THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 18, 1994 TAG: 9406170450
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Long
DATELINE: 940618 LENGTH:
If lucky, would-be buyers might visit four or five homes in a day.
{REST} But those same folks can head for their couch, turn on the TV and visit 35 or so homes in half an hour.
That's what roughly 14,000 Hampton Roads residents do each week, when they tune in to Long & Foster Realtors' ``Sunday Showcase of Homes.'' The half-hour program, airing 11:30 a.m. on WAVY-TV Channel 10, features profiles and photos of the company's listings.
For Fairfax-based Long & Foster and about 100 other real estate companies nationwide, advertising homes on television is a key marketing tool. Not only are home shoppers able to view listings from their living rooms, but sellers get thousands of people to see their home without having to open the front door.
``The home show is decidedly one of the strongest reasons for considering Long & Foster,'' said Larry Paine, vice president and regional manager for the southern Virginia offices of Long & Foster.
Since the show debuted in Hampton Roads 2 1/2 years ago, Long & Foster's share of the region's real estate market has risen from roughly 6 percent to 11 percent, Paine said. The TV show isn't responsible for the entire growth, he said, but it has definitely given the company a higher profile.
\ Home show advertising started soon after President Reagan deregulated the television industry in 1984, giving birth to the ``infomercial,'' said Stephen B. Satterwhite, president of Bristol Valley Communications Inc. The New York-based company produces home shows for real estate companies.
Before deregulation, Satterwhite said, commercials couldn't be more than seven minutes long.
``Television isn't only for the Pepsi and McDonald's of this area, but for people who live in the community and want to sell their homes,'' Satterwhite said. ``For the first time, the TV opened up to allow average citizens to market what they have, their most expensive item - their home.''
Despite its influence, Satterwhite said, TV advertising should be only part of a comprehensive marketing campaign. With hundreds of listings, he said, ``the newspaper is, has been and always will be the best marketing tool.''
\ For many realty companies, advertising homes on TV is a costly investment that doesn't guarantee returns.
Jackson H. Pope, president of GSH Real Estate in Virginia Beach, tried home-show advertising about four years ago, expecting it to be an innovative way to get information to his company's buyers and sellers.
When the shows aired, he put additional personnel on the telephone lines and added back-up agents at the open houses. Still, few shoppers called or visited the houses.
``It didn't work at all,'' Pope said. ``It did not produce buyers calling us about those homes. It did not produce traffic for our open houses.''
Six months and $250,000 later, Pope said, the program went off the air.
``We discovered it was an ineffective method,'' he said. ``Our signs are our primary source of business.''
Long & Foster, the only real estate company with a show in Hampton Roads, spends about $5,000 a week on the program, Paine said. That includes air-time, photography, script development, voice-overs and post-production.
The company produces the show in-house and funds it as well, Paine said. Real estate agents pay $25 for each home they want on the air; home sellers don't pay anything extra.
Niki Inglis, an agent for two years with Long & Foster in Virginia Beach, puts every home she lists on the show.
``I have a lot of turnout (at open houses) because a lot of people watch the program,'' Inglis said. ``I was shocked because I didn't think they'd watch it. A lot of people tape it.''
About a year ago, for instance, Inglis put a waterfront home in Suffolk on the TV show. A resident on the other side of the lake saw the house and came to the open house. The next day, Inglis said, he bought it.
``For me, it's a wonderful program,'' she said. ``It's a wonderful marketing tool. I think advertising is the key word in this business. What better way to advertise than being on TV and being seen by everyone?''
\ Long & Foster's program airs only homes in good shape and aims to show listings on both sides of Hampton Roads, said Michelle Beaubien Ball, the program's executive producer in Fairfax, where the show is put together. Price is not a major consideration: Featured homes have ranged from $50,000 to $800,000.
A key advantage to the show, Beaubien Ball said, is cross-marketing. Because many residents relocate between Washington and Hampton Roads, Long & Foster often features Hampton Roads homes on its Washington program, she said, which has 80,000 viewers. Homes in Williamsburg particularly attract the Washington market.
``It's expensive, but it's a wonderful service to provide,'' she said.
Home shows aren't just for shoppers who need to buy a house that week, Satterwhite said. Many viewers watch the shows to find out the price of the home next door or in different parts of the region. Others watch it for decorating ideas.
``There's a lot of reasons to watch the programs than because you're buying a house on Monday,'' he said.
Also, he said, many sellers are reluctant to open their home up to the public. If viewers see the house on TV first, those who are still interested can choose to see the house in person.
``You won't have people walking through the home,'' he said, ``who don't want it.''
\ At best, Satterwhite said, about 50 to 75 percent of a home show's listings are sold after someone sees them on TV. At worst, the figure is maybe 5 to 10 percent.
As a result, he said, ``some companies feel it's not a tool for increasing their sales.''
The quality of a show and its listings are likely to determine its success rate, the experts say. So is the program's ability to adapt to its viewers' needs.
At Long & Foster, Paine said, the company plans to change its show's format to make it more appealing to homeowners as well as buyers and sellers.
Soon, the program may include neighborhood profiles and features on mortgage companies, insurance, settlement attorneys and other housing concerns.
``Home shows are growing rather than shrinking,'' Paine said. ``We're trying to put into place the mechanics to allow that growth.''
Within the next year, he said, the show is likely to expand an extra half hour or add a second time slot.
``It's not a tool we see going away,'' he said. ``We want to make it more sophisticated.''
by CNB