What Makes A Winning Marketing Plan and Who is in Control of it?
August 29th, 2007 categories: San Diego Real Estate, Selling San Diego Real Estate
It is time to sell the old place and you are interviewing local REALTORS hoping to hear that your home will fetch a “pie in the sky” price.
Doubtful that will happen but let’s take a look at why you might have that expectation.
The agent wants the listing and most will tell you the market today is more normal ( level pricing with lower appreciation) and prices have adjusted downward from the lofty exaggerated prices of a couple years ago. The agent will tell you they have a great marketing plan and as you can see they will be doing a lot of advertising and will ultimately accept that too high of price you forced on them. So the process begins.
1st weeks open house, ads in the newspaper, brochure box on the sign post, nice property brochure and the end of the first week results, no offers. The agent said it will take a while, so patience is to be accepted.
What’s wrong with this picture? In your mind nothing. In my mind it is very wrong and it all started with the marketing plan the agent presented to you that you unduly influenced.
The Just Listed mailing was sent to people who owns a home in the neighborhood just like yours-do you honestly think that they want two homes or will sell theirs to buy yours? Pretty doubtful. Brokerage have been training their agents to send out the just listed announcements for years. Why? In hopes that neighbors will see that their firm was selected and if you are a neighbor and going to sell soon, you should select them too. Great for the agent and company, not that beneficial for the seller.
The ad in the newspaper was not put in the paper to sell your home. Surprise Surprise! It was to get the phone to ring and hopefully attract a buyer or seller prospect ( not to sell your home however).
The property brochure for the neighborhood kids to take and throw all over the place or to attract drive bys from looky loos will likely not sell the house either. If they are serious buyers they are already working with an agent and probably will not be discovering your home for the first time from a flyer. If the home is within the right parameters for the buyer, they should have already received the information on the property. The property brochure is useful but likely isn’t going to sell the property. I am not going to dissect all the elements of a possible marketing plan and counter each one. The point being that most things done in a marketing plan are useful for something or someone but can they create the desired result of selling your home? Not in and of themselves, no.
So exactly what was it in the agents marketing plan that is going to “sell” your home? Being in the MLS and generating a strong local market and Internet presence for the homes is good. Exposing the home to the likely buyers for the home is excellent as well. The devil is in the details but it all starts and ends with price to value. This is not easy for most homeowners to understand but it is one of the most important considerations in your selection of who should be marketing the home in the first place.
If your REALTOR makes it crystal clear to you that 90% of any good marketing plan is setting the correct price, then you may be on to something. If the agent told you that since most of the qualified buyers for your home are already under contract or working with agent, and they tell you that 50% of the actual marketing plan is directed to the agents who work with the Buyers in the greater area that your home is in, you are hearing the real truth. If the agent has as part of their marketing plan an excellent Internet marketing presence, hang on to that agent because your home is most likely going to be sold soon, with the following caveat.
The CMA prepared for you and used to reinforce the marketing plan is a bit like looking in a rear view mirror. It doesn’t tell you the future of the market but rather where the market has been. And as we see today, that is not where it is going. The market is ever changing with strong economic influences from sources that have much to do directly or indirectly with what your home might be worth at any given point in time. An easy example to understand that principle would be the cost of money. If your agent helped you comprehend what the current market trend is and if it happens to be a Buyers market where prices are competitive for the product being sold and you priced your home too high-big mistake! A huge mistake in fact that will take some real effort to recover from. Many sellers of course won’t recover.
If you priced your home in a range where comparables have been that have been more upgraded than yours, that is another big mistake. Buyers tend to search for properties at the top end of their qualified price range. They do not expect to pay top dollar and get less. Your home will be passed over and over. Buyers that would be suitable for your home at the correct price then would just as likely not ever see it.
This miscalculation, renders the usefulness of the marketing plan out of sync and most everything done or planned marketing wise will not yield the expected results-selling your home for the most money and in the fastest time possible.
As a seller you must understand that you are partners with the REALTOR you choose and your duty is the most difficult ( at least for most people). That is understanding that you will not be the exception to the pricing rule, no matter how many cute things you did to stage the property. If the property is priced wrong for the current market , you are in for some very disappointing results or the lack there of.
Is it your fault that the agent you hired took your listing overpriced? That depends on you. Was it your main real consideration in the interview process and further to accept a marketing plan that was based on the wrong ( rear view mirror) criteria. If you want professional results and have hired the professional, then you should relinquish your unrealistic hold on what you think your home is worth and allow the REALTOR to market your home correctly ( at the correct market value) to where the Buyers are and then you can enjoy the results of having contributed greatly ( pricing the home correctly in the first place) to the winning marketing plan.
William,
Another excellent article. Your experience, and wisdom of the Real Estate Market shines through with this one.
I really like this post, would you provide more information?