We all practice rhythms. It’s our own personal standard operating procedure, I get it! For me, the alarm goes off, climb out of bed, scrub the grime off my teeth … all before I’ve left the comfort of my room. Yet, for all the predictability of how my day starts, rarely does the rest of my day stay on the schedule I set for it. Real Estate is much the same.
“I’ve always believed that it’s important to show a new look periodically,” advised T Boone Pickens, American financier and former chair of the hedge fund BP Capital Management. “Predictability can lead to failure.”
In recent years, home sellers have been at a distinct advantage. With low inventory and high demand came lazy listing prep and minimal marketing strategy. Realtors became accustomed to circus lines at open houses and snapping a few pics for the MLS on their cell phones.
Historic lows of available houses and acceleration of people seeking real estate licensure has created the perfect storm of chaos not prepared, willing or knowledgeable about how to use tried-and-true methods combined with new technology to increase needed exposure to push a house to the top of the sought after list.
Staging: When you’re selling your home, you want it to look its absolute best for potential buyers. Staging a home makes it more appealing visually and allows potential homebuyers to envision how the home might look once they move in to it. Home staging is also beneficial because potential buyers don’t want to see work that needs to be done upon moving into the home. Action items to remember: Clean, Declutter, Depersonalize, Add Freshness, Define Rooms & Their Purpose, Neutralize Walls, Replace Old Flooring, Open Window Coverings & Turn on Lights.
Professional Photographs: According to ShootToSell Photographer, Ben Accinelli, homes that use a professional photographer for their listing on average sell $11,000 over market value and sell 50% faster than homes with standard photos. Studies have shown that 98% of homebuyers judge whether or not to walk through a property by first seeing the listing photos online.
MLS: A multiple listing service (MLS) is a database established by cooperating real estate brokers to provide data about properties for sale. An MLS allows brokers to see one another’s listings of properties for sale with the goal of connecting homebuyers to sellers. Review and proofreading of the information posted is essential and proper, plus enticing, descriptions encourage interest.
Open Houses: A traditionally recognized Open House model allows interested buyers to take their time looking at the house and surrounding property, rather than a shorter one-on-one appointment with a broker. Post-Covid, this is an additional way for showing agents to limit the number of people in proximity to one another and still have buyer’s able to tour. HGTV has given rise to knowledge of the Broker Open which is limited Realtor invitees and is a way to advertise it to directly to a network of real estate industry contacts (who hopefully have a buyer they can call).
Reverse Marketing: Reverse marketing is the concept of marketing in which the listing agent is able to search for buyers’ agents who have created criteria the selling agent’s property matches. By identifying these contacts, an agent can directly connect assuring that the listing wasn’t missed as well as offer to arrange for a personal tour.
Supra Key Notification: These secure boxes send an email to the Supra Box owner (the agent) when the key is accessed. This email provides the name and contact info for who is entering the home. Not only does this provide a level of comfort to the homeowner, the information can be used to immediately offer information to the buyer representative as well as request feedback. Open lines of communication and teamwork lead to successful transactions.
Facebook Marketplace, TikTok, Instagram: Today’s buyer is savvy, they want immediate communication when asking questions and they demand as much visual information as possible. Likewise, these platforms assure the seller that if someone didn’t see their home, it was because they weren’t really looking to find it.
On TV, Realtors are often represented as showing 2-3 houses and turning up at closing, when in reality, it’s not unheard of for an agent to tour upwards of 20 homes with a single buyer. That’s a lot for anyone to digest and makes it all the more important that every means possible be used to increase the exposure of your home for sale. Agents that rely only on technology are missing out on just as many leads as those that are still using the successful steps of the last century.