If these walls could talk #8230; or can they?
Published 12:00 am Thursday, August 3, 2006
There is more than one way to sell a house and the Ironton branch of Re/Max is trying a different tack — letting the house speak for itself … sort of.
The brick house for sale at the corner of Kemp Avenue and 10th Street has a sign welcoming people to tune their radios into 1610 AM, where anyone interested in the house can hear a message from the Realtor — all without leaving the comfort of their car.
Realtor Shelley Yates said the Talking House concept is quite successful in California and thought it would be a good for sales locally. Although used in larger Ohio cities like Columbus and Cleveland, it may be the first of its kind in the area.
Talking House is an AM transmitter about the size and shape of a VCR that allows the Realtor to record a customized message about the property.
It transmits that message 24 hours a day with a broadcast range between 300 to 3,000 feet and doesn’t require a government license to use.
“It’s me talking on the message and I tell them everything about the house, how many bedrooms, how many baths, how much it is,” Yates said. “Just everything you would need to know.”
The home’s owner Joe Mullins said the Talking House draws people.
“There’s lots of traffic we see stopped in front of house,” he said. “They sit and listen for 15 or 20 seconds. We see that several times every day.”
Mullins said there seems to be lots of interest.
“I think people are interested until they hear the price and then it’s sort of a little turnoff,” Mullins said. “It seems to be working well though.”
Yates said she’s had the Talking House device for about six months and this is only the second house she has used it on.
“It is so new that I’ve had to send it back for a couple updates but it seems to be doing really well right now,” she said. “It is a pretty good option and I plan on investing in more.”
“I try to do as much top of the line items for my client that I can,” she said, adding it seems to be pretty well received based on the number of phone calls she has gotten about the program.
“It’s been really popular,” she said. “People really like it. It eliminates someone having to make a call to find out all the information on the house because it is all right there on the radio.”
She is considering getting more of the devices for other houses.
“I think it’s been every effective, everyone that has heard it has given really positive feedback,” she said.