Real estate blog entries tagged with marketing listings by Robin Rogers, CRS, TRC, MRP - Real Estate Investment Adviser (Robin Rogers, Silverbridge Realty, San Antonio, Texas)

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marketing listings: For sale, ready for summer: 7259 Burns Way, San Antonio, TX 78250 - 05/23/13 12:16 AM

I have the pleasure of listing for sale this spacious home with a big covered deck, conveniently located in a quiet gated neighborhood on San Antonio's northwest side. I say "conveniently" because it is close to bustling Bandera Highway, with lots of shopping, dining, and services, halfway between Loop 410 and Loop 1604. But it's also "quiet," because the neighborhood is set well back off Mainland Drive.
The large back yard has a privacy fence, a vegetable garden area, a storage shed, and shade trees. Best of all, the covered deck--just re-stained--will make a great place for some happy home buyers … (2 comments)

marketing listings: Photographs of a home that will help it sell quickly. Or not - 11/14/11 01:55 AM

What do you think? Do these pictures actually help sell the house? Or should they have been left out of the listing details?

Agents, if your listing photographs don't turn out as well as they should, do you upload them anyway, or do you leave them out and go back later to take better ones?

It may not be worth your time to return to take better pictures if the house sells right away. This one hasn't.
P.S. ^ Why?!
… (6 comments)

marketing listings: SOLD! Stylish and charming home for sale at 30 Caswell Circle, San Antonio, TX 78240 - 03/29/11 11:42 AM

This home is in one of my favorite neighborhoods near the South Texas Medical Center, UTSA, and USAA insurance headquarters. Everything you need is nearby, including the brand-new, expanded HEB supermarket and Huebner Oaks shopping center, as well as lots of great places to eat (like Aldo's!). It's only a short distance to shopping meccas such as La Cantera Mall and The Rim, and a little farther the other direction to downtown.
But you'll be tempted just to stay in and cook dinner, or go out on the deck to rustle up a barbecue for your friends. This home is ready … (3 comments)

marketing listings: Sold! Another beautifully remodeled home at 426 Oak Glen Drive, San Antonio, TX 78209 - 02/27/11 01:39 AM

This home is in one of my favorite neighborhoods in San Antonio: Northwood. And now it has happy new owners!
It had been well maintained, but there was carpet over the wood floors and original 50's tile in the bathrooms. The Florida room was an enclosed patio with another screened patio next to it. They effectively made the kitchen and dining area next to it very dark. My client opened up the space and created a sunny dining room and a third bedroom and a Jack-and-Jill bathroom to the original second bedroom. The roof of the second enclosed patio was replaced with a pergola, letting floods of … (3 comments)

marketing listings: Home for sale at 9611 Claudia Circle, San Antonio, Texas 78251 - 02/16/11 01:33 AM

Lots of folks need starter homes, and this one fits the bill for first-time buyers. It's in an established neighborhood, Creekside, with a swimming pool and community center, and it's close to some of Northside Independent School District's highly rated schools.
It's also in commuting distance to Lackland Air Force Base, the South Texas Medical Center, Sea World, and other large employers in San Antonio. While being conveniently close to shopping, services, and dining, Creekside is set off the main thoroughfares. And Claudia Circle is at the back of the community on a quiet street.
This isn't the biggest home in the neighborhood, but its … (5 comments)

marketing listings: 7 staging secrets to making a small room seem larger - 11/28/10 02:23 AM

Whether you are redecorating or getting a house ready to sell, you may have at least one room that looks a little dinky. Following are 7 staging secrets to making a small room look larger:
1. Use a light, neutral color scheme. Tried and true shades of cream, beige, or pale pastels work best to make a room lighter and thus look larger.2. Furnishings, rugs, and window treatments should not contrast greatly with each other. Use different shades of one or two colors so the various elements blend instead of overwhelming the room. 3. Open curtains and blinds, and turn on all the lights. … (12 comments)

marketing listings: Craigslist advertising help - and abuse - for my ad post - 09/06/10 04:33 AM

