Last weekend, I was mindlessly channel surfing when I landed on TLC. A common stopping point for me when scrolling around the stations. Like most other times when I breeze by this channel there was a show that had something to do with real estate. But this wasn’t your typical rerun of some real estate wannabe flipping a house and making a $150,000.  This was a new show! I guess it only makes sense that reality TV has to look for new angles given the change in market conditions.

This show was called: Deals On The Bus. On the screen was a real estate agent talking into the microphone of a tour bus to a group of buyers. The group was touring homes for sale in Corona, California. That was it, within 30 seconds I put the remote control down and was instantly drawn into the delight of viewing these properties along with these stangers on a tour bus.

As well as seeing some beautiful homes that had previously sold for more then a million dollars and were now available for 30-40% less, I learned a little bit about each potential buyer–why they were looking, their relationship, their concerns.

At the end of the show they recapped who made an offer on what and who didn’t. I think two couples of the 6 or 8 on the bus did make an offer on a property they saw that day. By the time the end of the show came I was already on Google learning more about this concept.

Turns out there are companies and agents that are using this marketing technique as the premise for their business. Check out Dealsonthebus.com. According to their site, this is a full service real estate brokerage where agents offer listing and buyer representation. Their main source of prospecting is offering free bus tours in neighborhoods mainly focusing on foreclosed properties.

I think this concept is very interesting. I would go on a bus tour. In fact, I’ve added it to my to do list just to experience it. Appartenly, most Saturday’s you can find one in many cities (mostly on the west coast). It takes about two hours to see anywhere from 5-10 homes.

What do you think of Deals On The Bus?

A good marketing idea for agents or a gimmick for TV?

Would this work in your market?