Residential Real Estate
Turn Disagreements With Real Estate Reporters Into Free Publicity
No one is perfect, especially real estate reporters, and it is getting harder for these deadline-driven folks to turn out original, compelling news stories all the time. News has become a business of sound bites, and less of creative writing. The current sad state of advertising has put many reporters on the street, so the ones remaining in their jobs often have expanded beats. That means tighter deadlines, and possibly fewer resources to meet them. Inexperience or doing the job that two or three people used to do is going to result in errors sooner or later, no matter how professional the reporters are. And when that error is made, you"re going to catch it, because you know the real estate market. Either the information is out of date (because the reporter didn"t have time to look up fresher data) or the source quoted by the reporter is wrong (because that was the only person the reporter could get on the phone before deadline.) You don"t want to let the error stand if it could hurt your business or the industry in general. Should you call the reporter and rake him over the coals, or should you play it smarter? The right approach could result in some great free publicity for you and your firm. Let"s say the reporter has written a story about how rotten the housing market in your town, and has quotes from your broker colleagues as well as data from the local MLS as her sources. The story is correct, as far as the reporter knows. But you, being the savvy businessperson you are, know better. Because you watch national news, know the stock market (and that means following individual stocks,) read your local commercial news, and have friends and informants all over town, plus work the market, you know the housing market better than anyone. You know that a major corporation has just leased five floors of a large office building in town. And that"s just for the advance team. While the news has been brewing in the commercial section of the paper that this megacompany is building a new plant in your town or just got a big government contract, it"s possible that your residential real estate reporter didn"t know that, or worse, didn"t understand the implications of what it means when a company adds or vacates office space. You know that it means - jobs. Jobs mean homes will be bought and sold. You should know more than the reporter You know that no company would transfer or hire large numbers of people without looking at housing, schools, transportation, and other community infrastructure. Where do they get their information? From the chamber of commerce and local Realtors. You know what"s happening, because you are on the business development board of your local chamber, and if you"re not, you know someone who is. Not that well connected? Don"t despair. There"s more than one way to build a real estate empire. If you want to predict housing inventories in the near future, and be at the right place at the right time to serve consumers" needs, you need to know what is happening in the business community. Commercial leasing is about as clear a crystal ball as you can get. Companies lease space according to the number of personnel they need to add or to let go, so your local commercial leasing companies will have a formula to go by that will help you understand how leasing space translates into homes. Call them and tell them you would like to know what formula they use. It will typically go something like this: ___number of square feet = ___number of employees = ___number of households = ___number of homes needed. If you can get in touch with the personnel department of the megacompany, find out how they ratio square footage to the number of employees. Or ask if the company has released any news about the number of employees that will be added or subtracted to the community. Watch your local paper for other changes, particularly where grocery stores lease space or build. Grocers not only lease a lot of square feet, they serve as anchors for other retailers. Another figure to look at is housing starts, both multifamily and single family. Builders start new homes that they think they can sell quickly. If new home sales slow down, housing starts will slow down next. When housing starts go up, as they did this month, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB,) that means that builders, based on absorption rates (the rates homes are purchased from the marketplace,) believe that housing sales are speeding up and that they will need more inventory to sell. If you can"t get the most recent figures from the NAHB"s Web site, local builders will be happy to supply them to you, especially if it means free publicity for them. Become The Expert Now put what you know together and see how the facts add up. If megacompany has leased a lot of space, and you know that Piggly Wiggly grocers is building a new megastore alongside a large apartment complex in what is currently a corn field, and a developer has purchased 4000 acres to build homes, then you have a pretty good idea where that new plant is going to be built, don"t you? Call the reporter or e-mail her and say something like, "While I enjoyed your story, titled "Home Sales Are Slowing," (give the date, and link to the story, too, if communicating by e-mail) it would be remiss of me not to point out some facts that you may not have had available to you." Don"t be shy about giving your opinion of what these facts mean. If the reporter decides to turn what you have into a story, then she"ll need to verify the facts. Can"t you just see the headline? "New Jobs To Turn Local Housing Market Around" is bound to include a quote from you, courtesy of a very grateful reporter. While the above is a dramatic example, lesser stories can offer opportunities for you to get in front of reporters, too. If your colleagues are complaining in print that business is off and you have six closings this week, obviously you know something they don"t. Don"t be shy to contact the reporter and say something like, "I enjoyed your story "Home Sales Are Slowing," but I beg to differ with the experts in your story. I am not experiencing the same thing at all. May I tell you why?" "Why not?" asks the reporter. "I prepare my sellers for the market by ________(your trade secret) That way, their homes don"t sit as long on the market, and I can show you my stats to prove it." The reporter may take this nugget and turn it into a story. Why? Because even though you disagreed with the reporter"s first story, you are providing valuable consumer information that can turn into a new story. Today"s news is tomorrow"s bird cage liner. The reporter has already moved on and is looking for the next story, especially if it builds on or validates the story she just wrote. Can"t you see the headline? "Smart Moves For Sellers In Bad Market" will feature the tips you tell your sellers, but consumers reading the paper will see you as the expert and contact you to give them more of this good advice.RES Course Provider commented:
I really appreciate your creative writing, I was really looking for the post as I wanted to know the effective approach of the reporters in the Real Estate.
17.03.2012