I have been posting an ad on Craigslist for one of my properties for rent since June. Last week, it was suddenly flagged for removal four times. The email from Craigslist said that it could have been an accident, and I should feel free to repost. So I did, and it was flagged again several hours later. I couldn't figure out why, since it's identical to the ad I ran a year ago the last time the unit was vacant and hasn't changed in the last three months.
Okay, it was early and I didn't have my full cup of coffee before I re-read … (11 comments)

marketing listings: If you post your listing videos on YouTube, here are some ways to improve them - 08/01/10 02:35 AM

Many real estate agents now use YouTube to market their listings for sale. Eric gives some advice on making better videos and virtual tours.

I'm not writing this to embarrass any particular individual. Learning how to market real estate is a continuous process. And we can all learn from one another, particularly on a site like ActiveRain where there are so many great resources available.

Nobody can't watch jittery, shaky video footage for very long without feeling like they've had way too much coffee. It's extremely distracting to view a video that is blurry and shaky. But I've noticed some in the real estate business uploading property … (6 comments)

marketing listings: Sold! Lovely home for sale at 511 Saint Xavier, San Antonio, Texas 78232 - and it has a pool! - 07/24/10 09:38 AM

Located on a cul-de-sac in the gated Mission Ridge neighborhood on San Antonio's north side, this spacious home has been updated and made even more luxurious. The master suite is on the ground floor, and four guest bedrooms and two more full bathrooms are upstairs. Best of all, with the hottest days of summer approaching, is the swimming pool with waterfall-spa. The home is surrounded by mature landscaping, bright flowers, and mature oak trees, adding to its considerable charm.
Check out the Real Estate Show:

If your browser doesn't display the show above, you can view it by clicking this link.
… (6 comments)

marketing listings: Gaming the time on the market and automatically re-listing: what do you think? - 05/30/10 02:59 AM

I feel for Tammie, trying to compete in the Nashville market when this sort of thing is allowed by her MLS. Two years ago, the San Antonio MLS started to show not only the days on market for the current listing, but the cumulative days on market. Agents can look up the price history of the recent listings and who the agents were. Home buyers can see that if the the cumulative days on the market are very high, they might have some leverage on the price. Sellers can see that it's no longer possible for their listing agents to … (9 comments)

marketing listings: Lovely home for sale at 7259 Burns Way, San Antonio, Texas 78250 - 05/11/10 03:01 AM

This spacious home is in a small gated neighborhood, conveniently tucked away off Mainland Drive between Bandera Road and Tezel Road. Bandera Road offers all kinds of retail, shopping, and services, and Tezel is a main thoroughfare throughout the residential areas on San Antonio's northwest side. The home is detailed with crown molding, and the flooring consists of berber carpet and ceramic tile, offering easy maintenance. All the bedrooms are upstairs, and the master suite is separate from the three guest bedrooms. The island kitchen opens to the living room and a breakfast area, and the dining room could be used … (7 comments)

marketing listings: Music to soothe the savage buyer - 04/16/10 09:46 AM

Perhaps I am an oddity in Texas in that I do not like country and western music, at least nothing that's been released since the 1950s. So when I'm showing homes in which the sellers have tuned into a country and western music station on their television, I don't exactly revel in the ambience. Better choices for me would be adult rock, I suppose, or smooth jazz. Many people don't care for jazz, though, especially the bland type played on cable channels, such as the stylings of Kenny G (which to my ear are even more repulsive than C&W).
Today, however, … (14 comments)

marketing listings: A picture says a thousand words, especially if you read between the lines--updated - 03/14/10 11:02 AM

I ran across this listing while hunting for a home one of my clients might want to buy and remodel. She has done an excellent job with her other projects, what I call slow flips, and is ready to start on another one. First I check out the obvious foreclosures and distress properties, but there is starting to be a lot of competition for the good ones. It takes a lot of research and trolling through listings on my part to come up with a short list of homes to look at. Only a few make the cut: those that home buyers would … (11 comments)

marketing listings: Setting listing expectations for sellers in San Antonio, TX - 02/27/10 02:44 AM

