If you need further evidence that consumer confidence is shaky, pick up a copy of The Real Estate Book this December.
Next month, the glossy advertising guide will devote 20 percent of its print pages to promote homes that have already sold. The program, Just Sold 2008, is the company's attempt to offset industry pessimism and to convince readers that, yes, homes are selling.
"There was so much negativity in the media," said Todd Walker, the company's senior vice president of operations and sales. "How can we come up with a program that can help tell that story, that homes are still being sold?"
The Real Estate Book, available for free on street corners citywide, publishes 25 editions in the tri-state area and prints 8 million copies across the United States and Canada. As in other sectors of the housing industry, The Real Estate Book has seen a dip in business. But a bigger recent challenge has been to counter the impression that no one's closing deals. read more »
