Why 90% of all Real Estate Websites SUCK.

I want to scream.

Remember the movie, Network? "I'm mad as HELL and I'm NOT going to take it ANYMORE!"

I'm almost wishing I could go back to real estate sales. At least then, dumb questions and self defeating situations only came from next time home buyers when they asked WHY they couldn't put in for a new car before we closed on their new home.

A lot of REALTORS are needing a similar wake up call, because if 90% of you don't wake up soon, the top ten percent and top 1 percent of the top producers are just going to keep on laughing all the way to the bank. Because 90% of all real estate agent websites: SUCK.

Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration. Actually more like 94% of them suck.

I've been in real estate marketing for ten years so I think I have a bit of expertise in this area. So when a friend of mine said she is moving to El Paso and since I am not licensed to sell real estate in El Paso, I thought I'd go search up a few websites in the El Paso area and give her a few recommendations.

The first website we went to was a Keller Williams McWebsite template. The one you get for free from KW Corporate. It was a complete disaster. I tried a narrow search for homes near the mountain with great photos and 360 tours. No such luck. Open houses weren't working either. Then on one page, there was a link to their new and improved crappy template -- which ALSO from KW Corporate and it looked just as awful. The broker could have done so much better if they went to TemplateMonster.com The colors, the style said nothing about El Paso, no Spanish-Mexican flavor or zest was used to make the site anything but dull.

Four other real estate websites I went to had ZERO virtual tours, either and all of them were equally unremarkable -- and I'm sure Simon Cowell from American Idol would add the word: BORING and karaoke to the reviews if here were sitting in my chair judging the poor looking websites I was staring at in disbelief.

Does anyone REALTOR in El Paso READ anything about real estate marketing but me? I am beginning to wonder if there is any intelligent life (REALTORS) doing business in El Paso? And I'm sorry if this comes across as insulting, but I'm beginning to wonder.

You show me a single REALTOR with a crappy website template in El Paso, ZERO visibility on Google, NO virtual tours and I'll show you a REALTOR who isn't making a six digit income.

FACT: Americans were watching 5 million virtual tours a day, according to a report published by the PEW Internet Research Group. And this report is four years old. My guess is maybe 5.5 million today. Maybe more.

Does anyone READ the annual Homebuyers report? People that buy homes want to SEE the virtual tour first. These too, are hard facts. Then when they are ready -- they will contact you and give you their contact information.

I went to at least ten more websites and they all look like there banged out on the same word processor. The only difference is that one site was blue, the other one was green, the others were a sandy or desert yellow. All of them had the same school information. Nothing different or remarkable about them. Since I was recording a radio commercial for one of my clients in Florida, I had to record a make believe McWebsite Agent Template Company. King Templates.

This is the commercial I made. If this were a real company, their radio ad would sound like this.

Bank foreclosures are just as stupid. I went to some foreclosure sites and an agent offering REOs on her site. These were half baked disasters.

Apparently, banks with REO's send out a driver to do the digital drive by.

They sort of slow down and shoot just the outside of the home. The bank thinks they're doing real estate marketing and getting homes ready to sell.

Ha! Fat chance you'll sell the home with ZERO or no photos.

I'm still sitting here with a friend who's looking to buy a house in El Paso. And she could be a cash paying customer with $150,000 to pay for a home right now. Her FICO scores are 810.

I find one house for her that is $30,000 UNDER market value and near the foothills. She wants to know what the kitchen looks like. The bedroom? Nope, no photos. No such luck. Every friggin REO listing is either NO photo or the outside photo only. And the dumb REALTOR and bank want to know when these homes are going to sell.

I kept looking for more great El Paso real estate websites and did not find any.

WAKE UP CALL TO EL PASO REALTORS -- I have a client for somebody. 810 FICO Scores and she has $150,000 to spend CASH right now. She may opt for $50,000 down with a nice 15 year fixed at 5.0%. She can go VA or conventional.

Send her a few listings with some virtual tours and make sure it is in a nice, safe neighborhood in the foothills with panoramic views of El Paso. Agents without the ability to show my client a virtual tour need not waste your time.

Send your hot sheet leads to: joshua24g@yahoo.com and to the Attention of Sandra C. George. She wants to move in July.

- Bartman