Monday, January 30, 2006

San Antonio Silent Market - A brief overview of marketing your home for maximum profits and minimum disturbance

Sellers typically want to get as much for their house as possible. Who wouldn’t want more!? Overpricing a home on MLS, however, can actually lead to a lower sales price than if the house was price pointed accurately in the beginning.

With too high a price, there is initial interest from buyers, but that interest cools when the buyers figure out that the price is too high. By the time the seller drops the price to reasonable level, the “bloom is off the rose”. The buyers that already saw the house lack the excitement they feel when a house comes newly to market. What follows is a long course of low-ball offers to an apparently desperate seller.

In the older neighborhoods, it is difficult to pinpoint a precise value for any given house. Unlike the newer subdivisions where a single developer builds homes over a 3 year period, the older neighborhoods have a variety of styles, sizes and vintages built by a number of builders. Variation in age can span over 50 years!

I have come up with a marketing program that allows sellers to “float” their house out at the highest end of the reasonable price spectrum, but not get burnt if the market isn’t receptive. There are a certain number of candidates for your home out there, with some dropping out and some taking up the hunt on any given day or week.

At any given moment, there are a number of people that match the demographic that would be interested in your house. As we peg the price higher, that pool of buyers shrinks. We need to peg the price to gain the maximum amount possible, with minimum turbulence, and within an acceptable timeframe. Easy, right?

Here’s my plan:
- After we get the house and yard spiffed up, I will have a professional photographer shoot your home for stills and a virtual tour.
- With those photos and links, I will develop an alluringly romantic email that will capture the hearts of our target audience and those that might know candidates.
- Before marketing your home, I will “float” your home past a few traditional Real Estate agents that know the area. They appreciate getting early notice, so will give good feedback on your home and our price range. Who knows, maybe we’ll have an offer from one of their clients...
- I will then send the email brochure, with tweaks, to my email list of 1,334 (and growing) people who are interested in San Antonio Real Estate. The brochure isn’t designed for the end buyer. We describe your neat lifestyle and send the email out with the message of “do you know anyone who would like lazy evenings on the balcony sipping wine...” The list of 1,334 (Joe-MLS)includes people in design firms, law firms, universities and those who act as advocates in getting the word out to the ultimate buyers. Typically, I get a ton of interest and there will be showings. If she isn’t under contract, then...
- We put a link and photo in my Friday email that goes to 5,000+ people...;
- We send the brochure to more traditional area Real Estate Agents. (20 or so at a time);
- We send the email to the balance of 246 traditional Real Estate Agents familiar with the area;
- If your home still hasn’t sold, we then put your home on MLS.
- We put up a For Sale sign;
- I pay for premium placement on Realtor.com, plus as an e-PRO, I know how to tweak Realtor.com to place your home near the top of the search results.

During this process, each “round of buyers” exposed to your home get the message that they are in a privileged position. We haven’t listed it on MLS yet, so they need to move quickly, before the whole world learns about this great home!

At each step, we can adjust the price. In effect, we have the leisure of aiming high and adjusting if necessary. Since the home appears new for each round, the bloom stays on the rose.

By the way, this works! With the right marketing plan, your home can sell quicker, for more money and with fewer disruptive showings. We can customize the marketing plan based on your needs and your urgency. We can run through the steps in 2 weeks or over 2 years.

I would love to answer any questions you might have about my cascading series of silent marketing. Feel free to call me at 210-733-1928. - Joe Barfield

No comments: