Joe and Suzy both have similar houses to sell in a hurry. They both know that the internet is a great way to move property quickly, and they both logged online yesterday evening to see what kind of help they could find there. They even both found the same website - Bob the Real Estate Investor's Fantasy Property Solutions page.
This morning, Joe awoke with a light heart because he felt confident that Bob would be able to sell his house for him quickly and enable him to walk away with almost $10,000. Suzy, on the other hand, awoke in despair, certain that she'd never be able to get her property off her hands without losing everything in the process. 3 weeks later, Joe got his $10,000 check at closing and Suzy went into foreclosure.
Joe and Suzy have nearly identical houses and were in nearly identical situations, so why did they get such different results? Bob the Real Estate Investor could have helped Suzy just like he helped Joe, but he never got the chance, because Suzy never even contacted him. It was a lose-lose situation, because Bob would have made a profit on Suzy's property, and Suzy wouldn't have lost her home to foreclosure. Instead, Bob lost a valuable property deal and Suzy lost the house, her credit and probably a lot of her self respect.
The key to this situation is Bob's Fantasy Property Solutions webpage. Bob is a real estate investor, and his webpage reflects this:
oHe's very straightforward about what he does: He assigns contracts on properties to other investors for a fee. His website asks that any interested investors who are in a position to purchase distressed properties contact him immediately.
oHe does not explain where he gets the properties from, just that he sells distressed properties. He assumes that investors won't care that much about the source of the deals as long as they can make a profit.
oHe doesn't define the word "distressed," and it is not easy to find his contact information on the page. In fact, Joe had to sign up for an email newsletter, then reply to the "noreply" address in order to get in contact with Bob.
Because Joe was patient and persistent, he was able to contact Bob, find out that his property met Bob's criteria, and even get contract negotiations underway. However, Suzy was in a very different boat: she was frantic with worry because foreclosure was closing in, and Bob's website didn't calm her worries at all. She thought about calling him to ask him personally for help, but couldn't find a phone number or even an email address. Plus, she didn't know exactly what "distressed" meant anyway, and figured that she was long past that point. Suzy surfed away from Bob's page after just a few minutes, and 3 weeks later she lost everything.
Even when they have the exact same situation on their hands, motivated sellers and real estate investors have very different wants and needs, and they need very different websites to achieve the exact same results! Many investors who advertise their services online do not realize this, and assume that one website will serve to catch all their business. In fact, you must always factor in the mindset of your viewer when you design your websites, and make sure that you address their psychological requirements as well as their logical ones.
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