A recent article from Zillow, one of the leading real-estate websites, touts “5 Creative Ways to Market Your Home.”
I completely agree with the article, except for one thing: the ways mentioned aren’t “creative” — they’re essential. And they’re a routine part of what it takes to market and sell homes in the Flathead Valley.
The article, mentions five tips for selling your home:
- “Go where the buyers are”
- “Hold the mother of all open houses”
- “Have a generous gathering”
- “Hire professional writers and photographers for your listing”
- “Go social”
Hopefully, none of these items mentioned in the article should be surprising to an eager seller.
“Go where the buyers are”
Essentially, this means marketing your home in places where there are lots of people. It’s not hard to think of a places around here: Glacier Airport, Glacier National Park and its surrounding areas, downtown Kalispell, around Flathead Lake and the dozens and dozens of other attractions we have around here in our northwest Montana real-estate market.
It also means marketing Montana properties where the attractive buyers are — on their home turf.
Hold the “mother of all open houses”
Indeed, when holding an open house, the home should appeal to the senses. The home should look good, smell good, and have a good “feel” or “vibe” to it. Getting a home to “sound” good matters (don’t have an open house when the neighbor has scheduled tree cutting), but I wouldn’t hire musicians as the articles states. It may help — but it may also alienate serious buyers who may find it just plain hokey and wonder why the home needs such a gimmick to sell.
“Have a generous gathering”
Hosting an event, such as a charity dinner, art auction, or wine & cheese tasting, can be a great way to get lots of people into your home. And be sure to invite your real estate agent. This way, your agent can field questions or give tours while you maintain the role of generous host.
“Hire professional writers and photographers for your listing”
Again this is good advice, but it’s not creative — it’s essential. I would never think of posting anything, not a single word for a listing, without an expert editorial or marketing review.
And this isn’t just essential for multi-million dollar listings (which often sell themselves). It’s sometimes absolutely necessary for short-sales, foreclosures, “fixer-uppers,” or any home with some unique challenges.
“Go Social”
Simply put, if you’re listing your home with an agent who is not using social media, you’re with the wrong agent. Or to put it another way, any agent who isn’t using social media to market your home, is not really marketing your home.
Marketing your home — the right way — on social media outlets is again, essential. A tweet on Twitter, a post on Facebook, or pin on Pinterest has the potential to exponentially broadcast awareness of your home. Oftentimes, a social media post doesn’t directly bring a buyer to your door: it’s the friend of a friend whose cousin saw “the perfect house online” and mentioned it to your buyer that indirectly brings the buyers.
Essential Ways To Sell Your Home
Each of these ways can help tremendously when it comes to selling a home. But like I said, these aren’t creative, they’re essential, and a routine part of what I do for my clients to sell their home.