1. Today, Sarna’s still surfing. His online platform makes up
95 percent of his monthly ad spend and draws about one to two
e-mail prospects daily. Internet researcher comScore Media
Metrix says 41 million Americans look at real estate information
online each month. Sarna says access to timely information
is encouraging many consumers to test waters once reserved
for real estate professionals. But whether browsing for a dream
or ready to take the plunge, experts say, buyers and sellers —
even the tech-savvy ones — don’t want to swim alone.
Sarna’s client Anthony Perry, 47, a Monroe Township, N.J.
business owner, has bought three properties since 2003.
In each instance, he started his search online.
“Too much information can be dangerous,” says Perry.
“So Alan works hand-in-hand with me. He will say, ‘I found
this and am going to send you the link. Check it out and see
if you're interested in anything.’ Or he’ll get me a temporary
password for a site,” he adds.
Park Slope, Brooklyn, N.Y. renters Alexandre and Olga
Urben started searching for a home in the Union County
and Mountainside areas in late March 2009 and found
Jeanne Feenick, a sales associate and six-year veteran
with Weichert, REALTORS®
in Warren, N.J. blogging and
answering questions on Trulia (www.trulia.com).
For most of his 15-year career, Alan J. Sarna started the
majority of new client interviews with one simple question:
If you were buying or selling a home, what would you do?
Recently, Sarna, a sales associate with Better Homes Realty
in Monroe Township, N.J., says the answer has changed.
“Before, most used photo magazines and the Sunday
newspaper real estate section. Now, they turn to the Web,”
he says. Ten years ago, Sarna, who closed 12 transactions
in 2008, noticed the trend and developed a website
(www.alansarnarealestate.com).
“I wanted to catch that wave,” Sarna says.
12 • NEW JERSEY REALTOR®
• July 2009 • www.njar.com
By Michelle Hoffmann
As new technologies and online
social networks become a
part of the daily dialogue, an
increasing number of buyers
and sellers want agents who
speak the same language.

2. NEW JERSEY REALTOR®
• July 2009 • www.njar.com • 13
“We’ve done a lot of research online ourselves,” software
tester Olga Urben, 34, says.
But software writer Alexandre Urben, 34, says Feenick’s
impressive knowledge, information-rich site, quick response
time and fresh perspective sold them. “Seeing that she was
active in the online community and willing to help people out
by answering questions definitely drew us to her,” he explains.
As the Urben story illustrates, electronic-interaction
technologies like Realtor.com (www.realtor.com) and
social-networking sites like ActiveRain (www.activerain.com),
Twitter (www.twitter.com), MySpace (www.myspace.com)
and Facebook (www.facebook.com) provide a chance to
promote more than just listings.
“They provide an opportunity to build a level of trust and
advance the relationship in a nonthreatening way. You can
share your knowledge. Then it’s their choice if they reach
out. But you can't impart this with a four-color printed flier,”
Feenick says.
And she’s tried. A first-quarter print mailing of 400 cards
picturing homes Feenick sold in 2008 cost about $250 and re-
sulted in no calls. Conversely, three of her most recent clients
and 75 percent of her leads in the last six months have come
from Trulia. Feenick does 80 percent of her marketing online
and spends about $200 a month. Her site (www.feenick.com)
features buying and selling tips, listing and local area infor-
mation, customer testimonials and a blog. To maximize hits
and leads, Feenick uses Cyberhomes (www.cyberhomes.com),
an MLS portal sponsored by Fidelity National Information
Services that offers lead-generation tools and online real
estate services.
In July 2008, Feenick says a property post on Craigslist
(www.craigslist.com) caught the eye of a Chicago resident
considering relocating to New Jersey.
“The lead fell through,” she explains. “But I use this example
to show sellers who may be stuck on print that it’s important
to expand the net because we don't always know where the
buyer will come from.”
Sarna says most sellers will accept the premise that most
marketing activity is generated online until they hit the point
of desperation. “When they hit that point, they get nervous
and want to see more than just online marketing,” he adds.
If the online marketing is not working, Sarna says, consider
any impediments like unfavorable images or too few photos.
Rom Chaudemanche, who manages and updates the online
marketing platform for his wife, Cathy Chaudemanche, a sales
associate with Keller Williams Elite Realty in Metuchen, N.J.
since 2006, says in print or online, clients want assurance
that you’re working all the channels.
“Sellers know it will take more than a sign on the grass
to sell a listing in this market. And many are very knowledge-
able and ask us a lot of pertinent questions about how many
individual visitors we get a month to our personal site
(www.yourhousefast.com) and where else we plan to advertise
their listing,” Rom Chaudemanche explains.
About 90 percent of the Chaudemanche’s monthly ad spending
goes to online marketing. As a result, the couple’s site gets about
1,500 hits a month — 12 times the national average, according
to real estate marketing product developer Point2. Rom says
3 percent of that traffic is transferred into a workable lead.
But leads come from searches, and staying at the top of the
first page of major search engines takes time and effort.
Rom updates the couple’s free Backpage (www.backpage.com),
Gigigi (www.gigigi.com) and Craigslist postings every 48 hours;
blogs on their main site, Trulia and ActiveRain every other
day; and spends about 30 hours a week and about $400 to $500
monthly to keep their online platforms current.
Part of those monthly costs include spotlight ads on Trulia
that link back to their main site (Cost: about $40 a month), a
Point2Agent (www.agent.point2.com) service that syndicates
listings to more than 30 major real estate portals (Cost: $49.95
monthly) and a showcase website service from 123 Main Street
(www.123mainstreet.com) that allows the Chaudemanches
to set up a domain name with the address for each individual
listing (Cost: $45 per listing).
Sarna owns about 70 domain names (Cost: $10 to
$35 each per year) related to his New Jersey service
area such as www.exit8acommercialrealty.com and
www.monroetownshiphomes.net that drive traffic to him.

