Real Estate Marketing 101: Tips and Tricks for Selling Your Home

Selling your house is one of the most stressful things you will ever do, and dealing with real estate agents can sometimes add to that stress. However, unless you want to take on the task of selling your house yourself and completely forego working with a real estate agent, you may have to put up with some level of inconvenience to get your house sold.

This article is designed to help you understand that until the contract is signed and the house is sold, it is still your house. You own it and have lived in it, so you know it better than anyone else – the features, quirks, positive and negative aspects, everything. You definitely know it better than a real estate agent (no matter how much experience he or she may have in your area). You’ve lived in the house, so you have the insight and expertise to make sure that it is marketed correctly.

WHY YOU NEED TO STAY ENGAGED IN MARKETING YOUR HOUSE

When selling a house, many people think that once they sign the listing contract, they are done and the real estate agent will take care of everything else. They hand over total control of the marketing of their house to the agent and wait for it to sell. This means that everything from what features are highlighted, to what pictures are taken, what verbiage is used in ads and which websites an ad is placed on are now controlled by the real estate agent. The seller trusts the real estate agent to market the house and present it in its most positive light.

While the real estate agent will hopefully do his best to sell your house, the reality is that your house is likely just one of many that he has listed. The agent will try to present the house positively, but he will not spend all his time on marketing just your house. He has others in various stages of the sales process and he also has to continue to fill his sales funnel. Once the listing contract is signed, he may likely hand off the rest of the sale of your house to an associate or other agent in the office. If this happens, unless you are engaged in the marketing of your house, features that should be highlighted may be missed.

Many people forget that the real estate agent works for you. You pay his commission, so you own the relationship with the agent. He can make suggestions, but you ultimately have the final approval of what is done to market your house. Taking this approach makes you an active participant in the selling process and will help you sell your house much quicker than it might otherwise take.

One final point. You need to realize that once you have decided to sell your house, it really is no longer your home anymore. It is now one of many houses on the market for sale. In order for it to sell quickly, you need to present your house in as positive a light as possible. You want to make it easy for a potential buyer to see the house as they visualize it, not how you currently have it furnished and decorated. Remember, you are competing not only against other existing houses on the market, but also against brand new houses being built, so you want your house to be shown in the best possible manner.

Here are some tips and tricks to help you manage the relationship with your real estate agent, prepare your house for showing and take control of your marketing to help your house sell faster.

MANAGING YOUR REALTOR RELATIONSHIP

• No one has a greater interest in selling your house than you do, so do not be afraid to take an active part in of selling your house.
• Regardless of what you were told by the real estate agent when you listed your house with him, while to you it is the most important sale, to him it is only one of many listings that he currently has working. It is important to him only in that he will make commission from the sale.
• Realize that you will not receive his undivided attention, so if you want your house to sell quickly, you need to take some control of the situation; you cannot sit back passively and expect your house to sell quickly.
• Before you list your house with a real estate agent, ask him for a list of references of previous houses he has sold that you can contact. Do not let him cherry pick and provide you with only certain references, you should be able to see a total list and randomly pick some to call to find out how pleased (or not) they were with his services.
• Remember that the real estate agent works for you, so do not to be afraid to remind him of that fact and make him work to earn his commission.
• Commissions are negotiable. Although 6% may be the standard, if the real estate agent asks you to lower your selling price, you should ask him to lower his commission as well.
• Some fees are negotiable as well, so ask your real estate agent to disclose which fees are fixed and which are not.
• If the real estate agent tells you that the only tool he has to sell your house is to lower the price, you need to think very seriously about finding another agent, as he is not interested in selling your house, he just wants to turn it quickly. He will not go out of his way to try and sell it based on anything other than a low selling price.
• Call your real estate agent frequently, as this keeps you top of mind. If possible, get all of his contact information (office number, cell number, etc.) so that you are able to reach him as required.
• When you first list your house with a real estate agent, ask him to show you his marketing plan for your house. Many agents will show you a document with a lot of activities listed, but they do not always do all of those activities. Be sure and get clarification on what exactly he plans to do for your house.
  1. As many real estate agents have quite extensive plans that they show you, but often do not implement, ask him what the process is if you are not satisfied with the results. While this may not change anything, it will at least put him on notice that you intend to keep a close eye on things.
• After you have listed your house, contact your real estate agent on a regular basis and ask him what he is doing to actively market your house.
• Ask your real estate agent to do things that he may not have done before (such as create new brochures, rewrite verbiage in ads, place new ads, etc.).
• Follow up with your real estate agent to ensure that he does what he says he will do (as many agents will tell you something simply to get you off their back and then never follow through).
• Don’t be afraid to be a pain in the ass to the real estate agent. This is basically using the squeaky wheel syndrome to your advantage – the more “pain” you cause, the more the agent will want to get rid of you and work to facilitate that taking place (i.e., selling your house).
• Don't be afraid to call the real estate agent every day and ask what he is doing for you. He works for you and will earn a lot of money from the commission, so make him earn it. Signing a listing agreement and putting your house on the MLS and maybe a few websites is not doing enough to sell your home.
• If your real estate agent and/or his agents are not showing your house, ask him why not, as they should be the ones leading the way in trying to sell your home.
• Ask your real estate agent if he has connections with the local chamber of commerce, relocation firms, etc. who may know of people relocating or moving into the area who may be looking for a house like yours.
• Ask your real estate agent to hold a broker's open house (this is where brokers from different agencies come in to see the house), as this increases exposure for your house among other real estate agencies.
• Ask your real estate agent to hold an open house at least once every 3-4 weeks. True, these are really used more by the agent to gain new clients than for someone to come in, see your house and want to buy it, but you never know, it may create a buyer.
• Ask your real estate agent what online real estate sites he is on. If he is not on the top sites (Realtor.com, Trulia, Zillow, etc.), then you need to find out why and get him to put your listing on those sites.
  1. Ask your real estate agent what level of participation he has on the various real estate sites. Different levels allow different amounts of verbiage, photos, etc.
• Communication is key, so tell your real estate agent if you don’t like something he is doing (or not doing) or have questions or concerns.
• Don’t be afraid to call your real estate agent’s broker if you are not pleased with something and your agent has not adequately addressed that issue.
• If your house is on the market a long time, ask your real estate agent to pull new comps to make sure that your house is still priced correctly for the current market.

