As an agent I find that open houses do work if they are performed and advertised correctly. Just putting an open house sign in the yard and unlocking the front door really isn't the trick. Internet advertising has become very important with at least 80% of buyers using the computer as there primary search tool. There are a number of small advertising ideas that I use that by themselves don't sound like much but, when you put them together they create a large advertising base. Knowing the area and what makes the house special in comparison to other homes in the same price range is really the key to the advertising.

This is an excellent question, and you've already received great answers. To reiterate, marketing is important, and having a marketing plan is just as equally important. With over 70% of consumers utilizing the internet this is your first step. Although traditional marketing and advertising shouldn't be ignored. Primarily because there's still a large group that's still attracted to this type of advertising. Although print ads in newspaper, flyer distribution, and direct mail campaigns can be costly, they shouldn't be avoided. Here's a link to a site I use to assist in my direct mail campaigns.

That is good questions many of us want to exposed our listing in any kind of advertising: One that help
me alot is DOOR KNOCKING for me this is the best way to exposed your listing. Once you got the listing
be sure to inform your listing to the neighborhood. Many people surprise on that technique. You might
get a buyers thru door knocking...

Blogging on Activerain, Localism, wordpress, twitter, and any and all social media. Also, private e-mail lists that have been obtained through marketing websites and other methods.

It all depends on the target market of your buyer. Younger demographics I go with online marketing. While older markets I go with print ads. http://www.lindabassitt.com

Steve’s right, the nosy neighbors will know, LOL. A couple weeks ago one of my neighbors told me they’d bought land and were building a house. This house would go on the market in the spring. Yesterday I got TWO emails from other neighbors saying “I heard the Smith’s house SOLD! I didn’t even see a sign!! That was fast! The question is: what did it sell for????!!!!” One reason the sign goes in the yard because it helps to sell homes. Not necessarily THAT home, but there are signs in front of other homes that help to sell THAT home. Another reason is one of the neighbors that the homeowner doesn’t want to know his house is for sale (not you Justin) might know someone who wants to buy it. I once took a listing, this homeowner had been advertising the home in the paper for months, he was FSBO but didn’t put a sign in the yard because they didn’t want anyone to know they were selling. The week I listed it, another agent in my office brought a buyer who bought it on the spot. During the walk thru the buyer and seller realized they were very close friends with the same person, who’d been keeping HIS eye out for a house for these buyers, but didn’t know the other friend was selling! The seller said “please don’t tell them we’re selling, we want to keep it quiet.” They didn’t even seem to realize that if they’d told their friends and neighbors, they would have sold months ago and not paid a fee. People are strange.

There you go. No nosey neighbors to deal with, see there's an upside to everything. Believe me, sign, no-sign, flyer box, or not, the nosey neighbor KNOWS that home is for sale within 24 hours of it being listed, they just don't know all the "details" . . . yet!

Steve in that case why bother even putting a For Sale sign in the yard. If the REAL buyers are looking on the internet and relying on their Realtor for listings it seems superfluous. The nosy neighbors would never even know the house is for sale.

Suprisingly most agents are answering the flyer box question as if there are actually a lot of real buyers out there who don't already have a Realtor to provide this "hidden" information! Aside from the nosy neighbors, very few real buyers look at these things, and rely on their Realtor to provide the information they are seeking. If you think REAL buyers are the ones searching for homes by driving around, how does that square with the 80% searching the internet as their first step in the process? If information boxes actually helped to sell homes, "FSBO in a box" would be the way I'd go. Sorry, in my humble opinion, putting a paper flyer in an info tube or box is similar to advertising in the weekly newspaper classifieds, . . . . antiquated!

Advertisment in realestate magazine ...the Inernet like trulia would helpgreatly

I don’t include flyers for a lot or reasons. For one thing they look pretty crappy after a while in the box, and for some reason homeowners can complain to me that they’re wet, empty, or whatever, but they can’t refill the box with the ones I leave them. I can’t check every box every day. For another thing, I don’t think they’re an effective marketing tool. I have never had anyone say they took my flyer (and I do ask people how they found out about the house). And there are a lot things that are AS important as the price. Condition for one thing.

