Sally English Atlanta Real Estate: SPAM: Directional Signs Used as A Marketing Tool

In California we are only permitted to put these signs on private property with the permission of the property owner. This would alleviate spam in your area--or maybe it is a rule, but they do not follow it?

Our municipality allows the directionals on the weekend.  But the enforement is spotty and the spammers totally ignore the code.

I'll leave a FOR LEASE sign up on an unoccupied property that is actually leased and remove it when I deliver the keys....saves me gas and puts my presence in the neighborhood!!!

One person's spam is another's useful information.  Personally, I only use directionals if the home is in a hard to find location with poorly marked streets or other things that could get a prospect lost. 

Sign abuse leads to community reaction, usually enacting bans on signs that are much more restrictive than needed.  In my market area, almost all cities have banned directional for sale signs, and most have restrictions on number and time duration of open house directionals.

Wallace, I'm ok with that practice assuming you don't have 5 of them up in the neighborhood.  I definitely leave my signs up on the listing until a house closes.

Mike, Given the use of the Internet by home buyers, I just don't see the need to spam a neighborhood with signs.  I find the practice very selfish on the part of the agent who uses it to attract clients.  I do not believe they are using the spamming of signs to sell the listing.  I think they just want to put their name out in front of neighbors who might be thinking of selling. 

I know agents who do that too. I only use directionals on major roadways that are within 2 turns of my listing.

Weber Team, Thanks for the comment.  Sounds like we are of like mind.

When I was a real estate agent many decades ago in Houston, I'd put out as many as 15 signs, and, yes, people did follow them.

Out here it's not unusual to see lots of signs out, too, and I also know that people do follow them. In fact, in some cases they can be much more valuable than the MLS listing because the only information on the sign is the address, no days on market, no price, none of that stuff that immediately causes people to make a decision. Yet when they walk into a place, they often fall in love with it. Then they find out how much it is, borrow some money from dad, and everyone's happy!

I have no problem with it and certainly don't see it as unprofessional. It's part of the job, and people here seem to recognize that fact. Certainly it's nowhere near all the signs that are already out for political season and that stay up for three or four months.

Tallahassee has two "Code Enforcement Officers" who drive around and pick up these signs.   There is no place to get the signs back... they are taken to the landfill.

But, the City Employees work Monday thru Friday from 9 - 5.    So, Friday after 5,  the signs pop up everywhere.   On Monday morning, the signs are gone.

Check, if the signs are violations of your community's or county's sign ordinances you can file a complaint. Here we can do it on line. Not just for real estate signs either. The county then comes and removes them. After losing many, the realtors give up. Of course,if they want to know who complained, they will likely not find out and even if they do, they were breaking the law. Too bad. I called our county about two intersections that each had over 18 temporary signs that were ugly but also obstructed the views of motorists. Not to mention some of them sounded shady, "we buy bankrupt homes" and "I buy diabetic test strips", etc. One telephone pole had them going up 8 feet. Within a couple of days the county was out and removed every last one of them. So check with your local authorities. I do not mind a one day yard sale or open house sign, but these had been there for weeks. Just needed someone to let the county know.

I like the directionals, especially if the property is hard to find.  Otherwise, it can be annoying. 

Wow,

I am a bit surprised about the support for directional signage.  Guess I view a proliferation of directional signs as more of an eyesore versus a helpful tool. 

When you take an intersection far removed from a listed property and stick up a directional, I do not see where you are adding value to the general public.  I would think a consumer might know that there might be a home for sale in a subdivision with 500 homes in it. 

It just does not make sense to stick up a directional at an intersection a half mile away telling the public there is a home for sell in the neighborhood.

Yes, do stick a directional up at the closest intersection to the home.  OK, maybe a second directional is necessary if the street is more isolated.  Any thing beyond that seems like spam to me.

Russell, I do so agree with you about the political signs.

Fred and John:

Yes, DeKalb County does have a code enforcement department.  But right now they are so overwhelmed with foreclosures and abandoned properties that the sign ordinance is getting little to no attention.  DeKalb is a metro Atlanta county and we are seeing a lton of foreclosures right now.  So they have their hands full and no time to do the sign sweep like they used to do.

I'm with you, Sally... I just don't get it.

Many municipalities have sign ordinances restricting the use of directional signs but since they are rarely enforced (at least, that's the case in our area) many agents ignore the rules. 

However, I know that I am in the minority on this one.  The line I hear from other agents and brokers is that "everyone is doing it, we might as well do it too." 

Tim and Susan:

Thanks for backing me up.  I am still grappling with the legitimacy of this marketing technique.

When I was doing open houses I put over 30 signs and they were there from Friday evening until the end of the open house.. .

Sally, I don't see a problem with putting up directional signs to a listing if it is hard to find. However, if they are posted like campaign sign that would be a problem.

5 or more signs per listing? You're right, SPAM. Litter.

Directional signs pointing to a house for sale?  No, I don't do that.

Directional signs for an open house?  Absolutely!  As many as I can put out!  The more the better.  I put them out early in the morning and take them down immediately after the open house.

In my area an agent better find out what the HOA and the town thinks about all that signage before sticking it out there! Neighbors are very likely to complain and form a bad impression of an agent who does this kind of thing. I certainly know how I feel about coming home to find my neighborhood "littered" with signage...especially when the home is overpriced, will not sell in a timely manner, and we (the neighbors) get to watch the condition of the signage deteriorate over the long haul.

Fernando:

30 directional signs, even for an open house is SPAM.  I strongly disagree with that approach.

In our area you would have to have property owners permission, as the City has an ordinance against putting them close to the curb.  (A $270 fine as a matter of fact.)

Michael:

These are not directional signs in the true sense of the word.  They are indeed more like campaign signs.  I like your analogy.

Erica and Bob:

We are on the same page.  Bob, yes I agree Open houses are a bit of a different animal.

Sarah Gray

I absolutely love this part of your comment:

"Neighbors are very likely to complain and form a bad impression of an agent who does this kind of thing. I certainly know how I feel about coming home to find my neighborhood "littered" with signage..."

I find the practice un professional and I think it reflects poorly on all real estate agents when our neighborhoods are littered with directional signs.

Jerry:

The $270 fine would get my attention.

I only use the directional signs for an open house, and I put out several of them.  I find that many people follow them in.  Are the ones you're talking about typically left out there all the time? 

Christine: Yes, left up all the time.  They are directionals and not open house signs.

I only use them in the rural area's. Not necessary in the City. Agents use them on OPEN Houses but they MUST be taken down after 4 or the police hall them away, now that can get expensive.

I am surprised the neighborhood associations allow that many.

In my community you can only have them up on weekends from 8:00 to 6:00 so I use them for open houses only. Many people find us just from following the open house signs.

Hello Missy, yes I can understand using them in a rural setting.  We have an ordinance also but it is not enforced.

Jim: I totally understand the need for OPEN HOUSE signs.  These are more like permanent campaign signs.  Just an eyesore.

Since I don't use them at all, maybe I consider your 2 or 3 signs spam? Who is to determine what number constitutes spam? If nobody is enforcing the rules, then I can't blame an agent for taking advantage of free advertising.

Jackie,

Well guess we are all entitled to an opinion.  The situation, from my perspective, is analagous to spamming a prospect with emai.  It seems appropriate to send an introductory email.  And perhaps to send a followup email about your services.  Spamming them every day is clearly overboard.  Deciding what is appropriate in between is not so easy.  Obviously I am not comfortable with the level of signage some of my competitors are using.  You call it free advertising.  I call it un professional behavior. 

Sally-

We probably won't agree. Like I said, I don't use them at all- most people use mapquest or google maps. But I don't see the harm in using them heavily.

We used to have an agent who used full size post signs as directionals and they were all over the place. I don't even know if they all even truly pointed to actual houses. They had her photo, direct line phone number and web address. And she dominated her market area. I don't think consumers see it as unprofessional- I think they thought she had more listings than she really did (and she carried a lot of listings). If you have 10 directional signs in an area pointing to 5 listings and your competitor has 25 signs pointing to 5 listings, how is a consumer to know you're both pointing to 5 listings? The average consumer would more likely think your competitor is pointing to 20 or 25 different listings.

That's a great idea to have some good business practice, as a single fault may spoil the image of entire business industry. An association should be formed to keep eye on the activity. -  Real estate Investment India

Directionals can be useful and necessary, but I agree with you.... too many and it's tacky "old school" advertising!  Buyers aren't driving around looking for directionals, they're sitting at home looking on the internet.

We are probably spending time on an issue that is "going away" in the next few years.  With consumers moving towards smart phones (IPhone, Droid and even Blackberry) directional signage may become a moot point. 

Mapping applications may become the consumer "go to" for locating homes for sale.  I already have them on my website and all the National databases are moving in that direction.   Lets see if the consumer adopts them for on the go haouse hunting. 

Great Post. In Taunton MA, they will throw away your signs. They don't allow directional signs at all. Open house signs are okay but must be taken town or will be thrown away. Thinking like a buyer.. I wouldn't like a wild goose chase, why would I want to do that to someone else?