Social networking to sell a car or a house
Well, a car is not a house. Despite clearly having the best priced single owner 1999 Lexus RX300 on CraigsList SF Bay Area, $2,700 below BlueBook, all callers were seeking a discount on the price. It's the ingrained negotiation ethic that accompanies a transaction between strangers... and it's an annoying part of the sales process.
Classifieds and car listing sites like Craigslist are currently the most efficient way to advertise a vehicle to a wide group of strangers. But this got me to thinking how much easier it would be to sell a car through a network of friends and acquaintances, particularly since offering a good value is ingrained as part of my personal ethic. The trust factor, non-existent between strangers, becomes an essential incentive to the transaction.... the margin between the bid and ask becomes much tighter and a deal more easy to work.
| Sales model | Distribution | Transaction trust factor | Efficacy |
| Classifieds - paid | Newspapers, online | Among strangers | Paying to list isn't necessary any more with Craigslist |
| Craigslist and free online classifieds | Online - free | Among strangers | Craigslist reached critical mass. Most efficient way to distribute advertising |
| eBay | Online - pay eBay fees | Among strangers, but sellers have trust ratings | Trust ratings lubricate transaction ease |
| Selling via social network | Facebook, MySpace | Among network and extended network | Individual reputations are at stake so trust factor high. This "trusted transaction" facility still doesn't exist online |
So here are two "personal selling" applications I'd like to see:
1) the Craigslist community - distribution of Craigslist listings to various social networks and/or to a social network developed within Craigslist.
2) the "garage sale" widget for Facebook... I found the Radical Buy widget, but it hasn't attained critical mass, only 3 of my 160 friends have subscribed to the widget. Once a widget attains critical mass, it would be easy to search across the network for items we want to buy.
Future real estate application
Once the system of personal transactions via social networks becomes commonplace and reaches critical mass (and this is as inevitable as Craigslist was in 1995), the system can be extended into real estate:
1) Local social networks revolving around real estate professionals will develop as they serve a community base to facilitate transactions.
2) More real estate transactions will be performed between buyer and seller who develop their relationship via the social network. Real estate professionals will be contracted to serve as transaction facilitators like lawyers.
3) Sellers may FSBO their homes across their social networks first to test the market, and cast the net more widely after the test.
Brad Inman explained the social networking method of home buying in this August article Changing our Ways:
So here's my experiment... for the lack of a "trusted transaction" facility today, I'll use this blog as a proxy to a social network and see whether I might be able to complete a comfortable transaction for my car sale.Young innovator Galen Ward, the co-founder of online real estate service Estately, spoke on the “New Kids on the Block” panel at Real Estate Connect. He offered an observation that explained the link between the exploding social networking movement and real estate.
The lights went on.
When I asked the panel to explain the generational change in real estate, Ward said that my generation buys houses and then tells our friends, while his generation collaborates online with their friends when buying a house or renting an apartment. Galen is half my age.
Indeed, my real estate experience is derived from the “keep up with the Jones” era of my parents, in which we buy houses and then brag to our friends. We do that with cars, vacations and the success of our children.
Galen explained how his generation does it differently. They have a MySpace or Facebook account and describe to their friends their plans to find a new apartment or house and begin getting advice from their pals, seeking straightforward help and funny or cynical comments. Then they post pictures of themselves looking for a home and images or video of the houses and the neighborhoods. Their friends begin to offer help, dishing out opinions and counsel on the real estate and the area. Then, they offer tips on the process and get more opinions until the deal is sealed.
Everything is a group effort.
Great article, like the thought process... which is why I like http://www.propertyQube.com
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Pat, as usual, I think you're right on the money... vertical social networks around niche interests are the wave of the future.
Pssst, wanna buy my 2001 RX300? Just in time for the timing belt change!
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After the experience of selling a 1999 Lexus RX300, I have a whole set of tips for you!
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Had a great deal of success with craigslist as well.
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Great post Pat, do you know any social real estate networks that are trying this model?
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I don't know any real estate network model based on this kind of referral network. It probably can be developed as a subset of Linkedin or Facebook... possibly as a widget. The best thing about testing your property with the social network is to assess and confirm an objective offering price for the house before displaying it on the MLS systems.
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hello everyone
i'm new to this site. it seems very intelligent and i'm glad to be here. i'm looking to see if can anyone give any tips on selling my property? i have a beautiful townhouse located in manhattan, new york city. for further inquiries i can provide all of the specifics and details however in the meantime... i am looking preferrably for an international buyer as the american economy is at a standstill, at least until after the presidential elections. while some may think my asking price is a little pricey ($3 mil) i am willing to negotiate and it is definitely worth it! both the market value and the appreciation have gone up significantly in the past 3 years as the neighborhood is shall i say, "hot." i've advertised on a lot of international websites but have only received replies from the scam artist. i know there is someone, somewhere, out there who would love to snap this beauty up. how do i connect? thanks for the input
ymitchell
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