Address, price... just more info to use as eliminators, and many agents believe that the idea is to get people in to see it, not to provide all the possible eliminators so they never see it. Real estate marketing is unlike anything else. Real buyers is what agents want, not just curious, just nosy, just driving by and wondered. We of course help but answer the inquiries in hopes of finding that one who needs a home, wants a home now, and can buy a home.

JR,
Just curious, why don't you do flyer boxes anymore? I know when I've been actively looking, I often stopped and picked one up. It seems like it would be a low cost form of targeted advertising. As for not including the price on it, I have to disagree with you there. Like you said, that and a picture may not tell the complete story, but it's probably the first thing a buyer is looking for when he grabs a flyer. He already knows the location, and after that what's more important than price?

Addresses on listings must be regional. Our MLS only recently offered the option of publishing the address on our internet listings. Personally I think all listings should have addresses, but I also think that not everything has to be disclosed in all advertising. For example when I used to do flyer boxes, I never put the price. Why? Not so PEOPLE WOULD CALL ME!, LOL. But because a picture and a price don’t tell the entire story, adding the prices makes some people discount that house without learning more.

I would add that for my own home, if it were for sale, no price on the web for me. Too many nuts driving past and staring at listings and walking up to doors knocking already.

Let's dont forget that as a Realtor your are working in the best interest of your client - your seller. I think as a Realtor you should do EVERYTHING you can to find a buyer for the home you have listed and market the home the best way possible. If baking cookies matches a buyer with your seller - go for it! If you have somebody to take virtual tours of the home, do it! I strongly believe that just putting the home in the MLS and place a sign in the yard is not in your seller's best interest and will limit the traffic you are driving to your listing.

Hiding the address on your listing will not benefit you or the buyer. Since the IDX Data Feed was implemented, many websites pull your listings from your MLS, including the address. If somebody wants to find out the property address, they can and will - it's all over the Internet.

In our new world, our experience is that the consumers want to do their own ‘drilling’ via all of the information posted on the intranet before engaging a professional. It is reported to us that many times, the consumer has done so much research on an area that they have a complete, in-depth knowledge of the listed comparables. When they also drill to find the agent they believe has the most experience and profile to best serve them, they are looking for the information that they cannot find on the internet: properties that are “discretely marketed, properties that “may” be for sale but not formally listed and the “inside knowledge” that a consummate professional will know with their “local market knowledge”.

The consumer does not want to be “sold”, rather, they prefer to “ask” for the information they wish to know. At that point, once they have given permission to be contacted etc., the work that they cannot complete begins. The process of weeding out the problem properties due to complete history, selecting the home to make the offer, the negotiations and the process of walking with them through the steps that a proven professional guides them through painlessly to the closing.

We know that this is especially true at the upper end of the market where our research shows that top producers are scouring the market for the “shadow people” facing foreclosure quietly…thinking that there is not an option. In the “Alpha Agent” panel conducted by the Luxury Marketing Council of San Francisco recently, the panel of renowned brokerage CEO’s were asked the question “What are your top producers doing in this market”, and this was basically their response. In addition, they stressed that this “inside local market knowledge” gave brought them additional “value’ through the viral marketing of their satisfied customers who had been well served by their expertise. Please see the bullets from the panel on our blog, http://www.ugeluxuryblog.com under Alpha Agent panel.

Carl - I agree - hate humidity - it makes my bangs frizz! And, now it;s thundering, too!

On a more pertinent note--------I agree with you , more homes should have virtual tours. We do them routinely on all our listings.......this isn't a plug for my company, but we were one of the first to offer virtual tours, and the company susidizes them, too, to encourage the agents to use them. As part of the tour, the photographer takes still shots of ALL rooms, bathrooms included. His wide angle lens works better than my little Kodak digital camera for getting those kind of tricky shots.

Unfortunatlety, as far as the MLS we both utilize, we are limited in the remarks section and , thus, need to use abbreviations......another reason why other sites are more helpful to the consumer - and why i love haveing a domain site for my listings.........I can wax poetic on the listing, and give a true sense of the home.

So, Carl - lead the revolution - I will follow your lead!

Justin,
Great question and one that addresses and even challenges the Realtor (capital R) value proposition.

I can only speak to my activities to promote a property, but here goes.

