info, like a search by neighborhood feature, with NO requirement to fill in your personal info to access. Even if I am just looking right now, if you give me thorough info, you are the agent I am most likely to call when I am ready to get serious.
3) My general reaction to no price is that it is priced too high, and that is why they don't want to tell you. I usually go no further with the property. I will sometimes look it up on the web, and if I did have an interest, I would probably go thru another agent. I don't want to deal with a realtor that I feel is less than forthcoming with me. (I am not saying that this is correct. I am sharing what kind of reaction no price info generates in some people.)
4.) All over my neighborhood, there are empty brochure boxes. I know these realtors, and I know they have not been out here in weeks. I have seen their empty brochure boxes all over town. It is the same realtors, year after year, with the empty boxes. The empty box next to their name is an arrow pointing to their name that says "I do nothing after I get your listing."
5.) I think brochures are very useful for land. Most buyers don't know how to look at land and don't want to walk in the woods or brush. I also think a great brochure will make a low price home look more upscale. I think it is critical for a mid-priced home which is the glut in the inventory for my town. They are less common on high end homes.
We are moving into an age of more perfect information, and the ability to "hook" a buyer by phone is decreasing. Whoever has the best information wins.
OK - just MHO. Thumb away, you meanies out there!!!

William,

Using a brochure box is an excellent way to advertise your home.

Just a couple of tips:

1) keep a few but not many brochures in the box at all times (if your realtor provides the box, ask your realtor to give you additional brochures so you do not run out)

2) dont give too much information on the brochure. You want the prospective buyer to call and hopefully to set the appointment to see your house.
For example: if you say 2000 sq ft, the buyer may think, that is too small for me and not give your home another thought. But if that same buyer was curious about the size of your home, they may call to find out (in this example) the size, and after talking to you or your agent, may decide to see you home anyway to determine in person if your home would work for them.

Hello William. As a potential buyer there are several things that I look for when I'm looking for property. One, is how cagy is the agent? By that I mean, is the agent willing to risk giving me accurate information about a property listing prior to my making a decision to work with that realty person, or, does the agent require that I (a) call them for price or location before getting the vital information I need? Cagy agents count their kudos by the number of calls they get, and see a direct relationship between calls and sales. While there is some statistical validity to this statement if one was selling chocolate bars, soap, cosmetic or cleaning products, it does not follow that this rule applies to real estate. For myself, I would rather make all possible information available to potential customers. If after looking at the facts and assuming that they are intelligent adults, I would expect them to call if the brochure is sufficiently informative, is appealing, and the agent is not playing sales games. All things being equal in the brochure box, the most effective brochure, not necessarily the cutest one, will get the call and at the same time, save the agent hours and hours of answering questions on the phone that could have been just as well answered through a brochure, complete with pricing. Imagine all that an agent can do with productive time not spent answering general questions on the phone?

Ha Scott - love the quote "Everything works, nothing doesn't work." - gonna borrow that one!

Cynthia - I think we've established that it's a matter of taste, still very interesting to see everyone's take on this and their reasons! I would say any TD doesn't necessarily mean a bad answer in this thread but probably more that folks just don't agree - ha, as Sylvia would say "thumbs away!"

Re: Price Change : My realtor doesn't have the price printed on the brochure, but they add it on with a nice sticker (this was such a "duh" idea but I never thought of it!) This way she can print as many as she wants, and when the price changes they just change the sticker.

Thanks again for all the viewpoints guys!

I put full color brochure with pictures, supplement, mls listing sheet, personal information, and ability to load brochure on your pda via a text message. People love it. You need to do as much as you can. Everything works, nothing doesn't work. You just never know. I have gotten listings a year later and people have saved my brochure for that long--because they loved it.

