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What "Marketing" is All About!
So what is “marketing” all about? In this market, houses just don’t normally sell in the first week or 30 days so the follow up is especially important.
Some agents use the “PPP” principle, and that stands for………….”put up a sign, put the information into MLS and pray that a buyer comes along.” Even though you don’t believe me, there are still agents who adopt that policy and it did work in the years when we had the classic “seller’s markets,” but not now. These days, we agents have to do the basics, plus be creative and think way out of the box to find that buyer.
Exposing your house or property is our objective. Sure, if we can find the buyer and sell your house ourselves, that’s great; but the listing agent’s primary job is to use marketing techniques so that every agent in the area, every agent who specializes in the type property you own or who has sold a property similar to yours knows about your home. In addition, every prospective purchaser looking for a home like yours should know it is available.
Before we get our marketing in place, we have to help you get your home ready for those showings, and that’s called “staging”. Your home has to look differently when ready to show than it does when you live in it, and it has to be ready at a moment’s notice. Yes, agents do call for an appointment and you will know beforehand when someone is going to show it. But, if an agent is showing houses and they ride by your house and the buyer says “stop, can we see this one?” you don’t want to say “No” when the showing service calls. Is that an inconvenience? Sure, but this is a buyer’s market and the buyers rule the world now. Be ready for a showing with 5 minutes notice.
We have a decorator to go through with you. Most family photos have to come down, some extra furniture may need to be removed to make the room larger, and anything on the kitchen cabinet not used every day needs to be put up. Your house needs to look open, uncluttered, bright and spacious. You live in your house every day and don’t notice things, but just once I want you to try this: Come home, pretend that you don’t live there, come around and in by the front door and see what you would think if you were a prospective buyer. Notice the paint scuffs and all the cute nick-knacks setting around everywhere, the family photos (did you take time to look at them like a buyer would?), all the furniture in the room, and did you notice the hand prints on the door.
Now, your home may be immaculate and if so, I commend you on it. But, most of us “live” in our homes and living in a home and having a home ready to show to a buyer are totally different. When you bought your last car, did you trade in your old one? If so, did the dealer take your old car and immediately put it on the lot for sale? Of course not, he fixed any dings, touched up the paint, took care of any upholstery or interior problems, washed and waxed it so it shined, put a good asking price on the windshield and only then was ready for a customer to see it. Home sales are not the same as car sales, but similar and we have to do some of the same to prepare your house for those buyers.
You need to work with your real estate agent as your partner or teammate. You are both on the same team. It’s your agent’s job (and the real estate company’s job) to exposure your property to the best of their ability and to cause buyers to ride by your property (many will ride by first to see the property and neighborhood before calling or emailing for information). But, once the buyer gets to the property, it’s YOUR job to be sure the buyer is impressed with the property because that is what you control.
With the real estate transaction involving the marketing agreement, the agent controls the marketing portion and the seller controls the property. For the agent, that is defined as marketing to get exposure and for the seller the property is defined as pricing the property competitively, staging it so it shows well, and making it available and ready for showing.
Both sides working together and communicating will give you the best chance of success.
|
What "Marketing" is All About!
So what is “marketing” all about? In this market, houses just don’t normally sell in the first week or 30 days so the follow up is especially important.
Some agents use the “PPP” principle, and that stands for………….”put up a sign, put the information into MLS and pray that a buyer comes along.” Even though you don’t believe me, there are still agents who adopt that policy and it did work in the years when we had the classic “seller’s markets,” but not now. These days, we agents have to do the basics, plus be creative and think way out of the box to find that buyer.
Exposing your house or property is our objective. Sure, if we can find the buyer and sell your house ourselves, that’s great; but the listing agent’s primary job is to use marketing techniques so that every agent in the area, every agent who specializes in the type property you own or who has sold a property similar to yours knows about your home. In addition, every prospective purchaser looking for a home like yours should know it is available.
Before we get our marketing in place, we have to help you get your home ready for those showings, and that’s called “staging”. Your home has to look differently when ready to show than it does when you live in it, and it has to be ready at a moment’s notice. Yes, agents do call for an appointment and you will know beforehand when someone is going to show it. But, if an agent is showing houses and they ride by your house and the buyer says “stop, can we see this one?” you don’t want to say “No” when the showing service calls. Is that an inconvenience? Sure, but this is a buyer’s market and the buyers rule the world now. Be ready for a showing with 5 minutes notice.
