How much do the large brokerages spend on advertising per month?

Jacky Teplitzky (one of the top brokers at Elliman) once said in a public forum that she put 25% of her gross into marketing, and I think that's probably a pretty good ratio.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

^^Specific advertising is very expensive though -- I just placed an ad for a high-end rental in a national magazine, and the 2" by 4" print classified is costing my firm $700.

Coverage on a good micro-site (like a blog with high-end readers) is going to run several thousand a month.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

Ali,

Ok thanks that very interesting info. So are you saying a single listing cost you $700 for one month (one issue) of a magazine? Also, when you said coverage could run several thousand dollars per month are you talking per ad or for all your listings?

I was under the impression that proven brokers have advertising budget that is paid by the firm. So it is no dollars out of pocket...

"I was under the impression that proven brokers have advertising budget that is paid by the firm. So it is no dollars out of pocket..."

I am sure that is the case for some, however it was the total $ value I was curious about regardless of who was paying. I know the larger brokerages dedicate TONS of money to advertising/marketing, I am just wonder exactly how much they pay to promote each listing.

Brad Inman (who runs a real estate news site that I used to write for) once quoted me that nationally brokers spend an average of $500 per listing on marketing.

For New York City, that seems low. Yes, firms pay for advertising, but individual brokers often supplement that with marketing dollars from their own budgets as well.

The $700 ad that I quoted (which my firm, bless them, is paying for) was Variety, and that's for ONE 2 by 4 inch classified ad for ONE week. The same coverage for a month would presumably be $2800, minus whatever volume discount you would get by doing several placements, assume that's a 10% cut or so.

Similarly, running an ad that size on the web might cost about that on ONE web site, depending on the site.

But I'm talking about advertising just one listing, NOT multiple listings.

Are you all getting the point that advertising is very expensive? "Decent" coverage in one magazine or on one web site with the "right" demographics would cost me $12,000 a month just to cover my current listings (I currently have four).

This is one reason why, when you list, you should ask brokers what kind of advertising they're going to do. Pretty much everyone is going to list in the New York Times and on nytimes.com, but ask about what, if any, supplementals you'll get.

And don't expect $10K worth of advertising if you're paying a $20K commission.

ali r.
{downtown broker}