3. Sarna uses San Diego, Calif.-based real estate Internet
marketing company Z57 (www.Z57.com) to optimize his
site and capture leads for buyers doing searches in a specific
zip codes and generate traffic and spends about $300 a month
and five hours a week optimizing his site.
“If my numbers are slipping, the webmasters at Z57 help
me retool the site. But I come up pretty high in the Google
searches in my area against those big companies spending
thousands each month.” he says.
With his experience as a buyer, Perry, who recently listed
his 1.5 acre commercial investment property in Spotswood
with Sarna, believes online marketing will increase his
chance of a sale.
“We have adequate signage at the property, but that limits
us to drive-by traffic. So Alan casts the widest net possible
and offers me a variety of different vehicles like print, signage,
online exposure and monthly updates on how many hits
we’re getting,” Perry says.
Center Harbor, N.H.-resident Diane Kimsey, 58, a housewife
and retired social worker, says Feenick’s online marketing
skills translated into a quick sale when she listed her four-
bedroom Martinsville, N.J. colonial for $689,000 in June 2008.
“Jeanne listed the house on Craigslist and Trulia and all
the major sites. And we were under contract for $685,000
within 11 days in a tough market. I wanted some print
coverage but the house sold so fast that we never got to
that point,” Kimsey explains.
So would she trust the online forum exclusively?
“In a down market, I would choose to have as many tools
as possible. However, in a seller’s market, perhaps online
advertising would be all that would be necessary,” she adds.
The Urbens looked at more than 35 homes in April and are
close to buying. As future sellers, Alexandre Urben says it
would be “inconceivable” for them to use an agent unskilled
in online advertising.
That, says Feenick, who closed $7.3 million last year, is what
sets her apart. “Today’s consumers are familiar with these
tools and looking for agents who speak the same language.
I can speak to Trulia, I can speak to eBay. And that gives me
a real edge,” she adds.
Of course, not everyone’s sold. According to the NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
(NAR), 56 percent of sales
agents have a real estate website. And 45 percent of those
sites were reportedly created during or after 2006. Still,
Marty Frame, senior vice president and general manager
for Irvine, Calif.-based Cyberhomes, says don’t blame agents
for the disconnect.
“For the longest time, the Internet was touted as a medium
for buyers. And up until the last four years or so, most agents
didn’t need another buyer,” Frame explains.
“But in this challenging time, agents need buyers. So now,
having hit the snooze button during the first 10 years of the
Web . . . we are a little behind the curve. And where everybody
else has been online for 15 years and learning how to engage
Generation Y, real estate professionals are now dipping in and
realizing there’s a lot to learn,” he adds.
14 • NEW JERSEY REALTOR®
• July 2009 • www.njar.com
craigslist cyberhomes

4. NEW JERSEY REALTOR®
• July 2009 • www.njar.com • 15
Moreover, with nearly 58 percent of real estate professionals
set to reach 65 years or older by 2010, according to a 2007
Deloitte Research study, and NAR reporting the median age
of first-time home buyers as 30, the learning curve has a big
generation gap.
Despite challenges, a Borrell Associates, Inc. report shows
an increase in annual online ad spend for an existing home
from $924 in 2005 to $1,009 in 2008. Annual print spend
for an existing home dropped from $937 in 2005 to less
than $400 in 2008. Increased online ad spend is good news,
but Steve Weber, founder and CEO for Z57, says only one in
20 real estate agents are effective marketing online.
“It’s a different shopping experience for the home buyer, and
the incubation period is a lot longer. So agents need to learn
how to engage and cultivate that lead,” Weber says.
How much longer? Weber took 18 months to find and decide
on his last home. Perry closed on all three of his homes
within three to six months of starting his search. But most
sellers, according to Hebert Research, take about nine
months from the time they begin looking online until they
reach the closing process. And buyers, Realtor.com operator
Move, Inc. found, spend about 10 months looking online
before contacting an agent.
Weber says agents willing to make the commitment in time and
money can easily move into the top 5 percent of the industry.
Somerset County agent Feenick already represents Weichert’s
top 5 percent and plans to keep it that way.
“There is a coming of age of a generation of people who live
their lives on the Internet,” she says. “And I want to be part
of that.” n
Michelle Hofmann is a Los Angeles based writer.
She can be reached at michellehofmann@earthlink.net.