We have a decorator to go through with you. Most family photos have to come down, some extra furniture may need to be removed to make the room larger, and anything on the kitchen cabinet not used every day needs to be put up. Your house needs to look open, uncluttered, bright and spacious. You live in your house every day and don’t notice things, but just once I want you to try this: Come home, pretend that you don’t live there, come around and in by the front door and see what you would think if you were a prospective buyer. Notice the paint scuffs and all the cute nick-knacks setting around everywhere, the family photos (did you take time to look at them like a buyer would?), all the furniture in the room, and did you notice the hand prints on the door.
Now, your home may be immaculate and if so, I commend you on it. But, most of us “live” in our homes and living in a home and having a home ready to show to a buyer are totally different. When you bought your last car, did you trade in your old one? If so, did the dealer take your old car and immediately put it on the lot for sale? Of course not, he fixed any dings, touched up the paint, took care of any upholstery or interior problems, washed and waxed it so it shined, put a good asking price on the windshield and only then was ready for a customer to see it. Home sales are not the same as car sales, but similar and we have to do some of the same to prepare your house for those buyers.
You need to work with your real estate agent as your partner or teammate. You are both on the same team. It’s your agent’s job (and the real estate company’s job) to exposure your property to the best of their ability and to cause buyers to ride by your property (many will ride by first to see the property and neighborhood before calling or emailing for information). But, once the buyer gets to the property, it’s YOUR job to be sure the buyer is impressed with the property because that is what you control.
With the real estate transaction involving the marketing agreement, the agent controls the marketing portion and the seller controls the property. For the agent, that is defined as marketing to get exposure and for the seller the property is defined as pricing the property competitively, staging it so it shows well, and making it available and ready for showing.
Both sides working together and communicating will give you the best chance of success.
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Marketing Your Home to the Masses
The job of your listing agent is not to bring potential buyers to your house. Back in the Century 21 days, I would get a call from a disgruntled seller who was upset that his listing agent had not once shown his house! I explained that the listing agent's job was not to bring buyers, and very seldom did the listing agent sell that property. It always surprised the sellers, but it's true.
The listing agent's job is to expose your property to everyone possible, to get the information out anywhere and everywhere. It stands to reason that the more people who know your house is available, the more chance you will have the buyer you want. Sounds simple, doesn't it?
So, how do we provide that exposure? Back in the early 70's, we put a sign in the yard, placed the property in MLS and ran some ads in the local newspapers. No Internet, no faxes or email, no cell phones....it's a wonder how we did anything, right? Some towns didn't even have a multiple listing service so the agents had to make copies of their information sheets and take to the other real estate offices.
Some agents still work in those times, where the strategy once they have a house listed is described as "P.P.P" which translates into "Place a sign in the yard, Place it in MLS and Pray." You need more than that!
The Internet is where about 88% of the potential home buyers start their looking process. Years ago, someone would come in the office to see what we had available in homes to look at, but now they come in with listing sheets printed from Trulia, Homes.com or Coldwell Banker.com and ask if we will show those to them. No, the work is not done for us, but we start at a different point in the process. The information, once held privately by the MLS is now available; you just need to search on Google and see what you like.
The Internet must be a huge part of your agent's marketing program and include multiple photos, virtual tours or slide shows and videos. The more photos, the better; when I am looking for properties, if the listing agent does not have a photo, I just skip it and so do the potential buyers. Google searches first by videos, so you need to have that with your information. Nicole and I have our listings on over 30 websites and with Trulia.com and Homes.com each shows up as an "enhanced or showcase" property and that commands more attention from the potential buyer.
Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites are important also, so you can reach the most people possible. Your agent should have his or her own blog and use it to promote your house. Yes, this takes a lot of time, but should be a requirement for the professional agent marketing your house.
Print advertising? No, it's not gone but exposure through print has scaled back a great deal. Newspaper ads are not the best method any longer, but why? What do you do with your newspaper (if you get one) when finished? That's correct, it's in the trash and you don't see that ad again. Monthly magazines I believe in, because the ad is out and available for a period of time. Don't confuse that with brochures and in-house information booklets. You need a brochure at the "for sale" sign, with inside photos and the price so those driving through neighborhoods they like can find out about your house. We have the ability for the buyer to text for information while sitting in front of the house, and that works great! Once they decide to see the house, they can pick up our information booklet, with everything they need to know.
All print advertising has our website, so a buyer can look in more detail, see all the photos and search through our site for houses in any location. If they have questions about anything, they can shoot us an email and we will be back to them very quickly.
We also market to other real estate agents who have had success showing and selling homes in your area. Our objective is to get the word out and get your home sold, and if an agent from another company brings the buyer, we meet that objective. We also use "reverse prospecting" through MLS; give us a call and we can explain this to you, it works.
The job of your listing agent is to be the promoter of your home. Nicole and I work together to present your home in the best possible light to the most people possible.
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