5833 replies to this topic

[rjag]

Walmart and McDonalds advertise every day. McDonalds places ads in their parking lot or windows even though you are clearly aware a McDonalds is there.

 

They require a recurring revenue stream to function, a home/condo not so much

[Mike K.]

The real-estate industry requires just as much of a recurring revenue stream. Marketing takes on a different tone during different market cycles. There remains a need to promote one option over another under all circumstances.

[rjag]

Agreed that the industry needs to market themselves but that's different than individual properties which only require marketing once, there is no need to resell your property unless you choose to

Edited by rjag, 14 May 2017 - 03:02 PM.

[VicHockeyFan]

I guess my point is there is almost no time marketing is not potentially useful, when done right.  I mean for gosh sakes, gasoline stations advertise, and there is zero brand loyalty and hardly any price or discernible quality difference between brands.

 

When I sold real estate, we sold a fair amount of units to people that did not know, just days earlier, that they were in the market for a home.  So we did not just advertise in real estate publications.  

 

Same with this ad by Earl.  Ya, it's done poorly, but you never know.  Old Uncle Bobby sees the ad, calls his nephew, the RJH doctor.  "Hey Sonny, I know you said there was no new homes near RJH, it was all old stuff, but I just saw an ad for 2 brand new ones, did you know about that?  "Jeepers Uncle Bobby I did not know that! Tell me more!"

[LJ]

There is a new area of townhomes and SFH going in at the foot of Bear Mountain Parkway that says they will be $190 a square foot.

 

We will see as they start building what sort of quality they are.

[dasmo]

Most houses I watch go up use low end building materials. Even the high end homes. Mostly OSB and low end windows. It's almost a reason to buy a condo instead. Way better building quality going on in condo builds. This era will not be remembered or cherished like the Arts and Crafts era when it comes to Houses....

[VicHockeyFan]

Most houses I watch go up use low end building materials. Even the high end homes. Mostly OSB and low end windows. It's almost a reason to buy a condo instead. Way better building quality going on in condo builds. This era will not be remembered or cherished like the Arts and Crafts era when it comes to Houses....

 

I believe you are right.

 

Condos are held to a higher standard by engineers and insurers.

 

I can speak a bit to windows.  I was lucky enough to work for a company locally that re-sold windows from many manufacturers.  In fact we could buy and re-sell windows from almost any company.  The average builder picked the cheapest.  The interested home-builder was a better customer.  And could take the time to understand the benefits of a better window.  But they can not possibly understand it on their own, it needs to be shown to them.  Give me an hour with an intelligent homeowner/builder in the showroom and I can let them see what and why a better product works.  The builder does not do that.

[LeoVictoria]

On advertising, I would be willing to bet that if one condo tower was advertised heavily and another didn't do any advertising (just signs on their building and a basic website), they would still sell out for the same prices at about the same speed in this market.

 

The reality is there are some 1400 realtors in this town scouring the market for new inventory.  It's not like any buyer is going to miss a new development going up, and it's not like advertising will cause a place to sell over market value.

 

This is entirely unlike advertising mcdonalds.  There are not thousands of hungry people that have employed fast food hunters to find them a burger.

[VicHockeyFan]

On advertising, I would be willing to bet that if one condo tower was advertised heavily and another didn't do any advertising (just signs on their building and a basic website), they would still sell out for the same prices at about the same speed in this market.

 

The reality is there are some 1400 realtors in this town scouring the market for new inventory.  It's not like any buyer is going to miss a new development going up, and it's not like advertising will cause a place to sell over market value.

 

 

 

I don't think so.  There is a perception.  When I sold condos, we sold from a very basic sales trailer propped up in front of the project.   Today, look at what Black and White spent on their sales showroom, or Sovereign/Duet/Escher etc.  They spend $100k on the sale centre.

 

If one place has no sales centre, no flashy website, no amazing glossy ads, the consumer will think it has a problem.  It's the reason Grey Goose sells vodka for 2x what others sell the same vodka for, that uses the same process.  You can apply this to designer fashion, MP3 players (what's that!?!), perfume etc.  Marketing sells perception, people.

[LeoVictoria]

I don't think so.  There is a perception.  When I sold condos, we sold from a very basic sales trailer propped up in front of the project.   Today, look at what Black and White spent on their sales showroom, or Sovereign/Duet/Escher etc.  They spend $100k on the sale centre.

