Online Marketing for Mobile Modular and Manufactured Home Dealers

Introduction:

Dave: Hello and welcome to StateListingsInc. The home of MyStateMLS. My name is Dave and welcome to today's Webinar, where we're going to be talking about the MLS for Mobile Home and Manufactured dealers. Throughout the month we have been taking a look at all different aspects of the Mobile and Modular home communities, whether you're an agent, a dealer community, a property owner, we have been talking about how MyStateMLS is the MLS for you and your business 

Question And Answer:

Dave: And as a little warm-up, let's get things started with a question for all of you joining us today and I want to know how are you marketing your Mobile your Modular listings? Whether they're brand new builds in a community or It's a resale from a tenant or a homeowner, they're moving to a different area, they decided to be closer to family. Let me know how you're marketing those current listings that you have in your communities. I'm starting to see some responses coming in. David Gorman, not sure where he's located but he says he's not doing any marketing or advertising yet. So, David, I am sure glad you are here because we are going to show you exactly what you need to know and how you can start getting your listings in front of other professionals as well as those all-important buyers across the entire country. Brenda is not only using MyStateMLS, she's also using social media as well as some other third-party sites where she's posting her listings as well. Debbie is also utilizing social media, it looks like she's using Facebook as well as MyStateMLS. So it looks like we do have some MyStateMLS users with us today. So again thank you so much for joining us. If you're already utilizing our platform, those who are not familiar with MyStateMLS don't worry we're going to get you all covered and up to speed in just a couple of minutes.

Dave: So now that you've answered my question about how you're marketing your listings, I want to ask the question. would you like to market your MH listings in other places? This one we all know how you're going to answer but I wanted to do it because I want to see you respond to me. So do you want to market your listings in more places? Yes or no? I mean this is really not a hard question to answer. we all know how everyone answered and It's quite obvious that all 100% of you said obviously Yes, you want your listings to be on other platforms as well and that's we're going to be talking about today, exactly how we can help you with that.

Dave: So let's talk about why Mobile Home and Modular dealers need an MLS. For those not familiar, an MLS or a Multiple Listing Service is the main way that real estate brokers traditionally share and post their listings. Not only is it a place for those professionals to share listings and see each other's listings but an MLS is also important when it comes to third-party syndication and MLS is the platform that sends your listings to those third-party sites we're talking about sites like Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com and that's where those potential buyers are going to search for their next home.

Dave: But sadly, as you may or may not know is most MLSs do not allow Mobile or Manufactured homes to be posted in their system at all, and some of the ones that do, they may not have the specific fields that pertain to Modular and Mobile Home listings, such as is the property on land lease, is there a lot rent, some platforms just do not have that kind of information and in some times that can hurt the dealer listing the property because buyers are going to get excited saying, oh this is a great price on a house, that's perfect for me and my family. Only to find out that maybe It's in a 55 up community or It's got a land lease that they weren't prepared to be able to pay. So having an MLS that has all those specific fields to the property or listing is certainly going to help you market your listing properly as well as give you the most possible exposure for all of your listings. 

Dave: So now that leaves the Mobile Home dealer the tasks that they've got to figure out what can they do. Well, dealers need to find that platform that's going to allow them and their sales team to not only market their listings to other professionals and have them marked properly but also giving them a platform that's going to allow them to take advantage of listing syndication, so they can get those properties out on those third-party sites. As we saw in our poll before, some of you may not be marketing or advertising your listings at all. So you're really missing out on a huge market share, where you could be getting your listings out in front of the public, where you're gonna see sale turnovers happen a lot quicker because now you're getting your listings out and exposed to those potential buyers.

Dave: So yesterday was St.Patrick's day. So I thought we'd say you know, MyStateMLS is the MLS at the end of the rainbow for Modular and Mobile Home dealers because MyState is a Nationwide MLS and referral network that has been designed with the MH community in mind. So what does that mean for you? Again, you're all here because you're in that realm of Modular and Mobile and land leased homes, and as I said MyStateMLS was designed with that specific type of property in mind and what we've done is we've designed our own proprietary software that includes those fields specific to your land leased and Modular Mobile Homes. So again that's going to allow you to mark off, is this a Modular home, is it a Mobile Home, is it on a land lease, what is the land lease fee? So we're going to be able to allow you to properly list your listings with the correct information and we're going to be able to syndicate that listing out to different websites across the entire country. So you get that additional listing exposure that you and your sales team are looking for. 

