Want a top price for your home? Make marketing a priority
There are three main things involved in selling a property. The first is the listing preparation, which means everything from paint to flooring that gets the home prepped and ready for sale. The next is marketing, and the third is negotiation.
Proper marketing is key to selling a home, and that’s where our team spends some time, ensuring a home is property marketed to get the highest sale price for our clients. There are a lot of professional real estate marketing companies to choose from. Some are big companies; some are small, and some are independent operators. There are also local and national companies that offer photography and videos. Unfortunately, I also see a lot of listings for sale that just use cell phone pictures.
There’s a big difference in sale price between listings that get the bare minimum and homes that are marketed well with agents actively working to not only sell your home, but sell it for top dollar. Now isn’t the time to try and find the cheapest way to market your home. You want to market it well from the beginning, because it really pays off in the end. Here are some of the things we do in terms of marketing:
We believe in quality photographs that show off your home’s best features. We take interior, exterior, and aerial photographs. We also add in some pictures of the neighborhood so potential buyers get a good overview of your home and its location.
Along with still photography, we all do a full video, which also includes the exterior, interior, and aerials shots of your home. If it’s a condo, we include video of building amenities, plus we add in neighborhood and community features to help potential buyers see the nearby lifestyle possibilities.
Something that’s become extremely useful, especially during the pandemic when people couldn’t as easily tour homes, has been the 3D tour. We do them regularly now. It allows potential buyers to see some closeups and be interactive when touring your home and property from their own computer or phone.
It’s one thing to see pictures and a video, but potential buyers are also interested in dimensions. A 2D floorplan allows them to see what the home looks like from above. It helps show the size of different rooms, the floorplan of each level of your home and the land. Even if people have already viewed your home, a 2D floorplan is a good refresher. Any information you can give potential buyers helps them be better informed. If they feel confident with the information you’re giving them, they may be willing to pay a higher price.
Here are some of the other marketing things we do:
Open houses are big. We may bring in cookies from a local bakery or do a fresh taco party. We like to use local businesses to make it fun and allow buyers to see what it feels like to entertain in the home. We feel the more opportunities you can give people to see the home, the better. Don’t settle for just a traditional Sunday open house.
- Doorhangers/postcards/door knocks
We also like to meet the neighbors. We want to introduce ourselves and let them know about your upcoming listing. Sometimes people have relatives or friends interested in moving to the neighborhood and your current neighbors can spread the word. We also use it as an opportunity to potentially gain new clients.
We put all information related to your home listing on our property website. This includes photographs, videos, 3D tours and 2D. We also include the marketing description and any open house dates. To make it even easier for potential buyers, we have a link to our website and an easy-to-use QR code on the sale sign and in key places around the home. This makes it simple for buyers to get all the information they want in one place.
We don’t cut corners when it comes to the front yard “for sale” sign, either. We want buyers to give your home the respect it deserves. Our sign has information about the property website, how to contact us for a showing, any days or “by appointment” viewing information, and how to reach us with any questions. Again, it’s important to give buyers all the information they want, and package it up in a way that shows the beauty of your property.
Any property we list for sale gets listed on the MLS. That’s the database that feeds out to other websites. Our listing coordinator makes sure everything is accurate, including all the videos and other information that goes with your home. If buyers can’t see something, they may pass up the chance to consider your home.
Yet another thing we do is social media. We use our social media, and we invest in other social media to ensure we make your property as visible as possible.
One thing we don’t do is print marketing. We’ve found by the time home listings are printed in a newspaper or magazine they’re sometimes already sold. Plus, because of computers, people just aren’t regularly using these types of services anymore.
Again, my best advice is to spend money for quality marketing and a real estate team that knows how to showcase your property in the best light. It pays off when it’s time to sell and you get a better price for your home.
