Tuesday
March 19, 2002
Times Reformer
Real
estate sales goes high tech
Mike Bauslaugh
Times-Reformer
Talking
House lets prospective customers hear information over their radios.
Evelyn Sackrider is ready to use the newest technology to help sell your house.
The local real estate salesperson has started to use a powerful and unusual sales tool for selected clients called Talking House which allows Sackrider to showcase a home to everybody who drives by a listed property.
All people need to do is pull up to the curb, tune in their radio and they can get a spiel that points out every appealing thing about a property.
"I had an offer to present to a client after only three days of using Talking House," Sackrider said. "It's like I'm there 24 hours a day, seven days a week selling the house"
Talking House is a radio transmitter set to an AM frequency. A message is recorded and broadcast to anybody tuned in to the frequency.
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Sackrider often uses 1600 AM (the same one used by Simeoe's previous radio station CHNR) but it can be adapted to several different frequencies. The transmitter broadcasts about half a kilometer from the site.
Talking House is an efficient use of Sackrider's time and alsoh elps attract attention to a potential sale. She finds
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people tuning in are more apt to become well-qualified prospects who make further enquiries about the home for sale. She sometimes uses celebrity voices to begin and end her messages. She has used everyone from Jimmy Stewart and Clint Eastwood to Bugs Bunny. Sackrider discovered the sales tool in the United States and thought this technique could help set her apart from other real estate salespeople. She inquired about it and purchased the package to get her started. She uses her own home as an example of the technique and also has other sales properties using the Talking House format. Sackrider indicates which sale properties have the technique available with a lawn sign. The instructions on how to tune in are printed on the sign. "People can just pull up and hear the celebrity voice introduce-me and say goodbye when I end.? "I make a pitch in between. It's never too much bother for people to tune in (the frequency often has a range of three-quarters of a kilometer), to learn all about a house. "It can mean the difference between a quick sale and a long wait." Sackrider said today's sale properties need maximum exposure and the free service is one more way to attract attention to a property. She provides the Talking House service to selected clients. There is a five-minute video explaining the free marketing tool. She can be reached at 426-3916 or 426.0081. Reporter Mike Bauslaugh can be contacted by e-mail at bauslaugh@annexweb.com or by calling 519-426-5710 ext.144 |
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