1. Place sign.
2. Create an electronic brochure.
3. Print paper brochure
4. Place on Multiple Listing Service
5. Promote in person at local MLS meeting.
6. Promote in person at office meeting including laptop slideshow presentation when appropriate and/or office tour of property when needed.
7. Create virtual tour.
8. Create listing on website, syndicate listing to over 20 real estate related sites for greater exposure on the internet.
9. Create and place print ads in local papers and magazines.
10. Submit listing to Realtor.com
11. Create Talking House tramsmitter message and place in house.
12. Do Market Analysis for pricing the home, generally a 2-hour task if done properly.
13. Counsel seller on getting home in to showing condition.
14. Hold an Open House.
15. Send mass email to local Realtors (think about it, each one of the over 700 Realtors in my market is working with at least one buyer, maybe two, that's leveraging the effort).

The storm of follow-up work that's created by these activities will keep five people busy all day, seven days a week.

I'm just commenting on addresses on the website or not. There are no two buyers alike, of course. Theoretically it should not matter the address. Use the spaces to add useful info. Of course if anyone asks we always give the address don't we. On the question of all and everything versus enough to generate interest and a contact, one reason "everything" can get in the way is that it becomes overwhelming and too much and thus uninviting. It works against the objective. Like a cluttered ad. When it comes to homes, I think we should follow some consistency in order to deliver what is expected. An example, a small percentage of listings have video tours right now. Why not all of them? And, almost never are photos of bath rooms offered. Should we change that? And if we do, how will we know it makes a difference? We don't have studies on what works best. But one thing is sure, those with one photo or none get thumbs down from everyone. Expectations. I'd like to see an improvement in the MLS lisitngs we send. They are terrible for the occasional to decipher. Full of abbreviations, hard to read, stilted and unprofessional descriptions. The number one thing we use everyday and it is almost impossible to understand without an interpretor. I feel a revolution coming over me. To the ramparts mates. Boy is it humid today.

Carl, I understand your sentiments totally , but just because information is available, and many questions may be answered in advance, doesn't mean the consumer doesn't reach out to us to acutally see and experience a house. There is plenty of time to establish a rapport...answer more questions, and meet their needs. The personal touch, the hand holding, the guidance will always be part of the process.

The world is internet driven these days with everything - who can fight it?
By the time I visit my MD, I have already looked up all my symptoms, diagnosed myself ...and am going to her for a second opinion! (haha!). There is very little I do without first checking it out on google. I can google how to fix my leaky faucet, but when push comes to shove, I still call in a plumber.

One other thing - many calls are from people NOT from the area, so knowing the address really doesn't mean anything to them. They have no idea if the train passes by in the backyard or the next block over has a busy interesection. They still need to ask a live person - most start out with email to have their questions answered - I find they don;t even bother to call initially. That's fine with me........I give a very quick response, and often wind up with a new client because of that .

As I said, it is what it is.........this "information highway" called the internet is here to stay, and is changing the way we all do business. Look at how well informed all the people are here on Trulia - because of our (all the Realtors) fabulous answers!!!!!!!!!! ha

Have a greaty day!

And I work at an office where the broker does not reveal the address. An agent provides that when calls come in. But realtor.com operates on addresses and that is why I steer buyers there as the most complete service. I believe that if there is way to connect buyers to an agent within seconds, live 7-days a week, it does not matter. And that is what our company website does. Agents still give the address so the buyer can drive by as needed but more importantly, make an appointment to get together. At some point the agent must be able to connect to the buyer and build some rapport. If every possible question about a house can be answered without a live person, why have agetns? Just have listing agents handle everything. How does that serve the seller best? It doesn't. Be careful what you wish for. I.'m not convinced the consumer wants total information on a house. They buy on what is important to them- looks, location, space, condition, price, and some things are not important. What's wrong with a conversation about what is important, narrow it down, provide efficient answers?

Justin ...I totally agree with you and Supergirl - that was the point I was making in my post.

I was honest to say that when my company first told us ( a few years ago) they were starting to put addresses on the listings on Realtor.com and other sites I was worried it would cut down on calls and leads. My company's position was : "We want to give the consumer what they want - and they want total information". As a result, our newest website is very interactive, offers mapping and just about any other information the buyers and sellers desire. The company even rewards us with free domain sites for our individual listings as long as we we upload 18 high resolution photos for each home. Everything we do is geared towards the consumer's wants.

I do think the calls I get these days are better, and I admit my fears were unfounded. "Give them what they want, and they will still call" !!

Change can be scary, but staying current is a necessity.

Fred, no matter how many times I do this, something new comes up with the next sale. I ask for help from the more experienced brokers in my office. Sometimes when a roadblock comes up in a deal I bounce my idea off another associate. Most homeowners haven’t had more than 2 or 3 sales in their past. Many are simply exhibiting hubris when they decide to go on their own, some simply stupidity. I’m sure some people won’t like that statement but it’s true.

Right now I have 2 offers on a home, but I also have another buyer who saw the home few times and hasn’t moved to make an offer yet. I know she adored the house, I have been pushing them, for lack of a better word, them to get them to submit an offer, since I know they are thinking of a number higher than the other two offers. Can a homeowner do that without looking desperate?

SuperGirl from Philly said best. WHy would you not display he address. Thats a complete turn off. I do the same, skip to the next. A listing with no pictures, is the best wat to not sell a house. The realtor that though that was a good idea needs to find a new career. People get turned off by the slightest feeling of funny business. Supergirl your post was excellent and I gave it the thumbs up.

JR I agree with all of what you said.

In my area, though, there are only 1 or 2 flat fee brokers that do very little business, but at least they all place the homes on the local MLS (that's what separates fred's plan for me from the others)...I am not aware of homes that are only on Realtor.com but not the local mls. If they are, none of my buyers have ever bothered to look at them.

This brings to mind one listing I showed last fall - it was a flat fee set up - the owner was totally in lah lah land with her price (639,000). I had a similar townhouse in the same complex listed at 559,00, and she accused ME of bringing down the prices - ha.....anyway, .She folllowed us around the entire time I was showing it (a big NO NO) pointing out every extra closet shelf her hubby installed, and my sellers couldn't wait to get out of there. You know what the PS is.......That home is now listed with a full service broker at 559,000.....now it is old on the market, stale and sitting........end of story (oh, by the way, my listing closed months ago)

Obviously, the success of these options varies from area to area.

I agree that finding a buyer is just the beginning, but don't discount savvy sellers ability to handle the deal on their own. Many of our clients have done this before, possibly several times. Some have a sales background, some are builders, and some are even Realtors selling their own homes!

If you get a good attorney, they will guide the seller for quite a bit less than 6%. :)

But I know there are many that want to have their hands held throughout, and that's great. One size does not fit all.

Fred - chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin?

They are store-bought, though...............
I didn't have time to bake them , because as a full service agent I am too busy out there working hard for my clients! :)

By the way - stating the "most important things others do" is not the same as those items being the ONLY things they do. And I beg to differ with you that all the other "things" are fluff or frivolous.......As I have said on Trulia ad nauseum, it's never 1 thing that works - it's a compliation of things...but the major "thing" a full service agent does is see the transaction through to the closing - we don't love 'em and leave 'em like your business model promotes (and your "love" is limited for the most part to realtor.com and others).

You admitted in another response elsewhere on Trulia that you have no success rate percentages, as you don't folllow up - most of your clients, I suspect, may wind up with someone like me (especially in this kind of market). After they pay you the few hundred dollars you charge from your menu (oh, you get a gold star because I see you stopped charging then $10 for the free graphs realtor.com offers enhanced listings - good boy) , you set them adrift.

Now, I understand it is their choice, but based on a lot of questions from laymen here on Trulia, it is obvious that so many are really so naiive about how the whole process of selling a home comes together. We all know that finding a buyer is just the start of the process.

Look - as I have also said - it's called free enterprise.....there is room for all of us - but when you glotaed on another response here on trulia that you were on vacation, and had a bunch of listings ready to input, and then you were done.........I was thinking to myself, if only it were that easy............you see, almost 100% of the listing I take wind up at the closing table, and it takes a lot more than the click of a mouse.

Have a great day Fred - would you lke some milk with your cookie??

Cameron.................just to clarify - Fred doesn't put homes on their local MLS systems.. he can't , as he "lists" homes all over the country, so he doesn't have access to local MLS systems.........His " flat fee marketing plan" puts homes on HIS local mls (which serves no purpose to someone living in Texas or Florida) ,
~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are many flat fee services that do list in states other than where the broker physically is. Here on LI we have one from GA. In my experience there are many drawbacks to this. For one thing the Realtor has to deal with a homeowner who is usually pretty unrealistic about the price, and may not be very savvy. I’ve related the story of one overpriced flat fee homeowner who spilled his guts to my customer about being unable to keep his head over water and make payments. This resulted in my customer putting in a low lowball offer because he thought the seller was desperate, and me know it was a lost cause because I’ve hear the “I have to GET” line so many times in listing presentations, I knew there was no hope to have a meeting of the minds in that situation. This homeowner did sell, after listing with a full service broker, but that was two years later!

I’ve got a former flat fee seller now. They listed with me in March at 275,000. In February the turned down $300,000 from a buyer and wouldn’t even counter because they were listed at $330,000 and didn’t feel they could every meet. They were totally ignorant of the market at the time. We are in contract now for $250,000. Oh well.

Other drawbacks to high selling price are grainy photos of the interior and exterior, and the homeowner calling us after showings to get “feedback” and grilling us about “did you tell them about the TILT OUT WINDOWS?” or the “STAINLESS STEEL APPLIANCES?!” or “the HARDWOOD under the CARPET?!” and basically acting as if we are selling toasters in stead of houses and can “overcome” a buyer’s objections with our selling ability. The feedback is the house didn’t pluck that heartstring in the buyer and they don’t want it.

That said, IMO flat fee works when the house is priced right, presented well, and is the best one available for that price. Otherwise, the homeowner needs more help than just putting it on the MLS.

As a buyer, I have to TOTALLY disagree with the notion that too much online information is a bad thing!! Many, including me, feel that a shortage of information means that the seller has something to hide! Time to move on! Personally, I have never scheduled a visit to a house that didn't have great pictures and a detailed description. And we always skip the listings that have those fake, forced perspective shots (keep that in mind listing agents! Buyers are on to this trick and hate it!) If there is even a hint of trickery in the ad, we decline the showing. Also, as far as virtual drive-bys, if we am certain we don't like the area, why waste the realtor's and the seller's time scheduling a showing? Hiding the address only turns away buyers. If you are honest with your listing, and your home is priced accordingly, you'll ensure that the RIGHT buyers are coming to see your home.

There are lots of houses that need "TLC", don't have a great layout, or aren't in the best area. But when a listing agent is forthcoming in the listing, it actually encourages us to give the property a chance. Just something to think about......honesty is the best policy and you can never have too much info.

Great example: We went to an open house this weekend -3-story house where the only bathroom was in the basement! LOL! It was a 100 year old house, narrow staircases, smelled funny, and needed a ton of work. But the realtor DISCLOSED all this in the listing, so we said what the heck? Let's see for ourselves! And you know what? The house was so crowded with buyers we could barely get through. The description was upfront and honest, while honestly highlighting the positives. No one was in for a shock. And the home was priced fairly. They already had an offer by the time we got there. Gives you something to think about.

Cameron - Look at all the answers on this thread and you'll see many if not most agents site the most important thing they do is place the home on MLS, Realtor.com, and many internet sites.

Then they go into all the typical things (that help the agent more than sell the home), like open houses, broker opens, print ads (whos looking in the paper!), and other self promotions.

I am playing nice Debbie so wheres my cookie! Waaaaa :)

Carl it can last a long time, and will grow even more during a sellers market.

Debbie I do talk to most people before they list and explain the difference, they choose to bypass their local mls and know what they are missing. If they want local MLS, I refer them to partners of mine. I am not hiding anything and some of them do sell.

I do put homes on the local MLS in CT and now RI (just got my brokers lic there!). The fee is higher but they are getting more local exposure. You get what you pay for right! LOL.

I think the business plan for the FSBO MLS broker is for local service and not intended to go beyond the reach of the MLS. I question whether realtor.com should be doing this business. I understand most MLS grew from a few brokers getting together in an area to form a cooperative venture and share their listings. Along comes a broker who takes a small fee and encourages the seller to offer a traditional split- 2.5-3% to the buyer's agent. Remember, Foxton did it for 2-3% and gave out 1% to BB. Now the FSBO broker is having the seller give out 2-3% and keeps a mere $500-600 fee. How long can it last?