Dave: So right now, I want to know are you currently a member of an MLS? That's either MyStateMLS, maybe It's your local MLS. I just want to know how many of you with us today are using an MLS platform and this is a number I am very excited to see, 100% percent of you again that answered the question, are you currently a member of an MLS said, you are. So a lot more people than I was expecting to say they are part of an MLS. So that's really, really cool that so many people are utilizing an MLS but now the tricky question, how many of you are a member of MyStateMLS?

Dave: Now here's where we're seeing some differences between our audience today. Looks like you guys are split right down the middle. Half of you already using MyStateMLS, the other half of you, still not with us yet but I'm hoping that after you kind of see what MyStateMLS offers and how we might be different from your current local MLS, you'll see the benefits that MyStateMLS has to offer and you'll think about using our platform down the road. So for the near 50% of you that aren't using MyStateMLS right now, you may be asking well, who's already using it? So we know that the other half that are with us today, they're already using MyStateMLS. So we already know, It's being used by Mobile and Modular agents, individual parks and communities, statewide dealers that might have a couple communities across their state. We're also being utilized by those Nationwide companies that have parks in different states across the country.

Dave: Dealers are making the switch and using MyStateMLS and giving it to their sales team for that additional exposure for their listings and to boost their online presence. Again, going back to what we saw earlier, some people are not using the internet to advertise and list their homes and for the 50% of you not using MyStateMLS just yet, chances are there is some competition of yours in your area that is probably already utilizing MyStateMLS to get even more exposure on their listings. So what we'll do is, we'll talk about how you can see who else in your area is already using our platform and why are they using MyStateMLS? Well, one of the biggest things is that we talked about since the very beginning is that exposure that Mobile Home dealers are looking for on their listings when they put a new listing up. Whether It's a brand new build in the community, It's a current tenant or homeowner looking to resell their home. MyStateMLS is helping those dealers and their agents get their listings on the most popular sites across the entire country.

Dave: And what kind of sites are we talking about? Well, with MyStateMLS, when an agent or a dealer puts their listings into MyStateMLS, we give them full control as to what kind of sites their listing goes to. Already we discussed that we send listings to Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, Homes.com, Listhub is a syndication site that sends listings to dozens of sites across the country. What we do is, we give our members the ability to go ahead and get their listings on these sites for the most possible exposure for their listings. Michelle asking in the questions, how can I get more advertising and additional exposure? Well, this is the best way to do it, is by putting your listings into MyStateMLS and having us handle that listing syndication for you.

Dave: So, let's quickly go ahead and dive into MyStateMLS right now, just to kind of show you exactly what we're talking about. If you haven't been to our site already, you can visit us at mystatemls.com. If you're not a member, we have that sign-up button right there on the center of the screen. You can just go ahead click on that and that's going to take you right through the sign-up process. The entire process done online and is very simple and easy to do, so you can be up and running pretty much the same exact day. I'm already logged in. So once you've logged in, this is what you're brought to. This is your profile wall, this gives you access to all the different aspects of MyStateMLS. Whether It's going to be overseeing your listings that you've put into this platform, the other listings from your other colleagues from your company, or If you're going to be doing a search for a property.

Dave: What I've done is, I'm just going to do a quick search in Florida. I've already put my criteria together and you can see, I'm doing a listing that's for sale, looking for houses that are active in the state of Florida and under construction type, I just wanted to show you exactly the type of flags that we do have, to show you that we do have Modular Manufactured as well as that Mobile Home specification, so when it goes out to those third-party sites, It's properly marked, It's also properly marked within the MLS, so If you need to do a search, you can quickly pull that out. So what I did is, I just did a search in Florida and you can see the thousands and thousands of listings that match that criteria of that Mobile Modular build type and we can see all across the entire state, different companies using us, whether It's again, an individual Manufacturer dealer, It's a company, It's a Nationwide company that has different communities across the country. We have members of all different shapes and sizes. So again, whether you're just an individual agent, you're a dealer with a sales team, or you're a Nationwide company with different communities across the entire country, you can certainly utilize the MyStateMLS platform.

