Marketing yourself effectively as an upcoming real estate agent is a steep uphill battle, especially when your main competition is the industry’s big wigs. These big industry names enjoy the advantages of massive marketing budgets and many staff members who can be at several places doing different tasks at once.
However, do not be discouraged because there many budget-friendly marketing strategies and ideas that can help you stand out and beat them at their own game. An excellent point to start is by offering your clients personalized realtor experiences that help build trust, generate leads, and have your listing sold. Here is a list of effective marketing practices that will help you sell homes faster.
List it on your state’s MLS
The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is a powerful competing tool that levels the playing field to allow even the newest and smallest realtor in town to compete with the largest multi-state firms.
The modern MLS software enables you to find brokers and real estate agents of potential buyers and facilitates information on properties and appraisals. Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia, and Redfin are all alternatives to an MLS that provide access to listings, but few offer the comprehensive data found in an MLS. An MLS provides multiple benefits to realtors and their respective clients, including
- Access to a wealth of exclusive information on homes in your area.
- It facilitates greater exposure for the property to ensure it is sold promptly.
- It helps you understand the rules and best practices of selling real estate.
- It helps to foster mutually beneficial relationships with other agents and brokers.
Create Social or Digital Marketing Campaigns
Top social media and digital marketing channels help create buzz, grow your brand, endorse listing, and raise a home’s visibility. A few you can utilize these channels include:
- Sharing property photos on Instagram as well as periodic updates. To harness Instagram’s full marketing potential, use stunning visuals, targeted hashtags, catchy captions, tag the location, and the neighborhood. You can also run paid Instagram ads with demographic targeting to reach more potential buyers.
- List the property you are selling on Facebook Marketplace
- Create an email list and create a newsletter that highlights new property listings and local news reports. Ensure the subject lines are catchy, exciting, and relevant to enhance your marketing efforts by increasing the email-open rate.
- Your business needs a Twitter profile, which you can use to engage with other real estate companies and potential clients looking to sell or buy real estate. Use Twitter’s search to find trending hashtags to use in your posts.
- Other online mediums like blogging and search engine optimization are effective ways to attract your targeted clients.
Build a System for Networks
Selling real estate successfully relies heavily on building human connections that make all parties involved feel safe throughout the transaction. You can start by meeting your clients in person and getting to understand what they want.
To build a sincere human connection after a sale, make sure you stay in touch with both clients, increasing your chances of getting referrals and growing your network. About 90% of buyers agree that they would use their realtor again or recommend them to their fellows.
Word-of-mouth referrals are invaluable, and it is not a surprise that 39% of sellers found a realtor through these kinds of referrals from family and friends. Enhance your networking efforts by getting involved in community-based projects and collaborating with other local businesses when hosting open houses. Partnering with local companies encourages more potential buyers to visit the open house and effectively promote your listings.
Prepare the House for Sale
Many buyers shy away from staging their homes because it is a high-cost investment. Even better, you can now save time and money by producing a home virtually. However, it is a worthwhile investment that offers many benefits, such as
- Creates a great first impression in photos
- Shows a home in its best light by highlighting its best features and possibly hiding drawbacks
- It allows prospective buyers to visualize themselves living in that house and thus connecting with the home on an emotional level.
- It may keep buyers on the property for longer by presenting them and the agent with furniture to sit and chat.
Other than staging the home, it essential that buyers get what they see online. Not to forget that most buyers will not make an offer until they have physically walked through and inspected a property.
Thus, do not forget to mention any unresolved problems, necessary renovations, or particular beforehand. Also, remember that any material defects and hazards around the home must be disclosed to buyers in writing before closing.
Comparative Market Price Analysis
Before listing a home, you need to determine its actual value. Begin by looking at other homes that have been recently sold in the area and compare them to yours. Look at the size, location, number of rooms, features as well as the price and prevailing market conditions at the time of sale.
Another important factor to consider is how different markets can vary, especially in big cities. For example, homes for sale in Phoenix, Arizona will be much different than homes in Tucson or Flagstaff, AZ. The same can be said for suburban areas in Chicago vs. real estate in downtown Chicago.
This analysis is a tool that proves whether your home is rightfully priced and evidence that it offers something that the other listed homes in the area do not. Quoting the right sale price helps position the property better. Overpricing your home is a costly mistake that will result in unfavorable price reductions, which affects your marketing efforts.
Therefore, it is incredibly essential for you to have legitimate reasons for pricing a home, and avoid using online home valuations as your final listing price.
Price Negotiation
The process of price negotiation requires you to understand the market and the home’s position within the market. Using the comparative market analysis to land on an asking price before listing sets you up for successful negotiations.
To make it easier on yourself, ensure that you are ready for the most challenging questions a buyer could ask, and remember you are a buffer; so, be prepared to protect the seller against any confrontations during negotiation. It would help to understand a buyer’s perspective and satisfy them while acting in the seller’s best interest.
You also have to be aggressive during negotiations, and work towards a win-win situation where the buyer wants the property for a particular price that the seller is willing to accept.
Time on Market
Selling a home requires patience and balance. There is not a specific way to determine the amount of time it will take to sell a home, but there are several factors you can look at to create a range that will act as a great planning tool throughout the marketing and selling process. The factors below are some that you should keep in mind
- The prevailing market conditions. When conditions are favorable, selling is easy and fast, but when the markets take a hit, it becomes difficult to sell, increasing the house’s time on the market.
- Property condition and appeal determine how fast or slow it moves on the market.
- Houses in good neighborhoods with multiple amenities, low crime rates, good school districts, and convenient transport routes sell faster.
- Mismatched list price and appraiser value during escrow may slow down the sale and increase the time a property is on the market.
Conclusion
Now you have marketing ideas that will help you impress potential customers and entice them to work with you. Combining these with a real estate marketing plan will help you to set clear goals and boost your real estate property sales. Lucky for you, there are multiple ways you can now market property that allows fast and efficient sales.
