FAQs: Frequently
Asked
Questions ICI World
Provide
Feedback to us on this, suggested questions for FAQ, or anything.
Isn't this the same as
a real estate board service?
No. The service is more like an electronic equivalent of
classified ads in a newspaper. Some say it is the most important
second service that a broker should have after his/her local real estate
board or Internet type listing service. The reason? Some say 90%
of apartment buildings in the world are not on real estate boards.
90% of shopping centers are not on real estate boards. And this
holds true for land, businesses and much more. You will find
this kind of "open or exclusive" type information handled through this
service quite nicely. Yes all members still advertise their real
estate board listings, but we really designed this service to fill the
gap in the marketplace for exclusive type information. There is
not enough information to write an offer from an ad as you can on a real
estate board listing. This service is designed to generate a call
from a qualified buyer and/or seller so that the member can qualify the
contact and then provide more information where appropriate.
It may be the only major service of its kind as far as information is
concerned.
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Why
should anyone dealing in commercial real estate in the world use ICI
World?
- There are over 1 Billion web pages on the internet
today and growing and it is impossible for people to visit every
site looking for what they want.
- ICI World is one of the highest traffic sites in the world of
people dealing in commercial real estate and this traffic is
directed to brokers through their information that they place.
- ICI World collects
information world wide into searchable databases to make it easy for
the public to click on a piece of information and then direct that
traffic to brokers either by phone, EMail or through their linked
web sites. This all happens within seconds from anywhere
in the world.
- It distributes information world wide by email
containing Have and Want information including contact names and
numbers, brokers phone numbers, EMail address, Home Page and links.
- It would simply be too expensive and time consuming
for every independent real estate broker and salesperson to build
and maintain a database of hundreds of thousands of people
interested in commercial real estate and keep it up to date.
- ICI World in addition to the extensive distribution
system in place now, is embarking in what will be the largest distribution
network of its kind in the world for commercial real estate with
literally several hundred EMail distribution lists. People can
subscribe to exactly what interests them. This
selection will help overcome the problem in the
industry of too much information that does not apply to a persons
business interests. People can subscribe
to just what their business interest is and nothing more. When you place your
Have and Want, they get distributed automatically and virtually
instantly to the marketplace to people who subscribe. It is
from your desk to their desk!
- People simply can't visit every ones web site on
the internet to get information to see
what you have this month. But they can visit ICI World to see
a great portion of the industry as a whole. They search a major
database for the type of Have or Want information that interests
them.
- The worlds largest distribution system for
commercial real estate information. Individual web sites are
important but a major broker controlled traffic site is important to
maintain interest through the sheer volume of opportunities and
ideas to make money.
- Protection of a real estate broker and salespersons
information. Members work long and hard to gain experience,
education and knowledge to build a career in this business. They are
in the best position in the world to know about a majority of
activity and expressions of interests of people wanting to buy and
sell in the commercial real estate marketplace. They are best suited
to collect, qualify and disseminate Haves and Wants in the marketplace and are best
positioned to collect information world wide for the benefit of the
industry. As a result there, there is dramatic major time
saving convenience factor as more Haves and Wants are collected in one
place to benefit the public world wide. In
order to build this information, their must be a respect for the
time, effort, and expertise of the individuals within organized real estate
industry to do this.
By protecting a brokers interest, more information becomes available
in one place to benefit the public.
It is a win win situation for principals and the professional in the
commercial real estate industry.
- Marketing expertise, information handling
knowledge. We are in the information age. For ten years,
ICI World has been studying and working with brokers and salespeople to help make
them money through networking information in various ways. It
is this value added benefit of ten years of knowledge that is shared
with members. It takes a lot of time and money to both learn
what it takes to be successful and then teach it one on one.
Only through one on one personal training in a one hour special
Training Session that is conducted in your office over the phone,
can one truly appreciate the concepts. This hands on approach works
very successfully. For ten
years we have been researching, making mistakes, learning, and
working ideas and concepts that we know work to help brokers connect
to do deals and benefit the people they serve.
