Clarksville, TN – Like many other industries the real estate business has undergone major changes since the rise of the Internet. Local Realtor Maurice Vaughn who has over 28 years of experience in the business had come to see the writing on the wall. Businesses had either adapt their business models to utilize the new technology, or face extinction.
Keeping up with constantly changing technology is expensive, which can put it out of the reach of many small businesses. So to enable his reality company to continue to succeed, Vaughn partnered with the Realogy Corporation who signed a licensing deal in October 2007 with the Meredith Corporation to use the Better Homes and Gardens brand to market real estate.
In just one year Vaughn’s company “Better Homes and Garden Real Estate Hometown Connection,” has risen to become one of the top three real estate companies in Clarksville-Montgomery County. “We started out with 7 agents, and in just a year we now have 64, a growth of 800%.”
The Better Homes and Gardens brand has been a staple in American life ever since the magazine’s inception in 1924 and is America’s premier and trusted source for home and family information. With a circulation of 7.6 million and a readership of nearly 40 million, Better Homes and Gardens is America’s largest home enthusiast magazine. The Meredith Corporation also produces over 160 Better Homes and Gardens branded special interest publications and over 200 Better Homes and Gardens branded books. BHG.com, which currently attracts approximately 5 million unique visitors monthly, is filled with in-depth content and tools for home decorating, home improvement, gardening, crafts, food, parenting and family health. Better Homes and Garden has a 97% name recognition in the United States.
“The leadership team with Better Homes and Garden Real Estate including CEO Sherry Chris is knowledgeable about the emerging trends the industry, and work diligently to ensure their franchises and their agents have everything they need to be successful,” Vaughn said, But it is their focus on technology that drew him to the company. “But they are also so much more,” he continued, “Their approach to sales sets Better Homes and Garden apart from a traditional realty company. If you go to their web site you will see all the houses there to sell, but it’s also about life styles. You get Home Improvement ideas, decorating ideas; it’s about a lot more than just selling the home.”
Better Homes and Garden’s approach is offer the consumer something to keep them interested and to help them, and by being helpful, they will remember and come back again. “Just to say you have a web site is a complete waste of money. When someone goes on your site, If you can’t keep them on there, and/or bring them back again you might as well not have a web site.” he said.
By using technology, it can also help to shorten the time from listing to closing. Vaughn continued, “87% of people start their home search on-line. So it is tremendously important that your home receives the added exposure that being listed on the Internet brings to it, this can help you to sell your home faster.” This matters when the average time on the market for a home to sell in Clarksville is around 100 days.
“I love Clarksville! I have lived here all of my life. I love the history our area has. I have seen Clarksville grow so much in my 62 years. I have always taken pride in my city, and what our area has to offer,” Vaughn said, “”Realty is a relationship business, and you have to build relationships and trust over a period of time.”
But that is not always the case, “The National Association of Realtors came out with a survey not long ago which said over 80% of consumers do not sell their home with the same agent they purchased it from.” he said, “That means there’s somebody not doing something right, which means that they are not building good relationships with their customers.”
This is something that the Realogy company excels at helping their agents do. Through their partnership with the Meredith Company their agents have access to the 85,000,000 name database from Better Homes and Garden Magazine, to be able to provide targeted information to people in the community. They also make custom software tools available to their agents to help them keep better in touch with the fast paced real estate markets, and their customers. One of their tools sends out the listing information to over 330 real estate related web sites, using the Internet to help their agents market their clients homes. “We harness the power of the major Mega Listing sites such as Zillow, Trulia, YouTube, Google Videos, Google Maps, Facebook, Twitter, AOL Videos, and more.”
“When selling a home you need to utilize every tool available to market it. The Internet listings provide a tremendous advantage over traditional listing methods. People looking to relocate to our community will generally start their search for a home before they even arrive in town, so being listed on the Internet matters. This is more important when you have so many people coming into our community through the Fort Campbell Army base, and Austin Peay State University. Listings utilizing photos and video walk throughs will generally sell faster then homes listed without,” Vaughn said.
“Better Homes and Garden also makes custom apps available for iPhones and iPads that allow potential buyers to search for homes while on the go. We also have Youtube and Facebook channels where information about all of our listings can be found,” he continued. Youtube has become the number 2 search engine on the internet, while Facebook has become the looked for search term on the Internet.
Area Real Estate Market Stable
Compared to other areas of the country the local real estate market has done really well. Fort Campbell plays a big part in that.
In other areas home values were over inflated, and this left people holding the bag when the real estate bubble burst. Putting them in a situation of owing more than the home was worth. That is not the case in our community.
In our area home values were not over inflated to begin with, “Locally we have seen a steady increase in the value of a home of 3-5% per year”, which according to Vaughn, can be attributed to several factors including “a competitive real estate market, and the common sense of area property appraisers who did not buy into the mindset that created the national real estate bubble.”
The average home in Clarksville sells for roughly $165,000.
About the Better Homes & Garden Real Estate Hometown Connection
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Hometown Connection specializes in residential and commercial real estate and serves the communities of Clarksville Montgomery County and surrounding areas. With the strength of a national brand and its commitment to excellence in the local real estate market, the company is positioned to provide its clientele exceptional service. Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Hometown Connection is a franchise affiliate of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC, an international real estate brand that offers a full range of services to brokers, sales associates and home buyers and sellers. For more information visit their web site, or call 931-245-2050.
About Better Homes and Garden Real Estate LLC
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC is a dynamic real estate brand that offers a full range of services to brokers, sales associates and home buyers and sellers. Using innovative technology, sophisticated business systems and the broad appeal of a lifestyle brand, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC embodies the future of the real estate industry while remaining grounded in the tradition of home. Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC is a subsidiary of Realogy Corporation, a global provider of real estate and relocation services. The growing Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate network includes approximately 125 offices and 5,000 sales associates serving home buyers and sellers in 16 states: California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Texas, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. For more information, please visit www.BHGRealEstate.com.
Better Homes and Gardens® is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation licensed to Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC.
Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Each Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate Franchise is Independently Owned and Operated.
