David Barr's Sarasota and Venice Real Estate Blog

Part of my to do list for my real estate business as we entered 2019 was to begin using Facebook Live. I've just completed my third live session on Facebook talking about expired listings in Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch, and Venice. You can view the video here: Expired real estate listings with David Barr BHHS in Sarasota FL Posted by David Barr, Broker on Wednesday, February 27, 2019 If your home is an expired listings, and is no longer showing in the MLS, please contact me about putting your property back on the market and getting it sold.

Drones have been around in real estate marketing for a while now, but like everything else in the real estate business, they way they are (or should be) used is constantly evolving. Back when drones first made headlines, they were touted as a camera platform to get unique photo shots, mostly of luxury homes.  They had limited range, flying time, and photo options.  At first, the public thought drones were a huge invasion of privacy.  From my own experience, I can tell you that public acceptance of drones has increased tremendously, and I'm no longer excoriated by a passerby or threatened with a call to the police. I got my first drone, an Autel X-Star Premium, back in November of 2016.  I flew it hundreds of times, capturing video and learning along the way.  I now have a total of 4 drones, partly for back up and partly for different uses, such as client video or creating photos and video for social media.  Flying a drone is one thing, knowing what to ...

Do you have a home to sell in  # Sarasota  or  # VeniceFL ? I am uniquely providing the next level of real estate marketing available to you today.  Potential buyers for my listing in Gulf Twin Towers will find the property's landing page on my website, and my landing page chock full of real estate information for the condo building itself, at the top of Google search results, far above  # Zillow .  Google search results page for my listing in Gulf Twin Towers Buyers searching specifically for your condo or neighborhood are better prospects than buyers searching "sarasota real estate". This is important because over 90% of home buyers start their search online.  Any broker can list your property for sale on hundreds of real estate websites.  Being visible to those buyers looking for your specific real estate for sale in a Google search will result in a shorter time on the market.   Contact me for more about advan...

Yesterday I blogged about a Port Richey waterfront home I listed for sale.  Port Richey is not an area I normally serve, but the owner is a personal friend and past co-worker.  She knows I'm a total geek when it comes the internet and using it to market to buyers and sellers. What happened immediately after posting the home in the MLS, on my website, and on my personal real estate website  www.davidbarrhomes.com is an excellent case study in how an individual Realtor can compete with the biggest real estate companies online, and get results. Within an hour, the home listing on my website ( www.davidbarrhomes.com/5039_waterside_dr_port_richey ) had a viewer from Sweden: Within minutes of sharing yesterday's blog post on Google+, a Google search for "port richey waterfront home" ranked the blog post and the link to the property on the first page, above the fold, and above Realtor.com: The big brokerages focus their marketing on the number of homes f...

On Saturday mornings I get an email from Inman real estate news. Many of the articles are written by SEO companies and marketing "gurus", telling agents how to advertise themselves to home buyers and sellers. Some of the terms used in the sales industry, not limited to real estate, really make me cringe.  And I've been "in sales" for over 25 years.  "Capture", "convert", "lead", and "capture" are regularly used terms.  Do you as a potential customer really want to feel like hunted prey? My philosophy about gaining new customers and their trust is simple.  I provide information to customers about properties and answers to their questions they are searching for online.  This content is written by me specifically about my service area, not by a 20-something in Silicon Valley who has sold me some content to use in my advertising. Here are some good examples: The buying process :  Learn about the steps in the buying ...

I recently had a conversation about marketing a listing with a potential home seller.  The pertinent questions:  How do I distinguish myself from the large brokerages and how do I match their exposure? There's a common misconception that large brokerages get more exposure for their listings.  This is highly debatable.  Every member of our local MLS has equal access to what is known as real estate syndication.  Syndication puts the information we enter in the MLS on over 60 real estate websites. How do I distinguish myself from the large brokers or other agents?  The first example I point to is my real estate website, www.davidbarrhomes.com .  Without boring you with a lot of statistics, my website gets as high if not higher percentage of audience searching for specific popular keywords for real estate in our area as the biggest brokerage websites. If you are selling real estate in Lakewood Ranch, does it matter that a large brokerage is getting ...