- It is a service that provides integrity in
presenting Haves and Wants to the public while respecting the sources of a real estate brokers information.
If knowledge is power then ICIWorld is getting stronger every day
since it is made up of members who make it their business to know
what is going on in their marketplace. They share this knowledge
with you in a way that is compatible with how they do business on
your behalf. If you could sit where I sit, you could see the
connections that these members have. I never cease to be
amazed.
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I
have a web page. Why should I use ICI World?
- There are over 1 Billion web pages on the internet
and growing. Everyone is lost in the crowd.
- The constant stream of new information daily on ICI
World attracts people and this traffic is directed to build traffic
for individual web sites. It is like plugging a lamp into a
wall socket. Your web site lights up! When you place
information on ICIWorld, watch your hit counter on your web site, it
will start going up immediately in many cases depending on your
information.
- There is no enough time in the day to search all
the sites necessary to find the information that you want.
People want an easier way to find information and ICI World has
proven to do this for them. Witness the statistics that just
continue to grow. Brokers place their information and then
link it to their home pages.
- By having a major world site that you place your
information on, the high traffic of people, it is more easy for
people in the world to find your information.
- Save money. There are no costs to you to add modify and delete
your listings. It is easier to place haves and wants on ICI World
and they are instantly on the internet on one of the worlds largest
databases. At the same time, you can place a link on your home page,
that pulls your listings off ICI World and displays them on the
screen of the viewer within 4.9 seconds average access time. It is
easy to add modify and delete your listings on ICI World and it is
all free with a membership and you have a database from your home
page.
- You can place a message on your home page that says
you are a member of ICI World and that will help you get listings.
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Who can join?
Only licensed real estate brokers and
salespeople may join and place information in the public area that is
receiving the over quarter of a million hits per month and major
distribution throughout the world.
Principals may join only where we do not have a licensed real estate
member broker or salesperson in the area.
Companies, Associations, Organizations, ICI Councils, Commercial Real
Estate Groups, Franchises, etc. Details
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Can
Principals Join?
Yes but only where we do not have a
licensed real estate broker member in an area and then guaranteed for
one term only. On renewal if there is a licensed real estate
broker in your area, then we ask you to work your haves and wants
through that office.
If you have a great amount of
information to work, there is a Private (FSBO) Developer Membership that
permits unlimited Haves and Wants and these are emailed to the licensed
real estate members of ICI World within the hour of being placed.
This is helpful for instance for developers who have great amounts of
space for lease and wish to market this space themselves but who
cooperate with the organized real estate industry.
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Can
companies join or just individuals?
Companies can join as well as individuals. There
is a corporate rate.
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Does
it cost money to read the ads?
No. It is free for the public to
read the ads in the public area. However one must be a member to
read the contact information of FSBO placed ads. The
Limited
View is available to read free for
the FSBO Area placed ads.
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Does
it cost money to receive the free email of listings?
No. In fact we are embarking on a
major expansion plan so that everyone in the world can
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Can
it help me in Listing Presentations and How?
Yes
- First you can print out a list of
buyers. While other brokers competing with you state they may
have buyers, but you can print out a list. You can literally
pick up the phone and start making appointments, it is that fast!
- Secondly you can print out Statistics
in color. Use November/2000 for an example. It will show
the number of hits, 230,000 for November. There is not another
web site in the world that we know of getting this much readership
that we personally know of. Look at the maximum hits in one
hour, one day! Look at the third table down hits by day and
the days of the month. Look at the next table a bar chart
showing the hits by the hour throughout the day. It will show the
traffic and it also shows that even in the wee hours of the morning
there is business going on. It is like leaving the front door
of your office open and there are people coming in 2-3-4-5-6am in
the morning! The best part though is go to the bottom of the
page. You will see the countries of the world accessing the
site daily! It is incredible considering this was not possible
years ago. Now for only $240 per year you have this kind of
reach! We hear about stories all the time of people from all
of these countries buying property. Hey, that is why they came
to the web site . . . to do business! You will too! It
is just a matter of time and you learning how to work your
information!
- Other brokers that you compete with
will say they are on MLS, you will say you are on MLS, they do local
advertising, you do local advertising. They are on the
Internet, you are on the Internet. However the way you are on
the Internet is significantly different than the way they are on the
Internet. Your information will be receiving 230,000 hits per
month of traffic, there is no other site receiving this may hits for
commercial real estate.
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How
can I read the FSBO area ads?
Go to www.iciworld.net,
click on FSBO Area. Click on Limited View. If you are a
member, the numbers that come up will be in hypertext so that you can
read the full ad. You must be a member in order to read the full
ad and contact information. Members only can also subscribe to receive these privately
placed FSBO ads by EMail.
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What
does FSBO mean?
It stands for: For Sale By Owner
These are ads that are placed by principals, buyers and sellers of real
estate.
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What
does ICI Real Estate stand for?
It stands for Industrial, Commercial and
Investment Real Estate. Our service though also includes land,
farms, businesses, financing and more.
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What's
the difference between my real estate board and ICI World?
It has always been envisioned by us that there will
always be a need for real estate boards and real estate board type
listing services and for a world type real estate board type listing
service. However we also know there is a lot more information that
can be worked in the industry that can make people money than can be
placed on real estate boards and typical Internet Listing Services.
Some say 90% of apartment buildings in
any area of the world are not on Real Estate Boards or typical Internet
Listing Services which require certain written agreements be in
place. The same can be true for shopping centers, office
buildings, businesses and much more. You will find them on ICI
World. Why? Because we have designed a service that fills
the gap in the marketplace for commercial real estate information, not
just listings. Yes most of our members place their real estate
board type listings on the service, but it gets rather exciting when
information can be worked. You will not find an $80,000,000 hotel
complex on a real estate board. You can find it on ICI
World. Information can be handled with the utmost discretion and
confidentiality. It is up to the broker.
Every buyer that is in the marketplace
should have their Wants placed. An owner who is "thinking of
selling" can call the broker and see if that person might look at
his/her property. These are the kinds of calls brokers in the past are
not used to getting.
A broker or salesperson who is getting a
listing can post a message "coming for sale." You can
say that their name will go on a list and when you get the listing
signed you will call them to show it. The responses can be used
mentioned in your listing presentation to help you get the listing!
All the private for sale by owner
properties in your area can be placed on the service. However we
suggest you have at the very least, verbal agreements, perhaps confirmed
in writing that they agree to pay a commission, will cover your showing
with an exclusive agreement, and agree to let you place their property
on ICI World but without an address. That way it remains
confidential until you have a qualified buyer. At that point you
would contact the owner and put an agreement in place for showing the
property.
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How
do I protect myself on an open listing?
First of all you should have an
agreement in place or a very good relationship in place before divulging
the address or showing the property. Just because we work open and
exclusive information does not mean we do not have an agreement in place
before divulging information or showing the property.
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Can I
place a banner?
Yes. Although this service is supported
by licensed real estate brokers and salespeople through memberships,
banner advertising is available. Contact us now to enquire.
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Can
I get just the information in my area and for what I specialize in?
Yes and no. Depending on what you
want there may already be an EMail List Service that fits exactly what
you are looking for. We have embarked on a major program to build
among the largest set of Free Email List Services on the planet earth
for commercial real estate. Every state and province will have its
own list service. Every country will have its own. There will be list
services by city and/or major regions. There will be price ranges.
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I
don't want to place the address. Can I do that?
Yes. In fact we recommend you do
it that way to prevent people from doing direct to the owner. Many
owners prefer it that way too. This way a broker can qualify people
before introducing them to the property. Unlike a real estate
board type listing service, where there is enough information to draw an
offer, ICI Worlds goal is to help the member brokers trigger
calls. It is more like an electronic equivalent of classified
ads.
