It better be.  According to a recent study published by the National Association of Realtors and supplemented on MarketingCharts, 87% of home buyers start online.  While this is no surprise to Internet Marketing professionals there has been some inconsistency in this percentage over the last four years depending on who you talk to in the real estate industry.  Now we know.

Here’s the skinny:

• 87% of home buyers used the internet to search for a home purchased through a real estate agent,
• 72% of non-internet users were more likely to purchase in a private transaction directly from a builder or from an owner they already knew.

What information source did home buyers use:

• 87% Internet
• 85% Real-estate agents
• 62% Yard signs
• 48% Open houses
• 47% Print or newspaper ads
• Fewer buyers relied on home books or magazines, home builders, television, billboards and
  relocation companies.

When asked where home buyers first learned about the home they purchased:

• 34% said a real-estate agent;
• 32% cited the internet;
• 15% said yard signs;
• 7% said from a friend, neighbor or relative;
• 7% said home builders;
• 3% said from a print or newspaper ad;
• 2% learned directly from the seller;
• 1% from a home book or magazine.

Bottom line is that while the real estate industry has remained pretty traditional in method - using an agent, driving around looking at neighborhoods and finding open houses - online is and has been playing a significant role as an information resource to home buyers and you must be there to take advantage of it.  No online marketing company is going to tell you they will sell homes for you, and if they do, you shouldn’t believe them.  Hiring professionals to put together an online strategy that can be incorporated into your marketing plan will be the best bet.  The key is visibility, online presence, and lead generation.  Home buyers want to find the perfect home, and you might just have it, but you’ve got to be online so they can find you, thus providing a forum for them to reach out to you and visa versa.

Get the most up to date Real Estate stats regarding:
First Time Home-Buyers, Current Down Payments, Agent usage by Buyers and Sellers, Foreclosure Purchases, Features and Incentives,  and Additional Demographic Information by reading the full article at MarketingCharts.

About the study:
The 2008 National Association of Realtors Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers is the latest in a series of large national NAR surveys evaluating demographics, marketing, preferences and experiences of home buyers and sellers. NAR mailed an eight-page questionnaire in August 2008 to a national sample of 133,000 home buyers and sellers who purchased their homes between July 2007 and June 2008, according to county records. There were 10,053 usable responses and the adjusted response rate was 7.9%. All formation is characteristic of the 12-month period ending in June 2008 with the exception of income data, which are for 2007. Because of rounding and omissions for space, percentage distributions for some findings may not
add up to 100 percent.

In the spirit of the election, we’ve discovered some very cool online marketing tools, applications, and SWAG.

Free stuff on Election Day:

1. Starbucks will give you a free 12-ounce coffee. Legally, abiding by election laws, Starbucks cannot offer free coffee to those who voted so they are giving coffee to anyone who asks for it.   Tara Darrow of Starbucks says, “To ensure we are in compliance with election law, we are extending our offer to all customers who request a tall brewed coffee. We’re pleased to honor our commitment to communities on this important Election Day. We hope there is a record turnout on Tuesday and look forward to celebrating with our customers over a great cup of coffee.”
2. Ben & Jerry’s free scoop of ice cream.  Between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. in each time zone, ice cream shops  will hand out single-scoop ice cream cones. Get their early, lines will be longer than the voting lines.
3. Krispy Kreme, 85 of its 231 locations in the U.S. will hand out star-shaped, red-white-and-blue sprinkled doughnuts, of course while supplies last. The chain will give out about 200,000 doughnuts.
4. Chick-fil-A, 1,400 stores will hand out chicken sandwiches to adults who show proof that they voted, not sure this abides by election laws so I’m assuming it is also while supplies last.
5. Hipmamasplace.com, stay at home Moms can sign up and get free or discounted baby sitting services on Election Day. Read this article for details.

Cool stuff on Election Day:
1. A new comparative search tool allows you to compare and analyze anything on the Internet.  Appropriately, check out http://www.perspctv.com/ an election comparison between Obama and McCain, it consolidates data across various news, blogs, and social sites.

2. Google Maps - Find my voting location.  Google created an app that plugs write into their maps tool allowing visitors to enter their address and then find out where their designated voting location is. Pretty cool.

Consumers with over six figure incomes spend 22.1 hours a week online, up from 10.7 hours reported five years ago (2008 Mendelsohn Affluent Survey Results).  The survey also revealed that these affluent consumers read print publications just as much as they [used to] about 15 per week, reported from Ad Age.

They listen less to the radio and spends far less time in front of televisions (18.6 hours vs. 23.7 hours in ‘03).  Affluent consumers tend to be more educated and allocate more discretionary spend to magazines than anyone else.

Other interesting facts:

• Across the population, television topped the Internet as a favored news source
• Daily online news use has increased by nearly a third since 2006
• Common users tend to be both young and affluent.
• Gen Y (born 1982-1994) maintain high levels of magazine consumption
• Favorite print publications among survey respondents included People, National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, Time, Newsweek and Southern Living.
• From 1997 to 2007, the number of magazines targeting affluent consumers grew from 90 to 456, a fivefold increase, Mediapost reported last year.

When you think about it, these results aren’t really that surprising. Folks have little time these days juggling family, career, schedules, etc.  They need things they can count on and are easily accessible, and when they’ve got a few moments they want to sit down and read something that appeals to their lifestyle preferences and needs.

Magazines provide those small indulgences and have highly targeted content that appeals to their readers.  The audience (much like email) has subscribed to receive “said” content.  I myself have over 4 magazine subscriptions and they are non-work related - they are lifestyle and interest related.  Not to mention, they are chalk full of advertising that is related to ME! Me, me, me.  I don’t have to rifle through a newspaper to locate an article of interest because I’ve got an entire magazine and when I want to find out the news, I can quickly access it online.

You can read the full article on the Affluent Survey Results at MarketingVOX.