If your home has been on the market for some time (and you are using a realtor) you better make sure your realtor is working for you. Do you know the common ways that realtors and property owners use to market their property listings?
Below is a short list that you should discuss with your realtor, asking how they are marketing your home. There are many creative ways to market homes these days and a more informed customer is a better customer.
- Put your property on the MLS. This is the very first thing your realtor should do. This is the first place new buyers and realtors look for new property listings.
- Good Pictures. This really can make or break an online listing. For most websites you are allowed 25 pictures of your property, use them wisely.
- Social media Based on my experience, I believe that Facebook is a great marketing tool. It is free to use, you can put as much information in the listing as you wish, and you never know whose attention you may grab by posting it.
- Real Estate Mobile Apps. Believe it or not, the new way people are looking for new homes is on their phones. Make sure your property is listed (with the correct information) on multiple apps (Redfin, Realtor, Trulia, Zillow, Etc).
- Spend weekends holding open houses. If you have small kids or pets, having showings can be a real pain. What better way to get a bunch of people in your house at one set time?
- Buy ad spots. Depending on how fast you need to sell your property, or how much you would like to invest in the process, there are multiple ways of promoting and listing your property within magazines and newspapers.
These are the minimum options that your realtor should be doing to market your property. A lot of them are free and they do not take a lot of time. Just make sure they get done.
Once you have a signed contract, send us the contract as soon as possible. We have a short window to make changes to the contract during the attorney review period. We work with a lot of different realtors and title companies throughout northern Illinois, and we will be happy to work with you. Contact us today!