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Are
there any commissions paid to ICI World?
No. You must make your own
arrangements for compensation directly with the people you are dealing
with. ICI World is an advertising service more like an electronic
equivalent of classified ads in a newspaper. You simply pay for an
advertising by way of membership.
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I
don't have enough time to network with computers. What should I
do?
You will hear us make a statement,
"if you are parked in front of your computer all day long you won't
make any money. You make money from talking with
people." However the biggest responsibility in our opinion
that all members have is to recognize important information and to write
it down onto a Have or Want Sheet. You can then delegate it to
someone to place on the service and its working for you. To write
down a Want is about 14 seconds, a Have is from 1-3 minutes. Many
have taken $50,000 and some as much as $250,000 to the bank based on
this amount of time.
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My
company has a web site. Why do I need ICI World?
- Increased exposure. We do not know of one other
commercial real estate site that is receiving as many hits for
commercial real estate. The beauty is that you can link all
your information to your company web site and generate traffic that
you would not have had.
- Training Program - there is dramatic and immediate
connections to do deals after the training session. This is a
culmination of ten years of experience we share with you to
highlight what it takes to be successful. We know this works
because our members have had many deals making them 5 and six figure
incomes. We are now sure yet about seven figure incomes in one
year. We know this is true in more than one year..
- Powerful Listing Presentations - Print out lists of
buyers, statistics.
- Powerful Linking Features - One of the True Powers
of the Internet is in Linking. ICI World will show you how.
- Learn the Ultimate in Marketing on the Internet.
These techniques and ideas can be applied to your own web site.
- FSBO Area - No where is it possible to have these
many listings in one area from principals.
- Resource Center - Links built up over several years
that benefit commercial real estate professionals in both personal
and business use.
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I
am on another major service that's free. Why do I need ICI World?
You need to ask yourself several
questions.
- Is it compatible with how I do
business. Do they allow principals to advertise directly to
the public? You may helping to build and support a service
that essentially will cut you out in the end.
- This service was built by brokers,
for brokers to serve their clients. It was not started as an
advertising service. Does its goals serve you completely?
- Does it handle information not just
listings. There have always been real estate board and free
internet listing type services much the same as a real estate
board.
- Is your information available to the
public free when placed where it gets the highest exposure.
- Do they have a track record of
sales. ICI World publishes its members who have done
deals.
- Do they publish their stats? Do
they show you the hits, the traffic on their site? Many sites
look great but are they producing results?
- Do they have as their mandate to grow
the service if they run into hard times?
- Is the company over financed?
ICI World has no debt. It was built that way on purpose
because we have seen many companies come and go with millions of
dollars in financing only to see this debt weigh them down.
Their overhead gets so high they can not maintain their original
level of service. They advertising either dries up or lowers
and their expectations are not being met. They have no alternative
but to close their doors.
- Is the company built on financing
numbers that work today or projected for the future. You are
seeing a lot of dot.com companies in trouble and reducing work
staffs and overheads. They were not built on sound
fundamentals. ICI World's overhead is small, ie: less than
$100,000 per year. We now have 600 members paying $240 per
year. You do the numbers. There is no extra overhead for the next
600 members.
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Why
do I need the training?
You can have a jet outside your door,
but if you do not know how to fly it, you still are not going anyplace.
There are ten concepts covered in our Training Program that will teach
several things.
- The effective handling and
dissemination of information as it applies to commercial real estate
information world wide. Whether you are working for a REIT or
Pension Fund or placing a "Have" for an industrial
building, there are ways to work information that can make you
money.
- Confidentiality and discretion are
needed in this business. We will show you how it is done and
how for the first time in your real estate business life you can
make money working information not just listings.
- Whether you are a beginner,
intermediate or expert user of computers and technology we will
bring you up another notch. We have had people who have been in the
business for years profit immensely by applying some of these
principles that are only taught in a one hour Training
Program. In fact the more well connected you are, the better
opportunities you have to make a million dollars quite quickly.
