Atlanta Real Estate | Atlanta Housing News for Real Estate

We have just began to market your home.  We are now in just the initial stages of marketing your home. YOu can now see that there is so much more to do than signing paperwork, putting a sign in the ground, and entering the home in the MLS. Once all the paperwork for your listing agreement has been entered into the Multiple Listing Service MLS it is now time to begin the marketing.  The first place to start is the most obvious. Signs, directional signs are all in the ground.  Signs are very important for selling a home.  Signage can bring 7-8% of all home sales. No opportunity for a sale can be over looked.  Once this is done, now it is back to the MLS.  Your agent should immediately go to a section called "Reverse Prospects!"  Reverse prospecting is matching home buyers that are already in the MLS system to identify new listings that come on the market, homes that come back on the market, and price reductions that place the home inventory in the reach of other agents buyers.  It is the most overlooked and underutilized source of potential buyers for your home.  Most agents do not even know it exists. If the agent finds there are matches for your home, all they have to do is email or call the agent to see if their buyer has any interest in your home.  It is that easy!

After this, the next item to arrange if all your home photos are posted to the Internet is to get a virtual tour of your home.  Virtual tours are very important even on a condo or town home.  The reason is that most home buyers when searching on http://www.realtor.com/, or on a broker reciprocity or IDX site can filter the search.  One filter is to view homes ONLY with Virtual Tours!  The virtual tour should be ordered immediately.  Then work has to begin on the home fliers or brochures for inside the home and exterior information box.  Nothing less than full color flyers should be used both inside the home and outside.  It should be professionally done, and a proof copy sent to you for approval. The fliers should include color photos of your homes best assets.  This is also the time when your agent should have copies made of the Seller's Property Disclosure, community information made available to display in the home with your marketing materials.  This should all be done within the first 2 days on market.  This is not a week or two week project.

The listing needs to be now entered into the agent's website.  Since over 85% of all home purchases begin on the Internet this is a critical component.  It has to be entered into REALTOR.COM, company websites, agent websites with all data and photos.  There may be a lag for some posting here, because some of these sites upload the data from the MLS at predetermined times. So there can be a lag in posting, but it is not the agent responsibility.

Flyer distribution or broadcast emails to other agents is the next item to take care of.  Since other agents already have buyers, the object will be to notify the other agents in your area that you have a new listing that may suit their home buyer's needs.  This can be done either by a flier distribution service or broadcast email flier service.  Other agents have to know that your home is available for sale.  You need the broadest possible exposure of your home.

Jim Crawford - http://www.atlantabesthomes.com/