PREPARING YOUR HOUSE FOR SHOWING – INTERIOR

• Fix or replace any broken items in your home before you place it on the market.
• Before showing your house, remove as much furniture as you can (that you do not need/use regularly) to help your rooms and spaces look larger. You may need to rent a storage unit or have a moving company help you with this.
• Ensure all appliances work.
• Your real estate agent should provide you with a professional home stager to give you suggestions on how to best stage your house for sale. If he does not, ask him to provide one for you.
  1. The stager will help you “stage” each room to show the function or highlight a feature.
  2. Most stagers will try to use as much of your furniture and/or furnishings as possible, but if necessary, a stager may even suggest renting some pieces. Remember, the end goal is to help you sell your house quickly, so don’t balk at that idea. The stager will also give you ideas (such as placing a book on a couch to denote a reading space, or a throw blanket over a chair to show a comfortable space, etc.).
• De-clutter and de-personalize your house before you put it on the market. Take down personal items, family pictures, knick-knacks, etc. so that the client is able to view the house as it could be for them, not as you currently have it.
  1. This is especially important to do before any pictures or videos are taken of your house that will be placed online, as those pictures and videos are the first impression that potential buyers will see, so you want to present it in the best possible manner.
• Repaint any surfaces or walls that need repainting.
• If you have any bold paint colors on your walls, tone them down by painting with a more neutral color (you may have to put a primer coat on first before the new color, to prevent bleed-through). This helps potential buyers visualize the house as they would like it, instead of how you have it.
• The same thing goes for anyplace you have a strongly patterned wallpaper, consider removing it and painting the wall with a neutral color.
• Make sure that all of your interior light fixtures are clean and that the bulbs are not burned out.
• Always be sure and clean your house on a regular basis between showings, as this makes it much easier to clean right before a showing.
• Before you have a showing, you should vacuum your house, wipe down counter tops and surfaces, throw out trash, remove (or hide) clutter from your daily living, etc.
• Natural light is a big selling point, so be sure that all blinds on your windows are clean and either drawn up to the top or are open. Also, open or pull back any curtains that you have on windows.
• Once you begin showing your house, unless your fireplace is your primary source of heat, don’t use it. Vacuum it out and keep in clean instead. If you have a fireplace grate or glass doors on the opening, be sure that they are clean or polished.
• Before any showing, be sure and remove pet food bowls, bedding, toys, etc. from the house. Put them in your garage, your car, or somewhere out of the way so that it is not obvious you have pets. If you have outside pets, you should also clean any pet droppings in the yard up before a showing.

