What Montgomery County Sellers Need to Know About Buyers
When I meet sellers for the first time at a listing appointment we cover a lot of topics; home staging, price trends, inventory and the benefits of working with a Team are just a few. More recently, we’ve been talking about the needs and wants of today’s home buyer. This month’s Maryland REALTOR magazine featured an article “33 Must-Know Stats About Modern Real Estate Customers” by Matthew Ferrara that provides some insight into the purchasing process of today’s Buyer. Some of Ferrara’s most interesting buyer stats and my thoughts on what they mean for sellers in Montgomery County are below.
“35% of buyers used the internet as first step for home shopping.” No surprise here. Sellers however should do their own online research on prospective listing agents. It’s not enough that your property appears on Realtor.com, Zillow or Homes.com. Does the agent upload additional photos and information? Buyers are looking for multiple interior photos and a thorough property description. If the agent you are interviewing doesn’t do this for his current properties, are you sure he’s going to go the extra mile for you? Today, there are 2477 active listings in Montgomery County MD. We know what needs to be done to ensure that your property stands out above the rest.
“Generation X’ers (35-45) have doubled their use of social media since 2008.” and “1 in every 6 minutes spent online is on FB.” Does your agent have a Facebook, Twitter or GooglePlus account? If so, is it a professional or personal page? An agent professing to use social media to promote your listing should have extensive network of buyers and other agents. Social media won’t do much for your listing if the agent only has 25 “Friends”. My various social media accounts will expose your listing to an additional 2000+ potential buyers and Real Estate professionals.
“1 in 10 US adults owns a tablet computer.”, “200 million consumers access social media on their smartphones.” and “44% of generation Y’ers prefer texting to face to face meetings.” Consumers want instant access to information and your listing agent should be able to provide it. Andy Werner & Associates has a nine to five staff that is available to receive calls about your home but we have noticed that buyers are spending less and less time calling listing agents to receive information over the phone. To cater to this need, we have a mobile compatible website that can be accessed anytime, anywhere. We also use sign riders with a 24 hour toll free hotline with information about your home and QR code that takes buyers directly to your personal listing website. Just because its 11:30pm, doesn’t mean that a buyer should have wait until morning to find out the price of your home.
“Buyers found the home they purchased in the newspaper 5% of the time.” There was a time that every seller wanted their home listed in the local newspaper. Today, the “local paper” is being replaced by Craigslist and other websites. For now, we still employ some old school print marketing like postcards, flyers and brochures but we receive the greatest response from buyers that find our properties online. By the time your ad in a local real estate magazine finds its way into a buyer’s hands, the information is often out of date. Be concerned if your agent relies primarily on print ads, a 5% chance of connecting with a buyer isn’t worth your time.
For more information on how Andy Werner & Associates can market your home visit our website, call, email or text us today!
Ferrara, Matthew. “33 Must Know Stats About Modern Real Estate Customers.” Maryland REALTOR. Feb. /Mar. 2012: 8-9. Print.
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