Dave: So what I've done is, I've pulled up a listing already this one on South Banana River Drive in Merit Island and as we open it up again, we can see that full listing information, we can see a full description written out by that listing agent, all the property details, we can see that this is again a Manufactured home and thanks to that, we know that the land lease fee is $570. What's great is we can go through and we have these nice, large, full-screen photos of the property, and let me just, this photo back here is all I need to know, I'm ready. I'm going to put in my offer today, hopefully, fingers crossed this is not in a 55 up community and I can move now, I'm ready. Also great about this property is the listing agent did attach a virtual tour and we can see what that does is, that brings us right to their page. Looks like it does have a virtual tour looks like It's just an automatic slideshow, there might be some music playing, oh, oh yes, we got some nice smooth jazz going on there, while it scrolls through all the photos for me.

Dave: So now that we've seen this listing on MyStateMLS, where is it going? Again, as I showed you in my slide, we give you full control of all the different sites where you can send your listings out. So what I did is before we got started today, I just quickly pulled this listing up on a couple of the biggest sites that buyers are going to before they are moving into their next home. So here we are on Realtor.com, we can see that same exact listing, all those nice photos, especially that one, right there on the water, sign me up, all the photos again, as they were added by the listing agent because they attached that virtual tour, that's also here right on the Realtor.com website. If we click on that again, It's going to take us right back to that slideshow, with the smooth Jazz that the listing agent put in. Great information to know.

Dave: Let's head on over to Zillow. Again, here's that property, same price information, same listing description, all the information that they put in. Again, we can see that It's coming from MyStateMLS because they utilize that virtual tour, that's also here as well. If we click it open, we're going to get back to our smooth Jazz slideshow and we're going to see the same exact thing on Trulia as well as Homes.com and right there, they've got that big virtual tour button which again brings us right back to the Company website. Looks like It's right on the company's website where they put this slideshow. So as you can see, with that listing syndication from MyStateMLS, your listing is populated automatically to all these different third-party sites, where those buyers and potential buyers are going to look for their next home but that's just not the only place that MyStateMLS sends listings.

Dave: We are happy to announce that StateListingsInc has launched its brand new third-party site, MH Authority and you're asking yourselves, but Dave, what is MH Authority? Well, let me tell you. MH Authority is the latest consumer-facing website that we've created and built and designed specifically for the Manufactured and Mobile Home market. As some of you may know, some of the downfalls of a lot of these third-party sites is, it makes it hard for potential buyers to contact the listing agent, or the property manager, or the sales associate that put that listing into the platform but with MH Authority, that is not true. 

Dave: We have always firmly believed that It's your listing, your lead, and what that means is, If you posted the listing to the platform, you're gonna get the sales lead every single time and MH Authority goes beyond just listing the properties. We also want to be able to promote your communities because what's different about the Modular and Mobile Housing market is that these homes are typically in Gated communities, they're in Resorts and with MH Authority, community owners or the dealers are going to be able to go in and claim their community page and with this, they're going to be able to add a description of the community, they're going to be able to add in the amenities, the features, even add custom photos, so that way when potential buyers visit the MH Authority, they can browse by community and not only will they learn about that community, they're also going to be able to see the available listings that are available within that particular community as well. 

