What marketing works and doesn’t « How to Not Get Screwed in Real Estate

What marketing works and doesn’t

By Larry Schottenstein on August 26, 2009

Agents have all kinds of marketing tools to help sell a home. When I teach continuing education for experienced agents I ask them to make a list of all the marketing tools they use. Here is a typical list:

1 Yard signs

2 Open houses

3 Sunday morning TV shows

4 Real estate publications

5 Local newspapers and area publications

6 Mailers

7 Flyers

8 MLS listings, which puts the home on the internet

9 Staging

10 Agent web sites

11 Internet marketing

When I ask agents how many of these are truly effective the list gets cut in half. Why do agents do all this marketing?

Is it really to help sell the home? Or is it to troll for new buyers? Let’s look at open houses and list the benefits in order of importance;

1 To make the seller happy

2 To troll for new buyers

3 To help sell the home

4 To possibly connect with a neighbor who is thinking of selling their home

Why do agents advertise homes in those books you find at the grocery store?

1 To tell the seller that they are doing something to help sell the home.

2 To troll for new buyers

3 To market to sellers for new listings since sellers also look at those books to see what is going on.

4 To promote their name and brand

The primary reason for most of the marketing tools on this list is for self promotion and to troll for new buyers. Think of it like fishing. They are the fishermen, you are the fish and the open house, the yard sign, the ad are all bait. You pick up the real estate book at the grocery store and see a home that catches your attention. It seems just what you have been looking for. So you call the agent (you just took the bait) but that home is already in contract. You are too late. But agents are good at fishing so they start to reel you in. Now they turn on the charm and talk about their experience and knowledge and how they are the top seller for that neighborhood. This gives them an inside edge to sometimes know the “hot homes” before anyone else. (More bait to make sure you are hooked). If you work with them you won’t lose out on another opportunity. Before you know it they have you reeled in all the way and are helping you find a home.

Larry Schottenstein

I am the broker and President of Revealty. I have over 25 years experience in real estate with a diverse background from developing residential properties, home building, property management, real estate agent, broker, public speaker, TV host and edu... Read more about this Author

Comments on What marketing works and doesn’t

Jennifer Chiappisi says... September 23, 2009 | 10:43 am: Larry, which of the options listed actually does work?
lschottenstein says... October 10, 2009 | 4:03 pm: the most effective marketing tool hands down is the list price. It is the most important marketing tool there is. Agents don’t like to admit it because they think they can justify their commissions by saying the advertising, since it is a tangible expense. The truth is a competent agent deserves their commissions if they truly understand the list price and how it is used to effectively sell a home for it’s maximum potential value. You pay an agent for their understanding of how things work and how they can work for your benefit, not for how hard they work or how much money they spend.