Listing property in the Adelaide Advertiser

[Sim]

I was talking to someone about property listings in newspapers and it made me curious as to whether people in Adelaide still rely on the real estate section in the Advertiser to find property or whether most people use Real Estate websites?

I'm not specifically referring to tech-savvy investors, more to the man-on-the-street. Do they still rely on the Advertiser or has it become a bit of a waste of space now that we have the internet?

Back when we first started buying in the late 1990s, the Advertiser was the only place to go for real estate listings - a lot of agents didn't use the internet much and their own websites were still pretty poor.

When we moved to Sydney, I used to get my local newsagent to bring in copies of the Saturday Advertiser especially for me, so I could look through the listings.

I even started doing some statistical analysis on the state of Adelaide real estate by charting the number of pages in the real estate section of the Advertiser each Saturday - more pages meaning more property listed (which could either indicate there was a boom and lots of people selling, or it was a dead market with nobody buying )

I don't think such analysis would hold much value now (not that it necessarily did back then either!), since I figure more and more properties are no longer being advertised in the paper and relying on online adverts instead.

If you were selling today in Adelaide, would you list in the paper - or has it become an expensive and pointless exercise?

 

[Corey Batt]

I was actually having a conversation on this topic with a Principal of one of the larger agencies in Adelaide.

He was talking to me about how some of the younger agents in his agency think it's silly to list in the paper, that it's beyond its time. His view was that it's still an integral part, whilst it's importance has diminished over time.

I agreed with him, I have found that a number of my clients have found their properties from the paper (using both newspaper and re.com.au etc to research). I asked one couple recently whether they found their new PPoR through Domain or Re.com.au, they said neither. They saw it on the front page of the real estate section, after being burnt out from constant internet searches.

The key I think with this advertising medium is that it targets a specific demographic. Readers are generally going to be the older demographics (read: most likely to have sufficient funds/equity to purchase more expensive properties)

The emotional aspect of stumbling across a property which catches your eye cannot be underestimated. With internet searches you direct your consumption of information, whilst with newspapers you're a captive audience. The properties are in front of you, whether it's your preferable suburb or not. This can be useful in that it may increase your audience who may come to consider the property for other aspects than location.

I don't believe that newspaper advertising is as important for investment properties however, where numbers are more important than aesthetics.

As the generations transition however I believe their will be a more steady decline in the usage. If print media alters its role into a more emotional and 'story' based approach (as opposed to running on volume), it may just survive. Half a dozen ad's per page with multiple shots, a short info section etc.

 

[Sim]

Thanks for the detailed response CJay - it did fit with what I kind of expected - especially about the demographic.

It's interesting what the local newspapers here in Sydney do now ... by which I mean the suburban papers like the North Shore Times (twice weekly), and the Manly Daily and Mosman Daily (both weekly) ... I'm sure the others are all similar ... they have a large real estate section with lots of colour photos and feature articles. These are almost magazine-style papers (A3 format), with colour printing, rather than your typical broadsheet or tabloid style paper - much more suited to photo intense real estate advertising.

You can see what I mean here: http://newslocal.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx?cid=8715 (use the table of contents to find the real estate section).

 

[jim1964]

My view is its a complete waste of sellers money which only serves the purpose of advertising and promoting the real estate company and agent.in this day and age,it still surprises me why people still do it........but i guess this is Adelaide.

 

[quoll]

I'm still a big fan of the "For Sale" sign on the front lawn, whether it's a little stick with for sale or a big photo sign, depends on what your selling and who you target.

online advertising is a must.

Newspapers, not interested in the advertising of the property for sale but still like it to advertise the open inspection date and time. If the price was cheaper and the agency didn't use so much space to advertise themselves I might think about it. I've had a couple of agents use their own advertising funds to place an ad for the property, didn't really seem to help.

my 2c
cheers
Graeme

 

[ZachAnSel]

The dinosour still prefer that way Sim, although the market is shringking but that niche market. Remember they the one who have money the most.

I always think the same way like cheque or pass book bank account..