Dave: So not only are those buyers going to be able to search those community pages, see the listings within that community, buyers are also going to be able to create their own accounts within the platform. That's going to allow them to save their favorite listings or create custom saved searches. So whenever there's a brand new listing within the MH Authority website, they're automatically going to be alerted, letting them know that there's a new property matching their needs and wants. So let's go ahead and dive in and give you your first look at MH Authority. If you haven't visited us yet, you can log on at mhauthority.com. The site is up and running now, already being populated by listings from MyStateMLS, and right now MyStateMLS is the only way for you to get your listings on the brand new MH Authority website. So again, going back to the 50% of you that are part of an MLS but not using MyStateMLS. If you want to get your listings on this MH Authority website, you're going to have to make sure that you're also utilizing MyStateMLS as well.

Dave: So before we go ahead and do a search with MH Authority, I just wanted to quickly show you, up at the top of the page where we've got that communities link, and right now, people can go through, search by community name, they can search by City. If I just go ahead and search Florida, maybe we'll just go ahead and search Clearwater, Florida. We're going to be able to see some of the communities in that area. Now as we can see, If the property owner or the community owner went in and claimed this community. They'd be able to go ahead and put in their description about the community here, we do have some of the amenities already filled out. We can see that this community has a pool, a clubhouse, pets are allowed, looks like there's 106 total lots within this community and it is a 55 plus community.

Dave: So If there were any listings tied to this particular community at this time, they would populate here at the bottom of the community page. Now let's go back to our homepage and let's quickly go ahead and do a search. So I've got Clearwater, Florida already in here. So let's just go ahead and just stick with that. Clearwater, of course, being a huge market for Mobile and Manufactured Homes. We can see a whole lot of listings here, several pages of listings. If we wanted to go ahead and narrow down our search, we can certainly do that. If we wanted to narrow it down by price we could, our number of bedrooms and baths. Let's just stick with at least two bedrooms, two baths and also, If we wanted to, we've got our list view which again is giving us nice, big thumbnails photos of all the listings but we can also click on this and we're going to be able to browse by a map as well.

Dave: So If we wanted to, If we were a potential buyer, we'd be able to search by a map and see all the listings as they are located. So we'll just go ahead open up a listing again, just like on most third-party sites, we can go through, we're gonna be able to click on the photos. It's gonna give us those nice, large photos but here's that MH Authority difference. Remember where I said, It's your listing, your lead. We mean that If I were to go ahead and click request more information, I fill this out with my information, It's gonna go directly to Mike Richards from Great Florida Living. He's gonna get that lead every single time. Whether It's me, It's you, anyone else out there browsing MH Authorities website. They fill out that information, that's going to go directly to Mike because again, it is your, listing your lead. If we wanted, we also have his phone number there as well. So If I wanted to get in touch with him immediately, I can go ahead and give him a call. It's marked as his cell so maybe, I could try sending him a text but again, you're listing, your lead. So every time that a potential buyer fills out this request more information field on the MH Authority, that's going to go directly to you as the listing agent on your listings.

Wrap Up:

Dave: Again, the mhauthority.com website is now officially live. Listings already being populated by MyStateMLS. Again, that's the only way that you can get your listings onto this exclusive platform. If you want to get your listings onto MyStateMLS and onto MH Authority, the only thing you're going to have to do now is sign-up for MyStateMLS and as like I said, It's very easy. Just head on over to mystatemls.com, click on that sign-up button at the center of the screen and that's going to take you right through the sign-up process.

Dave: If you're a dealer and you have an entire sales team and you want to save even more on your membership, we offer office pricing as well. So If you're signing up as an individual, we have both monthly and yearly billing options. With monthly membership, It's $40 a month. There's no long-term commitments and you can cancel at any time. Yearly billing is $330 for the full year but It's going to save you a $150 over that monthly price by committing to that full year.  

Dave: If you have a sales team again, whether It's two to five, six to ten, a hundred. No matter how large your sales team or how small you may think it is. MyStateMLS certainly offers discounted pricing that's going to benefit you and your entire sales team. Again, If you have any questions about MyStateMLS, MH Authority or you're interested in setting up an office account for your entire sales team to MyStateMLS, please just send me an email at dave@mystateMLS.com. You can also give me a call at 888-769-7657. You can reach out to me any time of the day, day or night, weekday or weekend. Again, thank you so much for joining me today. I hope to talk to you all again very, very soon. Have a great day.