We all know that to sell our listings, our marketing must reach the serious buyers (those that may buy in the near future at a decent price).  But beyond putting the listing on the MLS, is any additional marketing beneficial?

The vast majority of serious buyers are working with Realtors.  The primary search tool for us Realtors is the MLS.  The MLS is and always will be the best tool for searching for real estate (another blog, another day).

In our market, and I think most others, we have broker reciprocity, meaning all listings on the MLS go onto all broker's websites.  So the public has access to all of the listings on thousands of websites, including the highest traffic national sites like Realtor.com.  So all serious buyers will have either their Realtor searching the MLS for them, and/or will be searching on some of the thousands of websites that include 100% of their market area.

The point here is that all a Realtor has to do to expose a listing to the serious buyers (the only ones that matter) is put it on the MLS.  There is no such thing as a serious buyer who cannot be reached by the MLS or MLS fed websites.  Craigslist, Homes.com, print advertising, are all extra marketing, but extra marketing does not necessarily equate to extra exposure to serious buyers in a saturated market.  ALL serious buyers will gravitate to sources that have ALL of the inventory.  Is there really a difference between having a listing on 1,000 website vs. 1,003 websites, especially when the first 1,000 include the highest traffic websites?

Realtors and Brokers who try to stand out by selling their marketing plan to prospective clients may not like to hear this, but for reaching serious buyers, all Realtors are equal in quantity of marketing.  That said, the quality of marketing really does matter.  It is important for the Realtor to recognize the appealing features of the property, and effectively communicate these with photos and words on the MLS, to attract the serious buyers.   This is where the good, experienced Realtor stands out, when it comes to marketing.

But in this market, the quality or quantity of marketing will be of little import without the right price.  With seven, eight, or more sellers for every one buyer this month, an average property in an average location will not sell at an average price, PERIOD.  These days, the property, location or price must be enticing (borrowed quote) for the property to sell.  And it's communicating this kind of advice to our sellers, that's far more important than any extra marketing.