Hi William, I will probably get alot of TD's for this, but I don't agree with Brochure Boxes in all cases. My feeling is that giving too much information is detrimental to the sale of the property. Often times, a buyer will pick up the brochure out of the box and see something that they don't like. They will never call to see the property. However, if they call to view the property, there is opportunity that something else that they may LOVE about the property may help them to overcome that which they did not like. This opportunity only arises out of the viewing of the property and if a brochure may hinder their entry into the property, I say don't use it. Buyers like to talk through their objections and weigh the pros and cons. Give them the opportunity to do that! All the best to you, Cynthia

You all are making valid points and I agree with most! However, my answer regarding price on the flyer is more directed towards the realtors as opposed to the FSBO's. If you are running your business like a business you should be using your listings to help you get more buyers and we have been successful in this "buyers market" at getting the leads through folks calling about the home off of the flyers. Of course the 800 number is on the sign and the "just listed" postcards as well. Deborah, you make a great point about missing information etc upon a price change, however if realtors and their team have systems in place that do not let them forget to make these changes then you are fine and these problems do not happen.

I think all too often Realtors are not spending money on things like Top Producer / Wise Agent etc that provide the infrastructure to keep this from happening.

By the way, while I disagree on this issue with the Wagner iTeam, they are a great model for realtors to follow as I am impressed with their online presence and the quality of information on their sites.

JR is correct that it is a major sin to waste that money on color flyers that are tossed!

RE: Putting price on a flyer:
I do not belive that flyers sell a house at all. I put them out at a Sellers request (under certain circumstances) but the flyers are created for the people who take them. People who pull flyers want the price and (from my experience) are angry if the price is not on the flyer. If the home is interesting enough - they will call: price or no price.

You make a good point about price, Deborah. Plus, it's sinful to me to throw away 50 color flyers because the price changes, LOL! ;)

Congrats JR on selling your listings. Yes, I have also seen several multi offers in a sluggish market. Fence sitters assume the property will be waiting for them while they re-think it. Once a buyer steps up, some of the fence sitters join in. In other intances, it was totally coincidental that 2 offers came in on the same day. Yes, there are buyers out there. Properteis must be priced right and marketed well.

On the subject of Brochure Boxes and Prices. The biggest reason I have for not putting a price on a flyer in a brochure box is price change. I see complaints from consumers here about incorrect pricing on Trulia, or seeing the same property w. different price points.

I am not trying to withhold the price so the buyer will call me to find out the price.

I am concerned about price changes and accurate represention.

Example: Realtor advises seller to lower price at least 30K. Hubby does not want to lower price. Wife coaxes hubby to lower price at least 15K. Reatlor delivers new brochures to the property for both inside the house and the brochure box. . Realtor goes in and changes price on 35 web sites, showing reduction of 15K. Price change made. 4 days later, wife convinced hubby to listed to the Realtor advice and the sellers lower the price 30K. Realtor goes in to website and changes the price again, now reflecting the 30K price drop.

Reatlor cks a few websites and sees that the same property is appearing 3x at 3 different prices on one website, and 1x at the orignal price on another website, and 1x on another website at the mid range price. Realtor has submitted all info timely and accurately. The systems and data input now just need catch up.

Buyer drives by and picks up a flyer from the outdoor brochure box which reflects the mid-range price point. Buyer goes to a website for more information and finds the property listed at the original price point, and buyer calls the lisitng office for clarification. On the phone, the buyer finds out that neither price is correct and is agitated with the listing brokerage for sloppy representation. Worse, the buyer thinks the Realtor was deceitful.

I withhold pricing on outdoor brochures in boxes for reasons of accuracy, not out of desire to entrap a buyer.

Naima wrote:
I long for the days when the topic of multiple offers comes back!!!! Do we even remember how to deal with that?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was lucky enough to have multiple offers on two of my listings in the past month. Both are in contract. Coincidentally, both were priced right. I had 3 offers the same weekend for one. The next week we got two more after we had an agreed price.