- The Ultimate in Marketing on the
Internet. We have a saying that 95% of the brokers on the
internet today have not really arrived on the internet in an
effective fashion. We will teach you how to be effective!
- Many people search around for the
ways to do things and this costs time and money. There are
ways now to do most things on the internet absolutely free and we
will show you how.
- Most people are overloaded with
information in the world today. Unless you learn the
techniques to handle this, you will be overwhelmed. There are
ways to sort and store information so that it is immediately
available at your fingertips.
- It is time saving. One technique
shows you how to go twice as fast as anyone else on the
internet, for the rest of your life.
- and more.
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If
I have a problem, is there any help?
Yes. In fact we take pride in our
personal service. We thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to help you
and we have been doing this since 1990 when we first started. The
training and help sessions are conducted in your office over the phone
while you are on the internet. We are also available by
telephone. Call now to get started or to ask for some help. See Personal
Assistance.
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Can
I start by placing a free ad?
Yes. Start by going to www.iciworld.net
and click on FSBO Area or Free AD.
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Do
you supply Home Pages, Domain Name, Hosting?
Yes. There are various degrees of home
pages from one page to sites encompassing many pages and a compete range
of services.
- One page - you supply it and its
free. The address will be www.iciworld.net/sites/yourname
- One page - we design it. $150. The
address will be www.iciworld.net/sites/yourname
- Multiple pages, and a complete range of services.
- Domain Name Hosting. You can have a directory
within minutes!
- Call to discuss your personal situation.
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How
much does this service cost? How long is it for?
It is free for principals but only the
members receive and read this information.
It is $240 for eight months service and
one time $79 signup fee, total $319 for eight months or $39.88/mo.
However if you pay the full amount when you subscribe you receive 12
months service. After the first year it is $240/8 months or $240
per year when you pay in full before your renewal date each year.
This is less than $1.00 per day and you are on one of the largest
services for commercial real estate in the world today.
For Corporate rates and company
discounts we waive the $79 signup fee.
Economic Development Agencies, Principal
Affiliations, Developer Memberships are $700 per year plus a one time
signup of $79.
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Do
I have to pay for each ad?
No. You can place as many ads as
you want all year long, free with your membership.
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Can
we have pictures?
Yes. Not only can one have
pictures, but virtual tours, videos, sound bites, unlimited links to
other sites and much more. However in commercial real estate it
may be advisable to provide pictures after you have made contact and
made arrangements for compensation. Otherwise people could go
direct to your owners after seeing a picture and bypass you. How
to handle photos is covered in the Training Program.
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Can
I have my secretary take the Training Program with me?
Yes. In fact the Training Program
consists of two parts simultaneously. One for the concepts for a
broker and one for the technical aspects. You can even have others in
your office look on.
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What
should I know about placing my information?
There are several things that are a key
to successful use of the Internet and ICI World.
- Renew your information once every
30-45 days. Many people work the top half of the database and
get so busy, they do not get down to the bottom where your
information might be.
- By renewing your information, it will
get circulated throughout the commercial real estate industry world
wide. When you place information, not only is it in searchable
databases on the internet immediately, but instantly and
automatically they are EMailed out to the industry by way of
industry wide Free EMail List Services that the public can subscribe
to freely.
- Because people are overloaded and
overwhelmed with information there is certain information that
should be placed to trigger responses. People just do not have
the time to follow up every bit of sketchy lead. You must
paint a picture for them immediately and their are ways to do that
that will be covered in a Training Session.
- Because commercial real estate is so
diverse and different from residential real estate, there are
certain ways with key words, limited yet salient information that
should and can be placed. The idea is to flush out a qualified
buyer and the proper information will do that.
- Only licensed real estate people may
become members. Our service follows the guidelines for
identifying oneself on the service in accordance with generally
accepted principles in the market place. There are guidelines that
every licensed real estate broker and salesperson follow as provided
by individual licensing bodies.
