Matt Thomson Gig Harbor, WA Real Estate & Relocation

QR code technology is one of the many new buzz words around real estate. We all have access to it, some are using it, but how many are using it to actually sell homes? In the following three minute video, I show how myself and 2 of my partners here at Keller Williams Realty Gig Harbor are using QR codes to market our homes and give our sellers maximum Internet exposure. Having QR codes is one thing, knowing how to utilize them is another.

The federal government has extended the $8000 tax credit, they've added a $6500 tax credit, and they're hoping that these will stimulate the housing economy. Many skeptical folks say that $8000 is pennies in light of the cost of a home, not worth the effort. My question to you is this: How many mortgage payments will $8000 make?

Take a look at this great home in Fife, WA, centrally located between Seattle and Tacoma, for only $285,000. If you bought this great home for sale in Fife and got the $8000 returned, how many free months of living is that? Pretty intriguing.

As a Realtor, I like to keep tabs on the Gig Harbor real estate market, and part of that includes analyzing Gig Harbor's market share by real estate company. Here's the funny thing, I can't claim to be #1. My company, Keller Williams Real Estate, isn't #1 in Gig Harbor market share or closed sales. We're actually #3 in both, but I still believe this is the greatest company to work for and work with. But I digress. Just for kicks, here's a look at the market share of Gig Harbor's top real estate companies.

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The chart above shows the top 10 real estate offices by number of properties listed in all of Gig Harbor. This includes single family homes, condos, vacant land and multi-family homes in Gig Harbor, Fox Island, and the Key Peninsula.

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This shows the total number of properties sold in 2009 (buyers and sellers). Property type and areas are the same in this chart as they are in the previous. Interesting that the top 4 companies are the same in both charts. While JLS has 2.95% more properties listed than Keller Williams, we are only 1.1% behind them in total sales. We're about 6% behind Windermere in both categories.

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These graphs are from a great website, compete.com. They show the number of unique visitors that websites receive in a side-by-side comparison. KW.com receives nearly 100,000 more visitors each month than Windermere.com, and 160,000 per month more than johnlscott.com. While both of the other two sites have seen a roughly 10% increase in web traffic this past year, KW.com has seen a nearly 42% jump in traffic! Why is this significant to Gig Harbor home sales? Relocation.

Many of the people moving to Gig Harbor have never heard of the local leaders, while Keller Williams is the 3rd largest real estate company in the nation, thus providing a national presence that other companies can't match. Similarly, if you are moving from Gig Harbor to another state, chances are you'll find a KW agent to help you find your new home as well. So, what does all of this really mean? Not much. Real estate is a local business that is ultimately decided by the agent, not the company. As I've mentioned before, I chose Keller Williams for two reasons. 1) The culture. The company's beliefs and values match up with mine, and the atmosphere around the office is infectious. I love the energy, I love the sharing, I love the positive attitude. 2) The tools. As an independent business owner, I wanted to associate myself with the company that offered me the best tools that would allow me to serve my customers as best as possible. Other companies offer more advertising, or more local name recognition, or tools for marketing myself as an agent, but I wasn't interested in those things as much as I was interested in tools (like this blog) that allowed me to bring value to my customers. So why write this blog? ‘Cause I like stats, I like comparisons, and I like educating people!