Cameron.................just to clarify - Fred doesn't put homes on their local MLS systems.. he can't , as he "lists" homes all over the country, so he doesn't have access to local MLS systems.........His " flat fee marketing plan" puts homes on HIS local mls (which serves no purpose to someone living in Texas or Florida) , but this is a way of feeding them to Realtor.com & wherever else his local MLS feeds.....
He can only place homes on the local mls if they are located close to him in CT.......so, he doesn;t even offer the mls to most sellers - only realtor.com .......then the seller is on their own.......and he is onto another click of his mouse...

Full service agents measure success by closed sales....fred's plan measures success by churning out listings to realtor.com

To each his own.......this wasn't a critique, just a clarification

Fred,

Interesting comments. It might also be worth pointing out that you own a flat fee real estate company where your profatibility is dependent upon selling people on the idea that the MLS listing is all that they need. We're all in this together, don't belittle the full service agents for answering the question that was posed.

Cameron Piper
#1 Trulia Agent in MN

Now, now .you come on, Fred .......since we are pals......do you think it's very nice to refer to agents' comments as "same ole junk"? Where is the professionalism in that manner of commenting?. Since I am probably old enough to be your mother, I think that deserves a time out!

This is an open forum, and everyone has the right to express themselves - even if they are repeating what others may have said. If it bothers you - don't read it.

I will say, however, I do agree with you on one thing though - placing a home on the MLS is crucial....... BUT - Placing it on the LOCAL MLS Is imperative!!!! Your business model lets you "list" homes all over the country, placing them on your CT mls, which then filters them to Realtor.com - that's it - you're done.......and then you hope someone out there sells them (actually, you probably could care less if they get sold since you got paid up front, and once it's "listed", voila, you are done!)........ So my friend (and you know I am not being meanspirited here as we have bantered here before) - please don't critique agents for serving cookies and tea - at least they are serving refreshments their own backyards, and if some of the things they do are superfluous, at least they are not leaving any stone unturned to get the job done.

If agents here want to list all the things they do as part of their marketing..good for them..they are responding to the original question. It's disrespectful to belittle them or make fun.......now go sit in the corenr for 10 min like a good boy, when you're done you may have a cookie. :)

Justin, Why everyone keeps regurgitating the same ole junk, I don't know.

Get the home on the MLS that's all you need. If it's a good MLS it feeds to Realtor.com, Trulia.com, and 1-2 dozen major home search sites. That's where the BUYERS are and that's what YOU want!

From that point on, let the buyer agents do their job and show the home. Of course the most important things are: 1. Price 2. Photos, 3. Location 4. Features. Make the place shine and get on the MLS... Done.

All this other stuff about "calling' the top brokers, print ads in the real estate books, and holding a tea & cracker "brunch" for the local brokers (oh look at my fabulous new listing!) is really just fluff. It only serves to promote the AGENT not the HOME. Come on now.

Hi Justin, great question. My answer is two parts 1. Active & 2. Passive.

In terms of actively "getting the word out" I actively call people and ask them if they are buying or if they know someone who is. If I'm working to sell your home I will call all of your neighbors within a reasonable radius of your home. For many homes, I will also conduct a broker's open house but with an active spin, I call all of the top buyer's agents (statistically) in your area and personally invite them and tell them what is on the menu.

The biggest passive promotion that I do to promote my listings is syndication. This is where I have a paid service that gets my listings out on over thirty of the top real estate sites on the web. This is in addition to the syndication with Realtor.com that is automatic through the MLS and then the syndicated sites that Coldwell Banker provides. I estimate that this strategy gets forty to sixty percent greater exposure for my listings than simply adding it to the MLS.

Carl....I kind of worried about the very point you are asking about - which is.......If we give away too much information.....will they still call us???? Will we lose client calls and leads if they can get all their questions answered online??

Well, it's not really a debate anymore.....I think we lost that battle, as all that information is already available for consumers online - even the addresses, and if that isn't enough - many online sites often map the location, so consumer drive-by's are a cinch!
This is one reason why we especially need to make sure those photos are top-notch and descriptions honest, but appealing......this is our first line of defense these days in selling a home.