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What
areas of the world do you cover?
The planet earth. The service responds to the
market place in terms of business areas, categories, etc.
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I
don't see many ads in my area? Why do I need ICI World?
- Readership. ICI World has among
the highest of any site in the world of readership for commercial
real estate information.
- With the programs in place, virtually
every single person dealing in the world of commercial real estate
will at one time or another come in contact with ICI World. By
having your information on line when they do, they can make contact
with you that leads to doing business.
- Every new member starting on ICI
World gets responses. There are not any that do not get
responses. Not all sell, but all get responses. It is up to
you to do the deal.
- In many cases the real estate
industry is behind in getting up to speed using technology.
ICI World will get you up to speed very quickly.
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Why
do I not hear about it from my competitors?
- If you have sold twenty properties
would you brag about that to your competitors?
- It is like a gold mine that some have
found. Would you tell your competitors?
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Do
the owners of ICI World sell real estate?
No. Much like the managing
secretary of an independent type real estate service bureaus, we do not
sell real estate because it would be considered a conflict of interest.
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What
happens when someone calls to list their property building?
When someone calls in to list their property or place
a Have or Want, we do four things:
- suggest they place their have or want in the FSBO
area for all members.
- provide them with a list of members in their area.
- provide them with at least three members who might
most likely serve their needs.
- question whether they have a personal broker and
suggest they get them to join and place their information.
- show them how to find a match for what it is that
they are trying to do. If they have a Want, help them search
the Haves, if they have a Have, help them search the Wants.
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I
have not had the time to study the Internet, what can you teach me?
One can spend a lot of wasted time on the
Internet. We teach licensed real estate people
- how to collect Have and Want
information
- questions to use in your counseling
sessions with buyers and sellers
- how to delegate the placement of it to
save you time,
- how to place it effectively to get
results
- how to maintain it effectively to get
results
- how to handle the contacts that are
made to benefit the client and you
- the caveats, what to watch out for,
pitfalls and traps
- how to use your computer to make money
- how to use your computer to save money
- how to have a database on the internet
- how to Link one of the True Powers of
the Internet
- how to use some ICIWorld tools that
make your listing presentations very powerful
- how to connect with principals on a
global scale
- how to market locally on a global
scale
- the concepts necessary to connect to
do deals
- how to work the marketplace for
opportunities
We believe that you won't make money if
you are parked in front of a computer all day. You make money from
talking with people. However if you do not understand the concepts
that are necessary to make connections using your computer and the
Internet, then you do miss opportunities to do business. These
concepts will help you maximize your opportunities in the commercial
real estate marketplace no matter where in the world you are located.
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When
can I expect results?
When you place information on ICIWorld it
is given the latest number and is at the top of the database that is
receiving over a quarter of a million hits per month. Instantly
and automatically it is EMailed out to the industry and then over the
next thirty days by over twenty other distribution methods.
The best calls seem to come within the
first week. It is possible to receive calls within minutes and
that happens! One broker placed a small plaza, received seven
calls over three days, two offers, sold it with a backup offer and had a
further seven calls over the next three days.
Calls can taper off. One broker got
into a deal after renewing a four month old listing. He got into a
transaction within 24 hours. Why? Because the listing went back to
the top of the database and it got emailed out to the industry to new
people who are subscribing all the time.
One broker got a call on an $18,000,000
quarry after three years. If we had removed that ad arbitrarily he
would have missed that contact. All messages are dated so you have a
choice to look as far back as you want.
During presentations in offices, the
phone starting to ring while we placing more listings on line for the
broker.
Depending on your information, you can
get some of the best calls within a week.
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The Market ICI World Commercial Real Estate Network
2 Bloor St. W., Suite 100-A
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4W 3E2
Bus. 416-214-4875
Fax. 416-214-4763
garynusca@iciworld.net
www.iciworld.net
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