What’s the biggest factor in choosing a real estate agent to sell your home?
According to a study done by the National Association of Realtors, the number one thing home sellers want from their agents is to “Help the seller market their home to potential buyers.”
Yet most real estate agents are marketing their clients’ properties as if they were stuck in the dark ages… they subscribe to the “3 Ps of selling homes.” They put a sign in the yard, put the listing in the MLS, and pray that it sells. And while that may have worked 20 years ago, it's no longer relevant and I believe you deserve a lot more.
Syndicating listings (agents sharing listings with Zillow, Trulia, realtor.com and other third-party portals) isn’t enough either and truth be told, hitting the “syndicate” button does nothing to actively market a clients’ home.
So is there a better way? I believe there is, and my clients agree.
The marketing plan for my client's property is always different and always multifaceted. It depends so much on the property, and oftentimes the clients themselves. So trying to sum up a single process would be difficult. But I can tell you one crucial step I use no matter the home or the seller.
I build an online marketing “platform” that works for us 365 days a year 24-7, and the center of this platform is impeccable photography.
When over 90% of traffic is going to come from buyers who have seen your home online, why are there still agents using their phones to take grainy photos in a dark room?
On every property that I represent for sale, my photographers take professional photographs throughout the home and property. They use different lenses and lighting depending on the look and personality of the home that I want to feature for the marketing materials.
Photos are taken on a tripod with professional Canon cameras and we use a combination of natural light, studio strobes and speedlights, to fill the shots with the definition and ambiance that sells property.
Then, each photo is processed through Lightroom and Photoshop. Any spots on the floor, or curtains that may not hang correctly are edited along with the exposure and color. Photos are cropped and resized for optimization and only then - added to your home's marketing package.
Some photos are actually a combination of up to 15 different images, each highlighting a specific area of the shot. Then, these images are combined in Photoshop for one stunning image.
Not only does this extra effort make your home look amazing online, but great photos are more likely to be shared on social media sites, so you might see photos of your own home in places you'd never imagine!
Take a look at the other homes that are for sale online and judge for yourself. We're all drawn to beautiful photos and we tend to skim quickly past those that we don't identify with as being well done.
For most of us, our homes are our largest investment. So, don't trust the sale of yours to anyone that doesn't insist on quality from the very beginning.
Call Don anytime to discuss how his exclusive marketing team can help you get your home SOLD! (602) 919-8471
