I believe that the job of a listing agent, that agent that you hire to get your house sold, is to insure that your property is presented to as many buyers as possible. It used to be that an ad could be placed in the local newspapers and you would reach the buyers out there looking now however with the internet things have changed. I am not here to help a seller test the market, I am also not available to simply put a home on the MLS – I am here to market, negotiate and sell your home and there is a difference between these three. I want you to start packing when you sign those listing papers.
The first thing to know is that studies show that anywhere from 85 – 92% of home buyers at least begin their search on the internet. The presentation of your property has to capture their attention because it is not enough to just put the house and pictures on the internet but you must get them to stop and look at the details.
When you list your property there are certain basic things that the vast majority of agents will do to market your home beginning with placing the property on the multiple listing service (MLS). Doing this puts your property in front of 4000 brokers and agents in the Gulf South Real Estate Information Network (GSREIN) and each of those agents will then insure that their sphere of influence is made aware of the listing. An agent in Covington may have a friend or client who is looking for exactly your house and you want to make sure every agent knows your house is on the market.
Another thing that then happens is that your listing is “uploaded” to Realtor.com which is a site privately owned but with a contract with the National Association of Realtor®. Now your property is available online for view across the country and around the world by buyers anywhere searching to buy a home in this area. Not all buyers search on Realtor.com however.
Now marketing choices are different broker to broker and agent to agent. Not all agencies and not all agents do the same marketing making us all indistinguishable, their are differences and significant differences. For instance there are brokerages and or agents who are not on the internet and will take a different approach to marketing your home than I would. Not all brokerages or agents have the same philosophy as I do about how to get a seller the best price in the shortest amount of time. My belief is that without using the internet to it’s fullest you may miss a buyer and you may miss the one buyer willing to pay you the highest price. You may get the home sold but without insuring that every buyer is presented with your home you will never know if you got your best price.
While everyone will place your home on the MLS and then Realtor.com the marketing text and knowing what features in the home to stress or which location is sought after is the key. Taking pictures that point out the best of the home is also something that becomes second nature after years of marketing properties. Marketing is part art. The right angle of a room can make all the difference.
Syndication of your listing across the internet will bring buyers in as well. Buyers have preferred sites to search on for various reasons and not every buyer will use Realtor.com. I will syndicate your home across the internet to such sites are Yahoo.com, Oodle.com, Homes.com, Local.com, Craig’s List (when appropriate), Ebay, Google and many more. Buyers flit around the internet from site to site and there is telling where they may see your property.
Importantly my web site through a lot of hard work over the years has number 1 placement on the search engines for certain terms – this brings buyers to the site and your property will be featured. All of this is buoyed by my affiliation with REMAX and their search site which has historically placed in the top ten for real estate sites. REMAX and its’ balloon enjoys name recognition like many major brands.
While this is an overview of some of the marketing tools I offer it is not all inclusive. Each and every seller is different and have different comfort levels. First and foremost is putting together a marketing plan that is individual and suits each seller. If you are thinking of selling preparing the home to put it on the market should be considered in terms of time. It can take a couple of months to stage, unclutter and be ready.
In addition to the marketing of your home a listing agent must keep you fully informed about the results of that marketing, showings and offers. Communication is crucial. How would you feel if you put your home on the market and then didn’t hear from your agent – for weeks? Broker Open Houses and public open houses should also be done if you are comfortable with them but my personal belief about Open Houses is that a lot of neighbors come through and if a sign is placed that there is an Open House consumers will stop in because why not. They don’t even know the price of the house when they come from a directional sign.
I also can’t stress the name recognition of the REMAX brand enough. REMAX International has for 30 years worked on brand recognition with TV ads, with sponsorship of the Children’s Miracle Network, with the balloon sponsoring local events. The results of that effort is evident when you look at the numbers of clicks the REMAX brand gets from consumers – 5,000,000/month. REMAX has developed a new website which is international which will translate your marketing into 30 different languages and convert the listing price into different currencies. REMAX is truly global and it is expected that the number of buyers coming into the United States is going to increase substantially in the next few years. Again – the REMAX brand is recognized worldwide.
Experience in negotiating is also crucial because what good is it to market the heck out of your listing, get an offer and then not have the skills to bring the offer to the closing table. Having been a Realtor, Broker and Associate Broker for the past 20 years puts a lot of experience in my arsenal. I am a Certified Residential Specialist (CRS).
The Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) Designation is the professional Designation offered by the Council of Residential Specialists. The CRS Designation is the highest professional designation awarded to REALTORS® in the residential sales field. Fewer than 4 percent of all REALTORS® hold the CRS Designation. I am not just saying it it is documented.
If you want to sell your home, give me a call 504-908-2268. I answer the phone you will not reach a centralized switchboard who will then assign you to an agent. We can structure a marketing plan that is geared to you I will not try to push you into a corporate plan. Many agents will offer you a “free” CMA (comparative marketing analysis) of your property to give you an idea of the price. I believe that anything that is “free” is worth very little. If an agent has to spend time doing a free price analysis how much effort do you believe will actually go into it? If they haven’t even seen your property how accurate could it be? On certain properties it can literally take hours to correctly price. For “free”. Don’t think so.
I look forward to hearing from you,
Miriam Bernstein, CRS
504-908-2268
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