Driving Traffic to your website with Market Reports

Virtual Results is happy to present a new blog series of Tips and Techniques for your WordPress Real Estate Site. This post comes from one of our newer members Colleen Kulikowski, who is a successful Realtor and real estate blogger in Buffalo, NY. Colleen has years of experience blogging on her real estate sites and has been successful at getting many buyers and sellers from those efforts. For ongoing discussion and additional insights, Virtual Results members should access our private Real Estate Facebook group. Apply for group membership by emailing support@virtualresults.net with your facebook email address. 

Why I love Real Estate Market Reports

By Colleen Kulikowski

With a little planning you can drive significant traffic to your website.   Today, Market Reports are the backbone of my website.

Not sure where to start? I have been in your shoes wondering, “where am I going to start to build content for my site?” I get it!  It can be overwhelming to create effective posts.   You want a great real estate resource for potential home buyers and sellers. The good news is that good content doesn’t have to be complicated!

In July of 2006 I wrote my first post.   I labored for days on what I was going to first write about.  Once I decided on Market Reports, it took me a couple of hours to create a simple market report.   Today I maintain more than 80 market reports and each one takes me less than 5 minutes to update.

These market reports are some of the most popular posts on my site and they can be on yours too!  A small investment in time on your part can pay you big dividends in the future.

Market reports are simple to create and update.   Run some stats off of your MLS and publish.   Just remember to give credit and use a disclaimer if required.

To get you started, here is the format I use (see the live report here). Feel free to use it as a template.

The Real Estate Market Report Example starts below: 

Current Conditions – North Buffalo – Multi-family Conditions

May 12, 2013

• There are 21 active listings with an average list price of $140,020 ranging from $59,900 to $289,900
• There are 31 pending/under contract sales and in the past 30 days there has been 9 closed sales with an average sold price of $135,106 spending an average of 21 days on the market
• Year to date there has been 30 closed sales with an average sold price of $127,958 spending an average of 36 days on the market
• In 2012 there were 93 closed sales with an average sold price of $120,308 spending an average of 28 days on the market

Selection of Homes for Sale

(Insert a photo or IDX script here that links to you the homes in your area. An example is above)

Past Market Conditions 

 

March 19, 2013

• There are 15 active listings with an average list price of $127,445 ranging from $55,000 to $179,900
• There are 26 pending/under contract sales and in the past 30 days there has been 2 closed sales with an average sold price of $99,500 spending an average of 14 days on the market
• Year to date there has been 15 closed sales with an average sold price of $167,653 spending an average of 37 days on the market
• In 2012 there were 93 closed sales with an average sold price of $120,308 spending an average of 28 days on the market

February 20, 2013

• There are 10 active listings with an average list price of $147,387 ranging from $64,900 to $229,900
• There are 26 pending/under contract sales and in the past 30 days there has been 5 closed sales with an average sold price of $161,480 spending an average of 51 days on the market
• Year to date there has been 12 closed sales with an average sold price of $119,748 spending an average of 36 days on the market
• In 2012 there were 93 closed sales with an average sold price of $120,308 spending an average of 28 days on the market

For more information call YOUR NAME HERE

(888)-Your-Phone 

*Add any required disclaimers!  

The Real Estate Market Report Example ends here.  

Don’t be afraid to come up with your own market reports.  My report above may not work for you.   Just remember it should be easy to compile the details so you are not spending hours producing the report.   You may run reports at the zip code level, price level, county, or subdivision.  You may write one for the City, and have other market reports for the city by price point.    You may choose to report sales by number of bedrooms, or the square footage.   There is no right or wrong choice, just be consistent in your reporting.

Market reports over time build credibility for you that you know what is going on in the market.  On the upside, you actually know what is going on in the market and can see trends as they happen.   Often because I am looking closely at the numbers, I can speak naturally about what is going on in the market.  I also use these stats in a community mailer that I do into specific neighborhoods.  These reports have a specific URL that I point directly to the online version of the Market Report.

Google likes the market reports because they are updated on a regular basis and are modified on a regular basis.   By placing IDX search scripts or links on these reports you give dynamic and relevant content to Google and users!

Wondering if you should try to create a market report? What do you have to lose?   Get started with Market Reports today and build not only content for your site, but knowledge to help you with your business.   It sounds like a win/win for you!

This post comes from one of our newer members Colleen Kulikowski, who is a successful Realtor and real estate blogger in Buffalo, NY. Colleen has years of experience blogging on her real estate sites and has been successful at getting many buyers and sellers from those efforts. For ongoing discussion and additional insights, Virtual Results members should access our private Real Estate Facebook group. Apply for group membership by emailing support@virtualresults.net with your facebook email address. 

Editor’s note: Popularity of this post inspired Virtual Results to host a Webinar on the same topic. We’ll post the video below when it becomes available. But the best news is that several members took action and posted their own local market reports – some for the first time! Member examples include Janis Borgueta’s Town of Newburgh NY Real Estate Market Report and Angela Morsa’s Current Market Conditions for Blue Bell 19422 – great work everyone!