Strategically marketing your home is essential in selling your home in a timely manner and getting the most money for the sale. It takes hard work and a strong understanding of the real estate market to utilize the best resource to market correctly. If you want your home selling experience to be valuable, the tips below – from making sure you list on MLS to knowing how to leverage your location – will help you market effectively.
Table of Contents
List on MLS
The multiple listing service (MLS) is the largest online database of for-sale homes. The database is accessible to real estate agents and is also how homes end up being listed on online websites such as Zillow, Redfin, and Realtor.com. List on MLS is the number one marketing tool you must do if you’re selling your home.
Potential buyers begin searching for homes in two ways. The first is with an online search. You want to ensure that you list on MLS so your home pops up in search results on popular home websites. The second is through real estate agents. Buyers will share the information they want in their next home with their agent who will then access the MLS and find homes suitable for their clients.
Take Professional Photos
When you list on MLS, your home listing is accompanied by images of your home. The more images, the better because you want to give potential buyers a strong idea of what your home looks like. These photos need to look excellent. Your home should be free of clutter and personal items. It should appear spacious and clean. Photos are the first thing people look at when they’re searching online and happen upon your listing.
It is recommended that you get a professional photographer, particularly one who is skilled at photographing homes, to take these images for you. This could be a potential buyer’s first impression of your home and you want this to start off on the right foot. Images that are grainy or overly edited can appear suspicious to buyers and they will quickly move on to the next property.
Include a Virtual Tour
A truly valuable way to give potential buyers a comprehensive overview of your home is to include a virtual home tour. When you list on MLS, you have the option of adding video and a virtual tour is a great option. This allows potential buyers to tour the home without ever traveling to the property. It’s a great way to deliver a first impression and help them fall in love right away. Again, you will want to use a professional to take the virtual tour video.
Set a Competitive Price
Setting the right price for your home is essential in how your home is viewed within the market. When you price your home too high, you risk needing to bring the price down. That information is listed for potential buyers to see and that will lead them to wonder the reasoning behind that. When the price is set too low, you risk losing out money on the sale and may not target the best buyers for your home.
A real estate agent with provide a comparative market analysis (CMA) that helps both you and your agent agree on a price. A CMA is a report that gathers information on recently sold homes in your local area that are similar to your property. This allows you to set a competitive price compared to the current market.
Host an Open House
Seeing a home online isn’t going to be the practice that immediately sells your home. Potential buyers need to step insde the property to truly envision themselves living there. The best way to get the most people inside is to host an open house. This gives you the opportunity to let potential buyers come to you and tour the home. Additionally, with many people attending your open house, it will automatically create demand for your home, which can in turn drive up the price.
Sell Potential Buyers on More Than the Home
Remember that your home isn’t the only thing that potential buyers are looking at. They also need to be sold on the location. There are many ways you can incorporate this information when you list on MLS. Local schools, infrastructure, and crime rate are common criteria homebuyers look for. You also want to include any key factors that make your home unique. Think about views, proximity to a body of water, and more that could add enticing value to your home.
Conclusion
Selling a home can be a grueling task. To make the process easier, you need to enlist these strategic marketing tips. When you execute these tips flawlessly, you will bring in potential buyers that can’t wait to put in a bid on your home.
