Thanks for the feedback! I have been posting our house listing on Craigslist every 2-3 days myself since the first week; I am running a Facebook ad (paying for it myself) locally; I also posted it in the free listings in our local entertainment paper. Over Fourth of July we get a lot of local traffic, being near the downtown area, so I bought patriotic-themed balloons and tied them to the Realtor's signs in my yard - this GREATLY increased their visibility! I also put a couple of "pointer" signs on two adjacent streets that get high traffic.

Our street box ran out of flyers so I created new, better-looking ones in color (with all the pertinent logs and info - I'm a graphic designer) and put them in there. The good news is, people ARE picking up flyers.

So, I'm doing my "home" work too. :-)

I would definitely expect COLOR flyers preferably on a high quality photo paper. Also expect a realtor's caravan and open houses with the open houses advertised online and in the local newspapers. Your listing realtor MUST put more than four photos on realtor.com, too. But before any of that is done, YOU have to make sure that your house looks fabulous so please have it professionally staged or at least have a home staging consultant. I can help you with online home staging if you need it.

Hi Jennifer,

You have very typical seller questions and concerns, with the listing of your home, which should have been asked prior to signing the listing to eliminate misunderstandings between you and your agent. You have also gotten some sound advice from the agents who have responded.

We live in an era with many different levels of real estate services being offered. My first question to you is; What was the agreement that you made with your agent? Did you hire your agent as a full service agent or did you hire them with a la carte services.

It is my opinion that you usually get what you pay for in life and in real estate. If you hire a full service agent and are paying full service pricing then you should get full services. These include the items that you have mentioned with the signs, Multiple Listings on all available services, nice flyers with complete property information, etc... You should also expect your agent go through your home with you and create a list of the items that are highlights and low lights. That way you are prepared to get your home ready to show right and sell for top dollar. Your agent should also review with you the feedback from any showings that may have taken place and be prepared to make changes. Full services to me usually mean some agreed upon number of open houses along with all of the other items mentioned, perhaps a virtual tour or whatever else gets the maximum exposure out of your home.

That all said, the majority of home shoppers are on the internet looking long before they ever go out in person. That is why it is so critical to have your home pictures show up nicely on the net, and have the right starting price. Any way that you can expose the home on the net is good. Should you expect your agent to use all of these extra social websites? That depends upon your original agreement. Can you ask them to do so now and after the listing agreement? Yes. Remember, that you are in a partnership with them and they should want to sell your house as much as you do.

Good luck with selling,

Ross Harkness, Realtor®/Builder
803-372-8867

Jennifer, feel free to ask for more, but don't forget - you are the seller and still have the right to promote you own home. Go onto craigslist, Facebook, Twitter, and all the other social sites and get the word out. Don't forget to mention your home is listed and to contact your Realtor with questions.

Sellers often forget selling a home is a team effort. Go ahead and get social!

Jennifer
I think that sellers are confused about the role of the listing agent. The truth is that unmet expectations are the key to problems in client/professional relationships, whether your dentist, cpa, or Realtor.

Sellers are confused because their Realtor does not lay out clearly what is going to happen, the expected results, and what will need to be done to achieve those results.

Try this:
Put your property's address in google.

Look at some other listings in your area, put them in google and compare.


That is called exposure. The Realtor's job is to expose the listing's features to the public.

However, you should know that, on average, the buyer that purchases your home will be brought by a Realtor 90% of the time. So if you are not seeing showings, then you've got a problem.

The rule of thumb (expectations) is 10-12 showings or one offer in the first two weeks, or you need to make a price adjustment.

Ask to see a copy of the MLS posting.

Also, when you selected the list price, what did the competition look like? My sellers and I review the competition each week. If another home, like theirs, goes into escrow, lowers it's price, etc. then we need to know and discuss how to respond. Real estate is not a static game, it's more like chess. Your competition does something, then you do something, because you are competing for the same pool of buyers.

Great marketing will not sell an overpriced home. No showings, lower the price. No offers, lower the price.

Good luck.

The process of marketing a home is a very complicated process and the traditional avenues such as the yard signs, print advertising, flyer boxes, MLS exposure etc are still used with effectiveness. Today the more exposure you can get through the internet the better the chances you can get a quick purchase on your home. Most savvy buyers are previewing homes on the internet and eliminating those properties that have less than flattering ads and only show up on limited websites. Most aggressive realtors utilize the net and include multiple pictures of the home to gain maximum exposure as the more pictures you have the higher on the search engines your home appears. Visual tours are also a good way to gain more exposure as is Facebook, Twitter, and Craigslist. Good luck with the sell of your home and have a great day.

Tim and Gina
The Guilliams Team

Keller Williams Realty
803-984-7478
email tim.guilliams@kw.com
web http://www.theguilliamsteam.com

"A referral is when you send someone you care about to someone you trust"
If you share my name, I would be honored

Hi Jennifer,

From a full service Realty company, you should expect at the minimum, everything you mention. I'm finding that most people look for homes online so additional advertising online is a must. I also use the reverse prospecting tool that our local MLS system provides to contact realtors directly whose clients are looking at homes like yours. There is a lot of time and money that goes into marketing a home. If your listing is in a lower price range, an agent may be hesitant to put alot of money into color flyers, professional pictures, etc. There are alot of free services online we can use to promote your home.

I also provide at least one open house every month or two if the client requests it. I recently had great success holding an open house for a $100,000 listing that I thought wouldn't receive any traffic. You just never know who will walk in the door!

Hopefully your agent is keeping you posted of the showing traffic in your area and price range (another great tool available to us) so you can gague what is happening in your immediate area. Its important to confirm what the agent will do for you, in writing, before listing with the agent.

Good luck!

Terri

Terri Flaglor, Realtor NC/SC, E-Pro
Helen Adams Realty
704-264-9412