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Advertising Tools & Technology
After you understand the advertising philosophy of a company, you need to evaluate the tools and technology that will be used to sell your home, or that you can use as a buyer to find the home of your dreams. Herb Real Estate has the best real estate marketing tools in the business!
1. MLS and Cooperating Brokerage Services
Cooperating brokerage has been a practice in the real estate industry for decades, yet many consumers are not aware of how it actually works. Put simply, it means that a home listed through one real estate company is able to be shown and sold through another real estate company during the term of the listing agency.s contract. When this occurs a "co-op commission" is paid. This means that the total real estate commission is split between the selling (listing) office and the subagency office or buyer agency office. We share the commission between agencies. Herb Real Estate promotes and encourages cooperating brokerage relationships. Our primary objective is to find a buyer for your home, whether it is through our office or the office of one of our real estate competitors. Naturally, most agents would like to sell homes that are listed through their own agency. You will also find buyers being attracted to those real estate agencies who possess the highest selection of quality listings. Herb Real Estate's top producing, experienced agents account for Herb Real Estate's unusually high sales volume compared with competitors. Its large inventory of quality in-house listings is another key factor.
The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is the technology that has been developed for real estate agents to share information about homes that are on the market. When your home is listed with Herb Real Estate, the MLS data about your home will be put into the MLS computer system and shared with other real estate agents. These agents may be working with a buyer that is looking for a home just like yours.
Herb Real Estate belongs to the Reading MLS system and also the TREND MLS system. This provides information to other agents in Berks, Chester, Montgomery, Delaware, Bucks and Philadelphia counties and New Castle, Delaware and South Jersey. We regularly cooperate with agents from outlying counties who have buyers from those areas who may be looking for a home in our area. Be sure that the real estate agency you select is a member of MLS systems in a wide range of counties that surround the location of your home.
2. Television Marketing
Cable TV Stations - TV22, TV27, & TV98
 Herb Real Estate uses local cable TV channels 22, 27 and 98 to showcase listings to viewers in more than 55,000 homes in the Berks, Chester and Montgomery County areas.
TV listing profiles often feature the very popular video walk-through presentation, enabling Herb to sell homes "from the inside-out!" No other real estate agency in the Tri-County area can boast better or more extensive cable television advertising capabilities than Herb Real Estate - no one!
3. Trade Shows & The Real Estate Book
 The real estate industry has utilized a host of tried and true real estate tools that have worked for decades. Herb Real Estate has not abandoned many of these methods. They are incorporated "in addition" to our arsenal of new and innovative marketing tools. You will see us advertise in many of the general real estate advertising publications like The Real Estate Book. We offer open houses when home sellers wish to utilize that type of exposure. We have a noticeable presence in trade shows such as the annual BIE Home Show in Pottstown where we have won numerous top awards for the quality of our booth and product presentation. We do everything that the competition does in terms of traditional real estate advertising, plus a whole lot more!
4. Internet Marketing
If you are surfing the Net, take a look at www.herbrealestate.com! Our newest release of the Herb Real Estate Web Site has been met with rave reviews by consumers and peers alike. We have one of the most consumer-friendly sites that helps Buyers and Sellers find the properties and services that are needed in the real estate industry.
If you are a buyer, the Herb web site offers search capabilities, complete real estate data sheets with pictures, addresses, directions, a mortgage calculator, and valuable consumer information.
5. Professional Highlight Sheets
 Every home listed should have a top quality full-color "Highlight Sheet"! Why? Because when a buyer is touring many homes, all of the features tend to blend together.
A custom-made highlight sheet can remind the buyer about the many features of your home that will keep it a priority on their list of homes to consider when making the final decision. Herb Real Estate has the technology to prepare top quality color highlight sheets for the homes that we have listed.
Many real estate agencies simply lay a pile of photocopied data sheets on the kitchen table for prospects to take with them. We believe that your home is worth the investment of a custom-made full-color highlight sheet. Every home seller should demand this level of service!
6. Call Coordinator
A real estate company is in the business of providing information and services. That's why Herb Real Estate provides an information call coordinator during all regular business hours. This individual is a licensed real estate agent who tours all of the properties that are listed by Herb Realtors. Their responsibility is to provide all callers with immediate access to information regarding homes that Herb has listed. Many real estate companies allow new and inexperienced real estate agents to take turns handling information calls as a way for that agent to generate business leads for the agent. It is a practice called "floortime". At Herb Real Estate, we make sure that the person who is handling the information calls is more interested in providing the information that the caller is seeking than playing a cat and mouse game to get the name and phone number of the caller. Make sure that you are working with a company that utilizes the Information Call Coordinator system!
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