Collier wrote:
Why put the Price on the Flyer? Not putting it will encourage them to call you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I noticed you got thumbs down for this one. You make a good point. Does anyone deny that most people who call on a sign are surprised to find out how high the price is? The reason they stop to pick up a flyer is because they are curious about the price. More than likelythey are going to be surprised at how high it is. I think that most people who pick up flyers do it out of curiousity. Why do I stop and pick up FSBO flyers? BEcause I think I might want to buy the house? Not likely. I'm wondering what the price is. Anyone truly interested in the house is not going to say "well I'M not calling! What NERVE! They didn't put the PRICE on the FLYER!". :)

Of course you should place a brochure box at the property if placement is feasible and within any local or association rules and regulations. Will it sell the house? Maybe not. Will it prevent the sale of the house? Absolutely not. Given current market conditions it is critical to be aggressive and proactive and "user friendly." I agree with you that this is a "no brainer." Other things for you to consider are other areas where your realtor is being proactive such as online marketing that include Trulia, craigslist, oodle, backpage, and an address specific website for your home. Again, these steps respond to the currently sluggish housing market and reach out to as many buyers as possible.

Best of luck selling your home.

My personal experience as a BUYER, I never called on any homes that I took the flyer for. Not once. Very annoying to get one w/o prices, I must say. Probably bc the flyers are just there, not necessarily when I was in the market to buy. When I was serious about buying, I had an agent and knew all the homes on the mkt and the prices. No need to grab any flyers.

My experience as an agent, I did receive a few calls from my flyer but I think it was really location specific, it was a very popular townhome complex and all of the posts and boxes were at the front entrace of the complex and other sold property boxes were all still there attracting potential buyers. But for the most part, I think it serves as a peace of mind for the seller. And your comment about other agents stealing your signs and flyers, how dispicable is that?

Hey Trulia regulars -
Is this a record number of answers to a question here on Trulia? I think 44 (now 45) is the most I've seen.

Why put the Price on the Flyer? Not putting it will encourage them to call you.

Okay ... We only supply flyers to our BEST priced homes in the BEST condition. Otherwise we would be advertising how overpriced we are to the whole neighborhood. Other than that, honestly ... we receive no less and no more calls with flyers vs. no flyers.

I think that the best way to use the brochure is to use it to promote an 800 Number Marketing Hotline for your listings in order to get people to call about your listing. You will capture the callers information when they call your hotline. We put just enough information on the flyers to get them interested in wanting to know more. We put the 800 number in red across the bottom of every flyer.

I believe that it is at an agent's and seller's discretion to decide if they want a brochure box or not. I agree with lots of comments below and I understand that you cannot put everyhting down about a house on a sheet of paper. After all, we are not trying to sell a "house", we are trying to sell a "home" and you cannot convey that through paper. You want to generate traffic to get inside the house and the first thing is to get them to go to the website and look at some photos.

However it is a buyer's market and therefore we have to listen to buyers and they are saying give me information that is going to make me want to call you to show me the house.

However, the point is to sell the house you were hired by the seller not to get buyers to call you and use that sign and brochure as a lead generation to sell them something else.

I feel that I come across as a bad agent if my sign stays on a property a long time. I always prepare my sellers that the first 20 or so brochures are going to be taken by the neighbors... it's the activity after that you must watch. Basic information is all that is needed on a flyer... such as beds/baths/SF and PRICE and a website to look at pictures and more...

A name rider with a website is just not enough, buyers need something on paper to take with them so they can refer to later.

I long for the days when the topic of multiple offers comes back!!!! Do we even remember how to deal with that?

Thumbs away!!!

I find the flyer box is helpful if its stocked and up to date if something has changed with the listing. I once had a flyer that had an incorrect fat concerning the septic system and it came back to haunt me. Also of course, it should have the current price on it.It's simply amazing how many don't.

And how many called the number on the FLYER? :)

Everyone of my listings has a flyer box.

Buyers don't call to gather information. They expect a flyer. If there isn't one, then they don't call. How do I know? Because I have asked. For years when I would meet with a seller I would ask "When you were shopping for a home and came across a house for sale without a flyer box, did you call the number on the sign?" Only a handful ever did. I used this to demonstrate to the seller the importance of professional color flyers.

From the agent side, there are two reasons that agents don't do flyers.
1. They are lazy. Flyer boxes run out and need to be restocked.
2. They are out of touch with buyers and the buying process.

I sell over 50 homes a year and every one of them has a flyer box and is stocked with flyers.