Brad Korb, broker/owner of The Brad Korb Real Estate Group in Burbank, Calif., uses Zillow to stay on top in his local market. As both a Zillow Premier Agent and a Zillow Pro for Brokers partner, Korb’s agents benefit from immense exposure in the Burbank area and up-to-date, accurate listings. In the following interview, Korb lends Real Estate Magazine a glimpse into his top tips for real estate success, winning marketing campaigns, and more.
Real Estate Magazine: You’ve been in the industry for over 35 years. What have been the most important factors in keeping your business evolving with the times?
Brad Korb: I’ve always kept in touch with my past clients, even the ones from 1979. I call my clients to wish them a happy anniversary every year. In addition, I publish a personal newspaper—the Burbank Bulletin, which goes out once a month—and send bi-monthly video emails through Vyral Marketing.
RE: How are home shoppers different today than they were 10 years ago?
BK: Homebuyers are now looking online and have access to home information that wasn’t available to them before the inception of sites like Zillow. Now, REALTORS® like myself are educating buyers on the importance of using a REALTOR®.
RE: You’ve got a lot of marketing initiatives for your brokerage. What are the top five and why?
BK:
1. Zillow: It’s a great benefit to us because we show up 90 percent of the time in our marketplaces.
2. Trulia: We’re able to track buyer history and the homes and cities at which they’ve been looking.
3. “Just Sold” postcards: Every time we sell a home, we send out postcards to 1,000 nearby homeowners.
4. Burbank Bulletin Newspaper: Our monthly newspaper we’ve published for 13 years now. I involve the community by giving free ad space to local non-profits and schools.
5. Our own 800 number: I can track where my leads are coming from across different marketing initiatives, which is critical to understanding my ROI.
RE: You’ve been a Zillow Premier Agent for about two years. How do you use this program as a broker, and what’s been the effect on your business?
BK: Our ROI has been phenomenal with Zillow. Zillow leads have more valid emails and phone numbers than other sites, and the contacts we receive are serious buyers and sellers. We constantly have a few Zillow leads in escrow. As a broker, Premier Agent gives our team more exposure for our listings; this has been a great marketing tool with sellers who want their home seen by as many buyers as possible.
For more information, visit www.bradkorb.com.
