I have been telling clients and potential clients for years that print advertising is on the way out. While running an ad for your home in the Sunday newspaper every week might be a big ego booster for the seller and the agent, print advertising is being acknowledged as a less effective medium for marketing homes, and sales continue to drop. According to Center for Media Research,
online real estate advertising is expected to grow 12.4% next year, as total spending on real estate advertising declines.
Many home sellers demand print advertising and many 20th century agents tout it in their marketing plans. A 4 or 5 line ad with a headline and no picture can cost around $100/ insertion, while electronic flyers, syndicated on numerous sites, are virtually free and provide huge amounts of information, pictures and virtual tours. The next few years will see more online marketing and advertising, as the many facets of web 2.0 find commercial applications.
And 20 years from now there will still be agents going into listing appointments promising to run a print ad every Sunday.