How we market our listings at McSharry and Associates
Last month we talked about the value of open houses and the month before the importance of good real estate photography; two aspects of the McSharry and Associates Marketing Plan. This month, let’s step back and look at the whole package of services we provide to our seller clients.
Before we begin, we first determine who the most likely buyer for the home might be. While there is no one buyer for a home, there are certainly types of homes that people gravitate towards depending on their family size, life stage, personal interests and pastimes. Understanding who a house is designed for allows us to target our marketing materials towards them.
Marketing a house is so much more than the number of bedrooms or baths or the square footage. Sure, those things are important, and of course we share that information, but what people are really buying is the life they are going to lead when they live in that home. They care about what it’s like to host a family gathering in the space or how easy it is to get to the closest nature preserve. They want to understand what services a community provides and where the shops are situated. Whether it’s an old house with all the accompanying charm or a more modern home with an open floor plan is important information that needs to get conveyed.
After taking the photos (click here for more on that), we write the home’s narrative. This “story” of the house is the base of our marketing materials. It paints a picture of the house’s assets and the qualities that make it a great home. The narrative appears on the property’s website and is the script for the voice over on the virtual tour. Information about any and all updates and ages of mechanicals and appliances, as well as room measurements, are included on the property website and the detailed fact sheet that’s at the house for buyers to take. All information is loaded into the Multiple Listing Service, which sends it directly to all the syndicated sites - Realtor.com, Trulia and Zillow (as well as hundreds of smaller, lesser known sites).
As mentioned, each listing has its own URL (ie: www.123mainstreet.com) that directs interested buyers to the property website. The virtual tour features a voice over that allows us to share detailed, qualitative information about the home with the public. New listings are posted on Facebook and other social media outlets. While we can’t control who is in the market for a house at any given time and we can’t make a prospective buyer purchase a house, we CAN make sure that our listings look great online and that buyers have all the information they need to tell if the house might be a good option for them.
Like we said last month, open houses can be effective when a listing is brand new on the market so we typically host one the first weekend. Click here for more on our reasoning. When appropriate, we will host a Broker’s Open, and personally invite local Realtors, serving a home cooked lunch to ensure strong attendance. These events can be a great opportunity for other agents to preview the house and think of buyers for whom it might be a good fit.
This marketing plan is fully executed before a listing is made “live”. At McSharry and Associates we will never say “more pictures coming soon” or add a component of our marketing plan days after the house hits the market. We simply never put a house on the market before the plan is complete and we always work diligently to get listings uploaded quickly so that clients are not waiting on us.
Bottom line, the McSharry and Associates marketing plan is targeted, comprehensive and strategically implemented!