How to Properly Syndicate a Listing, and to Check and See Your Asset as the Public Sees It

All this talk about virtual showings etc. should be old hat. With all the social media out there, how can you not have visually attractive listings that drive traffic? Still, some listings are very lacking. Up to now, it may not have mattered much. But as we work through this 38,000,000 unemployed, it just may. Besides, with the size of real estate commissions, is there any excuse for an agent not giving his seller every opportunity to get a contract?

People go to Zillow. It's just a fact. That may change, but today, that's where they go to shop for homes. I have a great website, but I can only drive them there after they see me on Zillow. Zillow has a program called "Premier Agent". You're a PA if you buy leads. It's not cheap. But I was told early on to drive the referrals, because that's the straw that stirs the drink. More on that in a minute. Since I sold so many homes to the same guys, and renovated them, I really stopped at like 54. But that's enough. It kicks me up there in the algorithms, and even without me paying, and I stopped that years ago. I still get a buyer call once in a while for no other reason than I'm on the site. Ok, Algos.

You hear all this about "computerized trading " in the stock market. Computer code, called algorithms, pick up catch phrases in news releases and buy or sell based on that line of code. Right now, "Fauci" and "Coronavirus" and "Coronavirus Vaccine" make stocks go wild. It's the same concept in these listings. Zillow provides me a 3D home tour, video platform, and other tools where I have to go the extra mile. But they are extremely powerful. It's so dumbed down that, when I've done everything they say, there is a prompt that says "All Star". So, when people are looking in my area, they see my listing first. See the picture? I'm number 1 of 20 homes. Of course, that's only the beginning. You have to answer the phone, handle the call, get them into the listing.

Now, this for the Asset Managers, those folks whose job it is to handle a sale from a manila folder never seeing the listing, depending on people like me and contractors to do their jobs properly at a resonable price. Asset Managers, do you have a problem listing? Here's what I want you to do. In your browser, type in the full address of the property. Then, you see a bunch of hits where Redfin et. al. have syndicated that listing. Go to the Zillow link. That is how the listing looks to John Q. Public. If you've got five grainy photos, that's your problem. That is costing you time and money. You are paying 5 and 6 % to sell that home. It seems to me you have the right to 25 plus professional photos, some clever repartee describing the attributes of your listing, and a high ranking in the search.

Now, this is what you compare it to:

5210 Parker Rd., West Palm Beach, Florida

Put that in the browser. This is a Monday night, Memorial Day, torrential rain. I started the listing Friday, kept tweeking it, and had it fully loaded late Saturday. My video didn't come out, so I went back and retook it Sunday, and I have 599 views, and about 30 saves.

Other sites pull off Zillow, so the better job I do there, the better my listing looks. And I get the calls directly from the buyers many times. Sometimes, agents get lucky when their buyers see me on Zillow and still go through them. Because if they call me, guess what? My job is to get the house sold. And I do my job.

Try this little missive to decrease your time on market, to shake in better offers, and to get a good night's rest. Don't tell anyone you're doing it. Just do it. I'll tell you another secret, all these timed tasks make you and your organization feel better about things, but they don't sell homes. Salesmen sell homes. And the listing is the first step in that process.