Gas Prices and the Search for Real Estate

Yet another significant blow has been wielded against the selling of new home communities.

What is it? Simple…gas prices.

With the price of a gallon of gas now over the four dollar mark, prospective homebuyers are turning more to the web and narrowing down their searches while choosing fewer new home communities for actual in-person tours.

So it may be time to pull out some traditional marketing strategies from the past and merge them with new technologies of the present. In other words, enhance your community’s web experience by providing a simple and effective incentive for people to visit the community in-person.

And why not harness the iniquitous gas prices we all face today? One of the most successful incentives you can offer the American consumer right now is free gas. Therefore, make an investment in gas gift cards and promote this on your community website, with the hook being the gift card can be picked up at the community sales center. Some cards may be purchased in dominations as small as five dollars, all they way up to $100 - the typical cost to fill-up an SUV these days.

The following is a list of merchants offering gas cards on the web:

Chevron Gift Cards
ExxonMobil Cash Card
Gulf Oil Gift Card
Wal-Mart Shopping Card
Texaco Gift Card
BP Gift Card
Circle K Gift Card
Arco PumpPass
Shell Gift Card
Sunoco Gift Card

Or perhaps gas is a little too contentious but you still would like to utilize a gift card incentive and entice prospects to visit your community. A full list of retailers who offer gift cards can be found at:
http://www.svmcards.net/home/shop/all_cards.cfm

Which market segment is feeling the gas crisis the hardest? The active-adult market whose buyers are already in many cases, living on a near fixed income.
But the sad news for all of us in this industry – It appears that rising gas prices is yet another blow to the struggling real estate market and this latest development is destined to slow the market’s recovery time.