By Julie Andrews
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WEB SITES ARE FERTILE GROUND FOR BUILDERS
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| FINDING REALTOR WEB SITES IS EASY, THOUGH TOUGH TO WADE THROUGH THE NUMBERS. Putting “homes colorado springs” into a Google Search yield 1 million results. I prefer www.ppar.com, select Find Your Realtor, then enter either a company name or individual’s name, and you can hot link from there. Going through the company name yields the best results. |
 Real estate means connected to the land, but now that we’re nearly midway through the first decade of the 21st century, people are going through the ether to find it. Powerful Web sites, live Web chats and creative software are the means. They translate homes and land into pixels, and e-mail addresses into sales.
Many new home builders and real estate brokers have jumped into this new way of doing business. Classic Homes, the region’s largest volume builder, makes increasing use of its Web site. And behind any sites’ colorful pages and information is the software and designer. At the front is the shopper, who can turn into a buyer from the quiet beginning of a look-see on the Web.
Customer centric is how Chris Sgaraglino, of Interlogic Graphics and Marketing, describes his approach to Web site creation. ILGM formed in 1994 by Chris Sgaraglino, programmer for the software. Based in Colorado Springs, ILGM designs, hosts and services several builder sites plus other businesses and created the Classic Homes site.
“One thing we’ve seen with the home builders is they‘re very sure what they’re doing. They know their market, their product, and they know where they stand,” says Sgaraglino.
The ILGM approach appeals to home builders because of the way Sgaraglino designed the software, which is modular. The client can use over 30 different tools to update their site and online business thenselves.
Customers such as Classic Homes become their own Web masters, changing out content, images, and numbers as needed. “We can involve everybody in the company. We don’t have to involve somebody who doesn’t know anything about your business. The technology person has no business writing content. Plus they’re not motivated to do it.”
Businesses make mistakes on Web sites, he explains, from individual images that are too big and too long to download, to not enough use of images, forgetting to include a price, and thinking of Web site as static advertising. And for home builders, forgetting to create a sense of place – meaning a scenic mountain shot – is unwise.
Lots of military and out-of-town shoppers who know they’re moving here make up the daily dose of e-mails Adam Pillmore deals with on Classics Home’s from outside Colorado. Pillmore answers e-mails, is open for live chats, and updates much of the information on the site.
Classic attributes 58 new home sales through July this year to the Internet. Last year, Classic counted 80 new customer leads per month from its Web site, and in 2004 to date, an average of 184 new customers per month com in, with Pillmore sending about 325 e-mails monthly to “i-sales” customers. Statistics show online buyers are more educated, more affluent and buy homes more quickly than average home shoppers.
“It’s really busy. It’s really fun. We have so much activity right now. We have people looking as far as two years out, trying to get a feel for the market. Buyers a year out are getting ready to visit, and once they get the chance to visit they want to make sure they’re not wasting time,” Pillmore says. For a time, he worked the live chat room from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. but found most people shop the Web during the day. He answers inquires in a few hours, and never longer than one business day.
Roy Gibson shopped Colorado Springs real estate from his home in California, and now he’s purchased a Classic Homes model and is moving in next April with his retirement.
“Reading their Web site I felt it showed more honesty, not fluffing it up,” he says. “I was more comfortable with what they said.” He e-mailed for more information, gave his phone number, and in half an hour Pillmore phoned. In three days Gibson received a FedEx package with floor plans he requested. “I really appreciate someone putting energy into my needs.”
When Gibson and his wife visited here, they toured different builders’ models, then talked with Adam and followed his recommendations to a particular site. There, Gibson saw what he wanted and bought the model, which Classic leases back from him. “I was pleased with what I saw and pleased to already have a connection. I already had confidence in Classic.”
So if you’re looking to connect with the land, get connected to the Web. Finding the perfect home has never been so easy or fun.
A few easy ways to reach Builder Web Sites include www.homebuilder.com, a national search, or www.cshba.com, the local Housing and Building Association site, which provides hot links via banner ads to some builders and links to others that entered this year’s Parade of Homes.
For More Information Please Contact:
Chris Sgaraglino, CTO
Interlogic Graphics & Marketing, Inc
719-884-1137
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