Marketing Matters

You may (or may not) have noticed that 2018 has been a very different year than 2017 for real estate. Last year was characterized by multiple offers, rapidly rising home prices, and homes going under contract within hours of being listed, often over asking price. This year has been a bit different, it's still been a strong market, but not nearly as much of a seller's market as last year! The most common question I get asked is "Is the market still hot?" to which I usually reply no, it's still good but not quite the seller's market that it was, knowing that people usually are referring to the market they've heard about over the last few years with the multiple, fast offers.  

But what does all that mean for you? 

If you're buying a house, generally speaking you have more time to actually see homes before they're under contract, sometimes even a whole month rather than just an hour! There's also more inventory, which means more choices and you don't have to settle for the first thing you see. It also means you have more negotiating room as homes sit on the market longer. Plus, when you do put in an offer, you have a much more reasonable chance that it will be accepted, a huge plus for weary buyers.

For sellers & their agents, it means that they can no longer just list their home with no work involved, knowing that they don't need to make much of an effort to sell for top dollar. It also means that it takes more than sticking a sign in the yard and getting it listed on the MLS before they sit back and wait for the offers to roll in.  

So what's a seller's agent to do? 

This is where having a marketing plan comes in. It all starts at the beginning with proper home staging, getting buyers to feel a certain way when they walk into a home. The next crucial step is professional photography, it amazes me how many homes I still see come on the market with photos of a kitchen in disarray, beds unmade, and disasterous bathrooms! Who wants to go see that?! No one, especially when there are more homes to choose from.  

But that's just the beginning. Marketing plans involve other steps - advertising, advertising, and more advertising. In large part most advertising is online because that's where most people spend most of their time. I rarely use print marketing because I haven't found it to be very useful. Think about it, what have you done with all the political flyers you've gotten over the past month? They end up in the recycling with little consideration for what's on them. Plus, it's much harder to send print materials to people who would actually be interested in a particular home. 

So where do I concentrate my online marketing? I market to other agents through facebook and the MLS who work in specific areas and have buyers also looking in those areas. Agents get busy and don't always see the latest listings, so I make sure they see mine! I also use paid advertising on bigger platforms to market straight to potential buyers through Facebook, Google, and Waze. Not all audiences use the same platforms, so I want to be sure to reach as many people as possible!  

Starting with positioning your home in the best possible place through proper pricing and professional services, I see it through to the end with paid advertising, open houses, organic reach, and targeting buyers to make sure the right people see it. That doesn't always mean that it's a prompt process, and it certainly won't be as the market continues its seasonal slow down, but it does mean that I do everything I can to take care of my clients!

I'm looking for new clients who are thinking of buying or selling a home within the next year, if that's you or someone you know, please contact me today! I'd love to show you what I can do for you! Also, I've just started offering free home warranty coverage to my sellers while their homes are on the market, it can help pay for problems that come up during the inspection as well as those unexpected, unwelcome problems - ask me how it works!