Marketing Your House for Sale

Look for an Agent Who Knows Marketing

When selecting a real estate agent to sell your home, find out about their marketing methods. They should expend a reasonable amount of effort to draw attention to your property, especially in the first few weeks when buyer interest is at its strongest.

Don’t hesitate to ask an agent what they will do about marketing your home when you are deciding who to work with. Find out if they have a social media presence and if they post photos and information about the properties. Ask how many open houses they expect to host for your home and if they will host a broker’s open house. This type of open house is for brokers and agents only, but it can increase the amount of interest from buyers when the agents talk to their clients. The more options they have for advertising, the faster your home will sell.

3 Ways to Market Your Own Home

Even when you hire an agent who is good at marketing, you should still do your own advertising. Don’t rely on your agent to do all of the hard work because you have more time to dedicate to the one property and no one knows your home as well as you do. In many cases, an appeal straight from the seller can also capture a buyer’s interest better than what an agent might do.

The following power point presentation will give you three ideas on how you can do your own marketing. Try one or all of these suggestions, and you might become inspired to try something even more unique.

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How to Create a Compelling Video of Your Home

You’ve seen the professional video tours of homes for sale. They often work well to enhance buyer interest. However, when you create a video of your own about your property, you don’t want it to be a generic tour. Instead, you want to take this opportunity to stand out from the crowd and get buyers’ attention.
Get in front of the camera. Let buyers see who is selling them the home. Be real. Talk about your home with emotion rather than like a real estate agent would. While you want to be informative, remember that buyers can find basic data in other places. They are watching the video to learn the story behind your home. Use this opportunity to point out what made you fall in love with the home. Talk about changes you have made over the years or how you found uses for strange crooks and odd corners.
Let buyers get to know your neighborhood. Talk about the park down the street where you took your kids or the fact that most owners who move into the area stay for at least 10 or 15 years. Mention how you and your best friend used to walk around the block and then go for ice cream. These stories will take your home from being just another listing to having character and appeal.

How to Use Social Media to Market Your Home

You’ve heard the advice to promote your home on social media. You may even have created a Facebook page for the property. So, now what do you say and how often do you post?

Learn the Keywords
First, you want your home to come up in local search results, so you have to know which keywords will bring attention to Google. You don’t have to be a professional marketer to know that people use typical terms when they are searching for something. Include those words in your posts about your house. For instance, a common search term would be “house for sale in (city)” that you could include.

Include Photos and Videos
Photos and videos get shared more than just posts, so include plenty of them about your home. Take one or two photos and upload them to your Facebook or Instagram page. Include a caption and a few words describing the photo. Give a video tour and upload it to YouTube. Share the link on other social media sites.

Get Others Involved
Ask your family and friends to share your posts as much as possible. Also, invite interaction by asking questions. You could talk about a specific area and how you used the space. Ask others for suggestions about what they would do.

Post on a regular basis to ensure more people are seeing updates. At least once or twice a day if you have something of value to add would be ideal. Don’t be afraid to ask others for advice about what to include. They may love the walkway that leads up to your house or a side yard with the big tree. Include those elements because they will probably appeal to others as well.

What You Should Know About Hosting an Open House

Open houses are still one of the most effective forms of advertising for a home. If you host an open house, you are more likely to get an offer within a week. To sell your home quickly, you will want to plan an open house and maybe even more than one.

You or the Agent?
Many agents host the open house for their properties, but that doesn’t mean you can’t. If your agent is busy and only has one or two open houses booked, you can offer to host one at other times. They will be glad to have you involved, because they want to sell the property, too.

Plan Ahead
Schedule an open house when other homes are hosting one. You’ll be likely to have more traffic because people are already in the area. Those homes are your competition, so you want buyers to see your property when they are looking at other places.

Clean and Clean Again
Make sure your home is spotless when you host an open house. Potential buyers will be looking in closets, cabinets and everywhere and you want them to see plenty of storage space. Go through your home and declutter as much as you can. Don’t forget to clean carpets and areas you may not always notice.

Provide Information
Ask your agent for extra flyers on your home or create your own. Make sure it includes a lot of valuable information, such as room sizes and utilities. Include a picture of the floor plan and photos so those who visit can remember your property when they are comparing notes.

Answer Questions
People will likely ask you questions about the home if they are interested. Provide thorough answers and a lot of detail, keeping everything as positive as possible. Buyers are more apt to put in an offer on a home they are knowledgeable about.

Cookies and Soda?
Some sellers like to include treats during their open houses. While this isn’t necessary, it’s another way to make your home stand out. Buyers who have been touring multiple homes will probably appreciate a bottle of water at least, and it might be just the thing to make your place more memorable.

An open house can be a lot of fun and let you know what buyers think of your property.

Marketing Dos and Don’ts

If you want to sell your home, you should follow this list of dos and don’ts for marketing your home to potential buyers.

  • DO make sure your home looks its best before taking photos or videos.
  • DO play up your home’s positive features.
  • DO highlight any unusual features that buyers will like.
  • DON’T talk about your home in a negative light even if you think buyers won’t like a feature.
  • DON’T lie about any aspect of your home to make it sound better than it is.
  • DON’T try to hide anything because the buyer, the agent or the inspector will probably uncover the truth before your home sells.
  • DO keep it real and personal. Let buyers see you as a real person who loves their home.
  • DON’T be afraid to try something new to catch buyers’ attention. Even if you’ve never been in front of a camera, consider making a video or try something else that is unusual and will catch people’s attention.
  • DO include any historical facts or stories about your house that will appeal to buyers – just make sure it isn’t scary or too strange.

Marketing isn’t just for professionals. Homeowners can learn how to share photos and facts about their homes to help it sell faster and for top dollar.