Notes from the Sale's Manager's Desk. One of the amazing things about Data Bases is that they are filled with Buyers! Derh, I hear you say, and rightly! Yet if data bases really do work, and we know they do, why does the average agent continue to ask vendors for advertising money? I was once told by a prospective vendor that one high profile agent she interviewed told her that they had a data base of 30,000 people! Even if their data base had only 10% of that number; are they seriously saying that they couldn’t find a buyer from it? So if they can find a buyer, why do they require advertising money? I think we all know the answer. Actually, if anyone wants to buy a house, they wouldn’t go to the supermarket; so why do Real Estate agents ask for advertising money from their vendors at all? I’m certainly not saying that there should be no advertising. What I would prefer to say though, is that homes should be correctly marketed, not just advertised. And that may mean that the right buyer may not be found in the data base. However any advertising done by the agent to find a buyer should, in my humble opinion, be met by the agent. In difficult financial times, even in our community, tens of thousands of dollars is spent weekly on real estate advertising and not only is it unnecessary, it results in the vendor being out of pocket and, frequently, not sold. Personally, I find it amazing that people still fall for the notion that advertising sells homes. All advertising is meant to do and can do, is make the telephone ring - the advertisement alone cannot negotiate the sale. It’s actually good negotiation that sells homes – but more of this next time.