But you know what? The sky hasn't fallen in........... I am STILL getting calls and inquiries. Hurray!!!
For example - I showed a new listing of mine twice this past weekend - both clients were from the NY Times.com site............also started working with a great young couple who asked about another listing of mine - they were from Realtor.com.......even good old Trulia has been the source, recently, of another 2 buyers for me...........so..........I have stopped fretting about whether buyers will cease reaching out because of all the information they are getting............customer calls and leads are alive and well!

When push comes to shove, nothing can replace an actual showing in person........kind of like online dating - you may see all the photos and read all the quips, but eventually, you have to meet face to face !!!!!

This is a great question! You should always ask your Real Estate Agent this question. The number one marketing tool for your home should be the Internet. 87% of homebuyers are looking online before they ever contact a Real Estate Agent. I market my homes at numerous websites. I choose three ways of marketing my homes:

1. Online Advertisement: MLS, Realtor.com, Yahoo Real Estate, Zillow.com, Trulia.com, RealEstateBook.com, Visualtours.com, Homes.com, Perfecthomefind.com, YouTube.com, and a few more. I get professional pictures and virtual tours taken, which will be placed on all websites. Videos (usually 2 min long) are going on the Internet as well - mainly on YouTube and Realtor.com. Yes, this is a lot of work but it is well worth it.

2. Print Advertisement: I use the local Real Estate Book for print advertisement.

3. Local Advertisement: Flyer Boxes with colored flyers to attract drive-by traffic, Yard Signs for neighborhood awareness, accidential drive-by traffic, etc.

Advertisement is an up-front expense for your Real Estate Agent, but you will notice that your home will most likeley sell faster. The more potential buyers you can reach, the more exposure your home will get. Yes, many Real Estate Agents argue that you should not put too much information on the internet, since they have less people calling about the house. If a buyer is interested in YOUR house, they will call. Most of the online advertisement if free for Real Estate Agents, so they should definitely take advantage of these services.

Hope this answer gives you some insights about Real Estate Marketing and Advertising.

After this past week in NJ, many realtors are throwing in a kidney. As you know, we cannot accept a commission unless it goes thru our broker. Half a kidney is of no use. So that leaves us with using a kidney as closing gifts, prospecting give-aways, Open House promos and the like. Ironically, the more info we put on the internet about listings, more photos, tours, details, the less likely we are to see the people. They can eliminate the houses without ever talking to a live person. What are some ways to reveal enough but not too much? Not a drive by, Must see, and what else?

The same answer has alls been there. Location, location, location. Price, price, price.
Condition, condition, condition.
Professionals do not show everthing they do and if it goes seamless they did their job.

The majority of buyers are looking for Real Estate on the internet. With the mass exposure of the internet it becomes almost unecessary to promote a property in any other way than posting it on the mls service. Once the listing is posted to the mls service that property will show up on the website of every other realestate company from Caldwell Banker to your local "mom and pop brokerage".
For the majority of homes simply placing it on the mls is fine. From there it is all about making your property stand out. The price is one of the most important parts of listing a property. It can't be too hgih or too low. As some mentioned the pictures become extremely important. Make sure that you have quality pictures that will attract buyers to go view your property.
Once you get a buyer to your place there are more steps you need to take to keep them interested. At this point staging becomes very important, home owners need to get rid of as much color as possible, make sure the lawn is well kept and and make sure the house smells good.

Definetly for most of the market the mls service is enough. The Price is extremely important. Your initial in rush of buyers will come when you property is new to the market. If your price is too high you'll miss out on all the people who are out there ready to buy a place, RIGHT NOW. Be competative, make sure your agent does his/ her homework. Price and staging your home will help it sell.

The Market where promotion becomes most import I believe is not in the Middle Class residential market.
Luxury Real Estate for one need a little more finess, Vacation Property, International, naked land, commercial realestate. These other markets I believe need more effort and promotion than the "run of the mill" residential home owner.

Realtors are crucial in the sale of your home. As an experienced Realtor, I can help you stage, price and market your home for today's buyer. Over the years I have established a network of agents, contractors, lenders, consumers and clients as part of my "team" to get your home sold.

