Most Real Estate Agents Give No Gifts But Most Homebuyers Would Recommend Them If They Did

Jan. 11, 2010 - PRLog -- The Real Estate Agents Gifts Survey, conducted by Elizabeth Ball of the gift news blog http://gifts-by-the-stars-online.com found that most homebuyers receive nothing from their real estate agents unless they had bought several homes.

“Overall, only 26% of homeowners had received a thank-you gift from their real estate agent. Ironically, first homebuyers, who could become loyal customers, are the least likely to be thanked,” Elizabeth Ball said.

Homeowners were more likely to receive a gift from their real estate agent as they bought more homes. Of the 38% who had bought one home, only 37% received a gift. This rose to 43% for the 23% who had bought two homes, and to 51% for those who had bought three homes or more (39%).

Wine or champagne is the most popular gift (31%), followed by food hampers (13%), flowers and plants (11%), homewares (10%), promotional items featuring the real estate agency logo  and personalised gifts for the homeowner and/or family (9% each) and gift certificates (8%).

“Of those who did receive gifts, 53% said they cost under $50, 26% said $50-$100, 16% thought their agent spent $100-$200 while only 5% received gifts worth over $200,” Elizabeth Ball said.

Seventy percent of homeowners bought their houses from a major franchise, with 22% buying from a boutique agency and 8% directly from the vendor.

Boutique agencies are more likely than major franchises to give their clients wine/champagne (33% vs 31%), food hampers (19% vs 12%), flowers and plants (15% vs 10%), and homewares (11% vs 10%), while major franchises give promotional items bearing the company logo (10% vs 7%), personalised gifts (9% vs 4%), restaurant meals (8% vs 0%),and  gift certificates (7% vs 4%).

Elizabeth Ball said while it is better for the agents to give something rather than nothing at all, “real estate agents should select their client’s gift wisely to ensure it has special relevance. One special gift could ‘earn’ them hundreds of thousands of dollars in referrals.”

The survey found  81% of homebuyers would tell their friends, family and colleagues what gift/s their real estate agent gave them, 63% would use them again the next time they bought a home and 61% would recommend them to other homebuyers.

Overall, homeowners are more likely to receive gifts from major real estate franchises than boutique agencies for their homes (47% vs 34%).

Homebuyers are more likely to receive a gift under $50 from major franchises than boutiques (58% vs 50%), and a mid-range gift worth $50-$200 from boutique agencies (50% vs 32%), but only franchises spent more than $200 on gifts (8%).

Elizabeth Ball writes the gift-giving blog, Gifts By The Stars at http://gifts-by-the-stars-online.com and runs the astrology company, It’s In The Stars at http://www.itsinthestarsonline.com whose personalised hardcover astrology reports have been delighting couples and parents since 2005.

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http://www.itsinthestarsonline.com has been producing beautifully presented personalized hardcover astrology reports for couples and parents for anniversaries, birthdays, Christmas, christenings, engagements, new babies, weddings, and Valentines Day since 2005.