Don has some great information that he goes over with his sellers to get them ready for the process. I work very hard to help my clients get their home ready for showings, in addition to staging, and topnotch marketing. But Don's post reminds me that I need to discuss these other issues in more detail with my clients, too.
In many areas of San Antonio, there are several neighborhoods where buyers can look for homes in a particular price range, so I show my sellers that there is more competition than just in their particular neighborhood. Also, homes in good condition here can sell … (3 comments)

marketing listings: How To Market A Crappy Home on Video - Anne Beattie-style! - 01/23/10 09:13 AM

Stephen is right: this video is "amazingly creative!" I just love it. I'm going to have to transition from photography to videography to market my listings, and Anne will be my inspiration.
Enjoy and learn!

At a recent conference the head of a major real estate franchise complained very publicly that it is an almost impossible task to get Realtors to add photos to listings. 'Are you serious?' I thought? But the comment was met with hundreds of nodding heads so perhaps I was one of the few who thought that a person would want to see photos of … (8 comments)

marketing listings: Thanksgiving Sunday Open House results - 11/30/09 12:50 AM

Like many other agents, I haven't had much luck with open houses. Now I know why--I am not doing them anywhere near as well as Jim does!
Check this out:

I know there are many people who don't like doing open houses, and many more who won't even do open houses, but I'm one who both enjoys doing them and does them.
In fact, I like doing them so much that if I don't have a listing of my own that I can hold open, I'll ask someone from my company if I can hold their listing open.
What's … (8 comments)

marketing listings: Hay, wear is that thing cauld spell check? Eye kneed too yews it. - 11/09/09 10:01 AM

Okay, I don't mean to be mean (I love homonyms!), but this listing agent could use some help. Spell checking the remarks on the MLS would be a good start.
Agent Remarks: From Main make turn on Maple to the end. who know quality will love it. Owners live here for 13 years and enjoy this home seet pleashure who know quality will love to have it this majestic home.
Remarks: Costum home on N. Central area, OWNER WILL FINANCE WITH 30 % DAWN exelent location is 4-2-2 the 4 BR is an office an is on first floor ideal, home for … (21 comments)

marketing listings: Bad MLS photos: come on, agents, would it kill you to use a flash? - 10/19/09 10:48 AM

Recently, I have been on the hunt for a third rental property for one client and the next home for another client to remodel. In the process, I have looked at literally hundreds of listings on the MLS. And in more than a few, I have found photos that raised more questions than they answered.

How about a nice gloomy bubble bath?

Can't you just imagine the kids playing out here? Maybe they already are, but you just can't see them.
It's past their bedtime anyway.

This photo to the right of … (13 comments)

marketing listings: Friday fun! Advertising a listing on the MLS with lots of--okay, four--photos - 10/09/09 05:04 AM

I found a link to the MLS from a couple of years ago, when I posted my first blog about bad MLS photos and agents' descriptions of their listings. This listing went to another agent after 331 days on the market.
In those days, before the local board changed the MLS system for the third time since I became a member, the links lasted a month. Now they last maybe two weeks. Since I didn't want anyone to miss this opportunity to see the photos from this listing, I grabbed the photos and made a Real Estate Show out of them.
Enjoy!

… (3 comments)

marketing listings: Memories at ActiveRain: my favorite real estate post so far, and still true! - 09/16/09 02:50 AM

I originally posted this last November and got lots of thoughtful, and hilarious, comments in response. One of my favorite things about ActiveRain is having the chance to connect with other people in the industry and comparing our experiences. Everybody has a different point of view and story to tell. I love it!
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Blue carpet is the kiss of death: why houses sit there and don't sell (check it out to read the comments)
Real estate is local, of course, and I have noticed certain things over the years that make a house stubbornly cling to its sellers instead of taking in new … (17 comments)

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