PREPARING YOUR HOUSE FOR SHOWING – EXTERIOR

• Street appeal is critical. Make sure your yard makes a great first impression.
  1. Mow your lawn.
  2. Trim your bushes.
  3. Plant flowers to provide some splashes of color.
  4. Trim trees so that you can clearly see your house when you drive up.
  5. If you have trees and shrubs that are close to the house, make sure they are trimmed back and do not encroach the house, block the sidewalks or windows, etc.
  6. If your house needs painting, do it.

• The home stager should walk around your house and also give you ideas and suggestions for ways to improve the curb appeal of your home.
• If you have gutters, clean them out.
• If your fence needs repairing, fix it.
• If your roof is in sad shape, either repair/replace it or be prepared to negotiate some sort of discount for that item at closing time (which could come in the form of you having to pay the buyer the cost of the repair or you having to reduce your selling price.
• If you have a front porch and there is room, place a small flowering plant or shrub on a little table to help brighten up the porch area.
• If your house needs to be power-washed, do it.
• If your driveway has stains on it, have it cleaned or power-washed. If it needs to be patched, fix it.
• Remove all window screens and have your windows professionally cleaned, as this shows the windows better, lights in more light and will make a better impression both inside and outside. Leave the screens off the windows as that will make the windows look nicer when showing your house.
• Make sure that all of your exterior light fixtures are clean, all glass is clean and that the light bulbs are not burned out.

MARKETING YOUR HOUSE

• Ask your real estate agent to take both still pictures and videos of your house to be used online. Pictures are great, but video provides another, more engaging way to showcase your home.
  1. NOTE: Make sure that when the pictures/videos are taken that it is a bright, sunny day so that natural light will shine in through the windows.
  2. Pictures taken on gray or rainy days do not feature your home as well.

• Also, turn on every light inside your house to help showcase all the features of your home in the pictures/videos.

• Be sure that your real estate agent hires a professional photographer to take pictures of your house. Do not let him take the pictures/videos himself (it’s amazing how many bad pictures you find online, clearly taken by a non-professional). A professional knows how to frame the picture, which will help your house look good online and make a better first impression.
  1. If there are specific pictures that you want taken, be sure and tell the photographer.
  2. Be sure and review the pictures after they are taken, but before they are placed online, to be sure you agree with which ones will be used.

• If you do not like one or more pictures, tell the real estate agent not to use them.

• If you have a better picture that you have taken (but it must be of equal quality to the pictures taken by the photographer), tell your real estate agent to either replace one that was taken with your picture, or tell him to add it in to the selection.

• The online real estate listing sites have various limits (depending on which site) on how much text/video/images can be placed on a listing. Make sure that your real estate agent is not using just a generic listing across all of the online sites. You need to take advantage of the maximum amount of exposure that each site will provide.
  1. You may opt to write different verbiage for different online sites, instead of using the same verbiage across all of them. This also helps track where visitors are coming from, allowing you to know which sites are working and which are not.
• Ask your real estate agent if his photographer will use a drone to take pictures and videos of your home from above. This provides a different perspective on your house, how it is located in your lot, how it looks from above, how your neighborhood looks from above, etc. and provides another way to differentiate your house from all the others on the market.
• Your real estate agent should create marketing materials that are specific to your house. If he does not, ask him to develop them. This should include material such as your MLS listing, a one-pager or brochure on your house, signage for your yard, information on your neighborhood and general area, etc.
• Read through every piece of marketing material that the real estate agent creates. Check for spelling errors, punctuation errors, factual errors. It is your house, so you want it to be properly represented.
• Your real estate agent should place a For Sale sign in your yard, as this is often the first thing that people see. During Open Houses he should also place signs around and outside your neighborhood to direct traffic to your home.

SHOWING YOUR HOUSE

• Make your house available for showings at any time of the day, night, weekdays or weekends. Many potential buyers often have limited time to view houses and if yours is not available, they will skip it and go to the next one on their list and will likely not come back to see yours. Inflexibility can potentially cost you a sale.
• Real estate agents typically make appointments to show your house, so you know when they are going to arrive. Prior to their arrival, turn on all the lights, open the blinds or curtains, straighten things up.
• Do not stay at home when a real estate agent is showing a potential buyer your house. Leave the house and let the agent show it to his client.
• Your real estate agent should follow up on any showings that your house has had and provide you with detailed feedback (are they interested or not, considering making an offer or not, what their timeframe is if interested, etc.) within 48 hours. If he does not, call him and ask why not.
• Depending on where you live, when real estate agents show clients your home, they often leave a business card in your house. If your real estate agent does not provide you with feedback within a day or two of a showing, feel free to reach out to the showing real estate agent directly (although this is frowned upon by your real estate agent, of course) and ask them how their client liked your house, are they interested in it, etc. Explain that you are the owner and have not heard anything back, so are reaching out directly since they left their card.

