In a press release today, Prem Luthra of Elm Street Technology unveiled his latest venture, a partnership with This Old House. You may know Prem from his work in marketing at MOVE, Cyberhomes, Real Estate Digital, Xome, and the like. One of his primary and lasting impacts to the real estate industry was the innovation around helping brokers and MLSs monetize the consumer traffic on their website.

Real Estate content around listings has been pretty lack luster from the perspective of the consumer on most broker, agent, and MLS consumer facing websites. Simply stated, firms have lacked the internal resources to develop content that consumers love. This Old House has been a category leader in this area, dominating television ratings for decades. The national underwriting for the content has been powered by advertising sponsorship by GMAC, The Home Depot, State Farm Insurance, Lumber Liquidators, and many others. “The simple premise of advertisers trying to reach homebuyers has not waned,” says Luthra. Advertisers understand that the consumer most likely to be an active purchaser of home improvement products is the home buyer and home seller.

 

Many brokerage and MLS sites have enjoyed significant revenue from advertising partnerships. The industry has learned that belly fat ads from networks like Google do not pay much and diminish the consumer experience on their site. Advertising through the This Old House program are contextual and valuable to the consumer.

According to a national research release from Home Advisor, consumers spend between $6000 and $8000 on home improvement when they move (http://www.homeadvisor.com/cost/report/). At a rate of more than 5.5 Million homes traded each year, this totals an enormous addressable market for companies offering home improvement products. But this partnership with This Old House extends beyond advertising revenue for brokers and other property search sites. The consumer

 

audience has long adored and respected the This Old House brand, and now brokers will be able to align their brand with This Old House, and their 62 Million monthly viewers.

Many brokerages have benefitted from brand alliances over the years. Firms like Hunt Real Estate and Windermere have had a lot of success with NFL team rela

 

tionships. The good news here is that the This Old House content has a more promising contextual relationship with home buying and selling. Brokers will be able to publish from the vast library of This Old House library programming. We forecast that consumers will continue to return to the broker or listing website before and after the sale to access the rich media on how to perform remodels and rehabilitations for their new home. This will be especially valuable content that brokerages and agents can share on their social media pages to drive consumers back to their site.

Brokers interested in more information about participating in This Old House Network should contact april.chaffee@thisoldhouse.com

Press Release Below:

 

 

 

 

 

ELM STREET TECHNOLOGY AND THIS OLD HOUSE VENTURES ANNOUNCE THE LAUNCH OF THE THIS OLD HOUSE REAL ESTATE NETWORK   

New Digital Media Enterprise Will Deliver Branded Home-Related Content, Tools and Advertising Solutions to the Real Estate Industry And Provide Consumers With Access To The Content Library From ‘This Old House,’ the Home Category’s Most Trusted Enthusiast Resource

February 2, 2017 – Greensboro, NC and Stamford, CTToday, Elm Street Technology (EST) and This Old House Ventures (TOHV) announced a partnership that aims to provide the real estate industry and its practitioners with rich home-related content and tools to enhance the value of their real estate search websites for consumers.  The new venture, to be known as the This Old House Real Estate Network (TOHREN) will syndicate a large portion of the “This Old House” content library for promotion on the websites of real estate MLS’, Brokers and other providers of a listing search experience for consumers.

Headed by a team of well-known real estate entrepreneurs, including Prem Luthra, President of EST, EST and TOH are designing a comprehensive content, distribution and digital media network that will leverage third party websites in the real estate vertical. This Old House Real Estate Network, a fully scalable network of MLS, Broker, and other real estate search websites that want to expand the content experience for their consumers beyond just listings search, will provide members with the ability to publish valuable TOH content, including articles, videos and tools, and the opportunity to monetize their sites via relevant advertising provided by TOH.   Consumers will benefit by gaining immediate access to expert advice about a wide range of related topics from how to work with a mortgage or real estate professional, how to choose renovation projects that add to a home’s value and tips about getting your house ready for sale.

“This Old House Real Estate Network will offer incredible value to the real estate industry in several ways,” Prem Luthra, President of Elm Street Technology, says, “Including access to the archive of rich content that This Old House has delighted consumers with on television, print and digital media for decades.”

“Developing deep partnerships within the real estate industry has been a long-standing goal of This Old House due to the home improvement projects consumers initiate when they’re preparing to sell a home and move into another one” said Eric Thorkilsen, CEO of This Old House Ventures.  “We want to partner with the industry to expand the content experience of the traditional real estate search website and create deeper engagement with the consumer for the real estate professional.”

Luthra notes that providing useful and trusted content will not only increase engagement and session time with consumers, but will also provide truly relevant home improvement, decorating and other home-related resource, including exclusive video segments from the popular and Emmy-winning “This Old House” TV show, that will serve as a continuing engagement t
ool for agents to turn their consumers into clients for life.

“The other unique ways that TOHREN will serve our real estate publishers,” Luthra continues, “is by providing publishers with an additional income stream by selling non-invasive advertising opportunities created around their content as well as other inventory provided by the publisher in exchange for a revenue sharing opportunity.”

“And finally, there is inherent value in an association and partnership with a brand as well-known and well-respected by consumers as This Old House. Real estate companies in thisTOHREN network can promote this association as a means of building greater credibility with consumers, while providing these consumers with meaningful content that will have them returning for more.”

Contacts:

Elizabeth Kaplanest

Elm Street Technology

ekaplan@elmstreettechnology.com

401.632.3186

Sheila Feren/Stephanie Baumoel

FerenComm for This Old House Venturestoh

sheilaf@ferencomm.com/stephanieb@ferencomm.com

212.983.9898

About Elm Street Technology

Elm Street Technology offers a portfolio of real estate technology and marketing services companies that provides one vendor, one point of contact, one solution fully fused into one platform to deliver a single source for new leads, client relationship management, and client retention tools for agents, teams and brokerages. Elevate from Elm Street Technologies is the single solution that real estate professionals need to handle the marketing while brokers and agents handle the business, including high end IDX websites, lead generation tools, powerful CRM and incubation tools, mobile app, social media management and blogging, and client retention tools. For more information, call 1-866-353-3456.

About This Old House Ventures, LLC

This Old House Ventures, LLC is the number one multi-platform home enthusiast brand, serving over 62 million consumers each month with trusted information and expert advice through its award-winning television shows, “This Old House” and “Ask This Old House,” its highly regarded This Old House magazine and its inspiration and information-driven digital properties including thisoldhouse.com. “This Old House” and “Ask This Old House” are produced by This Old House Ventures, LLC and are presented on PBS by WGBH Boston. National underwriting for “This Old House” television is provided by GMC, The Home Depot, State Farm Insurance Company, Lumber Liquidators, and Gorilla Glue. Established as This Old House Ventures, LLC, the company is headquartered in Stamford, CT, with offices in New York, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, and Concord, MA.