The Basics of Marketing Your
Home
Your broker's marketing efforts and considerations will include
advertising, showing the property, how long the house has been on the market and whether
you're buying another home.
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information!
Your home should be listed, whenever possible, in the
local Multiple Listing Service and on REALTOR.com, which has the largest online database
of homes and virtually 100% of potential buyers who look for property on the Internet.
Advertising
The REALTOR'S® largest expense
has traditionally been classified advertising in the local newspaper. However, today
properties are also exposed through popular Internet home search/listing services, radio
and television promotions, and real estate guides. Even with all these additional
advertising avenues, "For Sale" signs on the front lawn are still remarkably
effective. Many REALTORS® use brochure boxes along with these signs to market the
property. When appropriate, and with your permission, your agent may send a mailing about
your property to neighbors. Sometimes one of them has "a friend or relative who
always wanted to live near me." You never know.
Showings
and open houses
To prepare your home for viewing, make it as light,
cheerful and serene as possible. Your REALTOR® will probably find a tactful way to
suggest that you not be present while the house is being shown to prospective buyers. This
is done because your presence will inhibit their actions and conversations. They
won’t feel free to open closets and cabinets, test out the plumbing, and discuss
their observations objectively as they walk through. It goes without saying that your
children and pets should not be on the premises either.
If your
REALTOR® has scheduled an open house, you may want to notify the neighbors, and assure
them that they'll be welcome. They'll jump at the chance to poke around in your house,
and sometimes they can turn up a buyer among their friends. In preparing for an open
house, you should:
- Pull the drapes back
- Light lamps
- Simmer a few drops of vanilla on the stove
- Light your fireplace
- Set the dining room or kitchen table if you have
particularly nice linen or china
- Put fresh towels in the bathroom
- Leave the house so your REALTOR® is free to deal with prospective
buyers in a professional manner.
TIP: When preparing
your home, think about the techniques that are used to show builders' model homes.
How long has your house been on the market?
Professional appraisers sum up their entire body of knowledge in three words --
"Buyers make value." Your home is worth as much as some member of the buying
public will come forth and pay for it. After it's been on the market for months, you've
been given a clear message that the property may not be worth what you're asking for it.
This is particularly true if there haven't been many prospects coming to see it. What you
do at that point depends on whether you really need to sell, and whether you're working
with a time limit. If you're not really motivated to move soon, you can always wait -
years if necessary - and hope inflation will catch up with the price you want. The problem
is that in that time, your home begins to feel shopworn. Buyers become suspicious of a
house that's been for sale for a long time. If, however, you really do need to sell,
discuss with your REALTOR® a schedule for dropping your price gradually until you find
a level that attracts buyers. There's no point in saying, "We simply can't sell our
house." Anything will sell if the price is right.
If
you’re buying another home
Don’t spend a great deal of time
worrying about what will happen when you're selling one home and buying another. You're
not alone. REALTORS®, lawyers, and title and escrow companies have had plenty of
experience in arranging contracts and loans so that the two transactions dovetail
smoothly. It's best to list your present home for sale first.
Selling
and buying a home is a very emotional event and if you create a "race" by
locating your replacement property before you sell your current home, you may lose it to
another buyer, who does not need to sell in order to buy. If you do find just the house
you want, you can always put in a purchase offer contingent (dependent) on selling your
present one. However, in a hot market you will have difficulty getting the house you want
this way.
Sometimes the seller will sign a contract agreeing to wait a
certain period of time while you find a buyer for your house - sometimes not. What would
you do if you were presented with such a proposal, from a buyer who also has a house to
sell? If you do find that you need to buy the next house before you've received the
proceeds from the present one, lending institutions can sometimes make you a short-term
"bridge" loan to tide you over between the two transactions. Make sure you fully
understand the exposure and emotional investment before proceeding with this type of
loan.
This information is provided as a public service,
for the sole purpose of aiding you, the individual consumer. © 1995-2004 NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and Homestore, Inc. All rights reserved. 
Equal Housing Opportunity. REALTOR.com® is the official site of the National
Association of REALTORS® and is operated by Homestore, Inc.
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