“Some builders are spending $25,000 to $40,000 a week [on advertising],” he says. “You need a lot of inventory to justify that.”
The Housing Group also revamped its Web site to appeal to Net-savvy buyers and switched from an in-house sales staff to contracting with Bo Bridgeport Brokers, which specializes in new-home sales in emerging urban communities and is adept at Web marketing.
“Bo Bridgeport built their business on their Web community; we were weak in that area,” Ray explains. “A small niche builder can compete with the giants of the industry with Web advertising.”
Three months after upgrading its site and shifting its ad budget to the Web, The Housing Group saw its Web site traffic increase from 191 unique visitors per month to 2,746.
The builder's real estate co-op agency business has picked up as well, Ray says, because agents feel more at ease working with other agents than with a sales agent employed by the builder. Carswell agrees, saying her agency works hard to be an active part of the Realtor community.
“It goes back to the basic principle of people [doing] business with people they like and trust,” she says. “Most Realtors will trust other Realtors, often more than they're going to trust an in-house agent. [Builders] blew off the Realtors during the housing boom.”
Finding buyers and closing sales require a partnership these days, Carswell adds. Agents need to be out every week getting the temperature of the market, talking to other agents about what they're seeing and what buyers are asking for.
COMPACT CHARACTER: The Housing Group designed cozy front porches, which offer inviting entry points without incurring large amounts of additional cost.
Credit: Rick Newby/The Icehouse
“The more people you deal with, the more spheres of influence you have,” she says. “You can't [afford to] miss a buyer anywhere you might find one.”
LOCATION: ATLANTACommunity: Eastside WalkTotal acreage: 48.5Date opened for sale: June 2006Product: Single-family homes ranging from 1,800 square feet to 2,512 square feetPrice range: Base prices from $265,500 to $319,900Total number of units at build-out: 161Sales to date: 44Builder/Developer: The Housing Group, AtlantaArchitect: Classical Concepts, Dacula, Ga.