Realtor.com

With the average smartphone user spending nearly 677 minutes a month using mobile applications, it is clear how much we rely on them in our everyday lives. And with nearly 50 percent of new home shoppers considering new construction, now new homes are searchable right on the realtor.com® mobile application for both iOS and Android platforms.

RealtorAppScreenshotSteve Berkowitz, Move’s chief executive officer says “The addition of fresh and accurate new home listings on the realtor.com® mobile applications gives buyers the competitive edge to identify and buy their perfect new home.”

Realtor.com® app users now have access to an astonishing 60,000 new home plans from approximately 7,500 new home communities sourced from BDX right at their fingertips. When searching for listings, home buyers can filter results by “new homes only,” or view new home plans,which is identified by a new home plan badge found alongside resale listings on main search results pages within the application.

BDX’s Melissa Morman stated that “this is an important milestone for our builders as we continue to position new home communities in the general real estate marketplace.”realtor.com ad

“Technology, paired with accurate data, drives informed home-buying decisions. Having the right tools, such as access to new home plans on the realtor.com® mobile applications, is crucial to finding the right home,” Berkowitz said. “Buyers who take their search a step further and educate themselves about what’s going on in their local market can hone in on their ideal home more quickly and negotiate with confidence.”

For more information or to download the realtor.com® application, please visit www.realtor.com/mobile. To get your homes listed on realtor.com® and on the new mobile application contact info@thebdx.com today!

We are pleased to announce that the editors of MSN.com and realtor.com have selected 14 BDX builders to be featured in a major slideshow that recognizes some of the nation’s outstanding new model homes.

The theme for the slideshow is “New Homes for the New Year” and both sites sought to reflect model homes that showcase the latest trends in new home design, construction and décor. BDX was excited to work with the editors of MSN and realtor.com on this exciting project — each home in these slideshows had previously been recognized by NewHomeSource as one of our national Homes of the Week.

Featured builders in the slideshows include: KB Homes, Traton Homes, McCaffrey Homes, London Bay Homes, Schumacher Homes, David Weekley Homes, The Burnsteads, Brookfield Homes of Hawaii, Richmond American, Kettler Forlines, The Jones Company, Century Communities, American West, and K. Hovnanian Homes. Congrats to all of these builders!

So how do we choose the next “Home of The Week”? If you think one of your homes has what it takes, be sure that your NewHomeSource.com listing is up to date with photos of exceptional quality.  Not only will it help you to be considered for the next Home of the Week email, but also will help drive and engage traffic on your listing. If you would like to be considered for Home of the Week and put the spotlight on your homes, contact us today.

In an exciting development for builders, agents and especially consumers who are pursuing the dream of home ownership, realtor.com®, the most engaging real estate website, is now featuring new home community listings from BDX. This is a fantastic opportunity for BDX clients to receive even more exposure to an audience of over 18 million every month*. Including new construction communities on a site like realtor.com®,  gives home buyers a complete and accurate picture of the available home options in their area.

Realtor.com® is already a trusted real estate resource with a dedicated audience spending nearly 29 minutes on the site and viewing over 25 pages*. BDX new home communities have spotlight sections in 3 main areas. These include:

  • The main search page right alongside resale homes
  • New plans will be displayed on area maps alongside other listings
  • Dedicated New Construction tabs where buyers can search by community and home plan/spec

 You will receive direct leads from your listings on realtor.com® as well as reporting through BDXLive on search views, detail page views, driving direction views, click-throughs to your website, and more. The ability to market new homes alongside pre-owned homes allows builders to gain more market share and cater to the 20% of homebuyers who enter the home shopping experience with a preference for new construction.

In the words of our own CEO, Tim Costello, “This is a watershed moment for the building industry, the builders who list all their communities with BDX, and especially buyers who are pursuing their dream of home ownership.”

If you haven’t already listed your new home communities with BDX, now is the time to do so! Increase your visibility, traffic and sales with one simple decision. We believe that in order to create the best search experience for consumers, we need to provide the most complete and accurate new home data. That is why in the coming months we will unveil additional advantages you will receive as a result of listing all of your communities with BDX. Don’t wait; schedule some time to talk with your BDX Digital Marketing Consultant today!

To learn more about this exciting opportunity and how it will benefit you, read more here and please register today for our webinar on August 29th.

*comScore: Quarterly average for desktop & mobile of Q2 for 2013 for realtor.com®

Recently I was in Phoenix participating in training on Realtor.com. While most of the meeting focused on listing data, reporting and managing accounts I was really impressed with the Featured Home solution. I’m often asked, “What’s the value of a featured home? And what type of traffic should I expect?”   Those are understandable questions but can be difficult to answer with all of the different market conditions that can affect traffic to a listing. As a result, I wanted to share some of the highlights and why I’m such a fan of this product.

