Marketing your home...a better way!
It is very important to ask your realtor how they are going to market YOUR home. Most people don’t think of this when they sell their home. They see the usual methods of print advertising and open houses as the only channels they need to take to get their home sold.
While open houses can sometimes be useful, a very small percentage of people actually buy as a result of open house. Open houses are reserved for neighbors, people interested in free food, and those selling their home and want to see how other homes look. An open house means that you and your family may have to vacate the residence on several occasions and not even have one interested buyer as a result. The alternative to an open house is when a potential buyer views your home listing, talks to your realtor about the features, size and location, and becomes very interested at that time. They will book a private showing, which can mean less of an inconvenience for you. The reason so many realtors use open houses that there is a lot in it for THEM, and not so much in it for YOU. They get the opportunity to gain connections, and as a result they may get another client that is looking to sell their own home.
Another good idea when checking out potential realtors is to choose one that has a background in marketing or has an marketing specialist on their team working with them to sell a home. A marketing specialist will have a experience in all sorts of advertising, which will lend itself well when your house is on the market competing with thousands of others. This also means that a wider range of tools will be utilized to sell a home faster, like Multiple Listing Service (MLS) which is an internet resource available to all agents. It has revolutionized the way we sell homes. However, in addition to MLS, there are several other internet search engines that can be utilized by your realtor to sell you home.
The bottom line when selling your home is to find someone who is going to work for you, and offering as many options as possible to get your home sold!