Besides the goo dold MLS and realtor.com, does anyone have a market plan they'd like to share for their listings?

I've got listing but how to get them seen and sold is the problem I'm having here in MI.

Thanks!
Lisa

You know, the marketing plan I have for listings is really intended for the listing presentation. The MLS usually sells most houses. Make sure you have the best photos possible for the MLS listing, and make sure it is easy for other agents to show. Newspaper ads and open houses usually don't help much, but they show the seller that you are at least trying.

Every home will sell at the right price. Is it time for a price reduction? If the market is declining the seller needs to get ahead of the downward curve and price the home accordingly. Good luck!!

__________________
Jim Olenbush, ABR, CRS, GRI
Broker / Realtor

Austin Real Estate - Lake Travis Real Estate - Austin Real Estate

I agree with Jim. I don't bother with newspaper ads unless it is in conjunction with an open house in order to drive more buyers to the property. I guess I would consider it for a higher-end place ($1M or more).

I remember a statistic that over 75% of the homes sell via MLS, at least here in Austin. With that in mind, a lot of the marketing work is just getting the listing priced correctly and making sure you get it staged and take good photos.

__________________
Jason Crouch, Broker
Austin Texas Homes, LLC
512-796-7653 (cell)
Austin Real Estate
Austin Texas Real Estate
Austin Homes

It really depends on your market on what you need to do.


Where do your buyers come from? Don't be shy. Ask them.



For me, most of my horse farm buyers (and sellers for that matter) do NOT come from the MLS. I'd estimate 80% comes through social networking. My niche just rarely uses computers. Too busy spending time in the saddle I think.


Regular residential stuff is altogether different. Most of my buyers at least check the internet before doing a deal.

__________________
Kentucky Horse Farms - Louisville Kentucky Real Estate - Lexington Kentucky Real Estate
Serving the Louisville KY metropolitan area including Jefferson County - Prospect Shelby County - Shelbyville Oldham County - Goshen, La Grange and the Lexington KY metropolitan area including Fayette County - Lexington Woodford County - Versailles Scott County - Georgetown Jessamine County - Nicholasville

The most recent statistics I could find from NAR show that about 80% of home buyers begin their search on the internet (vs. 2% in 1995). Change came quickly!

__________________
Jason Crouch, Broker
Austin Texas Homes, LLC
512-796-7653 (cell)
Austin Real Estate
Austin Texas Real Estate
Austin Homes

I've been offering to put up listings for years at no cost - even include the listing agent's name, phone number, address, or whatever. Agents always tend to think I have some nefarious purpose in mind -- so I don't do it.

I'm not a lender, so I'm not trying to get mortgage leads. I don't sell real estate leads. I do promote any agents in my directory, but that's normal and helps to sell the property. Basically, it's free advertising.

Maybe because it is a down market in many places, agents are beginning to get realistic.

__________________
Terry Light - Professional Contrarian
Office Phone - (949) 305-7995
RealEstateBytes.com
Real Estate Encyclopedia
Author for RealEstate ABC (Creator, too)

Terry - Where would you post the listings?

__________________
Jason Crouch, Broker
Austin Texas Homes, LLC
512-796-7653 (cell)
Austin Real Estate
Austin Texas Real Estate
Austin Homes

I agree that most selling takes place thru the MLS. Also, pricing the house realistically is the most important factor by far.

To get my listings sold and to entice sellers to list with me I offer FREE Home Staging and Free Professional Virtual Tour and Photos. The Free Photos is not uncommon but the Free Home Staging is. I have yet to run into another agent that offers that free. It costs me about $320 to $400 for a townhouse and a little more for a detached home.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this idea?