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The Number 1 Marketing Technique

By Herb Hamilton

Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Preferred Inc. Realtors

August 09, 2007 03:18 AM

In the approximately 20 years that I have enjoyed pursuing my passion and career in Real Estate, there has been ONLY ONE constant when it comes to advertising a listing.

For all of the marketing schemes and ploys. And all of the fancy Ads, Brochures, Magazines, Video's and TV shows. There is still only one effective method of marketing your listings.

No IT IS NOT a fabulous sign or a successful company and or agent. IT IS NOT a guided tour bus full of hopeful agents coming to eat your catered luncheon. NOR IS IT a special promotion designed to get as many Buyers in your home as possible for the free gift cetificate to your favorite retailer.

The NUMBER 1 marketing technique that YOU, be it your first day in the business or your 7000th day can employ to sell that listing today is.

PRICE IT RIGHT !

Yes that's it. When you price the listing right today on DAY ONE you tell the world you are there to sell not to TEST THE MARKET. What does price it right mean?

Pricing a listing right does not mean if everyone is getting $200,000 then you should get $200,000. Nor does it mean that you list it for $199,000 and tell people that this is the lowest priced listing of the group.

Pricing it right means accurately assessing the market as it pertains to your listing, and setting the sales price accordingly. It means creating a Sales Price that anyone who would view this property would instantly know that they were looking at a genuine bargain.

The proof is in the Pudding. Even the most derelict, the smallest, the property in the most hideous neighborhood will sell when priced right.

Price it right and you will hear " Now that's a fair price "more often and you will have happier clients on both sides of the aisle. For a Seller who waits several months to get there higher price loses more than they gain and is never as happy with you as someone who Sells in the first couple of weeks.

Let_your_next_Home_Find_You a web site for Buyer's presented by your RE/MAX Real Estate Broker in Portland Oregon.

"A Real Estate Transaction with Herb is One YOU Will Profit From"

Comments(28)

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Herb Hamilton

RE/MAX Preferred Inc. Realtors - Portland, OR

Real Estate Broker ,CDPE, Downtown Portland

Sharon, Rosemary : Thanks for stopping by and your comments. Have a successful day.

Aug 09, 2007 09:16 AM

Bryant Tutas

Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC - Winter Garden, FL

Selling Florida one home at a time

Amen Herb!!! I prefer to spend ALL of my marketing dollars on the right price. It's the one thing guaranteed to work.:)

Aug 09, 2007 11:38 AM

Herb Hamilton

RE/MAX Preferred Inc. Realtors - Portland, OR

Real Estate Broker ,CDPE, Downtown Portland

BB : So true so true.

Aug 09, 2007 01:03 PM

Jennifer Fivelsdal

JFIVE Home Realty LLC | 845-758-6842|162 Deer Run Rd Red Hook NY 12571 - Red Hook, NY

Mid Hudson Valley real estate connection

Herb - You are so right, if the property is price right it will sell.

Aug 09, 2007 05:00 PM

Gary J. Rocks

Juba Team Realty - Jefferson Township, NJ

Herb

if you price it right they will come, and I don't care what the market is doing. It all boils down to the denaro.

Aug 09, 2007 05:49 PM

Gita Bantwal

RE/MAX Centre Realtors - Warwick, PA

REALTOR,ABR,CRS,SRES,GRI - Bucks County & Philadel

Thanks for the post. I agree if it is priced right it has a better chance of selling. If it is priced below market it will sell in any market . there are investors looking to buy below market.

Aug 09, 2007 11:15 PM

Herb Hamilton

RE/MAX Preferred Inc. Realtors - Portland, OR

Real Estate Broker ,CDPE, Downtown Portland

Jennifer, Gary, Gita : Thank you all for reading and sharing your comments. Have a successful day.

Aug 10, 2007 01:21 AM

Kathleen Lordbock

Keller Williams Realty Professionals - Baxter, MN

Keller Williams Realty Professionals

Priced right - yes - staged to sell by a professional stager who knows what they are doing will make it so much better.

A home that shows well will sell.

Aug 11, 2007 09:47 AM

Herb Hamilton

RE/MAX Preferred Inc. Realtors - Portland, OR

Real Estate Broker ,CDPE, Downtown Portland

Kim : Thanks for reading and the comment.

Kathleen : Although I am a strong supporter of Staging and firmly beleve in its use, the same analogy could be used for any number of things as it pertains to my Post.

