For Sale by Tweet: Social Networking to Sell Homes

When you sign up for Facebook or Twitter, you expect to get a stream of random messages from the people that make up your virtual social network — but pitches on homes for sale?

Real estate agents and others are trolling for clients on these and other popular online social networking sites, mixing home huckstering with their online networking. But is this a good way to sell a home or are agents' sales pitches getting lost in the post?

Agents who use the social networking sites to market properties say they hope to generate referrals — just as you might tip off a friend about a new for-sale sign on a lawn.

"Tweeting is the same way," says Duane Hopper, an owner and broker at Century 21 Real Estate Center in Seattle, referring to the term for posting messages on the microblogging Web site Twitter.com.

"There is a multiplier effect that can take place, particularly on very hot information," adds Hopper, who posts information about homes he's trying to sell and promotes himself on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and ActiveRain.

Twitter lets users create profiles where they can post messages of up to 140 characters that can be viewed by anyone with Internet access on a PC or mobile phone.

Hopper started using the site last fall. Since then, he's racked up more than 600 people who have elected to "follow" his tweets. (By comparison, celebrities such as Britney Spears have hundreds of thousands of dedicated tweet recipients.)

A recent look at Hopper's Twitter page revealed more than 20 tweets, although not all the posts were real estate-related.

Hopper liberally mixes tweets about the Mariners baseball team — "Getting excited for Home Opening Day for the 5-2 Mariners" — with posts on his daily real estate rounds: "On my way to paint For Sale Post at our hot new Kirkland listing. Can't anyone get the color right?"

But often, Hopper's tweets are listings of homes for sale that read like word-stingy newspaper classified ads: "At Juanita Multi-level photo shoot," started a recent post. "Listing coming. Hurry if you have buyers. Under $500K, 2,190 feet. 3Bed 2.5Bth."