"Door County Real Estate" by: Kevin Nordahl, REALTOR®
Don't Judge a Market by the Size of its Guides
There is a prevailing misperception floating around Door County these days that has something to do with the size of a real estate guide being a barometer for a given market’s overall activity. The premise goes; the thicker the real estate guide, the more property for sale – ergo, a “buyer’s market.” If you think thus, wrong you are.
First, there are a number of real estate guides on newsstands throughout the county and all are operated by different publishing companies. Real estate offices list any number of properties in any number of real estate guides on a regular basis. As competition in the real estate guide publishing market grows (through corporate mergers, color printing, reduced advertising rates, etc.) so too do the number of advertisements that various real estate companies participate in.
Were you to pick-up the same publishing companies real estate guide from only a year ago you will notice that improvements to the publishing industry have afforded advertisers bonuses like: improved color listings, reduced advertising rates (where one property may have been listed on 1/8 of a page a year ago, it now takes an entire page), thicker paper stock, a bound tome, just to name a few improvements.
When publishing industry changes benefit its advertisers through their competition, advertisers take notice and by nature of our market economy, the advertisers compete with each other by trying to outdo one another for the sake of their clients. As a Buyer you get bigger photos, more descriptions, maps and directions and of course agent bios. All of this takes up space but does not add to the overall offerings in a real estate market.
So, there are two market forces at work. Each has little to do with the actual real estate market in terms of the number of listings available. The first market factor is competing publishing companies who compete with each other for an advertiser base by offering several enhanced features that change from year to year and month to month. The second market factor is competing real estate companies who make-up the advertising base and how they chose to compete with each other by advertising their listings in these guides.
All of these factors combine to bring Buyers an enhanced buying experience and Sellers increased market exposure. So keep reading and enjoy your real estate market hard at work. If you want specific data on how the Door County real estate market is doing, look at what has actually sold. You will find that steady growth is still the norm. Most importantly, don’t judge a market by its guides and feel free to donate to trees for tomorrow www.treesfortomorrow.com.
Kevin Nordahl is a life-long resident of Door County, a REALTORŪ and a member of the Door County MLS. He is a Past President of the Door County Board of REALTORS® and a Senior Sales Consultant at Coldwell Banker Door County Horizons in Fish Creek. He may be reached online at knordahl@doorcountyrealestate.com or by phone at (920) 493-4004.
Kevin Nordahl is a life-long resident of Door County, a REALTORŪ and a member of the Door County MLS. He is a Past President of the Door County Board of REALTORS® and a Senior Sales Consultant at Coldwell Banker Door County Horizons in Fish Creek. He may be reached online at