When Natalie and I were looking for our first house, we did what most potential buyers do – we went online, searched various real estate websites, and flipped through a bunch of real estate ads that all looked the same.  A little tiny box, with just a little bit of information about the house (maybe), and a big “Call me for all of your real estate needs” banner.  Uhm … no.  I want to search in the privacy of my own little bubble, surrounded by my thoughts and notes, sorting through all of my options.

We also walked a lot of streets.  We’d park in a neighborhood we thought we might like, and then we’d wander the streets.  We’d look at house styles, see what kind of a feeling we got from the neighborhood, that sort of thing, and sometimes we’d even happen upon a house that was for sale (this is how we found the house we eventually bought, actually).  But all too often, when we found a house for sale that actually had a flyer box, the box would be empty.  Sometimes there’d be flyers in there, but often they were so waterlogged they’d be unreadable.  When we could read them, we were doing so because we wanted to find out about the house, not to get a phone number for the listing agent who wanted to do dual agency and get more money.  And that’s what this guy was finding:

From ProductivityJunkies.com.

When I went into real estate, I wanted to be different. Some would say I’ve accomplished that, but not necessarily in a good way! 🙂  Nevertheless, the real estate sign is the first way people can find out about your house that’s for sale.  Make it stand out – give them the information they want.  Bedrooms, baths, square footage … the type of heat.  What things were important to you when you bought your home?  That’s what should be on a real estate sign, in my opinion, and should be a part of a comprehensive approach to making the information available to everyone.  Not shown in the picture here, but the second generation of NRVLiving signs have the single property website right on the sign, instead of on a smaller rider just above the main panel.

I don’t know if a buyer has bought one of my listings because of the professional real estate photos, or because the sign helped get them started with all of the information they might want to know, or because of a video walkthrough told them what it was really like being in the home.  What I DO know is that I want all of that – and more – to be available … and I don’t want a song being written about my empty flyer box.