Once you have your home staged, and priced right, it’s time to get to marketing your home. Your goal is to identify your target market, talk to them, and be available.
Know your target market
Who is this home perfect for? Talk to those people through your advertising. Remember the equal opportunity law to avoid discrimination issues. Generally the copy you write should be easy enough for a 5th grader to understand.
Make effective headlines
Catch their attention. I remember getting a bunch of inquiries on one of my listings because of the headline, “The cleanest home you will find under 100k!” This caught people’s attention and enticed them to see the property. Play around with a couple of options and measure your response rate.
Create Desire
Don’t tell them everything about the property. You want them to pick up the phone and call you because they need more information. Share with your target market some highlights about the house and avoid long lists that tell them everything about it. They need a reason to see the home in person, so give it to them.
Sell the benefits not the features.
This home has 12×24′ rooms with daylight windows, 9′ ceilings, blah, blah. Write this home has a lot of space for your family and the daylight pours in through the huge windows.
Use good photos
Take pictures at the right time of day to showcase your home. A good time is around 1-2 p.m. Avoid pictures of toilets and corners of bedrooms (I’m serious). Take a few photos of the exterior and the neighborhood.
Bring the buyer to action
Use catchy one-liners like, “You gotta see it to believe it.” or “Pick up the phone right now to schedule a showing.” or “This home is going to go fast.” Create a sense of urgency.
Exposure, exposure, exposure
Get the most for your dollar on the internet, and avoid newspaper ads. Call everybody you know and let them know the news about your home on the market. There are a handful of websites that you can list your home on for free. Spending the money on the FSBO websites is usually a waste of money.
Be reachable and return phone calls
Provide, home phone, mobile, email, address, etc. Change voicemail to something that says, “If you are calling about the home listed………” Be prompt because people move on quickly. Here are a few tips on handling inquiries.
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Sometimes listing the features extensively is a good idea because it lets people know if it is something they want or fits their requirements.