Is Your realtor Marketing Your Home To Sell Or Appease You?

Lately a large discussion among fellow Realtors has come down to what marketing techniques are we using today to attract buyers to our listings. How are we procuring the listing? Are we marketing the home to the right demographics? Or are we doing what the seller wants us to do to keep and get the listing knowing the success rate is minimal in this market?

I have talked with some Realtors who when doing their listing presentation to the sellers are asking them what they are lookign for out of their Realtor. A lot of Realtors have been tellign me lately that the seller would like the home marketed X way. Eventhough, they feel this is a waste of time, resources and money they agree to do it in order to get the listing. Are we doing our client justice by doing that?

I have a foundation for which I use to market each and every home. For me from there it depends on the demographics of the potential buyer, location of the home, schools assigned to that home, proximity to places, and type of home. No two homes are alike and thus no two homes can be marketed the same way. Does everything I do work all the time? NO. However; I seem to have a signifcatly higher showing ratio than any of the other 60+ agents in my office. So, I feel I must be doing something right. Becasue without showings you cannot get buyers placing offers on your homes.

I beleive in this market especially that the Realtor you hire to sell your home needs to be the expert in that area. A seller needs to trust the Realtor's marketing plan and adhere to it. Will it always work; probably not. But, we have experince in doing this and (if they are like me) have tested different marketing ideas to see what works and what does not work in their market.

So, if I have a potential seller who wishes me to focus my advertising dollars on an avenue of marketing that my experince has showed me to generate less results; I explain why I do not do it. If they persist I have walked away from the listing. It is not as easy as putting a sign in the yard, lockbox on the door and putting it in the multiple listing service...it takes a lot of work and time to get a home sold today.

I have also noticed that when a Realtor is asked and agrees to do a marketing plan that they do not agree with; the effort that is put forth in that plan is not as much as one they feel has a chance for a higher return. they basically are going throgh the motions to please the seller.

So, if your Realtor is telling you he will do all the different things you want to advetise your home without injecting that some may not be as productive as others are they really trying to sell your home or jsut trying to get a listing?

Dave diCecco
Realtor/Broker
www.davedicecco.com