A new roof
New Paint
New interior finishes
New garage and driveway

There are many things including Staging that can help improve a poor homes standing in the market place. My Post is not about improvements are temporary enhancements. It is about setting the price correctly as the first step to marketing.

Aug 11, 2007 10:56 AM

Michael Hoffman

Michael Hoffman & Associates - Pickerington, OH

CAI, AARE, CES, BAS

I agree. I just took over a listing (as the third agent). I got them to reduce the price by $15k (where it should have been in the first place) and it sold in a week. I also took the maximum number of photos that our MLS will allow and added good descriptions to them. I am always amazed at how many agents don't take but 1 photo (if any) - my biggest pet peeve.

The Seller in the above deal has been e-mailing every FSBO he can find to tell them they shoud call me. I met with one couple on Thursday and may end up listing their house once they get it cleaned up.

Aug 11, 2007 11:07 AM

Michelle Minch

Moving Mountains Design Home Staging, Pasadena, CA - Los Angeles, CA

Home Staging Los Angeles and Orange County, CA

Herb: You are absolutely correct. A house MUST be priced right or it will not sell. However, if a home is priced appropriately, professional staging will make it stand out from all the other competing listings, make it more appealing to a larger group of potential buyers and possibly promote a faster sale for more money.

As for Michael's comment above regarding photos for the MLS, a staged home will photograph better than an unstaged home, and subsequently look better on the MLS, thereby increasing interest.

Aug 11, 2007 11:47 AM

Herb Hamilton

RE/MAX Preferred Inc. Realtors - Portland, OR

Real Estate Broker ,CDPE, Downtown Portland

Michael : Thanks for reading and your great comment. Lots of luck with the FSBO's . Nice to have a satisfied customer as your advocate.

Michelle : As I mentioned to Kathleen, I am a strong supporter of staging, But this post is really not about enhancing a property. It is simply about pricing right in the begining. And although all things being equal a Staged home will often sell better than the similar property that is not staged, the said could be true if designer colors were used instead of flat white in three competing homes.

Thank you both for reading and your detailed comments.

Aug 11, 2007 12:04 PM

Patricia Ebrahimi

SHOW SMART! HOME STAGING & Color Consultant - Rockville, MD

Home Staging the Washington DC Area from Rockville MD

Herb, no one can argue with your logic. That said, you simply prove the Professional Home Staging mantra, Stage, Show, Sell in my opinion. If the property is staged beautifully and then priced correctly, it will sell!

Aug 11, 2007 04:28 PM

Herb Hamilton

RE/MAX Preferred Inc. Realtors - Portland, OR

Real Estate Broker ,CDPE, Downtown Portland

Thank you Patricia for your comments. I could have swore that when I began writing this post my intent was to answer directly to all those agents who recently have been posting questions. The majority of those questions were looking for a magic bullet. The secret technique. The one true definitive thing that they could do to help sell their home.

My post was intended to convey the first step in selling any property is to have it priced properly. I have received private emails that missed the message and thought that I was only talking about reducing the price and that some how I could rescue that by enhancing the property with staging.

This thought process misses my message altogether. Pricing it right as described above is " accurately assessing the market for your product and pricing accordingly " all the while trying to reach your seller's goals.

If further enhancements, be it staging or what ever will position it even better then Great go for it. But Price it right the first time.

Aug 12, 2007 02:35 AM

Karen Otto

Home Star Staging - Plano, TX

Plano Home Staging, Dallas Home Staging, www.homes

Herb, great post and I agree PRICE is the number one factor in getting a house sold once listed.

I can see my fellow passionate stagers have added comments and I too will just add my 2 cents. Can you take another one? :)

Not being a Realtor, but in a complementary business to real estate, staging, my thoughts are that even before the property is posted to the MLS that there are things that can be done to improve the condition of a listing that can be priced right (and in many cases for a better profit) if certain areas are addressed prior to even listing. Be it roof repairs, painting, removal of years of stuff and outdated items, a PRICE can be set at the higher end of their comparable market if the condition of the house is better than the competition.

Why leave money on the table if it can fetch a higher price by improving the condition of the home?

I think it's almost doing the client a disservice when we advise them NOT to do anything but price it right.

In a hot market, bidding wars and multiple offers on the "best looking house" are common, in a slow market with many properties to choose from in the same price range condition will make the differerence in a sale or not.