FOR SALE BY OWNER

• If you are not satisfied with a real estate agent selling your house, another option is to sell it yourself. For-sale-by-owner (FSBO) offers you a path to selling your house by yourself and save a lot of money in commissions that would typically be paid to a real estate agent. There are any ways to do this (look online). Typically you are able to get your listing in the MLS and on the major real estate websites, find lawyers to assist with legal requirements, etc. Doing this may save you a lot of money, but you have to be willing to do the work yourself, so there is a significant time factor involved.

SELLING PRICE

• Be willing to negotiate on the price. While you want to get the most money possible when selling your house, there comes a point when you begin effectively losing money due to the length of time your house has been on the market. This is known as the “opportunity cost”, i.e., what you lose due to not being able to move on to the next stage of life or opportunity (your new job you need to relocate for, being closer to family, etc.).
• If you receive an offer that is close to what you want, you can always counter with a higher price than was offered and see if it is accepted.
• If you receive an offer that is within a few percent of your asking price, it may be worth your time to accept it, sell the house and move on with your life.
• Price your house right. Your real estate agent will provide you with competitive information on comparable houses with similar features (“comps”) that have recently sold in your neighborhood. He may also provide information on current listings on the market and will use that to help suggest your selling price. You can also do your own research online to gather that type of information. Use this info to develop a realistic selling price. You may love your house more than any other you’ve ever owned, but to a buyer it is one of many on the market, so pricing it right makes you competitive and keeps you in the market, instead of eliminating you from consideration.

MARKETING TACTICS YOU CAN DO YOURSELF

• Don’t be afraid to develop your own marketing materials and leave them in your house for people looking at your home during showings. Creating your own materials does not have to be expensive (we created our own personalized marketing folder that we put in a 2-pocket folder with a picture of our house glued to the front cover). This helps personalize your house and make it memorable (as clients often see numerous houses on the same day, so recalling one house is often difficult). This can include information such as:
  1. The marketing brochure (the one the realtor created, or your own if they don’t create one)
  2. Additional pictures that were taken but not used
  3. Additional pictures you have taken that showcase a specific aspect or area of your home
  4. A list of what you especially love about your home or what makes it special to you
  5. A list of or information on any upgrades you’ve made
  6. Features of your home
  7. Information on your neighborhood, schools, shopping, utilities, etc.
  8. If you are comfortable doing so, put a personalized note into the packet thanking them for viewing your home and considering it as their next home
  9. You may even want to provide your name and phone number for them to call if they have any questions they would like to ask about the home.

• Regardless of what you may be told by your real estate agent, old-fashioned marketing tactics still work to help sell your house, as they make it feel more comfortable and memorable.
  1. Bake cookies (which makes the house smell nice) and leave them out on a tray during showings.
  2. Turn on all the lights to make it look warm and inviting.
  3. Place flowers in the dining room, bathroom, living room, etc. to brighten up the space.
  4. Make sure that all appliances, surfaces, etc. are clean and shiny, as that is a mark of a well-kept home.
  5. Make sure that your house is neat and clean.

• If you use social media, place some general information on your home (like a picture of your house and the URL to your listing on realtor.com) on the social media sites you frequent (such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest) and ask people to share it. You never know where a buyer may find your home, so this helps increase your reach and exposure.
• Tell your friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, etc. that you are selling your house and ask them to tell their friends and contacts. Your personal network may have a larger reach than you realize.
• Send information on your house to your personal (not professional) email list and ask people to pass that information along to anyone who may be interested, or who may know someone who is interested in a house in your area.

By taking an active role in the sale of your house and by following some (or all) of the above suggestions, you will help position your house for a much quicker sale.

Good luck in selling your house!

? 2016 - Richard Hatheway – All Rights Reserved

This content is copyrighted by Richard Hatheway and cannot be reproduced or shared without prior expressed written permission from Richard Hatheway.