There are many things that go into selling a home. The basics are just making sure the home is clean and presentable. Part of my job is definitely coming in and letting you know how your home fairs against the others that are on the market in condition and price.
The way homes get marketed and sold now has drastically changed do the use of the internet. Where as in the past the MLS system (Multiple Listing System or the database Realtors use to market homes amongst themselves) was under the control of the local Real Estate offices in town.
Now any home buyer can instantly go to the internet and begin the search. The days of driving around all day with a Realtor and visiting Open Houses on the weekend are fading quickly. The majority of the time now a Home Buyer will eventually end up working with a Realtor who will send them searches of all the homes available in their criteria. Ultimately every home buyer has already be scouring the pages of Realtor.com and other sites looking for deals before they have even contacted a Realtor.
So in short, the name of the game today is internet exposure. It is my goal to make your home available and presentable on the many different websites that cater to home buyers. I use a professional camera set up to get great interior shots and pay extra to have all of my listings on Realtor.com enhanced. Meaning they get 21 extra pictures, video tour, and bolded headlines in the search results.
Where as in the past a Realtor would have to not only do all the listing work, (ie take pictures and enter the data into the MLS),advertise in the local papers, do open houses and have the overhead of a brick and mortar office the rates that were charged were very fair and balanced.
Nowadays after I do the listing work, we are almost done. Within days your home is sent viral on the internet. If someone is looking for a home that matches your criteria it will be found. Open Houses still happen, but the truth that any Realtor will tell you, is that they are very rarely ever heavily attended by serious home buyers.
As far as mass mailings, for individual homes it just does not make sense. There really is no way to target a market by address that will be looking for your home. Lastly a technologically savvy Realtor can easily operate from the combination of a home office and car. The need for a brick and mortar office is not really there anymore. Sure to many people this means stability and reliability, however at the end of the day if the Realtor you are working with are competent the lack of office will make no difference at all and in my case saves you money.
Check out some of my listings on Realtor.com