Whether it be owner improvements or hiring a professional to help - it will make a difference in the time and profit of the sale.

Price, location and condition are what I understand to be the 3 keys to a sale (in that order).

PRICE it right the first time if you're serious (listen to your Realtor the first time!)
LOCATION - can't be changed unless you physically relocate the house
CONDITION - is something that the OWNER has control of and should address prior to even listing

This is where the staging profession is shouting from the roof tops and trying to get our message out there. You yourself said you are a supporter - THANK YOU! We can help put more money on the table. The stats are there. We're just asking our Realtors to let us show your clients how and in the end improve YOUR bottom line as well as theirs! We'd love to be a part of your marketing package!

Thank you for the post.

Aug 12, 2007 04:37 AM

Herb Hamilton

RE/MAX Preferred Inc. Realtors - Portland, OR

Real Estate Broker ,CDPE, Downtown Portland

Karen :Your two cents are greatly appreciated. And as you point out as you are not a Realtor (R) there are some things that you are unaware of and of course are free to comment on. As in any other business there is never unanimity among all practitioners.

Your comment : ( I think it's almost doing the client a disservice when we advise them NOT to do anything but price it right.) All Seller's are not the same. In fact many Seller's choose not to listen to anything beyond price. Suggestions as to enhancements ( Painting, Roofing or Staging etc. etc. etc. ) often fall on deaf ears. I do council my Seller's about all of these aspects. However the reality is that great advice given while in the trenches is often times ignored or dismissed with a comment like " I am not going to do anything, I just want to know what can I sell it for ? "
Your comment : ( Why leave money on the table if it can fetch a higher price by improving the condition of the home? ) Again that surmises the Seller has the ability or desire to improve or enhance the property. If indeed all Seller's chose to enhance their properties to there full value then there would be no work for Rehabbers and flip Buyer's.
Your comment : ( Price, location and condition are what I understand to be the 3 keys to a sale (in that order).) That old mantra was disproved years and years ago. The Reality is the 3 things are :

Price
Price
and Price

Location and Condition make no difference when the home is priced right.

Here is an example of a staged property in a very simple 1950's ranch that I know of. ( continuing to give my support to your profession. )

Thanks so much for your comments Karen I have enjoyed the dialogue.

Aug 12, 2007 06:39 AM

Karen Otto

Home Star Staging - Plano, TX

Plano Home Staging, Dallas Home Staging, www.homes

Hi again Herb - you've taught me something today! It is in this type of dialogue that one can grow and learn and each day I look forward to that prospect.

Thank you for so eloquently making your points. I completely understand where you're coming from when you "can lead the horse to water but not force him to drink".

All Sellers are not the same but you are an agent who DOES give them options and makes it clear to them what they should do - I highly respect that. Many agents do not for whatever reason thereby missing an opportunity to create more equity for the seller and themselves.

I look forward to reading more of your posts and when time permits am going to check on your other blogs as well.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Aug 12, 2007 10:06 AM

Herb Hamilton

RE/MAX Preferred Inc. Realtors - Portland, OR

Real Estate Broker ,CDPE, Downtown Portland

Karen,

Thank you for you kind words.

Aug 12, 2007 11:57 AM

Lori Kim Polk

Premiere Home Staging : Home Staging Services - Roseville, CA

Home Stager - Roseville, Sacramento

This has been a very interesting Post. One that seems to be very popular on this day. I actually agree with everyone here. The Post started as one where your main focus was to show Realtors that you do have to price the home correctly. You are so right! No amount of anything else will sell the home. I don't know how many homes I have Staged where the clients will not reduce the price to where the market will support them in a sale.

You have some great responses from some serious Stagers that fully believe in what they do and what they have to offer. And they are great.... so are you, for bringing this up and for your sharing this so important fact!

Thank you for making my Sunday interesting ;)

Aug 12, 2007 02:00 PM

Herb Hamilton

RE/MAX Preferred Inc. Realtors - Portland, OR

Real Estate Broker ,CDPE, Downtown Portland

Lori : Indeed it has been a very interesting thread. In fact it has been so interesting it has caused me to re-think the way I post. I really have enjoyed the dialogue created and maintained in the cross-pollination of the business.

Thanks so much for your comment and I hope to see you all as future readers and avid commenter's on my Blog.

Aug 12, 2007 04:17 PM