Real Estate Investing

When you’re ready to sell your home, thinking beyond running an ad in the Sunday paper is what it’ll take to get a contract.  Although many agents and “for sale by owner” homes are still found in the Sunday paper and in supermarket real estate books, a staggering 85 percent of buyers today turn to the Internet when looking for a house.  Online, buyers have the opportunity to look at interior and backyard photos, read about additional features like whether the yard has a fence and marble counters, and find directions so they can drive by they neighborhood before making an appointment to tour.

A good marketing effort will certainly focus on online, but a well-rounded program will also include some tried and true methods.  Here are my Top 10 ways to market a home. 

1. Put a brochure box in front of the home for flyers that will include basic information like number of beds and baths, interior photos, square footage, and contact information for a personal tour.  Make sure the box is never empty!
2. The local MLS is perhaps the single biggest boost to any listing.  Be sure the information is accurate, honest, and please-for-the-love-of-buyers include photos.  If you don’t they’ll pass you right by because honestly your words aren’t that eloquent that they’ll pull in a buyer without a photo.
3. Use Postlets.com.  This fantastic site is easy-to-use and will promote your listing at many other online places like Trulia, Zillow, and GoogleBase. 
4. This ties in with Postlets, but once Trulia picks it up your listing will go to Trulia Snapshot.  This is one of the most awesome, amazing, coolest sites I’ve ever seen.  Go there immediately.  Do not pass go.  Do not collect $200.  It’s that good.
5. Develop a web page just for the listing at Freewebs.com.   Here’s a sample page by Theresa from my office, done for one of her listings.  I admit I haven’t done this yet mostly because I blog about my listings.
6. Write a blog.  It doesn’t have to be about real estate, but can focus on your family, your neighborhood, your town.  I’ve met a lot of great friends from hosting a blogsite (though I often call it a “site” because blog is such an icky word). My community blog has a real estate section where I feature my listings … some listings I’ve gained because I show that I care about my community.
7. Make business cards for your home.  Include an outside photo of the home and other basic features.  Give the cards to the home seller and ask them to hand them out to their friends, colleagues, and neighbors. 
8. Curb appeal.  The house MUST look good on the outside to attract buyers to the inside.  This isn’t necessarily the job of your Realtor, but a neat, well-kept appearance will go far to promote your listing.
9. Host a Realtor home tour because another agent is probably who will bring your buyer.  We have office caravans every week, but hosting a luncheon is an option to make other agents feel welcome.
10. Finally, Animoto is one of my favorite online sites.  I’ve opted to pay the $30 p/year fee for an unlimited amount of “long-version” videos, made by uploading still photos and selecting music.  Here’s an example of one of my listings.

Good luck and happy selling!