Before You Sell Your Home, Read This

Okay, you have cleaned your home until it shines, you have packed up all the clutter, fixed anything that needs to be fixed and now you are ready to start interviewing agents. While there have been reams of information written about how to interview real estate agents, I would like to share my viewpoint on the Realtor marketing aspect of this topic as Sellers always seem to worry about how their home will be marketed. Let us look at some of the ways Realtors market homes and see which ways might be the most effective.

Note: Statistics quoted below are taken from the 2010 National Association of Realtors Profile of Home Buyer and Seller Statistics: Information Used in A Home Search.

• Newspaper Advertising — Sellers always seem to want to see a print ad of their home. Print advertising is not the most effective way to market a home. Newspaper subscriptions have been on a decline in recent years. — Only 9 % of homes buyers used the newspaper in their home search.
• Homes Books or Magazines - This would be yet another means of print advertising and only 6% of home buyers use this method in their home search.
• Open Houses — While newer Realtors may welcome open houses as a vehicle to obtain buyer leads, only 12% of home buyers used open houses in their home search .
• Yard Signs — 22% of home buyers used yard signs in their home search. Condo associations in Pelican Bay do not allow yard signs, so if you are selling a condo, 22% of the home buyers might not find your residence.
• Real Estate Agents — 69% of home buyers used a real estate agent in their search for a home.
• Internet - A whopping 74% of home buyers used the Internet in their search for a home.

In my opinion, today’s market requires a Realtor to be brutally upfront with a Seller in regards to setting the listing price. NO amount of marketing will sell an over priced property. If a Seller’s property is priced correctly, you can see from the information above that a real estate company needs a strong Internet presence. The individual agent also needs to have extensive knowledge about Internet marketing and their own strong Internet presence.

Pictures of homes for sale are a HUGE component in Internet marketing. The Sunshine MLS for years has only allowed 8 photos of a property to be attached to the listing. As of the beginning of June, 24 photos will be able to be added to each listing. How many agents will be updating the photos on their listing when the change happens? If you currently have your home listed, do you know how your photos look in the MLS? Some photos of listings are so bad that a group page was created to showcase these photos on FaceBook at Really Bad MLS Photos.

Here’s an example of the virtual tour I created for one of my listings that has 32 photos. This tour not only shows photos of the home but also shows photos of the subdivision and important amenities of Pelican Bay. Ask yourself if you were an out of town buyer looking at a listing in Pelican Bay that just showed 8 photos of the inside of one home vs 32 photos of another home, which one do you think you would want to see?

Should you be thinking of selling your home in Pelican Bay and want a candid assessment of what it would take to sell your home in todays market, I would be happy to provide you with a free market evaluation. Feel free to call me at 239-594-2780 or e-mail me at Lynn@NaplesBuys.com

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