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Real Estate Showcase tops polls

By DAVE JENNESON

in a poll conducted by
Capilano Surveys on January
14, the Sunday News Real
Estate Showcase came in a
strong winner.das to where
North Shore people do their
house hunting.

In all, 380 households
were contacted, from Deep
Cove to Horseshoe Bay, and
were asked this question: “If
you were looking for a
house, where would you go
to find information?”

A startling 51 per cent said
they would use the Real
Estate Showcase to shop
from. It is startling if only
because the Showcase as it
exits today was staged less
than a year age, and for andy
regular newspaper feature to

receive a 51 per cent share-
of-mind in this short time
span is phenomenal.

‘Share-of-mind’ is an
advertising term, a fancy
way of saying ‘you already
know about it.” For instance,
if you were to suddenly
decide you wanted a
hamburger, the next word
that copped into your head
would probably be Mc-
Donalds. Share-of-mind
simply means that people are
already aware of a product
of service before the need
arises.

The people surveyed do
not represent home buyers
or sellers in particular, but
North Shore residents in
general. Only about LO per
cent oof North Shore
residents are actively in the
Real Estate market at any

one time. [It is interesting
that so many people not
presently involved in buying
or selling a home should
positively identify the Real
Estate Showcase as the
product they would use.

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What docs this mean to
you? First, it may interest
you to know that“Vancouver
is not the richest market area
in British Columbia. The
most affluent market area in
B.C. is right’ here—that's
right, you live in it, and
there’s a lot) more moncy
available here fur residential
investment than ino an
average communily this size.
And the confining
geographical nature of the
North Shore ts making il
harder and harder to find
Places to build houses—as
you may have noticed,

Look at the Real Estate
Showcase in those terms and
it becomes a vital exchange
where tremendous amounts
of money and property
transactions are made cach
week...and this means
action. With more than half
of your fellow residents
saying they use or would use
the Real Estate Showcase,
you can be sure anything
you're selling will get a very
good look.

It also means that for the
first Gime, the North Shore
has a viable Real Estate
markeiplace that works for
the people who use it. If you
rent an apartment or have
gust settled into a new home,
this may not mean much to
you, but when the day comes
that you find yourself ac-
tively on othe real estate

marke', you'll find tt pretty
convenient.

The next percentage on
the survey was a 28 per cent

‘don't know’ response,
“normal for this type of
survey.

Third, 19 per cent of

North Shore residents said
they would contact an agent,
This could be a salesperson
they have dealt with before,
or a company they are
already aware of that they
feel can offer them a good
varicly and good service.

Fourth in response, 14 per
cent of residents said they
would refer to the Real
istate Weekly. This is in-
teresting because a study
done in the United States
found that a flyer targeted to
a specific group of buyers
bepings with a high share of

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_. Page 63, January 21, 1979 - Sunday News

mind: which drops steadily
after a brief ‘period of in-
terest. People become less
aware of it because very few
of them actually have reason
to use it week to week.

The study also determined
that a feature section within
a newspaper begins with a
very low public awareness—
people don't really notice it
at first—but as time goes on
and they sce it week after
week they become more
aware of it. And when the
time comes, they use it. This
would seem an abvious fact,
and the recent survey bears
tout in flying colours.

The fifth highest response
was a ‘miscellancous’
category—people — referring
lo open house signs, word of
mouth, ete... which came in
at? percent,