Selling a home is about more than just hiring the right realtor or listing your home. You also have to sell the appeal of your Westhampton real estate to prospective buyers, which is why marketing skills matter. A real estate agent who is also a master marketer, especially in the competitive luxury market, will almost certainly guarantee your home gets sold for the best price.
The importance of your realtor’s marketing savvy
Selling a home is like any transaction. A realtor needs to make the product as appealing as possible to stand out among the other homes for sale and catch the eye and, hopefully, the heart of buyers.
A realtor’s skills as a marketer can make or break a purchase. While they need to understand the neighborhood their client plans to sell in, the complexities of Westhampton real estate transactions, and the ins and outs of the luxury home market, all that pales if they cannot get buyers to look at your home. Any marketing strategy should provide the answer to why a buyer should buy your home above any other. This is particularly important when the housing supply outstrips demand. Even when sellers have the upper hand, a buyer still needs a reason to buy your home. Luxury homes sell fast, but when the market is soft, effective marketing is vital for any successful transaction.
The importance of price as a marketing tool
Setting a competitive price for your home should be the first of several steps in any successful marketing campaign. Realtors do a comparative marketing analysis that considers the prices of recently sold homes, the overall condition of the property, the number of bedrooms or recent upgrades, and other selling points.
The price determines what type and how many buyers become interested in your home. If the price is too high, buyers may look elsewhere, and your home may stay on the market too long. If the price is too low, the seller may lose profit, and the longer a home remains on the market, the more likely it is to sell at a loss. A property priced incorrectly makes it hard for buyers to find it online.
The importance of photographs and listing description
Before potential buyers see your home in person, they will have already decided whether it appeals to them through photographs and the description used in the online listing. If the photos are poor quality, the buyer is unlikely to appreciate your home’s appeal leading to a potential lost sale. Of the home buyers surveyed for the National Association of Realtors,
89% found photographs very useful when choosing a home. High-quality photos and a vivid description of your home's best features and unique selling points can give you an edge over your competition.
The importance of social media
Check out how savvy your realtor is at selling themselves and their brand online. After all, how will they be able to market your home if they cannot market themselves? Your realtor should have the skills and creativity to successfully market homes across several social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. If they have a social media presence, marketing your home to their followers can provide another pool of potential buyers. They can also take advantage of sites that generate a lot of traffic. In a 2022 National Association of Realtors study,
47% of buyers surveyed cited the internet as their first stop for house hunting,
Social media also allows realtors to set up virtual showings that give prospective homebuyers, whether local, out-of-town, or international, the opportunity to whet their appetite. In a study,
53% of buyers said they use the information from a walk-through to decide whether to buy the home. A walk-through helps them to visualize themselves living in the home. This is where your realtor's ability to stage a home to highlight its most attractive and appealing features for buyers can help you attract serious buyers.
The importance of MLS
Listing a property on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is another savvy marketing strategy realtors use. MLS exposes your listing to other sites and realtors online, who will hopefully link it to their own sites, providing another buyer pool.
The importance of highlighting features that attract buyers
Certain features can make a home more attractive to buyers. A realtor with master marketing skills understands what trends and features will attract buyers and will create a marketing campaign that highlights those features. As more people work from home, home office or space to create one increasingly has become an attractive feature that realtors will highlight. Similarly, outdoor features that allow people to entertain also attract buyers. Savvy realtors understand where to focus the eye of the buyer for maximum impact.
A strong marketing campaign ensures that your home appears in its best possible light to buyers. This includes ensuring your home is free of clutter and arranging the furniture and decor to mimic a showroom or new property.
The importance of old-school marketing
No realtor will ignore the importance of social media when strategizing a marketing campaign, but that does not mean traditional marketing methods are obsolete. An effective campaign will attack from multiple fronts, including using marketing methods like in-person home viewings, for-sale signs, postcards, and fliers. Keep in mind that
36% of buyers are over 75, and
26% of people over 66 prefer to get their home-buying information from newspapers, fliers, and traditional marketing methods.
Some realtors will set up open houses for a select number of realtors to view the home. These open houses include breakfast or lunch, a walking tour of the home, and in-depth discussions that hopefully pique interest in the property among other professionals.
Partner with Maria Cunneen to market your home
All these tools can create effective marketing campaigns in capable hands. Using a combination of social media-based marketing tactics like posting on social media platforms, virtual staging, blogs, and traditional tools like flyers and home viewings can help maximize the potential of your home and increase the chances of a successful sale.
Contact Maria Cunneen for more information about Westhampton real estate or to set up an interview.