Let’s suppose for a moment that I’m not a Realtor, but a regular person considering listing my home for sale. There are essentially two options: List the home by myself (For Sale by Owner, or FSBO, often pronounced and referred to as “Fizzbo”), or list with a licensed real estate agent. Through FSBO, an opportunity to save money exists by cutting closing cost fees such as commissions. But usually compromised along the way is prospective buyer exposure given that most FSBO’s lack the marketing and advertising resources available to a Realtor, such as the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).
In the current gloomy housing market, which on average requires 15 showings per home to generate one contract, the necessity to attract the maximum amount of buyers is paramount and arguably more important than saving commission fees.
Now that I have been wooed away from selling my home FSBO, it’s time to hire a qualified Realtor. First off, all affiliated Realtors have access to the MLS; perhaps the most important means of advertising, offering all of your home’s pertinent information on a platform where all Realtors can see, match and share with their clients.
Being a technology enthusiast, I’d be leery of a Realtor who still solely relies on print advertising, open houses, flyer boxes attached to yard signs, direct mailers and casual word of mouth. These are usually the same people who believe that Facebook is reserved only for time-wasting college-age slackers, and who also think a Tweet refers to the communication between birds at a bird feeder.
Instead, I would demand to see proof of how a Realtor plans to effectively advertise and market my property on the World Wide Web. If he or she is not prominently using at least five websites with which to market, then…NEXT! Conversely, if a Realtor has access to a mobile phone app allowing him the ability to share my home’s information with a simple tap of his smart phone, then I’m intrigued because clearly that agent has his finger on the pulse of the vehicle that is driving consumers.
When compared to print advertising, Internet and social media marketing offers many more possibilities with the capability of pinpointing a specific target audience. The amount of exposure is proliferated when a prospective buyer has the ability to view and share pictures of my home on Realtor.com, read a blog post about its exquisite craftsmanship and the countless upgrades, or click a YouTube link from a Twitter account connecting them with a virtual video open house.
The three major points as it relates to selling your home- Location, Price, Exposure. Price your house right and shine the proverbial spotlight at you home by having a strong Internet presence. Choose your Realtor wisely!
-NHP-
Tags: exposure, fsbo, internet exposure, mobile app, real estate agent, realtor, social media, st louis real estate, virtual tour