 

If one place has no sales centre, no flashy website, no amazing glossy ads, the consumer will think it has a problem.  It's the reason Grey Goose sells vodka for 2x what others sell the same vodka for, that uses the same process.  You can apply this to designer fashion, MP3 players (what's that!?!), perfume etc.  Marketing sells perception, people.

 

I agree that marketing works in general, but I also think that real estate is a bit of a special beast.   

If a new condo tower or townhouses or what have you comes on the market, hundreds of realtors notify their clients that are looking for this product to try to make a sale.   That is the actual marketing.   Now will a google banner ad make any difference?  Doubt it.

 

I do agree that a well put together showroom will make a difference.  I was referencing newspaper and online marketing.  

 

It is possible I'm assuming a more rational consumer than exists.

Edited by LeoVictoria, 14 May 2017 - 09:47 PM.

[Mike K.]

Real-estate advertising isn't about selling real-estate. It's about selling a lifestyle and an opportunity.

 

I do think that the Internet has made far too many people think they are marketing geniuses because they can do the SEO and make the Google, lol.

[VicHockeyFan]

It is possible I'm assuming a more rational consumer than exists.

 

You might be.  Buildings that have nothing to do with Trump, pay to put his name on the building and it sells better, faster, for higher amount.  It's odd.

[Nparker]

...Buildings that have nothing to do with Trump, pay to put his name on the building and it sells better, faster, for higher amount...

Or at least they did...

[VicHockeyFan]

Or at least they did...

 

Most multi-millionaires lean the Trump way, so it's safe to say they still have value.

[Mike K.]

The developer who licensed the Trump name for the Vancouver tower is pleased as pie with the results.

 

In that case, the name sold a lifestyle. And buyers lined up.

[FirstTimeHomeCrier]

Sky-high condo prices aren't a supply problem

 

 

Have you heard the one about how supply is going to solve the great Canadian housing crisis?

 

If you’ve listened to the real estate industry or our political leaders, you likely have. A lack of supply is the great culprit behind soaring prices and the lack of affordable homes. Just build more condo towers and presto, problem solved.

 

Well, they’re building them in Metro Vancouver and Greater Toronto – lots of them. The Onni Group is now marketing a building in downtown Vancouver with units starting at $1.7-million. Another developer, Intracorp, is advertising Belpark, on the city’s west side, where you can get a two-bedroom, plus a den for $1.5-million. And on it goes.

 

[...]

 

Many of the condos being constructed are designed to be purchased by wealthy investors, the Lamborghini crowd. They aren’t being built for a couple of young professionals starting a family. Not unless you consider $1-million for 1,000-square-feet on the 10th floor of a tower in suburban Burnaby, B.C., reasonable. No, somehow, some way, governments need to encourage developers, through incentives or whatever it takes, to start building housing that the middle class can afford.

 

Right now, developers are getting everything their way. They are putting pressure on local politicians to speed up the approval process so they can erect more towers, more quickly, but they are doing nothing – nothing – about the costs of the units they are constructing. In fact, you could argue they are engaging in activity that is helping ensure the costs keep going up.

 

[...]

 

No, the great supply argument is a myth, a dodge. It is not solving anything. On housing, our political leaders continue to fail us.

[Mattjvd]

^^ Thanks for adding the article.

 

While it does touch on some valid issues, I found it rather light on arguements to refute housing prices being a supply issue. If you can build a condo tower and sell it out at $1+ million per unit, you should do it. The demand is still much higher than the supply, that's why these units can be sold for so much.

 

And "vast swaths" is strong (and misleading) language for what has been measured as between 5% and 10% in Vancouver (sources below)

 

https://www.theglobe...rticle30790277/

 

https://www.theglobe...rticle31121420/

 

http://globalnews.ca...to-be-released/

[Mike K.]

I'm working on a piece right now that will bring a little more info to the table.

Supply is always an issue. Supply and demand is the most basic of economic principles, and that's what drove FTHC to pay more for her condo.

[dasmo]

It's absolutely a supply issue. Not enough has or is being built to fill the demand for family housing. Similar to the TO market that has also over supplied the speculation demand....

"Call it the tale of Toronto's two housing markets: on one side are the million-dollar-plus single-detached homes, and on the other, those tiny boxes in the sky.

What's missing, is everything in the middle."

https://www.google.c...a/amp/1.4126751

[sdwright.vic]

So here is my question, do cities and developers work to limit supply so prices stay high? Thus increase developer profit and cities property tax revenues?