Earlier, we brought you Selling Your Home in Today's Market: Is Pricing it Right Really That Important? There, we talked about the importance of pricing a home right from the beginning, and why the right price early on will get the seller the most money for the sale in the quickest time, with the least amount of stress. Today, we will discuss a few other really important parts to the selling process. Hiring the right agent, marketing online correctly, and providing fair and compelling incentives are critical to selling a home in Ulster County, NY in today’s tough real estate market.
- Marketing Online (The Right Way!) is a MUST -
Marketing your home online is a must. If you are trying to sell your home in the Hudson Valley and don’t think advertising online is important then you should think twice about selling at all. Today it is an absolute must, and marketing the home online the right way is critical to getting the seller the most exposure and therefore the most money in the shortest timeframe, with the least amount of hassle. There are many ways to market a Hudson Valley home for sale online but I’m going to share what I feel are the most important things and agent or homeowner needs to do to get the home sold.
…now we don’t want to give away our secrets when it comes to online marketing, but what we will do is list the sites we use and talk about some of the do’s and don’ts:
Craigslist - There is a right way, and definitely a WRONG way to advertise on Craigslist! Many agents try it and give up. Our Craigslist strategies are proven and our approach to posting ads there is unrivaled. We’ve studied what works and what doesn’t, and have created a system that attracts, captures, and matches buyers with the right homes for them.
Facebook / Twitter - For many agents Facebook and Twitter are a complete waste of time when marketing homes for sale in Ulster County, NY. We use FB/Twitter in a completely different way than our competition and have developed nearly 400 fans and followers who enjoy our unique content regularly. Twitter & Facebook are where we demonstrate our knowledge and expertise. We build rapport there and attract buyers looking for Ulster County, NY real estate related content. We’ve perfected and integrated these platforms and have built lasting relationships with the community as a result.
Our Main Taft Street Realty Website, TaftStreetRealty.com - It’s our engine. This website promotes our brand and is the main hub for all that we do. All our marketing efforts are integrated together and work seamlessly with the other marketing branches we have developed. Always evolving and consistently updated to meet the demands of buyers searching for homes. Sellers can rest assure that we have built this site to Google’s strict specifications and the site always ranks in the top 10 search results. Ulster County, NY real estate is our specialty and our focus.
Other Marketing & Lead Generation Websites - We have been able to harness the power of sites like Zillow, Realtor.com, and Trulia. Most brokerages see these sites as competition but we have partnered with them. We show Hudson Valley sellers how the integration of these sites into our marketing campaigns helps increase buyer traffic to our clients’ homes, which ultimately helps the property sell faster.
Blogging - Just another strategy we use to find buyers for our seller clients. Sellers find us too, usually by noticing how helpful (and attractive) our content is. We’ve had many sellers contact us to learn more about how we could possibly help them sell. We firmly believe we have the best ulster county real estate blog out there, period. Our content is always unique and informative. Google loves what we write as do buyers and sellers. Our blogging efforts are designed to do a few key things: One is to drive traffic to different websites that help us attract buyers. Another is to build up and maintain the good rankings we have in the search results. Blogging also shows readers how well we know our local markets and gives consumers tips and advice on buying and selling. It’s a great way for us to build trust and rapport with readers.
- Hire the Right Ulster County, NY Agent! -
Hiring the right agent and brokerage is vitally important to getting your home sold. Long gone are the days in which you could use your sister’s friend or your mother’s agent from the 1970’s. Today’s sellers want to hire a tech savvy agent in Ulster County who understands how the game is played. Today’s ever challenging real estate market is not for the faint of heart. It is brutal out there for Ulster County sellers and therefore you need an agent who can operate in a very competitive environment, one who understands and knows how to use the technology that is available. I’m not talking about just having an iPad or iPhone, an agent can have all the gadgets out there but if they are not using them properly, what’s the point? Negotiating is just another aspect of the business we seem to naturally have on lock. Negotiating is an art that we refine and perfect with experience. Our sellers are well protected at the negotiating table and end up getting the most money for their homes.
- Be Fair With the Commissions! -
Commissions are always negotiable and sellers should always try to get the best deal possible, but keep in mind that you get what you pay for, as the saying goes. Of course, sellers want to give less as opposed to more when paying marketing fees but sometimes you have to spend money to make money and that is a philosophy we truly believe in. Taft Street Realty spends thousands and thousands of dollars each and every month marketing Ulster County, NY homes for sale. We track and test our strategies, refine when necessary, keep what works, and let go of what doesn’t.
Seller's Agent Commissions - We take selling your Ulster County home very seriously and therefore we know spending money is required to get the job done. It’s because of how much we spend and what we spend it on that makes us so successful. When a seller partners with us to help them get their home sold we expect them to invest a portion of their equity with us. And as with any investment, sellers should demand a return on that investment, which comes in the form of a sale price that is higher than what they could expect from a company who does not market homes the way we do. Sometimes spending more will get you more in the end. Lower commissions usually lead to lower levels of service and definitely lower levels of marketing.
Be very aware of the commission costs in the selling process. It is important to know where the seller’s money is going, how much they are paying the brokerage, and what that money will be used for in terms of marketing for the most exposure. Taft Street Realty sets budgets for what we spend to advertise a home. In certain extenuating circumstances we may flex on our commission, perhaps if loyalty has been there for many years with ongoing repeat business or if the client has referred others to us in the past. Each situation is different, but 99% of the time we are firm on what we charge and for good reason. The cost of doing business today has increased and we operate at the highest levels of efficiency and run marketing systems that most if not all other companies do not.
Buyer's Agent Commissions - It’s also important that sellers understand that a good portion, if not half, of the total commission gets paid out to the buying side of the transaction. Cooperating agents get paid to bring their Hudson Valley buyers to the table. Since most homes get sold by an agent who is not working for the listing brokerage, sellers must realize that the commission for the buyer’s agent needs to be compelling enough for an agent to want to show the home to their buyers. Of course the agent has a responsibility to show ALL homes that meet their buyer’s criteria, but at the end of the day, in terms of getting the home sold faster and for top dollar, buyer’s agents in Ulster County NY need as much incentive as possible to show your home first and before the rest of the competition. With so many properties on the market today, sellers need to do everything they can to make their home stand out.
Confidence in Commissions = Confidence in Service - Sellers need to remember good service and good marketing command fair and reasonable prices. If your agent backed down and flexed on their commission you can be sure that they will back down and flex when negotiating for you if/when an offer comes in. As long as the seller sees value and quality in the services being offered, the price for those services should not be a concern. If the seller does not see or feel the value, that's when price becomes an issue.
- More to Come for Ulster County, NY Sellers! -
We hope this latest blog on selling your home in Ulster County, NY was helpful and informative to you! We feel we've got the Hudson Valley real estate blog with the best content! Check back with us often for more advice and tips from your friends at Taft Street Realty!
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