OVERVIEW
First, Featured Homes are ad positions prominently displayed at the top of the Search Result pages on Realtor.com.  These placements display ‘Featured’ listings and provide significantly more exposure than the standard listings.  There are 8 available placements for each zip code and an advertiser can select to have all homes or a single home displayed. In addition to the listing, Featured Homes also allow the inclusion of a headline like “New Home” and for builders with Realtor.com Enhanced Listings they also receive builder branding with a prominent logo.

INTELLIGENT DESIGN
During our training I learned that the Featured Homes dynamically determines an advertisers’ most relevant listing and matches that to the consumer’s search. I think this has huge benefits for builders with multiple listings and range of community prices.  If you have 50 listings on the MLS but maybe only 5 match the consumer’s query of price, location, bed, bath, wouldn’t you want to display those 5 homes first?

REACH & VISIBILITY
Advertisers also have the ability to purchase neighboring zip codes where their listings may not naturally display. For example, if your community feeds into a popular high school that’s in a neighboring zip code Featured Homes is the only way to provide that visibility for your listings.

In markets with a large populations of relo, it makes sense to purchase city center zip codes since it’s fair to assume those consumer may not be as familiar with the suburbs and surrounding neighborhoods.

TRAFFIC
Featured Homes is a great traffic driver to the builder’s listings and a great way to capture home shoppers who may not have considered new construction.   I’ve run reports for builders across the country and on average Featured Homes represent a 30% incremental lift in traffic to their listings.  The chart below is an example of some of the different reports we’ve seen for homebuilders.  For the builder in Minnesota you can see visits to their LDP (Listing Detail Pages) were 1,426 this month 334 (23%) of those visits came from click originating from Featured Homes.  And with Featured Home placements as low as $11/mo. a 30% lift in prospective homebuyers is a tremendous value.

AFFORDABILITY
Rates are based on a tiered pricing and for many zips is as low as $11/mo.  BDX offers reporting that identifies all zips and rates for where a builder has listings. In many instance we’ve found a builder can cover a majority of their listings by targeting just the most affordable markets. Ask us for a complete report on your MLS listings to determine which zip codes will drive the most value for your budget.  Many builder use the report to target zip codes with the greatest reach or for hyper targeted advertising to move spec inventory.

FEATURED HOMES AND ENHANCED LISTINGS
As much as I’ve become and advocate for Featured Homes I wouldn’t recommend this product for non- enhanced listings.  Advertisers simply won’t receive the same value since you’re effectively driving incremental consumers to your listings and they’re not able to fully engage with your brand or submit a lead.  Contact me or your local sales representative to see if your MLS Listings are enhanced on Realtor.com.

For more information regarding Featured Homes or other Advertising Products contact Thane Tennison, Advertising Manager for BDX or contact your local Sales Representative.

Click to download the BDX Advertising Flip Book.

Almost every day I receive a phone call from a potential home buyer looking for information on a new home they found while shopping on Realtor.com.

This morning it was a man looking for a home in Wesley Chapel, FL. Yesterday it was a woman interested in a home outside of Philadelphia. I find this surprising because the only way the consumer can find my phone number is by leaving the listing and selecting the Contact link for corporate information.  I know they’d prefer to call the broker but they can’t find the broker’s phone number, email address or website. These potential home buyers are forced to find another solution and I can hear the frustration in their voice when they finally end up talking to me.
Working in an industry that is always trying to maximize site conversion and improve lead performance, I find this surprising. How many customers do you know who will take the extra steps to find an office phone number?  Most will simply leave and move on to another home that’s more accessible.  Those who continue to search and ultimately call the wrong place are probably the very consumers that the builder/broker really wants to reach. Clearly, they’re motivated and looking for information.  It makes me think of all the homes that don’t get sold because we make it hard for the consumer to connect with us.

Realtor.com offers builders and brokers a product to remedy this. Their Company Showcase listing is the easiest way for a builder to enhance their listing and drive more meaningful activity to their onsite sales agents. It’s an essential and affordable solution for anyone listing a home on the MLS.

Listings that are “Showcased” have a number of benefits over standard listings. Most notable is Contact Information above the fold and prominently displayed. With a Showcase listed property, consumers can call, email, visit a builder’s website or complete the lead form.

Other features include the ability to display up to 25 photos per listing– 4X the number of photos displayed on a standard listing.  Showcase listings also allow builders to include links to their social media sites and include a Rider Sign on the Search Result Listing Pages.

The Rider Sign allows builders to brand their listings on Search Result pages by prominently featuring a logo and headline on each listing. Since Realtor.com is the largest real estate website in the world and endorsed by the National Association of Realtors this feature alone provides tremendous value. It means your listing and business will be seen by more home shoppers than anywhere else.

I know many builders are always launching new sales promotions and offering discounts to entice buyers.  Could the solution really be as simple as including your phone number and email and making it easy for the consumer to call you?  After all, they were already on the world’s largest real estate website shopping for homes in your market and price point.

If you have questions about marketing strategies or advertising with BDX contact Thane Tennison, Advertising Manager for the BDX Network.