Getting on the MLS is an important element in the marketing process, but even more important is getting qualified buyers through the door and writing offers. That's what Realtors do best.

I look for free internet advertisment boards and post each listing on them for free, everyday.

Your real estate professional should be more than plant a sign, run a local ad kinda guy or gal. This broker should be extremely involved in his local civic clubs, the local area so his sphere of influence is large. His blogs, local community videos make him the go to for help with every subject under the rainbow. As he provides a service, it just so happens he sells real estate. This is the first person the buyer from out of town that knows no one is going to call, stop in to see, ping with an email. Look at his other work on marketing a property..there's your answer and the difference in his approach, depth of marketing will stand out loud and clear.

This is a question that every seller should ask their realtor before they choose which one to hire. In today's market, it has been shown that between 75 % to 80% of potential home buyers are looking on the internet first to narrow their choices before contacting a realtor. When I list a property, I hire the very best professional photographer to photograph the property, usually a "twilight" shoot as this is a great time of day to showcase properties in the Sarasota area with our terrific sunsets and beach or bayfront views. Then the photographer puts together a video tour that utilizes 3 separate technologies and the result is just mind-boggling. This photography drives the entire marketing process: from there it goes to my graphics designer who designs an email template that I then send to my vendor who maintains databases of realtors throughout the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. I then select the areas I want to send the "eblast" and those realtors are informed as to my new listing. From there, I logon to my Trulia account and Realtor.com and upload the listing, the images, the virtual tour, and send a blog about the new listing. This also is blogged on my personal website, as well as a website for Leading Real Estate Companies of the World. I have two local magazines where i advertise monthly with a full page of my listings, always in four color. In addition, I host realtor events coordinated by REAL Magazine's editor and we have co-hosts for the event, normally including someone who give real-time updates on timely topics of interest to the realtors. We also do company-wide caravans of our listings. I also have a 4-color brochure created, printed, and a detailed spec sheet to give to prospective buyers at open houses and mail to the top 200 realtors in our area. As you can see, this is all up-front marketing costs paid by me, and I don't recoup any of this cost until I sell the property. I hope you have a new perspective on what can be done to market a property. It's a great question.

Real Estate brokers such As Weichert have their own websites and make sure listings appear on other websites such as truia. Then there is Craig's list. When a house is listed , we have a caravan of newly lised homes. Also there are broker's open houses and public open houses. Today, to get the highest and best offers, all tools must be used.

Since over 80% of homebuyers begin their search online, having your home on multiple websites is very important. Open houses and Broker's luncheons are also a good way to have potential buyers see your house and exposure to the local real estate agents is a good idea as well.

I promote my listings at social events, meetings and just about everywhere real estate topics arise.I also use my " Talking House" program.

Justin,

You have asked a very good question. I have suggested to the agents in my office how important it is for us (agents) to communicate with our clients. I have several tools that I give my clients so they can be informed. I have written a booklet for both sellers and buyers and the steps in the process and what they can expect. It even has a checklist they can utilize during the process.

I have another list of all the little things we do that our clients never know we do. The list includes the homework we do before talking with a seller such as research about their property and asking lots of questions to make sure we are marketing your property properly.
For example: John Smith calls and wants to list his house with me. Before our first appointment I do research and discover that John Smith is divorced. He tells me the house is in his name. Guess what? The mortgage is still in both names and in NC that means both parties need to agree to sell the property and sign the documents. (unless they have made other legal arrangements and then I want to see those documents). We may discover an addition made to the property was done without a permit and so on.

Your question was more about marketing - we all differ but marketing is not just advertising. We do need to give the property great exposure. We do a lot of internet marketing. Our listings are all over the web including this site, Century 21.com, C21elliottgreensboro.com. We also market to other agents - we make sure they know about your listing. I like to call agents that have sold similar properties and personally tell them about your property. We have a company brochure which would include your home and we mail that to 5000 homes and email it to about 3000 more. I have also sent packages to local companies that may have employees moving to our area.

Every step in the process takes time and effort. If we don't get your property sold, we don't get paid. We work for nothing if your property does not sell! We go through similar efforts when we are working with you as a buyer.

I hope my answer has helped you a little. If you have an agent or plan on finding one your question is a very good one to ask them. If they can't give you a good answer - find someone who can.