How to market real estate

Marte Cliff
writer@marte-cliff.com
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HOME

Gone are the days when a yard sign and an ad in the classifieds will sell your home.

Today successful home sellers must employ a variety of methods and media to reach out and grab that one buyer who will walk in and say "I'm home!"

First in priority: The Internet

According to a 2006 survey by the National Association of Realtors, over 80% of all home buyers are searching the internet before they contact a Realtor - and many are skipping the classifieds altogether. This is up 6% from 2005, so by now the number is probably well over 80%.

Why? Lack of information in traditional media.

Americans are in a hurry - no one wants to waste time calling every ad in the newspaper or Homes magazine to find out the details when they can look at virtual tours instead. And many don't want to talk to a Realtor or home seller until they've narrowed the choices. They simply don't want to waste time looking at homes or property that won't meet their needs or wants. And they sure don't want to sign a buyer agency with someone who may or may not work hard to find them a home.

What does that mean to you as a seller - or you as a Realtor trying to get your listings sold?

It means that your homes must be on the internet, must have a virtual tour or an extensive array of photographs, and must have attention-grabbing copy that allows your prospects to visualize themselves enjoying that house or building on that land.

"3BR, 2BA, family room, garage" simply doesn't cut it any more.

And yet, the majority of real estate ads still don't give much more information than that. Home tours might offer photos of more rooms and state basic facts about the features of the house, but most do nothing to capture the imagination or make a prospect feel that he or she must see that house.

Home sellers can enhance their chances of a timely sale by first choosing an agent willing to work diligently on marketing, and next by providing that agent with good fodder for their marketing copy. In fact, I recommend that agents provide sellers with a list of questions to spark their imaginations and get them started thinking about the benefits their home has to offer.

Example: If you have a large kitchen, open to the living area, what does that mean? How have you most enjoyed that feature? It could mean that your home is always chosen for family get-togethers, or that the cook never feels like a kitchen slave while the rest of the family hangs out in the living room. It could mean that you enjoy cooking as a family and it creates a great bonding time with your kids.

Another Example: Your home office is a feature, but the benefits may be that it allows you to stay well organized. If you work at home it could mean that you are able to shut the door and work even when family is home, knowing that in case of emergency you are close by. It could mean that you can walk out of your office at the end of the day and leave your work behind, so it doesn't interfere with family time.

Many rooms in your home offer specific benefits that you have enjoyed - but your agent won't know about the feelings just by walking through the house and thus won't use them in marketing. It's up to the seller to provide the human feelings component of those ads.

Here's an example - a description I wrote for a home for sale in Omaha.

Classified ads and homes magazines don't allow space for painting word pictures - but the internet does. And you should use that space to the fullest.

In addition to your home tour, utilize services such as Craig's list and join in on real estate forums to drive visitors to your home tour. If you can be included on more than one home tour site, do it. And if you have your own website, be sure to link to your tour.

Some tours are search engine optimized by the site owners, but do help boost your ranking by including relevant keywords in your copy. And if you're putting up your own site, be sure to use sound SEO methods.

Learn more about web copy.

What else should you do?

Yard signs - with brochure boxes attached.

Some buyers still do drive around their favorite neighborhoods in search of a home for sale, so hiding from them is counter-productive.

The flyers in your brochure boxes need to carry on with the same kind of advertising you're using on the internet - painting word pictures that lure those prospects into needing to view the interior of the house. Of course you need to state the basics - the price, square footage, year built, etc. But go beyond that to let them envision life inside that house. Talk about the ways that you enjoy the features they'll find inside.

To paint the best pictures, think of it this way: State a feature, and then say "So what?" After you write down the first answer, keep on with "And that means..." If you keep at it, you'll get down to the real benefits your home offers.

Also, include a photo or two of the most attractive rooms inside and mention things the prospect can't see from the street. Perhaps you have built-in sprinklers or a dog kennel behind the house. Please don't use a large picture of the front that they can clearly see, or tell them that it's a ranch-style or 2-story. That's a silly waste of space. Do include a small picture of the view they can see from the street, just so they can remember which house is which.

Flyers, open houses, and word-of mouth

Send copies of your brochure box flyers to every agent in your market area, hand them out at meetings, give a few to your hairdresser, see if your mortgage lender has a bulletin board for home flyers, and mail them to your friends who live out of town. In other words - get the word out anywhere and everywhere you can. You never know who might know someone looking for exactly what you have to offer.

If open houses "work" in your market, have one every week-end, alternating between Saturday and Sunday to accomodate people of different faiths. Advertise it in the "Open houses" section of your newspaper, post a notice at your church, and tell everyone at work. Again - let everyone know by every means possible.

If you plan to list that house, your choice of an agent is vital.

Choose an agent who is enthused and excited about marketing - one who will take the time to review your notes and then spend a few hours writing the copy for your home tours and your flyers. You want someone who pays careful attention to detail and gets the facts entered correctly, but one with the imagination and willingness to mentally pull those prospects into your home and get them to call for an appointment. You also want an agent with knowledge of basic grammar - or the willingness to make corrections when you point out errors.

Sometimes that means choosing a new agent rather than an old hand - someone whose ego has not become too inflated to pay attention to client requests.

Often the language and style that seasoned Realtors deem "professional" would better be described as "boring." I think they believe their high school English teacher is looking over their shoulders, ready to rap them on the knuckles with a ruler if they start to make it interesting. What they end up with is as useful as an ad for my son's jet black 1986 Iroc Z28 that just says "Old car for sale." (No, sorry, it's not for sale. That's just an example.)

It used to work, so why not now?

Because the internet has changed everything. Just ten years ago it was a novelty. People still called or walked into real estate offices to find a home. They sat down with an agent and talked about what they wanted, and then the agent went through office files and made phone calls to other agents to find homes to show.

That method wasted a lot of time, especially when the information was sketchy, but it's what we had. Now, with buyer prospects making their choices on line before they call an agent or a FSBO seller, homes that aren't well advertised can easily be overlooked.

However - agents do make recommendations to buyers if they think they know the perfect house and if the buyer has rejected his or her original choices. So one of your marketing tasks is to get those agents excited about your house.

I don't know any statistics, but I've seen it happen over and over - when an agent falls in love with a house, he or she will do everything possible to get to be the one to sell it. That means telling every buyer who might possibly be a prospect for that house. For some, it almost becomes an obsession. So market to get those agents in to your house - and then make them fall in love with it.

The showing stage of marketing (or, making them fall in love)

Staging is a relatively new concept too, but unless you have a flair for decorating, it is a wise investment. Professional stagers know how to present every feature of a home at it's best. They know how to arrange color and shape to make every room inviting and allow prospects to feel as if they are welcome and belong there. They even know how to make small rooms appear larger.

Of course, I don't have to tell you that the house must be spic and span and in good repair if you want a good price in a short time frame.

For words that sell, call on Copy by Marte

If you don't like to write, or just don't feel you have the talent for it, call me.

Weaving search engines-friendly keywords into prospect-friendly marketing copy is a challenge I love. And helping you draw out the most compelling benefits of your home is downright fun.

I can provide web copy for your home tours, brochure box flyers, classified ads, and Craig's list copy, as well as the all-important "just listed" letters to your neighborhood and/or sphere of influence.

In fact, I can even set up a web site for you if you want to try selling as a FSBO. To see an example, check out this Diamond Lake home for sale.

Call me at 208-448-1479 or e-mail marte@copybymarte.com.

Yours for success,

Marte