Fox Valley Inc. editor Jerry Zaug never saw it coming.
The former Appleton, Wis., businessman thought posting an Internet site about his family’s Door County resort might generate some interest in the getaway.
“In its first year, the Web site became our third best source of new business exceeded only by the Chicago Tribune, where we advertise twice a week, and the Door County Vacation Guide.
“It shocked me.”
Indeed, even in midwinter the Country House Resort’s slowest stretch, Zaug said the 18-month-old Web site still garnered about 200 “hits” a week.
“The reason I think this has worked is simple,” said the former president of Zaug’s Vending and Food Inc. “Anytime someone has seen our property, they’ve liked it.”
Toward that end, Zaug and 3W Design of Sister Bay created a “virtual reality tour” that allows a computer user to observe both a room (standard, luxury or penthouse) and the view from the balcony (including Sister Bay, whirlpool, pool, garden and grounds) as if they were standing there and turning 360 degrees.
“What we have to sell is more than a room, what we are really renting is an `experience.’ If someone came to our place at 10 p.m. and left at 7 a.m., they certainly wouldn’t get full value,” Zaug said.
“What’s surprising is that the Web site (www.country-house.com) does even better than the pictures in our brochure . . . When you can see both where you’re staying and the view connected to that room, you get it all. It’s not just a still photo.”
Using the Internet to sell or market real estate from home buying to vacation planning continues to grow in popularity, noted Marv Roth, director of education for Coldwell Banker (www.coldwellbanker.com) The Real Estate Group Inc. in Appleton.
“It gives the individual an opportunity to scout around before they do anything,” he said. “The curiosity seeker has the chance to look around without having someone come back and try to sell them something.”
The National Association of Realtors (www.realtor.com), for instance, offers virtually all their listings on their home page, allowing potential home buyers to browse through hundreds of thousands of locations. Coldwell Banker alone offers 160,000 properties defined by location, size and cost.
“It gives you a limited amount of information. There’s not enough space for the size of each room in a house, but you can get a general description of the property enough to see if you have an interest as well as offering an access point to reach someone who can get back to you with more information,” Roth said.
In the future, as technologies soar, potential home buyers “very possibly will see a virtual reality house where you will walk through it, move around and see the different rooms.”
While dealing with Internet advertising is a relatively low-cost affair, Zaug warned that it does open up a new set of challenges.
“We’ve registered our Web site with over 400 search engines,” he said. “Once we had a nice Web site, we tried to make it easy to find.
“But there’s getting to be more Web sites all the time. Everyone’s fighting to get on top of these search engines so it’s something you have to work harder at.”
Furthermore, Roth warned, “I would never sell a house to someone who had not seen it firsthand. (The Internet) is not a replacement for sales; it’s a selling tool.”
While the American Society of Home Inspectors also warns against overreliance on the Internet when seeking a home, it has created a Web site (www.ashi.com) that allows potential buyers to locate housing inspectors in their area.
In addition, consumers can use a FAQ (frequently asked questions) section that provides the latest information on topics as diverse as aluminum wiring, underground storage tanks, septic systems and synthetic stucco siding.
While it’s easy to over-emphasize the marketing power of the World Wide Web, Roth said, real estate agents cannot dismiss it.
“If you’re not on the Web in the future, you won’t be out of business but you will be losing business,” he said.
